Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
April 10, 2020
Streaming Companies Step Up To Help The Music Community
You might hear artists and bands badmouthing the various streaming music distributors about their low royalties, but at least many of those streaming companies are trying to do their part to help the music community get through the hardship of the times. Just about every major streaming company has dedicated money in that regard, some […]
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April 9, 2020
Tips For Going Viral On TikTok
Like with most platforms, there are a number of different approaches to grow an audience on TikTok, but there are some viral tips that seem to generally work. Here’s an excerpt from the latest third edition of my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book (special introductory price on the ebook of just $1.99) that outlines […]
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April 7, 2020
Releasing Music In Isolation, New Bass String Technology, And Lawyer/Drummer Kurt Dahl On My Latest Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Kurt Dahl, who’s not only a successful entertainment attorney but is a busy drummer as well. His band One Bad Son has toured North America with Def Leopard, Judas Priest and even opened for the Rolling Stones. While working as a musician, Kurt decided that he could help his band […]
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April 3, 2020
YouTube Introducing A Shorts Feature To Be More Like TikTok
YouTube really hasn’t had much competition since it’s started. Sure there are plenty of other user-generated platforms like Vimeo, DailyMotion and Veoh, but they never seriously threatened the video giant. TikTok is a different story though, as it’s a different animal in that itfocuses on very short videos based around music. As a result, this […]
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April 2, 2020
Music Copyright Infringement Begins To Make Sense Again
Although lawyers and musicologists can argue over the finer points, for the longest time the judgements in copyright infringement cases made sense to the average music lover. It didn’t take an advanced degree to recognize that George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” was pretty darn close to The Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine,” or that Led Zeppelin […]
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March 31, 2020
Musician’s Union Lawsuit, UPS Backup Overview, And Studio Guitarist Ira Ingber On My Last Podcast
My guest on the podcast this week is Ira Ingber, who’s a long time Los Angeles studio musician, composer and producer. Through the years Ira has had multiple major label record deals and toured and recorded with top Southern California singer/songwriters like J.D. Souther, Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Riatt. Ira was also asked to form a band for […]
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March 24, 2020
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 […]
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March 23, 2020
A 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 […]
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March 19, 2020
The 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 […]
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March 18, 2020
TikTok 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 […]
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March 17, 2020
Imposed 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 […]
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March 16, 2020
Amazon 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 […]
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March 12, 2020
Coronavirus 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 […]
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March 11, 2020
Led 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 […]
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March 10, 2020
Streaming 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 […]
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