The Music Modernization Act (MMA) has officially been introduced into the U.S. Senate, with few changes to the House version. That’s bad news for smaller artists, but considered extremely positive for bigger players like Spotify, SoundExcha…
Category archives: Feature Story
iHeartMedia Still Owes Artists $16.4 Million. Now, It Wants to Pay Itself $108 Million in Bonuses
iHeartMedia has proven that filing for bankruptcy can lead to a very solid payday. Well, not for the artists, labels, and PROs it owes. Last March, underscoring Digital Music News’ theory a year earlier, iHeartMedia filed for bankruptcy. Ju…
Electric Guitar Sales Have Plunged 23% Since 2008
Electric guitar sales have slipped 22.7% since 2008, based partly on decreased demand from younger buyers. Surprisingly, acoustic guitar sales are a totally different story. Last year, the Washington Post reported that electric guitar sales had p…
The Electronic Music Awards are Coming to LA This November
The Electronic Music Awards to gather the electronic music community in one venue. Expect Willow Studios to be stuffed this fall when the Electronic Music Awards comes to Los Angeles. Let’s just say that this event won’t be your traditional awards sho…
Spotify Removes R. Kelly from Its Playlists — Singer ‘Doesn’t Reflect Our Values’
You can still find every R. Kelly song on Spotify. But the r&b singer’s music won’t be available on playlists, effective immediately. Spotify has just opened a huge can of worms with this one. But maybe that’s exactly …
Elon Musk Blasts Spotify for Its ‘Crazy Low Payouts’ to Artists
Elon Musk is suddenly getting a close-up look at what artists are getting paid by Spotify — as well as other streaming platforms. Artists have been screaming about this for years. Maybe even a decade. Now, Elon Musk is blasting Spotif…
Latest Industry: RIAA, Elon Musk, Morgan Evans, BTS, Sony/ATV, TIDAL, Vertigo, Recording Academy, More…
Streaming music services pay Grimes way too little, says Elon Musk. Following the confirmation of his relationship with Canadian pop star Grimes, Elon Musk has blasted the “crazy low payout” artists receive from streaming music services.…
TIDAL Accused of Fraudulently Inflating Kanye, Beyonce and Subscriber Numbers
How far did TIDAL go to promote Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Beyoncé’s Lemonade? Let’s face it. Jay-Z hasn’t had such a great time so far. First, his last 4:44 album didn’t appear on Billboard charts …
Ticketmaster Faces a Brand-New Rival: Its Former CEO…
Ticketmaster is now being challenged by ‘Rival,’ an appropriately-titled upstart. For seemingly decades, Ticketmaster has been barraged by unsuccessful, highly-financed challenges. Investors have burned hundreds of millions trying to …
China’s NetEase Cloud Music To Launch BTS’ Entire Repertoire Of Songs
NetEase Cloud Music just made a serious Kpop content acquisition. We’ve been watching a jaw-dropping transformation in the Chinese digital music market over the past few years. We’ve even met — incredulously — with ambitio…