The latest Nielsen Music Mid-Year Report shows that streaming has actually dropped by 5% in the U.S., which is causing some unneeded panic to occur in some sectors of the music business. With streaming growth predicted to continue for the next 10 years, any sign of a slowdown seems to contradict industry pundits, but this […]
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You’ve heard a lot about the decline of the album, and while there’s still some value there, it continues to less and less of a factor for many artists – unless you’re in the 1%. The annual Nielsen Music Mid-Year Music Industry Report, provides some numbers that illustrate that new reality. Top 10 Best Sellers […]
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Happy July 4th to all my American friends! To my readers from other parts of the world, nothing signifies this holiday celebrating the birth of our nation like the John Philips Sousa march “Stars And Stripes Forever.” It caps off our holiday festivities amid great fanfare and fireworks, especially when played well. No one plays […]
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Last year Spotify announced that it purchased a portion of music distributor DistroKid, and that would mean that its users would soon be able to distribute their music to platforms other than Spotify. The company has apparently thought better of the move, however, and announced that it’s closing its Upload Beta Program for independent artists. […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Jim Dunne, founder and senior acoustic consultant of the ground-breaking Smart Studio, which completely disrupts how recording studios and dubbing theaters have been built. Smart Studio supplies a modular system that provides not only isolation but excellent acoustic design. Jim has over 30 years experience in the acoustics and noise control […]
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Despite a valiant effort to brush off the UMG music vault fire as just “noise,” parent company Vivendi is feeling the effects of the story as shares dropped 2.8% today on fears that the company’s plans for a partial sale of the major record label are in jeopardy. Universal Music Group (UMG) had been valued […]
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It looks like it’s really happening. After a few years of persistent rumors, word now comes that Amoeba Music and its iconic Sunset Boulevard location will be redeveloped into a new complex with 200 residential units and retail space. The Los Angeles City Council approved changes to the zoning for the spot earlier in the […]
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You’re in the studio hard at work on your next group of songs and it’s been taking up all of your time. That’s all well and good but the problem is that if you don’t begin to plan your release strategy in advance you may be caught with a bunch of songs with no idea […]
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Probably more than ever before, being on an indie label is actually good for an artist. Where in the past an indie label was looked on as the only alternative after being turned down by a major label, today an indie can have as much clout as a major, thanks to Merlin – the organization […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Bree Noble, who is a champion for women in music thanks to her Female Entrepreneur Musician Podcast and Female Musician Academy. Bree quit her corporate job as a Director of Finance at a top opera company to pursue a successful run as a touring singer/songwriter where she won several songwriting and artist awards […]
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It’s not enough that songwriters and publishers make about 1/6th of what artists make per stream on Spotify, or that the company is opposing an impending songwriter royalty increase, now the company claims that it overpaid songwriters and publishers in 2018 and wants that money back. The Copyright Royalty Board has ruled that songwriters would […]
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When an artist sells a lot of product these days, they expect to be compensated for it via a high Billboard chart position, especially if that number is north of 100,000 units. But it really depends how the albums were sold, and that’s what led to a dispute by DJ Khaled and Billboard that might […]
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Hashtags are an essential part of Instagram, but the rules of how they’re best used has changed over the last year or so. What worked in the recent past may now be ancient history, so dig in as we look over the latest data and make some suggestions. First of all, its best to understand […]
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Whenever a new technology comes into play it may solve problems suffered by previous generations, but it also usually opens up new legal territory as well. Such is the case with artificial intelligence being used to help complete Franz Schubert’s Symphony No. 8, which the composer abandoned in 1822 after writing the first two movements. […]
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My guest on the podcast this week is Jonathan Stone has had a long career as a director of creative services in music publishing at heavyweight companies like ATV Music, MCA Music, Quincy Jones Qwest Music Publishing, and Windswept. He now runs the disruptive music service Rocketsongs, that not only helps artists to find and license songs, but […]
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