Anyone that used to or still buys vinyl albums knows that packaging is a big deal. Interesting packaging has led to more sales than the record industry might admit just based on a cool looking graphic and some great liner notes. That said, sometimes an artist goes the extra mile to present an album packaged […]
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When it comes to social media, the desired user graphics are a moving target that change often. One day your page and profile images look great, and the next day they’re all squished or cropped. Here’s the latest image sizes from the 5 major social networks thanks to Symphonic Distribution. Facebook Here are the current […]
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Reports are that Apple is moving up its timetable for killing the MP3 download from its iTunes Store to later this year. Originally the company was planning on next year for end-of-life, but have accelerated the schedule thanks to quickly declining sales and the unprecedented growth of music streaming. There has been no official announcement […]
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Reports from all over the Internet suggest that Jimmy Iovine will be leaving Apple shortly after the stock he received in the company’s 2014 acquisition of his previous enterprise, Beats Electronics, vests in August. There’s been no denial or even suggestion that the story isn’t true, so it prompts a retrospective question – What exactly […]
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Gebre Waddell started in the music business as a mastering engineer from his Stonebridge Mastering in Memphis, but he’s always been into programming since he was a kid. He eventually turned that into a real business as co-founder and CEO of plugin developer Soundways. The company now offers a number of next generation plugins like […]
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As we enter into the new year, it’s sometimes useful to look back at the previous year to discover what the trends were. Nielsen Music posted it’s music consumption figures for 2017 and a number of things became pretty evident when you really looked a the data. 1. Total music consumption was up by 12.5 percent […]
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Being a producer has gotten a lot less lucrative these days thanks to streaming. Most producer deals are built around physical sales, which as we all know, are becoming pretty much a thing a of past except in a very few cases. Sure you get paid on streaming mechanicals, but the revenue is a far […]
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Spotify’s legal team is going to be kept pretty busy for a while defending the company against a $1.6 billion (yes, with a B) lawsuit brought by the Wixen Music Publishing. The company licenses music from about 200 artists, including superstars Tom Petty, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, Donald Fagen, Stevie Nicks, Missy Elliott, and Janis […]
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2017 is now in the books and it was a big year for the recorded music industry, so now it’s time to look ahead to 2018. Here are 7 predictions that can affect the music business in ways big and small in the upcoming year should they come to pass. 1. Spotify finally goes public, […]
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We begin the new year on the Podcast with 4 time Grammy-nominated producer/engineer/musician Joel Hamilton, who’s credits include the Black Keys, Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, and Pretty Lights, among many others. Joel’s also a part owner of Studio G Brooklyn and a frequent speaker at conferences all over the world (you’ll know why when you […]
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I want to wish you a Happy New Year and a very prosperous 2018! May your life in the new year have the following: • Great success • Much love • Healthy relationships • Peak health • Time off to enjoy life • Positive thoughts • Lots of good food • Extreme creativity • And […]
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Getting exposure for your music is the only way to grow your audience, and one of the best ways to do that is through music blogs. I’ve written about how to approach music bloggers in the past, but the fact of the matter is that one of the biggest chores in doing so is trying […]
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Apple recently confirmed that it acquired the audio recognition app Shazam for a cool $400 million. The price actually surprised analysts at how low it had fallen, given that the company was valued as high as $1 billion in the past. That said, Apple had to beat both Spotify and Snap in a bidding war […]
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Both Sony Music and Universal Music Group are reported to have renewed their licensing deals with YouTube, which now means that the video platform now has all three major labels back in the fold after resigning Warner Music months ago. YouTube was operating under expired licenses with the majors for some time, but the new […]
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No guest on the podcast this week because it’s time for my annual look back at the year in the music business and music production. We’ll go over some of the big events of the year that will have an effect on next year as well. Speaking of next year, I’ll also look at some […]
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