Frank Ocean Teases New Release With Stream Only Available To Apple Users

Always private and a bit mysterious, Frank Ocean promised his fans new music in July; and on the last day of the month, he launched a teaser that points to an Apple Music exclusive for the upcoming release. ______________________________________– A much anticipated release from Frank Ocean is being teased with…

Do Modern Artists Really Need Record Labels?

Do artists operating in today’s music economy really need record labels to succeed, or can they simply rely on administrative royalty collection services like Kobalt? The answer may depend on how established the artist already is. _____________________________ Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski on Music 3.0 Here’s a very interesting video…

Warner Music Signs Vadio Video Deal

Last year, Vadio raised $7.5 million in funding, and signaled a move into music by adding former Vevo CEO Rio Caraeff to its board of advisors. This week, Vadio struck a deal to add Warner Music Group content to their video network. ____________________________________________ Warner Music has signed a deal with…

Universal Music Opens Vaults To Launch uDiscover Online Store

Catalog sales contribute a great deal to the bottom line of most labels, and online commerce provide a unique opportunity to leverage the long tale of fan interest well after mainstream media stops caring. Sony Legacy is a prime example. Now, Universal Music is mining its massive vaults and selling…

An End To 4 Minute Music Videos: How Record Labels And Artists Can Fix Their YouTube Woes

As the artists vs. YouTube battle rages on, Mark Mulligan suggests that the real underlying issue is that the four minute music video, while it worked well for MTV, is no longer suited to a modern YouTube, and that artists need to begin creating lengthier videos, both to maintain user…

Major EMI Publishing Shareholder Named In $3.5 Billion Scandal

The boss of one of the private equity group that invested in the Sony-led acquisition of EMI Music Publishing in 2012 is caught up in a major corruption scandal involving the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund. _________________________________________________ American authorities have accused various people linked to Malaysia’s state-owned investment fund –…

Record Labels Need Change Of Culture In ‘Dashboard Era’ Of The Music Industry

Music streaming data makes it possible to understand the fan behavior behind each stream. "But the way we translate this creativity into monetizable, digitally-mediated experiences requires a culture change" within the music industry," says Samuel Potts, the head of radio at Columbia Records UK. _______________________________ Guest Post by Samuel Potts,…

Warner Music No Longer Selling To Small Record Stores

As if they didn’t already have it bad enough, mom and pop music shops have been dealt yet another blow with the news that Warner Music will no longer allow direct accounts with stores which do less than $10k in business with them each year. ________________________________ Guest Post by Bobby…

Vinyl Sales Up Another 17%, Used Sales Surpass New

The growth in of vinyl music sales makes for great headlines. But the vinyl market is really a dual market, according industry analysts MusicWatch – new vinyl sales and used resales. The later, which is the larger market of the two, goes largely ignored by the music industry. ____________________________________________ The…

It’s Time To Submit Music for 59th GRAMMY Awards Consideration [Full List Of Deadlines]

From the fine folks at A2iM comes a reminder that now is the time to submit music for consideration for nomination for the 59th Grammy Awards and a a full list of all the upcoming Grammy deadlines. ______________________________ It’s Grammy time! If you are a voting member of The Recording…