Irving Azoff has responded to an open letter-slash-lawsuit by former MusiCares VP Dana Tomarken involving accusations, primarily about the Recording Academy, that tangentially veer into Azoff-related concerns. Tomarken, who worked with the Recording Academy and its charity wing, MusiCares, for 25 years, is claiming wrongful termination after being fired April…
Category archives: Major Labels
U2 Records Live At Jack White’s Third Man Nashville HQ [VIDEO]
U2 stopped into Jack White’s Third Man Records Nashville headquarters following their appearance at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena this past Saturday to record live off the floor. The session saw the band serving up versions of “Love Is Bigger Than Anything In Its Way” and “Red Flag Day” from their 2017…
Music Video Distribution Unlikely To Change Much As Vevo Succumbs To YouTube
After a long and doomed battle, Vevo has finally thrown up the white flag, shuttering its site and ditching its mobile app, however, the fateful end of this attempt by record labels to compete with YouTube will likely have little impact on music distribution as we know it. _______________________ Guest…
Does Spotify, Apple Need A New Model To Pay Musicians?
This week, Chris Rizik from SoulTracks.com join Music Biz Weekly podcast co-hosts Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert to discuss Chris’ essay, “Spotify could kill Jazz, Soul and Classical music. Really” and how streaming is changing the music industry and how artists and labels generate revenue. Related articles Spotify Threatens Hacked…
BTS Is First K-pop Band To Top Billboard Hot 200
South Korean boy band BTS has become the first K-pop group to top the US Billboard 200 chart following the release of their new album, Love Yourself: Tear. The album, which was released May 18 and sold 135,000 copies in its first week, marks the second-biggest debut of the year…
How Record Labels Screwed Up The Music Industry, And How Spotify, Apple Saved Them
ALTERNATIVE TAKE: Mike Masnick explores the sordid history of how the record labels’ behavior in the early days of the internet literally brought the music industry to its knees, and how these same labels have been saved by the tech industry led by Apple and Spotify. ______________________ By Mike Masnick…
Why Music Data Shouldn’t Drive 100% Of Decisions
In this interview, James Martin of Midem speaks with Sam Hill, Director of Digital Marketing at BMG UK, about his job, advice he’d give to those starting in the music industry, where he thinks the music industry is headed, and why he doesn’t think data should drive 100% of decisions….
The Reason Record Labels Hate Free Streaming Tiers
While streaming services may often be touted as the saviors of the music industry, label execs are no fans of the ‘free tiers’ offered by most of these platforms, arguing that the widen the music business’s value gap. _______________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 If you were…
Recording Academy CEO Accused Of MusiCares Funds Abuse By Long Term Exec
UPDATED: A letter to the Recording Academy Board of Trustees by former MusiCares VP Dana Tomarken accuses President and Chairman Neil Portnow of redirecting funds intended for the charity to cover Academy shortfalls and furthering his own agenda rather than doing charitable work. ___________________________________ Former MusiCares VP Dana Tomarken has…
EDM Business Down Worldwide
The International Music Summit Business Report 2018 shows the global electronic music business took a 2% drop in 2017, fueled mainly by a dip in record sales, but added that the change does not necessarily mean EDM business is down. In fact, the opposite may be true. Global EDM business…