Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
April 13, 2018
Your Label A&R Person May Soon Be A Robot
Automation is taking over so many aspects of the workplace these days, but the last place you’d ever think it would happen would be in record label talent scouting. Having a feel for new music and artists that may resonate with large segments of the population is a talent in itself, and one that’s been rewarded […]
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April 11, 2018
Under The Radar Amazon Music Adding Millions Of Subscribers
Amazon has always been the sleeping giant in music streaming. It’s Prime Music comes as a part of Amazon Prime, and although there are no official numbers as to the number of subscribers, the company hints that it’s at least hundred million. Amazon also has a stand-alone service as well called Amazon Music Unlimited, which […]
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April 9, 2018
Spotify’s Market Cap Shows Just How Powerful Apple Really Is
Spotify’s direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange last week proved to be a little underwhelming in that most existing stockholders decided to hold on to their shares, a good sign for the company’s long-term future. Its stock price at the end of the week ended up at just shy of $148, which translated […]
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April 5, 2018
Which Streaming Service Pays The Most? You’ll Be Surprised
Streaming royalties are a completely moving target, and what’s reported as the average payment today will certainly change tomorrow. The reason is that there are so many variables that go into calculating a stream payment. That said, the chart below from Statista provides the gross payouts to labels per stream from each major streaming service. […]
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April 5, 2018
Spotify Finally Goes Public, And Sony Sells Some Of Its Stock
Spotify finally went public yesterday in a unique direct listing that had Wall Street watching the offering closely. The stock opened at a price of $165.90 per share but fell to $149.01 by the end of the day. The stock dropped down another 8% to $140.02 by midday Wednesday. That said, even at $140 per […]
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April 4, 2018
New YouTube TrueView For Reach Ads Could Mean More Revenue For Artists
YouTube has rolled out a new variety of advert that may end up bringing in more ad dollars not only for artists and bands, but anyone who posts an interesting video on the service. Known as TrueView for Reach, the new ad type is similar to standard TrueView ads that can be skipped after 5 […]
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April 2, 2018
New Record Deal Advances Are Soaring, If You’re A Hip Hop Artist
There was a time in the recent past when the record company advances for a new record deal had shrunk thanks to the overall music business being in such a bad way revenue-wise. It got to the point where many artists considered going the DIY route since it actually offered better alternatives to make money. […]
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March 30, 2018
The AMP Act Will Get Producers Paid For Streaming
Perhaps the biggest question that today’s producer has is, “How do I get paid?” Back in the days when physical sales were king, this was never a problem as producers were paid handsomely for their services from sales royalties. Even though there are still physical sales involved today, that more than likely will not pay […]
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March 29, 2018
More YouTube Ads Coming In An Effort To Get Users To Pay Up
YouTube is about to employ a rather unique strategy in order to get more people to buy into its upcoming subscription plan. The service is going to begin to insert more ads in videos in an effort to frustrate users enough that they’ll want to pay to eliminate them. YouTube’s global head of music Lyor Cohen laid […]
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March 28, 2018
iHeartMedia Owes Music Companies $38 Million
Last week I posted about iHeartMedia’s chapter 11 bankruptcy in which it was attempting to wipe out $10 billion worth of its $20 billion debt so it could carry on operations. Although various music companies are owned just a small portion of that amount, its still a significant $38 million, and that’s money that’s not […]
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March 26, 2018
Believe It Or Not, This Report Says Music Piracy Has Increased
We live in an age where it’s probably the easiest it has ever been to access just about any kind of music you want, and all for free. The music business has always been driven by convenience of consumption, and it’s difficult to imagine how much easier it can get than joining the free tier […]
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March 23, 2018
“Blurred Lines” Infringement Verdict Appeal Falls Flat
When the verdict in the 2015 copyright infringement trial brought by the Marvin Gaye estate against the writers of the Robin Thicke hit “Blurred Lines” was reached, most of the music industry shuddered. While some of the flavor of the Marvin Gaye’s “Got To Give It Up” hit of 1977 was captured on the “Blurred […]
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March 22, 2018
Proof That American Idol Doesn’t Create Hitmakers
Most artists and musicians that I know hold the shows American Idol and The Voice in some level of contempt. It’s made-for-TV music and doesn’t reflect much about the true business of music or paying your dues (although there’s less of that these days anyway). It gets the public excited for the duration of the […]
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March 21, 2018
Spotify Makes A Move To Stop Playlist “Playola”
Way back when radio was the main channel for developing a hit, record labels tried to game the system by bribing radio station program directors with money and gifts to add a record to the station’s playlist, a process that became known as payola. Several scandals ensued and the practice became illegal, but labels and […]
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March 19, 2018
Why Spotify’s Investors Seem To Have Little Confidence In Its Future
Spotify’s direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange is coming on April 3rd and there’s already been plenty written about this unusual tactic. Much of the reasoning for the move coming from the company seems to circle around the fact that underwriting a traditional IPO costs too much, so there will be considerable savings by avoiding […]
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