While the rise of "playlist culture" has made song discovery that much easier, it has also made it much more challenging for labels to break new artists, stifling artist development and changing the business from artist driven to song driven. ______________________ Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski on Music 3.0 A…
Category archives: Major Labels
Jay Z’s Tidal Battle With Prince Estate Heads To Court [Read Full Filing]
Did Prince intend to have his music streamed exclusively on Tidal forever, or just a short period of time? And did Tidal pay a $750,000 advance that the Prince Estate claims was due? These questions and more will now be answered in court. __________________________________ The battle between Jay Z’s Tidal…
Leon Russell R.I.P. – "I’ve acted out my life on stages with 10,000 people watching"
Leon Russell wrote songs so well crafted that even the first time you heard them, you swore that you’ve heard them before. It was not that they were’t unique – they usually were – it was that they touched something hiding deep inside you. _____________________________ Leon Russell, a prolific artist,…
R.I.P Leonard Cohen, "The Lord Of Song"
Front row seats at the Palace Theatre in Waterbury, CT to see Leonard Cohen on his comeback tour a decade ago will always rank in the top handful of the hundreds and hundreds of concerts that I’ve been privileged to attend. A true songsmith with a deep and caring soul…
RIAA Certifies 100 Gold and Platinum Awards For October 2016
The RIAA has released its October 2016 list of 32 albums and 68 digital singles certified gold and platinum awards including Kelsea Ballerina, Eminem and Carrie Underwood. Read the full list here (pdf) Related articles CMT Music Awards 2015 – A Full List Of Winners Academy Of Country Music Awards…
Seymour Stein Reveals “Embarrasing” Deal Made with Madonna
In this piece, soon to be 73-year-old music business legend and discoverer of Talking Heads as well The Ramones opens up with marked frankness about his groundbreaking career, as well as an embarassing deal made with Madonna. ______________________________ Guest Post by Yael Chiara on Medium Seymour Stein, a bona fide…
Country Music By The Numbers: A Statistical Look At Country’s Stars, Fans And What They Care About
Country music is one of the most popular radio formats in many parts of the U.S. and Nielsen took a look at the numbers behind the music – from the crossover appeal of its talent to the fans themselves – and found some surprising stats. __________________________ click on image to…
Drake Redefines What A Hit Album Is As "Views" Passes 3 Billion Streams Just On Spotify
The RIAA may have to invent a new Titanium Award as tracks from Drake’s "Views" pass well over 5 billion streams collectively on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. _____________________________________ The music industry used to measure "hit" by sales and spins on radio. But what did the fans really think of…
Neil Young Catalog Returns To Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Napster, Deezer, Others
[UPDATE 2] Neil Young has been one of the most vocal critics of music streaming, primarily because of audio quality. In April of 2015, he pulled all of his catalog off of most music streamers, making it available only on Tidal, which offers a hi-fi streaming option. At the time,…
One Chart Which Tells The Music Business Story
This article looks at an exceedingly revealing chart from Fortune detailing the revenue generated by the recorded music industry within the past forty plus years, including all of highs and some alarming lows as the music business has reacted to the introduction of new technology. _________________________ Guest Post by Bobby…