Have a very merry Christmas and a wonderful and safe Holiday. I am grateful, thankful and humbled by your support.
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No guest on the podcast this week, but I will be taking my annual look back at how the music world changed in 2020. Even though the pandemic dominated the headlines, there was so much more that happened in the past year. We’ll cover: Some of the serious fires that shaped our year and our future The […]
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After months of negotiations, Congress finally agreed to a trillion dollar stimulus package that also included $15 billion for distressed music venues. The Save Our Stages act will provide relief for venues small and large that have been closed since March due to the pandemic. Although the bill has not yet been officially completed and […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Mark Plati, who worked with a wide range of major artists including Prince, David Bowie, Janet Jackson, Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, the Bee Gees, The Cure and many others. In Part 1, which was Episode #338, we talked about we talked about working with Prince and Bowie, music for theater, following […]
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One of the great things about the time we live in is that there’s a constant stream of new apps released to help an artist’s creativity and marketing. It can take some time to sort through them all that are available, but here are 3 that I think are worth checking out for some boost […]
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A survey by The Ivors Academy and Musicians’ Union in the UK found that 82% of their music creators are making less that 200£ (or $270) from streaming music each year. This is despite the fact that the major record labels have claimed to have earned about $4.4 billion dollars so far this year. There were […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Zack Zalon who started his music business career as the general manager of the legendary Troubadour club in Los Angeles. Soon after Zack became president of Virgin Digital, and then managing partner of We See Dragons, an agency designing digital platforms for clients like National Geographic, Comcast, Citibank and more. […]
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In 2008 Kevin Kelly wrote an article in Wired that influenced music marketing forever. The concept was that 1000 true fans are enough to sustain any career, since they’ll buy anything an artist puts forward. If you could make just $100 from each fan, then you could gross $100,000, which most musicians would be happy […]
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Music composers for any kind of broadcast medium know how important cue sheets are. They’re the lifeblood of your royalty stream, but the problem is that it all depends on how they’re filled out. If there’s an entry mistake, it’s entirely possible that either you’ll be paid less than you should or maybe even not […]
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There’s more behind-the-scenes music business stories with former Police and Sting manger Ian Copeland, the guest on the podcast this week. Ian also created IRS Records, which was at the forefront of punk and New Wave as the home of bands like REM, The Bangles, Dead Kennedys, The Go Gos, and many others. In part 2 of […]
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No one wants their song ripped off without credit, but songwriters will tell you that coming up with something totally original is getting harder and harder. That’s because Western music is limited to a 12 note scale, which makes the note combinations, especially the ones that we find pleasing, somewhat limited. No matter which side […]
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The Stories feature is a big hit on multiple social networks and it looks like Spotify is now rolling out its own version. In what is acknowledged as a test, the company unveiled a Christmas Hits story (see the image above) featuring a slew of Holiday songs. If Stories are fully rolled out in the […]
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Get ready for some great behind-the-scenes music business stories as my guest on the podcast this week is Miles Copeland, who formerly managed The Police and created IRS Records. IRS was at the forefront of punk and New Wave as the home of bands like REM, The Bangles, Dead Kennedys, The Go Gos, and many others. He also […]
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To all my friends and readers, I wish you a happy holiday. I truly appreciate your support and I am humbled and honored that you take the time out of your busy day to read my musings. It’s a good day to take some time off, eat a nice meal, have a cocktail and watch some […]
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Snapchat recently introduced a new feature called Spotlight in 11 countries, including the United States and Canada specifically designed to accommodate the type of short, music-driven videos that have become a staple of TikTok. While Snapchat users always posted short videos, they were relegated to their circle of friends on the app. That meant that […]
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