SoundCloud Being Archived By Indie Programmers
With the status of SoundCloud up in the air, artists everywhere are wondering what’s going to happen to their files if the whole thing blows up. The good news is that about 150 volunteer programmers calling themselves the Archive Team are taking action to make sure that none of the precious files are lost. The organization […]
Continue readingOrchestral Engineer Michael Bishop On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
Michael Bishop has been recording orchestras all over the world for a long time, first as chief engineer for the famed Telarc label, and now with his own Five Four Productions. Along the way he’s won 10 Grammy’s as well as a slew of other awards for his excellence. Michael’s my guest on this week’s […]
Continue readingTuneCore Now Owned By Sony Music
If you’re an indie artist with your music distributed by TuneCore and you always wanted to be part of a major label, it looks like that’s now the case. Last week Sony Music sealed the deal to buy the French company Believe Distribution, owner of TuneCore, for a price between $355 and $444 million, according […]
Continue readingSoundCloud To Run Out Of Money Soon
The continuing saga of SoundCloud gets uglier and uglier. After laying off 40% of its work staff and closing offices in San Francisco and London (as well as laying off many in New York as well) last week, it announced to its remaining staff that the company only has enough money to carry it to […]
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The Variables In YouTube Royalty Payments Explained
YouTube royalty payments can be a sore spot with artists and labels, and with good reason. The rate it pays isn’t all that great, but there are actually more variables on when and how you get paid than you might realize. Here’s an excerpt from my Music 4.1 Internet Music Guidebook that outlines how it works. […]
Continue readingSpotify Accused Of Making It’s Own Music With Fake Artists
There’s been a lot in the news over the last week about Spotify making its own albums under fake artists names, then placing the music on popular playlists. This news actually came out about a year ago but has bubbled to the surface again. Why would the company do that? To make more money, of […]
Continue readingMojave Audio President Dusty Wakeman On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
Dusty Wakeman has had a great career as a bass player, producer, engineer and studio owner, and we discussed all that with him way back on Episode #9. He’s now the president of condenser mic maker Mojave Audio, and on the latest episode (#169) we had a nice discussion about not only how the company […]
Continue readingYou’re Wrong If You Thought Pop Was The Most Listened To Music Genre
If you listen to the radio much you might think that Pop music is by far the most listened to music by U.S. music consumers. That supposition is wrong, however, according to the latest figures by BuzzAngle, a relatively new metrics company that is quietly been surpassing the standard Nielsen Music thanks to its more […]
Continue readingSoundCloud Lays Off 40% Of Staff
Everyone knew that SoundCloud was deep in financial trouble and that trouble would come to a head sometime this year. It looks like that time is finally here as the company closed both its San Francisco and London offices yesterday. While 173 people lost their jobs as a result, it’s the people that depend on […]
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Ideas For Marketing To Your Core Fans
Music 4.1 is totally dependent upon the development, care, and feeding of your fanbase. This audience can be broken down into the following two categories: your casual fans and your core fans. Your core audience fans are your most passionate fans. They’ll buy whatever you have to sell, work for free, recruit other fans, and […]
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Big Hits Are Now 2 Billion Streams
It wasn’t that long ago that we were impressed by any song that received 100 million views or streams, but in the age of streaming that number is ancient history. These days, a billion streams is well within reach for a hit, and more and more songs are even hitting the once unthinkable 2 billion […]
Continue readingGrammy-Winning Engineer Gary Noble On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
My guest today is engineer Gary Noble, who has won 3 Grammys and been nominated 18 times for his mixing and recording work. Gary’s credits include Amy Winehouse, Jesse J, Nas, Josh Stone, Fugees, Wyclef Jon and many more. Gary will share his tips about making electronic tracks sound real, getting the best sound from […]
Continue readingGen Z Now Prefers Spotify Over YouTube
All the signs have pointed to YouTube’s dominance in music delivery having peaked in the last 6 months, and now it looks like we have some confirmation. Midea Research did a deep dive into the technology and media trends of Gen Z (kids age 16 to 19) in the UK, and came up with some […]
Continue readingYou Might Not Like It, But Facebook Now Has 2 Billion Users
Every few months there seems to be a new post or article regarding how much Facebook is slipping in one demographic or another. The cries that millennials, Gen X and Gen Yers were abandoning the platform for something new have scared many artists and bands from using it, or made them reluctant to give the […]
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3 Steps To Creating An Online Contest
One of the great things for an artist about being online is that there are so many options for promotion. A great one is launching a contest. Here’s an excerpt from my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book that outlines general contest basics. “Artists, bands and musicians are always looking for ways to increase their fan engagement […]
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