Will Too Many Music Uploads Bring Back The Gatekeepers?

In the days before digital music, artists used to complain about “the gatekeepers” that made the decisions on what would get signed, what would get published and what would get heard. There always seemed to be a middleman in the way, and that kept a lot of artists from having careers. That all ended with […]

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Yes, You Really Can Go Viral On TikTok

TikTok is getting as commercialized as any other social platform as it matures. When that happens, most of the early adopter creators whose content helped build the platform’s popularity get squeezed out. TikTok may be bucking that trend though, as some new data indicates that you can still go viral on the service far easier […]

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Yes, There’s Another Spotify Scam Indie Artists Need To Look Out For

Artists, managers and record labels have been trying to game the system going back to the 1950s, so it should come as no surprise whenever a new way is discovered to make an artist seem bigger that reality. There have been numerous ways to game streaming networks over the years, and while the latest Spotify […]

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Major Labels May Be Trying To Lower Indie Artists Streaming Royalty Rates

There’s nothing official yet, but if you believe where there’s smoke there’s fire then this report might be a warning of things to come in the streaming world. It looks like the major labels are trying to get higher streaming rates for their artists, or a lower rate for indie artists. They have good reason […]

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Believe It Or Not, TikTok Payouts Are Even Less Than YouTube

YouTube has been the main target of artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for a long time over the small royalties it pays as compared to other streaming music services. But what if you discovered that TikTok payouts were even worse, and I mean way worse, than YouTube? That is indeed the case, according to an […]

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Here’s What Happens When A TikTok Song Goes Viral

You might think that I’m posting a lot about TikTok lately and you’re right. The reason why is that the platform has become an important part of the music business, and probably more so than you’re aware of. The video below shows how influential the service really is when a TikTok song goes viral. You […]

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Now You Know That The Major Labels Control Most Spotify Playlists

For the longest time, “playlists” were the mantra of every artist who hoped to break out on Spotify. If only you could get on a major playlist, then your career would finally get some traction. That looks less and less likely these days as a new study has found that the major labels control anywhere […]

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Spotify Playlist Hijacking Is Another Blow To Artists Trying To Make Money

As if it wasn’t already hard enough to make money from Spotify plays, there’s yet another impediment to indie artists making an honest buck on the platform – playlist hijacking. Imagine that you have a playlist that you painstakingly curated, selecting each song purposefully and carefully, when all of a sudden a song that you […]

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Amazon Music Will Soon Be #2 In U.S. Streaming Market

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Spotify is the the top streamer in the United States, but for the longest time Pandora came in at #2. That ranking looks like it will change by the end of 2022 as Amazon Music is coming on strong and will overtake Pandora for #2 in […]

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How YouTube’s Copyright Match Tool Can Make You Money

While YouTube has a very powerful tool to help catch reuploads in its Copyright ID tool, it’s not as proactive as many would like. For instance, Copyright ID might flag a video for using your music, but many times it’s up to you to catch a problem by just searching around to see what happens. […]

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Two Men Steal More Than $20 Million In YouTube Scam

For all the musicians and songwriters out there who are frustrated with the royalty payouts from YouTube, maybe it’s time to explore your royalty statements a little closer to make sure that you’re getting everything you deserve. In perhaps the boldest YouTube scam yet, two men where recently charged with collecting around $20 million in […]

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Why You Need A YouTube Official Artist Channel

YouTube has been an essential tool for so many artists, not only for music discovery but for branding as well. The problem is that you may have a number of YouTube channels with videos spread out between them. This definitely dilutes your viewership and subscriptions, so YouTube set out to make it easier for both […]

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How The New Apple Music Voice Streaming Tier Will Affect Artists

During Apple’s recent big product event, one of the items that was somewhat overlooked in all the excitement over its new laptops is Apple Music’s new streaming tier, called Apple Music Voice. Any new streaming service or tier is exciting for artists, labels and songwriters, since it’s another opportunity for revenue, but Music Voice has […]

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Songs Today Are Short And Here’s Why

Songs today are shorter than ever with some coming in at even under 2 minutes. That doesn’t mean that they’re any better or worse than what came before, but it’s worth noting the reasons why shorter sub-3 minute songs seem to be the norm these days. Historically Speaking Most pop songs destined for singles were […]

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It’s Under The Radar, But Gaming Is Now Big For Music Discovery

Ever since the very beginning of digital music, music discovery has been the buzzword on every music exec’s lips. It was somewhat cut and dried back in the analog days, as radio ruled. Get some traction on a few stations (or even one big one) and your career would be off and running. The digital […]

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