Archive

Monthly Archives: January 2017

January 31, 2017

Dubai-Based Engineer Joshua F Williams On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

Joshua F Williams Dubai

We pretty much know about life in the studio around us, but how different is it in other countries? My former assistant Joshua F Williams has been one of the top engineer/producers in the Middle East for the past 10 years, and he’ll tell us what the music scene is like in the Dubai area […]

Continue reading

Most Billboard Album Charts To Now Include Streaming

Billboard 200

After updating the Billboard 200 chart to reflect both streaming and track sales a few years ago, Billboard is now doing the same for most of it’s other genre-based album charts as well.  The following charts will now reflect the new measurement methodology starting this week: Top Country Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, plus: -R&B Albums -Rap Albums […]

Continue reading

Music Industry News Roundup For The Week Of 1/27/17

Music Industry News Roundup

Here’s the Music Industry News Roundup for the week of January 27th, 2017. There’s lots of varied news that covers the spectrum of the music business. Here are some of the news highlights for the week. Spotify wants to pay a lower royalty rate. It’s contract with the major labels is up, but it’s offer is to […]

Continue reading
January 25, 2017

Jay-Z Gets Bailed Out As Sprint Invests In Tidal

Sprint logo

Recently there’s been a lot of speculation on how long Tidal could financially hold on before it would have do something drastic. Today those fears are allayed with the news that telco Sprint has bought a 33% interest in the music streaming service for $200 million. Each of the company’s much celebrated two dozen artist-owners will remain […]

Continue reading

Jack White Starting His Own Vinyl Pressing Plant

Third Man Records pressing plant

Frustrated with the long wait in to get records pressed, Jack White’s new Third Man Records pressing plant is scheduled to open in February in his native Detroit. The company has installed 8 new energy efficient presses capable of outputting up to 5,000 discs every 8 hours. The company also hopes to add 50 jobs […]

Continue reading

Music Industry News Roundup For The Week Of 1/20/17

Music Industry News Roundup

Here’s the Music Industry News Roundup for the week of January 20th, 2017. We’re back in the swing of things as everyone hits the ground running in the new year. Here are some of the news highlights for the week. There’s speculation that Sony Japan is tiring of the entertainment business and might now want to sell […]

Continue reading

Artist Sponsorship Is Today’s Payola

Payola has always been part of the music business and many insiders feel that it’s the reason that some artists become stars, and some stars become superstars. Without money or favors changing hands between the record label and the radio station/streaming service, a song might never gain the visibility it needs to become a hit. […]

Continue reading
January 18, 2017

France’s SACEM Might Have Created The Copyright Management Technology Of The Future

SACEM copyright system

For the most part, performance rights organizations use an antiquated system to determine the payouts to their members. For radio, it all depends on a survey at certain times of the year that looks at a cross-section of what stations are playing in order to determine the royalties. For streaming, it depends on the data they […]

Continue reading

Music Industry News Roundup For The Week Of 1/13/17

Music Industry News Roundup

Here’s the Music Industry News Roundup for the week of January 13th, 2017. Everyone is back from holiday vacation and the year is starting to get busy. Let’s see what’s in the news. Pandora lays off 7% of its workforce. Things are getting tough in streaming land as the company tries to overcome a cash crunch. Deezer’s […]

Continue reading

High-Resolution Streaming Might Be Getting Closer

high-resolution music logo

I’ve been predicting for over a year that the streaming world would eventually move to high-resolution audio, and a recent announcement from a group of large industry players makes it look like things are finally moving in the right direction. All 3 major labels, Pandora, Rhapsody/Napster, HD Trax and the RIAA announced their support for […]

Continue reading

Facebook To Start Running Mid-Video Ads

Facebook mid-video ads

Content creators have been complaining about the fact that there’s no way to monetize their content on Facebook the way you can on YouTube. Those days look to be coming to an end, however, as industry insiders now say that Facebook will start testing mid-video ads soon. As with YouTube, the revenue from the ads will be […]

Continue reading