Downturn In Streaming Numbers, Smart Monitor Future, And Ninja Tune/Coldcut Co-Founder Matt Black On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Matt Black, the co-founder of the leading indie record label Ninja Tune and electronic music pioneer duo Coldcut. Coldcut has remixed and created productions for the likes of James Brown, Queen Latifah, Eurythmics, INXS, Blondie, and many others, while Ninja Tune has been visionary with it’s selection of artists emphasizing […]
Continue readingA Guide Of State And Federal Resources For Musicians That Need Help
Musicians have always lived on the edge unless you’re part of the 1%, and even then you’d be surprised how tight things can be. It’s easy to fall into a hole of depression, especially when you’re isolated (believe me, I know), but there’s also a lot of help available on a National, State, and even […]
Continue readingThe U.S. Is Still One Of Only 4 Countries That Doesn’t Pay Artists For Radio Airplay
I was looking over this post from about 4 years ago and I was stunned that so little progress has been made on this front. The importance of radio may be declining, but it’s still a big part of some artist’s success, especially on a superstar level. Did you know that no artist has ever […]
Continue readingTikTok Is Great For Artists As Long As You’re Not Ugly Or Overweight
TikTok is already under a lot of suspicion by the U.S. government because it’s owned by Bytedance, which is a Chinese company that reportedly has ties to the Chinese government. The latest news about its moderators being especially tough on certain groups of users won’t help its case much, as a report from The Intercept […]
Continue readingImposed Downtime, M.I. Trade Wars, And Artist Branding With Laura Bull On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Laura Bull, who spent ten years with Sony Music Entertainment where she became one of the company’s youngest executives at the age of twenty-eight. During her tenure, she spearheaded development and marketing for globally recognized artists including Carrie Underwood, Brad Paisley, and Johnny Cash among hundreds of other artists from […]
Continue readingAmazon Follows Spotify And Apple With Amazon Music For Artists
We’re quickly getting to the point where artists are able to access data pretty much in real time. While Spotify led the way with its Spotify for Artists program back in 2018, both Apple Music and Universal Music launched similar programs last year. The latest to follow is Amazon with its new Amazon Music For […]
Continue readingCoronavirus Is Changing The Music Business Big Time, Maybe For The Better
It’s downright scary when you look at the list of tours and festivals that have been cancelled or postponed because of the Coronavirus (officially COVID-19). Asia alone reportedly has had more than 20,000 cancellations since January amounting to an estimated $286 million loss of revenue. Giant festivals like SXSW, Ultra and Coachella – with more […]
Continue readingLed Zeppelin’s New Copyright Win Might Change How Courts View Infringement
If you’ve been following the “Stairway To Heaven” copyright infringement case brought about by the estate of Spirit guitar player and songwriter Randy Wolfe against Led Zeppelin, you know that it’s been through some major ups and downs. But the band’s big win in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals could change everything for infringement […]
Continue readingStreaming Network Payouts, Liquid Distortion, And Drummer/Producer Tony Braunagel On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Tony Braunagel who has been the drummer for a wide variety of artists including Bonnie Raitt, Robert Cray, Rickie Lee Jones, and Taj Mahal, among others. It was with Taj that Tony gained a named for himself as a producer, working on the Grammy-award winning Shoutin’ in Key album that […]
Continue readingYouTube Fixes Channel Subscriber Notifications
If you’re a creator on YouTube, you know how frustrating subscriber notifications can be. You think it would mean that every time you post a video that follower would be notified, but that’s not how it’s been working. In fact, when you subscribe you only get the “Lite” version, which amounts to only occasional updates […]
Continue readingUnderstanding Google’s Freshness Algorithm
One way to build an audience is to constantly add new content on your website, but just having fresh content doesn’t mean that Google will automatically take notice and increase your website’s search ranking. Google’s so called “freshness algorithm” may be looking for something else. In fact, the freshness algorithm isn’t looking for new content […]
Continue readingStem Sure Does Look Like A New Kind Of Record Label, And That’s Good For Artists
There’s no point ragging on record label deals because everyone already knows the stories or has experienced the pain. Suffice it to say that the majority of artists don’t have a great experience, especially when it comes to their pocketbook. A relatively new artist service called Stem has all the traits of a record label […]
Continue readingAI In A&R, Subwoofer Sneakers, And Music Marketer Jay Warsinske On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Jay Warsinske, who’s been in music marketing, promotion and artist development for over 40 years. In that time Jay helped launch the music for celebrated artists like U2, AC/DC, Dr. Dre, Metallica, Guns ‘n Roses, Eminem, Black Eyed Peas, Lil Wayne, Green Day, Snoop Dogg, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Janet […]
Continue readingFrom Tape Deck To Tidal: 40 Years Of U.S. Music Sales
U.S. Music Sales have had a lot of ups and downs over the last 40 years, with the peaks amazingly high and the troughs depressingly low. Thankfully we’re in an upswing right now that looks like it will continue for a while, but we can really gain some perspective on it all when we look […]
Continue readingThe Recorded Music Industry Did Really Well Last Year Thanks To Streaming
The numbers from last year are out and there should be celebrations in music executive offices everywhere in the country. The recorded music industry in the U.S. had a great year in 2019, bringing in a touch over $11 billion for a 13% improvement on the year before, according to the latest figures by the […]
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