Category Archives for "Music Industry News"
December 15, 2016
Spotify’s Acquisition Of SoundCloud Look Like It’s Off
It looks like all of those rumors about Spotify buying SoundCloud have turned into nothing more than words on paper. Word is now out that any hopes of a deal between the two companies has been squashed, although months of talks almost lead to a deal. Why? Although it hasn’t been officially announced, Spotify is […]
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December 14, 2016
Neil Young To Turn Pono Into High Resolution Streaming Service
Neil Young has finally gotten the message about his Pono high-fidelity service, only it’s a couple of years too late. Originally conceived as a download service complete with its own dedicated player, the development took way too long and when it launched potential users had already moved on to streaming instead of buying downloads. Now the […]
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December 8, 2016
Virtual Reality And Live Music Seem Like A Marriage Made In Heaven
One of the downsides of live music is that only so many people can experience it at any one time. Whether it’s a club, concert or festival, attendance is limited to only the people that are able to make it to the venue, even though many more may desire to do so. Live video feeds […]
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December 1, 2016
The Streaming Music Price Wars Have Begun
It was probably only a matter of time, but it now looks like the first of many streaming music price wars has truly broken out. In a reaction to Amazon entering the streaming market with its Music Unlimited service, Google has extended the free trial period for its Play Music service to 4 months, making a new […]
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November 30, 2016
How We Listen To Music In Our Cars
Once upon a time the only way to hear music while driving was through the radio. Of course you were at the mercy of the station of what you were listening to, but thanks to the 8 track tape, cassette tape, and then the CD player, you could personalize your listening experience. Today there are […]
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November 23, 2016
If You Want To Reach Music Fans, Go To Instagram
Nielsen has just completed a study analyzing the habits and lifestyles of U.S. music listeners on Instagram, and the results show that if you want want to reach music lovers, that’s one of the best platforms to use for promotion. What was determined? First of all, Instagram users are huge music fans, and show it with their […]
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November 21, 2016
Metallica Reverses Course And Uploads Its New Album For Free On YouTube
Well, this may seem odd. Metallica has uploaded all 10 songs of its latest album Hardwired….To Self-Destruct to its YouTube channel. That means that fans can get the album online for free. Wasn’t Metallica the band that lead the charge against Napster way back when, making a case against free online music? And isn’t the band’s management, Q-Prime, […]
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November 17, 2016
Music Industry Wants To Ban Concert Ticket Buying Bots
Has this happened to you? You’re one of the first in line to buy a ticket to a concert by your favorite artist only to find that all the choice seats are already gone, or you go online at the exact second that the sale for the concert opens up only to find that all […]
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November 16, 2016
Do Playlists Make It Harder To Break An Artist?
A record label would love to break an artist after one release or album, but that’s getting more and more difficult these days according to One Direction’s manager Will Bloomfield. One of the reasons is that the industry is breaking songs now, and not artists at all, almost without even realizing it. This is thanks to […]
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November 14, 2016
$1 Million Gets A Bad Tour With Motley Crue
I know that you’ve gone to a concert to see your favorite artist and wondered why or how the opening act was chosen. The fact of the matter is that most times, they’re not chosen at all – they buy their way onto the tour, which has become known as a “buy-on.” Whether a buy-on is worth […]
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November 9, 2016
Why Does A Big Arms Dealer Own A Piece Of Pandora?
It’s safe to say that if you’re involved in music, the last thing you think about is making war. That’s why it comes as a great surprise to discover that the world’s largest arms dealer, Lockheed-Martin, owns 184,000 shares of Pandora worth almost $2 million. To be sure, this is a drop in the bucket […]
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November 7, 2016
Neil Young Gives In And Puts Music Back On Streaming Services
Neil Young pulled his music off of every streaming service in 2015 because of the poor sound quality in favor of his own Pono service, but in a reversal, now he’s back. Although last May his music was made available on Tidal, now it can be found on both Spotify and Apple Music. Pono was […]
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November 2, 2016
Packaging Band Member Remains A New Way To Sell Albums
Sales of physical product are declining year after year yet record labels, artists and bands continue to release them. As formats that you can hold in your hand become much less desirable, it’s more difficult to get the public interested in purchasing them. The experimental San Francisco band Negativland has found a way to go beyond the usual value-adds included […]
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October 31, 2016
Avenged Sevenfold And Warner Music Test The 7 Year Rule
California has an interesting law on the books called the “7 Year Rule” that releases employees from a personal services contract, like a record deal, after 7 years. Th was actually part of a law that was enacted way back in 1872 as a way to protect the then burgeoning entertainment industry and helped to […]
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October 26, 2016
Will We See Higher Royalty Rates From SiriusXM Soon?
Low royalty rates are something that concerns every artist, label, songwriter and publisher. The good news is that they’re gradually rising, and since there are more paying subscribers to streaming services every year, the revenue pie is also getting larger. This may take an even better turn if the proposed new rate increase that SoundExchange wants from SiriusXM […]
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