Spotify recently revealed that it had 2 million subscribers that were using ad blockers on its free tier. Since a user doesn’t pay anything to subscribe to that tier they’re subjected to ads that help pay for it and also return royalties to the artists. Someone who uses an ad blocker obviously doesn’t listen to […]
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You’ve undoubtedly heard the music from this week’s guest, because his band’s music has been on the radio continually somewhere in the world for the last 40 years or so. Buck Dharma is lead guitarist and one of the founders of Blue Oyster Cult. He also wrote and sang lead on some of their biggest […]
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Everyone hates paying the inflated prices that secondary ticket sellers charge, but many customers feel they’re a necessary evil. If you want a seat, especially a good one, they’re probably the only game in town. But that may not be as true in Europe soon as Ticketmaster announced it will shut down its GET ME […]
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If you own a home you most likely know about Zillow, a website that makes it easy to find out how much your house, and others in the neighborhood, is worth on the current open market. It’s great if you’re buying or selling a home, or just for fun to play a “What if” game […]
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To many artists and bands, PR is some sort of mythical magic bullet. The thought is, “I’ll hire a publicist and then I’ll immediately be in all the music magazines, and the music bloggers will want to interview me, Spotify playlist curators will open up a slot for my music, and I may even get […]
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The naysayers have always been so negative on the fraction of a cent payout that comes from a music stream, but it’s never been so evident that those small bits add up to something huge. Music Business Worldwide did the math after looking at both Sony Music and Universal Music Group’s financials for the beginning […]
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I’ve gotten so many questions about the Music Modernization Act bill now making its way through Congress right now that I thought I’d bring on an expert to get us up to speed. Daryl Frydman is the Recording Academy’s chief industry and government relations officer based in Washington D. C. He’s also been with us […]
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Spotify and Apple Music have been locked in a back and forth battle for the hearts and minds of the music streaming business that increases in tempo a bit more seemingly every day. Until now, Apple has had the upper hand strategically over Spotify in that its music streaming division was just another reason to […]
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Warner Music Group recently sold all of its stake in Spotify for $504 million, and everyone expected that money to go right to the company’s bottom line and bypass its artists. That’s not the case though as Warners announced that it would allocate 25% of that income back to artists. Sounds like good news, right? […]
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Selling merch is essential to artists and bands today, maybe more so than ever. The problem is that not only does it take a lot of thought and effort to come up with the appropriate products, but the same amount of thought and effort is needed when it comes to selling them as well. Here […]
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Lyle Workman has a long history as a guitar player and songwriter, first as a member of Bourgeois Tagg, and then with Todd Rundgren, Beck and Sting as well as tons of sessions. These days he’s thriving as a film and television composer with movies like Superbad, The 40 Year Old Virgin and Bad Santa 2, and television shows […]
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I’m pleased to announce the release of my latest book, The Music Business Advice Book: 150 Immediately Useful Tips From The Pros. The book is a compilation of 150 helpful quotes from 130 top music pros from various segments of the music industry who previously shared these tips on my Inner Circle Podcast over the course of almost […]
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In honor of the 60th anniversary of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, the company issued its all-time top 100 songs cultivated from #1 hits over the last 6 decades. The chart was created by 3 Billboard staffers with the help of producer Mark Ronson and hit songwriter Diane Warren. It’s easy to be surprised with some […]
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Everyone knows that the key to streaming success today is getting placement on a key playlist, especially on Spotify. While this might have been easier to accomplish a few years ago, it’s now become increasingly more difficult, thanks to the fact that playlist curators are overloaded with submissions. This has even to a new type […]
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Regardless of how much talent you may have, unless someone hears about what you’re doing you’ll end up creating in your bedroom your whole life. One of the keys to getting ahead for many of us is by networking. While this comes easy and natural for some, others find it unbelievably difficult, but you might […]
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