Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
I’m pleased to announce the release of my latest book, The Music Business Advice Book: 150 Immediately Useful Tips From The Pros. The book is a compilation of 150 helpful quotes from 130 top music pros from various segments of the music industry who previously shared these tips on my Inner Circle Podcast over the course of almost […]
Continue readingIn honor of the 60th anniversary of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the company issued its all-time top 100 songs cultivated from #1 hits over the last 6 decades. The chart was created by 3 Billboard staffers with the help of producer Mark Ronson and hit songwriter Diane Warren. It’s easy to be surprised with some […]
Continue readingEveryone knows that the key to streaming success today is getting placement on a key playlist, especially on Spotify. While this might have been easier to accomplish a few years ago, it’s now become increasingly more difficult, thanks to the fact that playlist curators are overloaded with submissions. This has even to a new type […]
Continue readingSince the 70s it’s been a dream of musicians to release an album. A deal with a major label and subsequent best-selling album release was the epitome of what we all worked for. Today the album is fast becoming a relic of the past and you need look no further than Drake’s Scorpion album as […]
Continue readingEver since the first Billboard music chart was created back in 1940, the music industry has relied on the publication as a measure of success. Much of this was for bragging rights between labels, but also as a way to provide retail with sales data (and a large dose of hype) to determine what records […]
Continue readingThe cashless society that was predicted many years ago is pretty much here, as fewer people resort to using cash in daily transactions. Using a credit or debit card sure beats carrying around a pocket full of bills and coins and having to worry about exact change in inopportune situations. Even festivals are now turning […]
Continue readingWho says that streaming doesn’t pay? Yes, it only pays a fraction of a cent per stream, but those fractions really add up, especially when streams are in the billions for an artist like Drake. You may recall that Drake smashed all the streaming records on both Spotify and Apple Music recently during the release […]
Continue readingWhen you think of highest paid artists you think of the most popular at the moment, but that’s not necessarily who made the big money last year. Artists like Drake and Taylor Swift took a back seat to some of the biggest legacy artists when it comes to the highest paid, and it all comes […]
Continue readingI think most listeners will agree that broadcast radio for music has been dismal for a long time, thanks to corporate radio groups and central programming. Local radio is on the decline and the ability for a DJ to select a song outside the provided playlist is long-gone. While radio still has its boomer listers […]
Continue readingThe music business is evolving just like any other forward looking industry, and tech is playing a larger part than ever in how it runs. That means that new types of jobs are being created all the time, and you can expect more in the future. Billboard asked movers and shakers from all areas of […]
Continue readingIn what many consider a stunning revelation, it’s been reported that Apple Music actually has surpassed Spotify in paid subscribers in the United States. Apparently both gone past the 20 million mark, with Apple Music now slightly out in front. If you’d have polled a group of music insiders about subscriber levels a year ago, […]
Continue readingImagine that you’ve been given the task of taking the vocal from an album by one of the biggest artists of all times and tasked with putting more modern music around it, but you have to make it as seamless as possible. That’s what influential Nashville engineer Ed Seay did in working on a new […]
Continue readingOn July 1st, Best Buy was supposed to end its long history with the Compact Disc (better known as the CD). The company had announced months ago that it had set that date as its deadline for ending sales completely, but according to several reports, is still is selling them, although with greatly reduced inventory and floor space. […]
Continue readingMost artists and bands would prefer to be signed to a major label instead of an indie, but the fact of the matter is that indies are gaining strength, especially where streaming is concerned. Indie label association Merlin (which consists of more than 20,000 indie labels, imprints and small distributors) reported that its member’s streams have […]
Continue readingThere are a number of digital aggregators that all provide roughly the same services. They’re a one-stop shop that will send your music to Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Pandora, Tidal and any other digital streaming service, then collect your royalties and pay you. The problem is that the artist or manager receives the payment, and […]
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