Author archives: Bruce Houghton

Spotify Stock Ready To Rebound After All-Time Low

Spotify stock was up 2.31% to $132.70 in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after hitting an all time of $120.49 on Tuesday. The streamer’s apparent recovery began on Tuesday afternoon, with the stock rising 2.37% and closing at $129.70. While several analysts have reduced their target price to the $175 to…

Recording Academy Shifts To ‘Community-Driven Membership,’ But Could It Lead To Less Diversity?

The Recording Academy, whose members determine the Grammy Awards, has announced a new "community driven" membership model, as part of an an effort to increase diversity and build a more relevant organization. But could new professional recommendation and peer review requirements have the opposite effect, turning Academy membership and The…

50,000 Sign Petition Asking Maroon 5 To Skip Super Bowl Show In Support Of Colin Kaepernick, #TakeAKnee

Just under 50,000 have already signed a Change.org petition calling for Maroon 5 to drop out of performing as part of the Superbowl halftime show in February. The band are rumored to have accepted the gig even after Rihanna turned it down in support of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick…

TUE. BRIEF: WMG Spends $180M On Merch • CMT To Air Americanafest • Labels Sue PokerNews • More

TUESDAY 11.20.18
Music Business News From Around The Web
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Taylor Swift’s UMG Deal Includes A Gift To Other Artists

Taylor Swift has once again used her power to help hundreds of other musicians. Universal Music Group will share profits from the sale of Spotify stock with artists that have not recouped their advances. While this almost unprecedented payment promise will match Sony’s Spotify payments, the real person to thank…

BUSINESS OF INDIE: Swift Goes Major • Glassnote Goes AWAL • Recording Academy Changes • More

In this 2nd edition of our continously updated Business Of Indie compendium of independent music news, we share stories on Taylor Swift’s exit from indie Big Machine to UMG, Glassnote’s switch from UMG to AWAL (Do they cancel each other out?), changes in Recording Academy membership to increase diversity and…

iHeartMedia Acquires Radio Tech Platform Jelli

iHeartMedia announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Jelli, the company behind the SoundPoint platform which enables programmatic buying and selling broadcast radio ad time. The acquisition, which is designed to help radio compete with the kind of targeted advertising that digital services offer, comes just…

Music SEO Advice For Beginners

This week the Music Biz Weekly podcast tackles the topic of SEO – Search Engine Optimization. Don’t be afraid of this episode, they bring the topic of SEO down to a level that we call all understand. What is SEO and how is it different than SEM, Search Engine Marketing?…

Taylor Swift Exits Big Machine For Universal Music Group

Just a month after becoming a free agent, Taylor Swift has announced a global deal with Universal Music Group and its Republic Records imprint. The superstar has been with indie label Big Machine since 2006, selling more than 32 million albums in the US alone. As part of the new…