Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
October 3, 2016
YouTube Misses The Point With Its Lyor Cohen Hire
If you want to start a music label executive ranting and raving, just mention YouTube. It’s currently public enemy #1 to the music industry thanks to its relative intransigence over royalty payouts that execs and artists alike feel are way too low. That’s a good reason why Youtube may think its brand new hire of […]
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September 28, 2016
Is The Music Supervisor Killing Songwriting?
In my experience there are two kinds of songwriters. One writes completely from the heart as an expression of art, while the second does it more as a business, writing whatever the situation calls for. Neither is more noble than the other, they’re just different, and both require a tremendous amount of skill and passion. That said, […]
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September 26, 2016
Apple Music At 17 Million Subscribers After 70 Exclusives
Record labels hate giving exclusives to streaming services, but they appear to be working when it comes to signing up new paid subscribers. During Apple’s latest product rollout, CEO Tim Cook mentioned that Apple Music was now at 17 million subscribers thanks to over 70 exclusives with artist like Taylor Swift, Frank Ocean and Drake. The […]
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September 21, 2016
Yeah, People Still Buy Songs, Especially When They’re 69 Cents
There’s an experiment going on in Apple’s iTunes Store that not many are paying attention to, but it just might prolong the download side of the music business for a few more years. It’s true that streaming is all the rage, with subscription numbers increasing at a steady pace while the download business is falling […]
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September 14, 2016
Will The New Cheap Tier From Pandora And Amazon Be Worth It?
Ever since music streaming began in earnest, there’s been a mantra inside the music industry that’s gone something like this – “Until the paid subscription rate gets to $5 per month, streaming is never going to scale.†That’s only partially been true, as subscriber numbers have grown steadily at the now standard $10 per month, […]
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September 12, 2016
Warner Brothers Reports Its Own Site As Illegal
If you haven’t had a site or channel or video that you owned be contested because someone is claiming you don’t own the content, consider yourself lucky. This practice seems to be growing by the day and it can be a real pain to straighten out. For the most part, this process is automated either by […]
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September 5, 2016
The Most Expensive Vinyl Record Ever
Vinyl record collectors can really go overboard when it comes to a rare record or a rare edition or version. Just like coin collectors, they especially revel in records with a flaw that were quickly pulled off the market since there’s only a limited number ever printed. So what do you think a classic record marked […]
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September 1, 2016
Rap, Rock, Country And EDM Aren’t Considered Real Music In Chicago
When it comes to the issue of “fine arts,” rap, country, rock and DJ-based music are not considered real music in Chicago, and believe it or not, that’s actually a good thing. Small venues that hold 750 or less in Cook County aren’t subject to a 3% admission fee tax because what goes on in […]
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August 31, 2016
Spotify Appears To Be Punishing Artists
Talk about a sore loser, it looks like Spotify is punishing artists who do exclusives with Apple Music. According to an article in Bloomberg, the service is manipulating search results so that those who provided Apple Music with an exclusive on a new release don’t appear in the top ranks of searches after their music […]
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August 29, 2016
The Success Of New Music Fridays Still Up In The Air
For the longest time new music was released by most record labels in the United States on Tuesday, which made a lot of sense. Tuesday is usually a slow news day, so it was (and still is) pretty easy to get the word out without having to wade through the noise, plus it gave record […]
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August 24, 2016
Japan Has Way More Music Stores Than The US
Japan is a pretty small country compared to the United States, but when it comes to the music business in has a big lead in at least one category – retail music stores. In what may be a startling revelation to some, Japan currently has around 6,000 music stores while the US only has 1900, […]
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August 19, 2016
Maybe YouTube Isn’t That Big For Music After All
The music industry has always operated under the premise that music content made up about 40% of YouTube’s traffic, a figure that has bothered everyone considering how little revenue it’s generated as a result. No comes data from Pexeso showing that figure may be way off. The company found that music-related content on YouTube amount to just 4.3% of […]
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August 10, 2016
Apple Music Now In 114 Countries, But At Different Prices
If you want to get your music to be heard in every part of the planet, then Apple Music is currently the way to go. Apple recently announced that it has expanded its reach to 114 countries, far more than any other service at the moment. Spotify, which Music Business Worldwide now estimates at 36 million […]
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August 8, 2016
Goodbye MP3, We Hardly Knew Ya
When it comes to technology, the music business has always been about convenience. It’s ultimately never about the sound or even a lower cost, it’s always comes down to what’s easiest to use. Still, it’s surprising to see the MP3 file format (or the “download” as many know it) accelerating so quickly towards the end […]
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August 5, 2016
iHeartRadio Needs $6 Billion To Pay Back Loans
The largest radio station ownership group is in big financial trouble. iHeartRadio, which owns over 850 terrestrial radio stations, is struggling as it’s projected to lose more than $80 million this year and has threatened bankruptcy. That has spooked the investors that loaned the company more than $6 billion, and now they want their money. Actually, […]
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