Why Surprise Album Releases Are The Worst [Cortney Harding]

As part of a growing trend only made possible in the digital age, an increasing number of high-profile artists are choosing to drop their albums suddenly and without warning, which can be a problem for both smaller artists and fans. _________________________ Guest Post by Cortney Harding on Medium So it’s…

Apple Music Scores Exclusive On Britney Spears’ New Album "Glory"

Days after Frank Ocean shared that Apple Music had been given a 2 week exclusive to his much anticipated new release, Britney Speared tweeted that she’d cut a deal with Apple for her upcoming album "Glory." _______________________________________ Britney Spears took to Twitter to announce that here upcoming album "Glory" would…

WMG Reports 14% Revenue Growth, Cuts Quarterly Loss 80%

Warner Music Group reported that revenue grew 14% last quarter, driven in large part by digital growth of 21%. Revenue from streaming is now almost twice the size of download revenue. ____________________________________________ Warner Music Group Corp. today announced its third-quarter financial results for the period ending June 30, 2016. Highlights:…

Michelle Obama Carpool Karaoke Appearance Spikes Missy Elliot, Stevie Wonder Hits

On July 20, first lady Michelle Obama and Missy Elliott joined the Carpool Karaoke segment of The Late Late Show with James Corden. While exposure on the show has boosted music consumption for past guests, this episode had a bigger impact on the songs that were featured in the segment,…

Every Day Major Music Companies Earn $10M Millon, Indies $5 Million In Streaming Revenue

With average payments hovering around $.00575 per play, its easily arguable that Spotify, Apple Music and others music streamers are not returning sufficient revenue to creators. But in aggregate, music streaming has quickly become a major source of revenue for both independent and major labels. _____________________________________________ Recent earnings reports show…

Atlantic Records Subpoenas Reddit to Nab Twenty One Pilots Leaker

There was major backlash a decade ago when major labels started suing fans and internet services over file sharing. While its unlikely to elicit a mass response, Atlantic Records isn’t making any friends within Reddit’s active and influential community of techies and music fans with a new legal action. ________________________________________________…

Frank Ocean’s New Album Gets Exclusive Apple Music Release Friday

Yesterday, we shared that Frank Ocean was teasing his new album in ways that strongly suggested some kind of Apple exclusive. Now we have confirmation and details of Apple Music’s role in the much anticipated release. _________________________________________________ Frank Ocean’s new release "Boys Don’t Cry" will be released this Friday on…

Warner Music Group And Vevo Reach Deal After 7 Year Impasse, YouTube Excluded [OFFICIAL]

WMG will now license select music videos to Vevo. It took 7 years for WMG to overcome the issues of dealing with a company partially owned by its competitors Universal Music Group and Sony. But Vevo on YouTube is conspicuously missing. ____________________________________________ Confiming recent reports, Vevo and Warner Music Group…

Strong Quarter For Sony Music Helps Sony Corp. Turn Profitable Despite Orchard Write-Off

Sony Corp beat analyst’s expectations and swung back to profitable in the first quarter of 2016 after posting a loss last quarter. Helping drive the turnaround was a stronger than expected quarter from Sony Music. ______________________________________________ Sony’s Corps Music division sales rose 8.7% rise last quarter to $1,374 million on…

Are Your Ready To Be Your Own Record Label?

This piece outlines what services a record label should provide for an artist, what an artist should do in order to attract a record label’s attention, and why they might be better starting out without a label at all. _________________________________ Guest Post by Chris Robley on CD Baby’s DIY Musician…