Island Records and Urban Development have announced a partnership that will give early stages musicians access to development funding, mentoring and industry expertise. The partnership is being headed up by the non-profit Urban Development’s founder and director Pamela McCormick and Island Records UK’s Urban Division president Alex Boateng. Speaking about…
Category archives: Indie Labels
Do Bands Still Need To Be Signed To ‘Make It’?
Time was that getting a record deal was the number one priority for any unsigned band with any ambition, as the backing of a label was necessary for artists to fund their marketing and play bigger, better shows. Times have changed however, and while a many successful artists continue to…
Music Physical Product Issues Signals Upheaval Ahead
Although the sale of physical music is still a large part of the revenue pulled in by major labels, their whole-hearted embrace of streaming has caused them to neglect traditional retail sales, with some fairly disastrous results. ____________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 The U.S. recorded music…
BUSINESS OF INDIE: AIM Awards Nominees • Record Stores Cry Foul • Indie Aaron Smith Gets Major-Like Push • More
In this week’s edition of the Business Of Indie, the UK’s AIM indie music awards have named its nominees, 40+ independent record stores are calling out the major labels, hot independent artist Aaron Smith is getting a major label like push from both Apple Music and Spotify. Like Hypebot’s More…
Songwriter, Producer Nicolle Galyon Launches All-Female Label Songs & Daughters In Partnership With Big Loud
Nashville-based independent record label Big Loud has announced the launch of Songs & Daughters, an imprint devoted solely to female acts. Hit songwriter and producer Nicolle Galyon will serve as president. Galyon is best known for co-writing such songs as Dan + Shay’s “Tequila” and Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic.” “Songs &…
MTV Names VMA 2019 Nominees – The Complete List
MTV has unveiled the nominations for the 2019 VMAs. Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift lead with 10 nods each in categories including, “Video of the Year,” “Song of the Year” and “Best Pop.” Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X led the “Best New Artist” nominees. This year’s show will introduce…
Getting It Done: The Week In D.I.Y. & Indie Music
Our tips and advice for the industry’s independent self-starters out there this week covered how you can use your mailing list to actually get people to your show, how to book increasingly large gigs over time, the best way to revive cold music industry contacts, and more! 3 Ways A…
Saban Music Group Launches With $500 Million Investment
Billionaire investor Haim Saban, Chairman of Saban Capital Group, is teaming with music industry veteran Gustavo Lopez to launch Saban Music Group with a promised $500 million investment. SMG is positioned as a record label, international A&R, and artist development company built around offering ‘360 deals’ to artists. As part…
BUSINESS OF INDIE: Astral People Launches • The Orchard Revealed • Zebralution Acquires EMS • More
In this week’s Business Of Indie, Indie label Astral People launches, The Orchard’s Chief Operating Officer Colleen Theis tells all, distributor Zebrulation acquires its technical service provider Encoding Management Service (EMS) and much more. Like Hypebot’s More News section, The Business Of Indie is nestled under its own Indie tab…
Slide Over Lil Nas, Blanco Brown Brings The Beats To Top The Country Charts [Don’t Miss The Video]
It didn’t take long for other hip-hop and R&B artists to join in on a party started by Lil Nas’ “Old Town Road.” Now Blanco Brown has hit the country charts with “The Git Down.” Lil Nas, with the help of Billy Ray Cyrus, reinterpreted what could be, and probably…