Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
The price of new vinyl albums is going through the roof these days and some industry execs think that we’re fast approaching buyer fatigue as a result. While you might find a few at $16, it’s not uncommon to see a premium release go for anywhere from $40 to $60, which can strain most collector’s […]
Continue readingThe recorded music business is definitely feeling better these days as all the major labels have reported big increases in revenue recently. The latest of these is Universal Music Group, who reportedly saw an income stream of close to $18 million every day in 2017. This represents a sales increase of around 11% from the […]
Continue readingIf you expect your lyrics to be protected by copyright, you’d better make sure they say something “creative,” according to a judge’s ruling in a copyright infringement battle over Taylor Swift’s 2014 #1 hit “Shake It Off.” Two songwriters, Sean Hall and Nathan Butler, had filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles last year stating […]
Continue readingEvery few months there’s a new study that finds that Facebook is losing the youngest generation to some other social network. In the meantime, the network giant just gets larger and stronger. This latest study from research firm eMarketer states that less than half of U.S. Internet users ages 12 to 17 will use Facebook […]
Continue readingChina is becoming a hot place for music, as Western influences gradually seep into the country. Last year hip-hop became a dominant force in Chinese music (although mostly with Chinese artists, not American imports) and now it looks like electronic music is hitting there too. As a result, Sony Music has launched a new label […]
Continue readingOne of the things that music consumers love about vinyl records is the liner notes on the album cover. Those of us who grew up in the vinyl era know that we’d frequently buy an album based on the credits that were listed, as many times it indicated a level of quality or taste that […]
Continue readingIf ever there was a moment where you saw a format die, it’s this one. Best Buy has informed all record labels that it will no longer stock CDs in its stores as of July 1st. Not only that, if labels don’t play ball with Target’s new terms, that company won’t stock them either. This […]
Continue readingWhen we look at streaming subscriber numbers, it always looks as if Spotify is in a commanding lead with over 70 million paid users as compared to Apple Music’s 36 million. But as we’ve seen so many times before, statistics can be deceiving. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal (subscription required to […]
Continue readingUp until now, official artists video channels were part of the record label-owned Vevo, much to the chagrin of Google-owned YouTube, but now the platform is fighting back by launching its own version of artist channels. Starting this week all unofficial channels will be consolidated into one YouTube artist destination. Vevo stands for “Video EVOlution” and […]
Continue readingSpotify has been in running battles with songwriters and publishers for the last year over the fact that the platform was playing music without complete copyright information, and therefore without a license. This has resulted in several lawsuits against the streaming giant, with more threatened. A new free service launched recently by SXWorks, a subsidiary of […]
Continue readingWhile payouts averaging $0.005 to $0.007 to artists from streaming seems pretty minimal, it’s even worse for songwriters, who generally only see about a tenth of that revenue. That’s why the recent ruling by the Copyright Royalty Board’s (CRB) that awards songwriters a 44% increase is so important. While still just a fraction of what […]
Continue readingOne way to invest in the stock market reasonably safely is by investing in an index fund, which is a type of mutual fund with a portfolio constructed to match or track a market index, such as the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500). Advantages of an index fund include broad market exposure combined with very low operating expenses, so it becomes sort of […]
Continue readingYouTube has decided to begin assigning ID numbers to creators using the International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) initiative, which may be enough to other distributors to begin adopting the system as well. The platform will share ISNIs with its label and publishing partners in an effort to promote the standard. ISNI is the ISO-certified global standard number […]
Continue readingSome states want to lure film and television business to shoot in their cities by offering a tax incentive, but Georgia is concentrating on the music business. On January 1st, the new Music Investment Act went into effect offering 15% of tax relief for tours and music projects created in the state. House Bill 155 gives […]
Continue readingIf you’re going to the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim this week, check out the AES conference that happens concurrently on the 4th floor of the Hilton Hotel. I’ve put together the studio-related sessions for the conference that includes a great list of speakers, including Andrew Scheps, Jack Joseph Puig, Sylvia Massey, Richard Chycki, Michael […]
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