The music business has long been critical of YouTube not only for its 55/45 split (45% going to YouTube), but for the fact that songwriters and publishers frequently go unpaid. This could soon change for songwriters signed to ASCAP as the organization has agreed to a new plan that shares songwriter information with the video […]
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Many musicians are adept in at least one of the major social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), but aren’t aware that those skills are transferrable to a platform that requires a lot more social interaction that you might think – Spotify. The service has done a good job not only as a music distributor, but […]
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Spotify may be in the lead when it comes to paid streaming subscribers, but Apple Music is closing the gap fast. The company announced last week during its presentation at the World Wide Developers Conference that its streaming service is now up to 27 million users. Spotify still leads the pack with 50 million, but […]
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Mastering engineer Pete Doell was on the podcast a couple of years ago, but he has a brand new room at Aftermaster in Hollywood so I thought it would interesting to talk to him about how he put it together. We talked about gear, acoustics, and dealing with a room that he couldn’t change much […]
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The streaming music service Pandora’s in trouble and it has been for some time. Its user base is shrinking, its losses are increasing, and it’s not able to generate enough revenue, a bad combination if there ever was one. Reports are that the company actually rejected a total acquisition by the satellite radio company Sirius […]
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Here’s the Music Industry News Roundup for the week ending on June 9th, 2017. There was a wide range of new this week, and for once it’s not all centered on streaming. Let’s get into it. The digital music war is over, and the major labels lost. Good article in Rolling Stone how the industry adapted to […]
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So much has changed in the music industry over the last few years that affect an artist’s ability to be successful. Some of it is brand new and a result of the technology we use, while some of it is good common sense that’s been used over and over during the past decades of the […]
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Sometimes consolidation is a good thing, and that certainly looks like the case with Sony Music folding its RED distribution into its Orchard operation. The move is being made in the name of efficiency, and no jobs will be lost in the transition, which is unusual. This is actually happening on a worldwide basis as […]
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Beatie Wolfe is an excellent singer/songwriter with 3 albums and an EP under her belt, but she’s also on the cutting edge of tech and how it’s incorporated into the musical experience. Beatie’s first album 8ight featured a unique 3D interactive album, her Montegu Square album featured a one-off musical jacket and the world’s first […]
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There was a time when music artists led the charge for social awareness, eschewing commercialism in favor of some greater public good. “Selling out,” was about the worst thing you could do during those days, and a quick way to become ostracized not only from fellow musicians, but a large portion of the music consuming public […]
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Here’s the Music Industry News Roundup for the week ending on June 2nd, 2017. This week isn’t so much about blockbuster news as it is about trends in the industry, especially streaming. I’m not so sure that all the trends are in the right direction, though. Let’s get into it. Drake beat a copyright infringement lawsuit. This is […]
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If you’re an artist or band, hopefully you have a website. If you do, you’re probably wondering if it actually helps you to get gigs. By itself, a good artist website can be an excellent introduction to any promoters checking you out, but there’s one section that’s more important than all others that’s usually overlooked […]
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Unless you’ve already got a hit, you’re still establishing your career, and that means getting your music in front of anyone who will listen. Unfortunately some artists are content to just use an aggregator like Tunecore, Distrokid or CD Baby and hope for the best. Music discovery is what it’s all about though, so the […]
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My guest on this week’s podcast is Eric Gaskell, who’s really an interesting guy. He started in the business as a violin player, but soon took a left turn into audio electronics that led to a Phd from McGill University. While teaching at McGill, he noticed that there were no good high-quality mic preamp kits […]
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Streaming seems to have wiped out music piracy, but not according to the IFPI. The global recording industry organization claims that piracy is still alive and well but just in another form. While illegal downloads dominated piracy a few years ago, now it’s attributed to stream ripping (illegally saving music while streaming it). Here’s a chart […]
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