Days after signing a difficult deal with YouTube, Warner Music Group Corp. has announced its second quarter financial results for the period ended March 31, 2017. “We had another excellent quarter, with double-digit growth in both the current and prior-year quarters,” said Steve Cooper, Warner Music Group’s CEO. “Our streaming…
Category archives: Major Labels
Warner Music Signs YouTube Deal "Under Very Difficult Circumstances"
Warner Music Group has become the first of the major music groups to sign a new deal with YouTube. But just hours after the signing, WMG chief Steve Cooper sent a now leaked memo to his staff admitting that the deal was made under "very difficult" conditions. ____________________________________ A new…
WMG CEO Steve Cooper’s Leaked Memo To Staff On YouTube Deal [FULL TEXT]
As we reported, Warner Music Group is now the first of the major label and music publisher to sign a new deal with YouTube. But in a leaked memo to his team, CEO Steve Cooper admitted that the deal was made under "very difficult circumstances." Here is the full text…
A Look At Music’s Future Inspired By A Cheap Vietnamese Restaurant In Berlin [Bas Grameyer]
Here Bas Grasmayer explains how his recent experience in listening to a Vietnamese singer covering Western pop songs reshaped the way he thinks of music’s future, and how we could collectively reshape how we think of music ownership by radically overhauling modern notions of intellectual property. ___________________________ Guest post by…
Why a Major Label Doesn’t Want to Sign You
Reason #1: You’re ‘difficult’ and/or don’t work hard. This isn’t the old music industry anymore. There’s less money to invest, no more $16.99 CDs to sell, and way more pressure to show results. So artists not only have to carry their weight, they have to work well with others and work hard. But not even […]
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Chance The Rapper Takes His Disdain For Record Labels On Tour [VIDEO]
Chance The Rapper built his hugely successful career outside of the major label system. And while a few critics see his lucrative one-off deal with Apple Music as a sellout, what the rapper has done with his platform and his money are undeniably independent. ___________________________ Meanwhile at Chance The Rapper’s…
How Kendrick Lamar Achieves Mainstream Appeal Using A Complex, Innovative Approach
In this piece we take an in depth look at how Kendrick Lamar is able to craft tracks which have achieved such prominent mainstream appeal, while still remaining deeply personal and specific to Lamar’s personal experiences. ___________________________ Guest post by Sam Friedman of Soundfly’s Flypaper One of Kendrick Lamar’s greatest…
Key To Widespread Artist Adoption Of Blockchain Could Be Via Esoteric Copyright Law [George Howard]
Blockchain technology has been embraced by many smaller independent artists, but widespread adoption has been slowed by a lack of participation from major labels and publishers, although an ancient copyright clause could provide a solution. ______________________ Guest post by George Howard on Forbes After having written at length over the…
Universal Music Group Now Valued At $22 Billion
5 years ago many in the industry thought that the major labels were headed for extinction. Now, owner Vivendi values its own Universal Music Group at $22 billion. _______________________________________ Universal Music Group is worth $22 billion, according to owner Vivendi’s General Counsel Frédéric Crépin. The turnaround and meteoric rise were…
IFPI Music Industry Revenue Report 2017 – Quick Take [Mark Mulligan]
International trade group, the IFPI, released its annual Global Music Report 2017 today. It’s overview of developments in the recorded music sector including the rise in streaming and the industry’s priorities. Analyst Mark Mulligan offers a quick look at the numbers. ___________________________________________ By Mark Mulligan of MIDiA and The Music…