The fee for official copyright registration is about to go up. Every three to five years, the U.S. Copyright Office does an in-depth study of its fees to determine whether to adjust them, then sends its results to Congress, which then has 120 days to do nothing (meaning approval) or pass a law disapproving the […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Michelle Moog-Koussa, the daughter of the man who’s name is almost synonymous with the word synthesizer – Bob Moog. Michelle has been the executive director of the Bob Moog Foundation for the 12 years since its inception. She has guided the organization through the creation and growth of its hallmark […]
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The dam just might be at the breaking point for high-resolution music as another new service has been introduced. Sony Music Entertainment Japan (SMEJ) launched its new Mora Qualitas service in Japan in partnership with Napster. Mora Qualitas was first announced last December, but now has launched publicly. It features FLAC-streamed files at either CD […]
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Songwriters jump from one performance rights organization (PRO) to another all the time, but it usually doesn’t make waves when it happens. That could be because they don’t pay close attention to their royalty statements or they’re not a major earner so they’re not affected. Grammy-winner songwriter/producer Shane McAnally found out the hard way that […]
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The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act passed by a count of 410 to 6 in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday, and now goes to the Senate for a final vote. The bill also has strong sponsorship and support in that chamber and is expected to pass. If and when that happens, […]
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Spotify certainly looks like the big dog on the streaming block, and perhaps it really is, but some on Wall Street are beginning to think that the company is not all that its stock is cracked up to be. A recent article in Fortune looked inside the company and the state of streaming and found […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Michael Romanowski, who is a Grammy nominated mastering engineer and the owner and chief mastering engineer at San Francisco’s Coast Mastering. He’s also the co-owner and founder of the analog tape label The Tape Project, and a trustee of the The Recording Academy San Francisco Chapter (NARAS). Michael has worked […]
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The short video service TikTok is about the hottest thing on social media these days when it comes to music. The 15 second lip-syncs uploaded by users can turn a song into a hit (which is what happened to “Old Town Road”), and every major record label has noticed. So has Google, who reportedly in […]
Continue readingIf you’re an artist or a band with a website you really depend upon ranking high when someone searches for you. It’s not only embarrassing when you don’t wind up in the top 3 search listings, but you might as well not exist if you wind up on page 2 or worse. That’s why every […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Yoad Nevo, who’s credits include over thirty #1 singles, more than fifty Top 10 albums and over sixty Top 10 singles worldwide as a producer, mixer and mastering engineer. Among the artists he’s worked with include Sia, Bryan Adams, Pet Shop boys, Sugababies, The Dandy Warhols, Moby, Morcheeba and many […]
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There are a ton of music charts these days, many that replicate one other. Some are meaningful to a certain audience and in turn, mean nothing to another. Others are fading in relevance with the arrival of newcomers. But there’s always room for more, right? Live music discovery platform Bandsintown has launched a series of […]
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I started getting blockchain music pitches about 4 years ago. In every single one the central theme was the same – “Blockchain is going to save the music business and allow artists to charge a fair price again.” I’ve heard so many similar claims that now whenever I see blockchain mentioned in a pitch I […]
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If you have a website (I hope you do) displaying your musical wares, you want it to rank high in a Google search. But page ranking requires site optimization in order to get the utmost attention from all search engines. Since Google is the big dog in search by far, if you get the SEO […]
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We’ve all heard of payola where radio DJs or program directors get paid in order to ensure they’ll play a song on their station. When it happens, it’s all done under the table, but one station in California actually has a program with an F.A.Q. that directly states the prices for airplay and an interview. […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Bruce Houghton, who started his boutique Skyline Artists Agency more than 25 year ago. The agency now grown to offices in Los Angeles, Nashville, New England, Virginia, Florida and St.Louis, and serves 60 diverse artists that include Roger McGuinn, Poco, Atlanta Rhythm Section, The Motels, Freddie McGregor Zoe Keating, Darlingside, […]
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