The CD is fading away, not as quickly as was predicted, but the long slow decline is occurring nonetheless. Streaming is the root cause, of course, and the decline of the importance of the album too, but for the most part, our attention is now elsewhere instead of on a round piece of plastic. That […]
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Everyone in the music business is ultimately a brand, and the ones that develop theirs are ultimately the most successful. Artists, bands, musicians, producers, even indie record labels, have a tough time discovering their brand though, and in some cases they don’t know where to start. In the second edition of my Social Media Promotion […]
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At one point in time the Family Plan tier with multiple users on one monthly bill seemed like a great way to get more people on board with music streaming, especially when it was new. This strategy actually turned out to work too well though, as so many users are now on Family Plans that […]
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Michael Laskow started Taxi in 1992 with the idea of helping songwriters, artists, bands, and composers get their music heard initially by record labels, and later by publishers and music supervisors. The company now has members in over 90 countries and features a host of placements with virtually every major television channel and film studio. […]
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If you’re an A-list artist then times are very good for you. According the recent Pollstar mid-year report, the top 50 best selling tours in the first half of 2018 generated a record amount of cash. Those tours brought in $2.21 billion in sales revenue, which is up 12% over last year at the same time. […]
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It’s true that millions of people still go to YouTube primarily for the cute cat and baby videos, but music is still the platform’s #1 attraction and money maker, according to a new study by MIDiA. Music videos are the single most popular video category on YouTube, accounting for 32% of views and 21% of its […]
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Just posting on any platform online just for the sake of having posts probably strategically isn’t a good idea. You want to post something that’s relevant to your music in some way so you can use it at least indirectly as marketing. Luckily, as a musician, you probably have plenty to write about. Here’s an […]
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Fonts are a big part of our lives. Every piece of marketing that you’ll ever release probably has or will have at least a couple of fonts, so instead of just picking them at random because they look nice, it’s best to at least have an idea of the power they have. Each one has […]
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My guest on the Podcast this week is Ron McMaster, who recently retired from Capitol Records Mastering after 38 years with the company. During that time he specialized in cutting vinyl and mastered a wide variety of genres and artists that include everyone from Frank Sinatra to George Harrison, Radiohead, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones […]
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We all spend an enormous amount of time online these days and for many of us much of that comes by way of our smartphones. In fact, studies indicate that the younger the demographic, the more likely they’ll be tied to their phones. That’s generally been a good thing for the music industry since streaming […]
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Virtual Reality hit the streets with such promise but really hasn’t taken off the way that everyone had hoped and predicted. One of the reasons was that the bulky headsets just aren’t that appealing. The other is that there really wasn’t a “killer app” available, although for a while everyone thought that music might be […]
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We keep on hearing about how most of an artist’s money is made from touring and that’s true – but only if you’ve reached a certain level on the success ladder. For everyone else out on the road it’s all about hoping that you’ll make enough money just to cover your costs. The problem is […]
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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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