The Health Of Major Streaming Services, 6F’s Of Taking A Gig, And Drummer Daniel Glass On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is drummer Daniel Glass, who has worked with a wide variety of artists that range from Brian Setzer to Bette Midler, to the Budapest Jazz Orchestra, to KISS front man Gene Simmons. Daniel has been voted one of the top five R&B drummers in the world by readers of Modern Drummer […]
Continue readingA Look At Spotify’s New Songwriter Pages Feature
There’s been a lot of bad blood between songwriters and publishers after the streaming service appealed a royalty rate increase by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) last year. In fairness, Apple Music was the only service that agreed to the increase while all of the other major streamers appealed, which didn’t exactly endear any of […]
Continue readingInner Circle Podcast Named #2 Best Audio Podcast
Many thanks to Feedspot for naming my Inner Circle Podcast at #2 in their list of Top 10 Audio Podcasts. After 300+ episodes I think we’re getting the hang of this podcast thing! Seriously though, thank you for your support as that’s what keeps me going. I make no money from the podcast so it’s […]
Continue readingEvery Melody Possible Is Copyrighted And On This Hard Drive
Songwriters are super cautious these days since plagiarism lawsuits are flying and the winner in court is usually the one you’d least suspect. One of the reasons why it’s so tough to defend a copyright lawsuit is because the court now considers a melody just a sequence of pitches, so Damien Riehl and Noah Rubin […]
Continue readingCheck Out These 3 Social Media Contest Tools
Contests are a great way to boost your audience but it’s not as easy to hold one on you favorite social network as you think. Without the help of a third party contest tool you may be in violation of the service’s terms, which can get you into hot water fast. Luckily there are many […]
Continue readingSubmitting To Playlists, Reasons Behind USB-C, And Legendary Producer John Boylan On This Week’s Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is the legendary producer John Boylan, who started in the business as a member of the burgeoning folk scene in the Village in New York City that set the tone for the explosion in the music business to unimagined heights. He then went on to become a songwriter in the famed […]
Continue readingWarner Music Going Public Indicates Streaming Price Increases
Warner Music Group announced that it was filling for an IPO last week, and while that in itself wasn’t particularly earth-shattering news, one particular statement in its required S-1 filing was. It indicates a change that may be coming soon to online music distribution services in the form of streaming price increases. “We believe that, […]
Continue readingThe Art Of Playlist Stuffing
Streaming is having a tremendous influence on the very essence of a song (its form) these days for better or worse. Many pop songs are near or under the 2 minute mark, devoid of intros, bridges and solos, in order to get right to the meat of the tune and keep the listener for at […]
Continue readingDon’t Look Now But YouTube Music Is Up To 20 Million Subscribers
YouTube has been the most widely used platform for music consumption for at least a decade now, and you’d think that it would be easy for the company to turn all those users into subscribers. It turns out that’s happening slowly but surely as Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai revealed on the company’s latest earnings call that […]
Continue readingGhost Songs, Illegal Tribute Bands, And Music Strategy Consultant Jay Gilbert On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Jay Gilbert, who’s love of taking concert photographs eventually translated into being on the cutting edge of digital sales and marketing as an executive with Universal, Sony and Warner Music Groups. Jay has created and executed unique online marketing plans for a wide variety of artists, including Elton John, KISS, […]
Continue readingThere’s A Lot To Learn From Amazon’s Email Template
One of the thing that artists, musicians and even labels constantly struggle with is how an email blast or press release should be formatted for best engagement. There are many different ways to do this, but if you’ve ever received anything from Amazon you know that what they do is particularly effective. It seems that […]
Continue readingIt’s A Shame, But Vinyl Manufacturer Rainbo Records Has Closed
Artists, record labels, and music trends come and go, but an unseen backbone of the music industry since 1939 has closed – vinyl manufacturer Rainbo Records. Rainbo has been the place to go for indies since there was such a thing. This was not only for artists trying to get their initial break like Husker […]
Continue readingDiscovery Networks Relents And Will Pay Composers What They’re Worth
There was a huge amount of outrage from the television composer community last month when Discovery Networks announced that it would no longer be paying composers for their back work, and everything going forward would be a buyout. The backlash was more than the channel group, which controls 20 popular cable channels including the Travel […]
Continue readingExtra Tracks Strategy, USC Diversity Study, And Groove U Founder Dwight Heckelman On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Dwight Heckelman who, after a stint at Berklee College of Music, felt that music higher education needed to be held to a higher standard and would be a lot better if it were apprenticeship-based and relationship-driven. He called on his experience as a graduate of Belmont University, at major and […]
Continue readingAll The Attention Is On Spotify, But Amazon Music Is Coming On Strong
While Spotify is still seen as the 800 pound gorilla of the streaming world, its competitors are quietly catching up. Apple Music, for instance, now has more paying subscribers in the U.S. than Spotify, and Amazon Music recently announced that it passed 55 million paying customers as well. “Amazon Music kicks off 2020 by revealing […]
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