Sorry, YouTube. Billboard doesn’t want you in its official album chart. Yes, the Billboard 200 has become a music industry joke. But YouTube won’t be allowed to laugh along. According to a statement from Billboard, YouTube won’t be …
Category archives: Feature Story
R.I.P. thepiratebay.se. The Pirate Bay’s Infamous Swedish Domain Is Officially Deactivated
One of the world’s most notorious domain names is now defunct. But don’t tell that to The Pirate Bay. It was one of the world’s most notorious domain names for years. And it all started in a haven of music piracy: Sweden. No longer….
My Song Got 1.254 Million Views on YouTube. I Got Paid $42.56
How much does YouTube really pay? A top executive at the company says $3 CPM. But most of the royalty payments shared with Digital Music News are a tiny fraction of that. We want to believe YouTube executive Lyor Cohen when he says YouTube pays a $3 …
I’ll Pay You $5,000 to Write a Song — But It Has to Use These 7 Notes
Serj Tankian from System of a Down is issuing a challenge to the entire songwriting community. And $5,000 to the writer who pulls it off. “I give you 7 notes. You give me your best.” That’s the simple challenge from Serj Tankian. H…
Google Has Removed 3,004,747,844 Piracy Links from Search Results
Google has now received billions of takedown requests for infringing piracy links. Actually, 3 billion and counting. The battle against digital piracy always seems to be a losing one. Yet, in a seemingly uncelebrated milestone, Google has now receive…
How Post Malone Stuck It to YouTube, Got a #1 Hit, and Cashed a Big Fat Check
Everyone’s complaining about how little YouTube pays artists. So Post Malone, 21 Savage, and Republic Records did something about it. The music industry spends a lot of time complaining about YouTube. Now, we’re starting to see more and m…
Frank Ocean’s Father Officially Wins the ‘#1 Asshole Dad’ Award
A California federal judge has ruled against Frank Ocean’s estranged father in a bitter defamation lawsuit. Ocean’s father left when the singer was a child — only to return with a vicious lawsuit. Last summer, following the tragic gay nightclub …
Master P Is About to Become the NFL’s Worst Nightmare
Master P hates what’s happening to Colin Kaepernick. Now he’s got a plan to make the NFL seriously regret it. The connection between hip hop and sports has always been strong. Now, one of rap’s most successful entrepreneurs wants to…
The Tragically Hip’s Frontman, Gord Downie, Passes Away at 53
The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie passed away yesterday surrounded by his family. The Tragically Hip’s frontman, Gord Downie, has passed away. He was 53. Downie had long battled with glioblastoma. Doctors discovered the aggressive and incurable cancer …
I’ve Got 1.2 Million Plays on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, and TIDAL. Want to See My Royalties?
Here’s our latest data-stuffed royalty statement from a successful indie artist from Europe. Earlier this week, we shared the royalties for one of Justin Bieber’s producers. Now, it’s onto an artist who’s racked up more than a …