Longtime indie label champion Alison Wenham is stepping down as CEO of the Worldwide Independent Music Industry Network (WIN). The departure marks the end of a 12-year reign at WIN, and a lot of positive improvements for the indie music space. The exi…
Author archives: Paul Resnikoff
Smart Speakers Are Most Frequently Used to Play Music — Just Like Dumb Speakers
If you want to see the future of music software, take a look at what’s happening in music hardware. Is the winner in streaming music the winner in smart speaker adoption? In its initial phase, smart speakers are mostly associated with voice-activation …
Spotify’s Stock Flirts With Another All-Time Low Amidst Broader Market Turbulence
Shares Spotify (SPOT) slid back into the 120s on Tuesday amidst a broader market downturn and softened price targets. Spotify’s ‘disruptive public offering’ is facing renewed turbulence amidst broader market malaise. While Britain careens towards the …
Sony Music and Rhapsody Jointly Release a Hi-Res Streaming Service to Japan — Introducing ‘Mora Qualitas’
Good news for Japanese music fans who demand higher-end digital audio quality. But is this market big enough? Sony Music Entertainment and Rhapsody International are jointly launching Mora Qualitas, a hi-res streaming music service. According to detai…
Max Martin’s Auddly Scores Two Major Partnerships In the ‘Data Supply Chain’
The messy state of metadata is getting cleaned up — at least a little bit. Talk to artists, songwriters, indie labels, and publishers on the ground, and metadata and resulting PRO nightmares are easy to find. Which might explain why Max Martin — easil…
The FBI Is Investigating Millions of Fake Net Neutrality Comments Submitted to the FCC
The FBI has just opened an investigation into millions of falsely-entered comments related to net neutrality. The move follows an avalanche of fake comments ahead of the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, with Russian accounts now confirmed to be a major con…
Our Latest Podcast: One of These Three Companies Will Change Live Concerts Forever
And if it’s not one of these companies — it’ll be one of their competitors. What’s wrong with the live music space? Before you answer that question, consider that the live concert industry has been absolutely exploding over the past decade. According…
Madison Square Garden CEO James Dolan Fined $609,810 for Federal Reporting Violations
Madison Square Garden’s Chairman and CEO has settled charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). More money, more problems — and a lot more fines for even the slightest of federal reporting errors. In this case, Madison Square Garden chairman…
European Film, TV, and Sports Associations Speak Out Against Article 13 — ‘We Are Extremely Concerned About the Direction’
A consortium of 18 organizations across the film, TV, and sports industries in Europe is now speaking out against Article 13. Google/Alphabet has a newfound ally in its war against Article 13: rights owners. In a recently-issued open letter, a consorti…
Playlists Aren’t Everything. Here Are Some Other Critical Metrics to Track an Artist’s Success (Or Lack Thereof)
The God-like power of the playlist is both respected and feared within the music industry. But ignore these other metrics at your own risk. A slot on a top-ranked playlist can transform obscurity into notoriety almost overnight. By brutal contrast, a r…