Vinyl Sales Keep Soaring But Streaming Revenue Is Beginning To Flatten

The RIAA just issued its mid-year report, and as almost always, there are surprises. Perhaps the biggest is that vinyl sales continue to grow at a rapid rate. On the other had, streaming is showing signs of plateauing, news that must send shivers down label execs everywhere. Physical Sales Let’s get to the good news […]

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Engineer Justin Cortelyou, SoundCloud Layoffs, And Unusual Effects Pedal Packages On My Latest Podcast

On my latest podcast episode: Grammy-nominated engineer Justin Cortelyou talks about personal studio dynamics, working with legendary producer Bob Ezrin, his hybrid mixing technique, the importance of a sonic signature, and much more. A look at the massive Soundcloud layoffs and what it may mean for artists Unusual effects pedal packages (hint: one comes in […]

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You May Have To Watch As Many As 10 Unskippable YouTube Ads In A Row

We all watch YouTube videos, and some of us watch a lot more than we’re aware of. That said, nobody likes to watch the ads that come with the free tier. You can usually skip the ones at the front of the videos after 5 seconds, but not the mid-roll ones. That’s bad enough, but […]

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Ireland Will Now Pay Artists And Musicians A Basic Income

The dream of every musician is to make enough money from music to not have to work a day job. It’s a nice dream but unfortunately not possible for the vast majority of musicians, especially those just starting out. Unless you live in Ireland, which will now pay at least some artists and musicians a […]

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Former Maroon 5 Drummer Ryan Dusick, Will Your Song Be Stolen, And Constants Of Vocal Recording On My Latest Podcast

On my latest podcast episode: Former Maroon 5 drummer Ryan Dusick discusses the early days of Maroon 5, dealing with anxiety and a chronic injury, advice from U2, his new book, and much more. What are the odds that your song will be stolen? The 8 constants of vocal recording. Listen to it the at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, […]

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We’re Living In An Online Entertainment World, So Is The Social Universe Over?

Report after report has given us data that both Facebook and Instagram have a user retention problem, and it’s all because of the rise of TikTok. The problem is that most reports just give you the results and don’t really dig into the reasons behind the numbers. But here’s a secret that no one is […]

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What To Look For In A Media Manager

If you’re like most musicians, you’d rather spend your time creating new music than working on social media. The problem is that we all know how important social engagement is when it comes to maintaining and growing your audience. As a result, many artists would rather have a dedicated person handle their online presence. The […]

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Song Doctor Molly Leikin, Song Codes Everyone Should Know, And The Bass Line That Crashed Computers On My Latest Podcast

On my latest podcast episode: Song doctor Molly Leikin talks about being a staff writer for a publisher, the most common song problems, writing for the current marketplace, the process of creative songwriting, her new book, and much more. The 2 metadata codes that every songwriter and artist should know. The bass line so powerful […]

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People Now Watch YouTube Videos At Faster Speeds

There are too many videos on YouTube to ever keep up with, so many users are trying their best by using the faster speed function. Yes, you can’t see them all, but you can see more of them if they run faster. In fact, the platform figures that people save about 900 years worth of […]

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Streamers Agree To Another Songwriter Royalty Increase

If you think that streaming royalty rates for artists are low, until recently songwriters and publishers make far less. They’ve been arguing for a raise for a while now with a lot of pushback from the big streamers, but that may be all behind us now. The National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), the Nashville Songwriters […]

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Grammy Nominee Negatives, Environmental Vinyl, And Producer/Mixer/Educator Kevin Kelly On My Latest Podcast

On my latest podcast episode: Producer, mixer and educator Kevin Kelly talks about the importance of networking, the new generation of plugins, how mutli-tasking has changed attention spans, analog summing during mixing, and much more. Being nominated for a Grammy can have a big downside. A new environmentally-friendly vinyl record is coming. Listen to it […]

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Catalog Music: When Should Music Be Considered Old?

Record labels have always differentiated the music they sell between what’s called Frontline and Catalog. Frontline are recent releases, and Catalog is anything older than 18 months. While the Catalog designation might have worked back in the day of physical products, today the 18 month time frame seems so out of step with the way […]

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Don’t Confuse Social Followers With Fans

I have an artist friend who was thrilled when she hit 10,000 followers on TikTok. The problem was that it didn’t seem to translate into more visibility or plays for her music. When she asked my opinion I told her that it was simple – your social followers are not necessarily your fans. This is […]

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It May Not Be Time For An AI Artist After All

Last week the music industry was abuzz about Capitol Records signing the first AI artist. This week everyone is talking about how fast that artist was dropped. AI rapper FN Meka has over 9 million followers and over a billion views on TikTok, but it turns out there’s more to a signing than just pure […]

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Shazam Numbers, 10 Unchanged Mics, And Music Sup/Radio Personality Jason Kramer On My Latest Podcast

On my latest podcast episode: Music supervisor and radio personality Jason Kramer talks about  the work of a music supervisor, how music supervision has changed over the years, dealing with temp tracks, what a sports radio producer does, the future of radio, and much more. A look at Shazam numbers over 20 years. 10 microphones […]

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