Senator Ron Wyden Falsely Claims To Be ‘Pro Artist’

Here David Lowery thoroughly debunks Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s claim that he is somehow pro artist, both by a thorough look at his voting history, as well as numerous writing by the Senator. __________________________ Guest post by David C. Lowery of The Trichordist Sen Rony Wyden has just posted a…

Midem 2018 Attendance Up 9%, 50% Off Peak, 2019 Dates Set

Midem attendance for 2018 was up by 9% over last year, according to organizers Reed Midem. The global music industry conference, which was held June 5-8 in Cannes, France, hosted 4800 delegates from 80 countries. Despite the rise, Midem 2018 attendance was less than half of 2001, when just over…

Spotify Stock Begins Week Near All Time High On News Of Direct Deals With Artists

Spotify stock begins the week trading at $171.48 per share, near its all time high of $172.93. That gives the music streamer a total market value of $30 billion, slightly exceeding the $28.7 billion set on its first day of public trading. Spotify stock’s 3.28% rise on Friday came on…

Apple Music Quietly Adds Pre-Release Album Saves

Apple Music has launched album "pre-adds" that allow the user to "save" an album to their streaming library prior to release. A number of independent services have developed Spotify pre-save tools, but this quiet launch is the first inside a streaming service app. Pre-Adds Are The New Advance Purchase In…

How To Pretend You’re At Global Music Conference MIDEM

Midem, the only truly global music industry conference, began today through Thursday in Cannes, France. Here’s how you can follow all the action from the comfort of your home or office. Courtesy of Midem: Watch Midem 2018 live Facebook Live: They will be streaming all keynotes here, June 5-7, between…

Why All New Music Is Released On Friday: 3 Reasons

If you feel like a lot of new music has been dropping on Fridays, it’s no accident. Here we look at the three main reasons why Friday is the number one release day choice for record labels around the world. _____________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 You…

Vevo Flop Reemphasizes How Badly The Record Labels Underestimate Technology

Record label’s inability to understand and effectively get on the band wagon with new tech was recently highlighted by the shuttering of video hosting service and wannabe YouTube competitor Vevo, which will ironically now only be found on YouTube. __________________________ Guest post by Mike Masnick of Techdirt Just last week…

Kendrick Lamar Accepts ‘Beautiful’ Puliizer Prize At Colombia University Ceremony

At a ceremony at New York City’s Columbia University on Wednesday, Kendrick Lamar accepted his Pulitzer Prize for music for his album "DAMN." He is the first rapper to receive the award. "It’s an honor," he said on the official Facebook live stream of the event. "I’ve been writing my…

Credentials To Universal Music Computer Systems Exposed

For days or even weeks, the deepest, darkest secrets kept within the private IT infrastructure of Universal Music Group had laid exposed. But who knew, what information they gathered and how they will use it against artists and the world’s biggest music company, remains a major unknown. ______________________________________ Earlier this…

How Spotify Is Killing Jazz, Soul, Classical Music

Is it time for a Fair Streaming movement? Chris Rizik explores the structure of the new streaming economy and the way in which artists are paid could spell bad news for Jazz, Soul, Classical and other niche music genres. ________________________ Guest post by Chris Rizik of Soul Tracks Two events…