Spotify Took K-Pop Global, But Could Do More To Help Other Genres

K-Pop is hardly a niche genre, but until recently, its fans were found primarily in Korea, neighboring Asian countries and Korean immigrants in the US and elsewhere. Spotify, with its global footprint, helped change that two years ago with the launch of its Korean pop genre hub. The streamer could…

Taylor Swift Paddles Outside Streaming To Bridge Value Gap

In an effort to close the value gap, Taylor Swift has taken advantage of her industry position and utilized a variety of techniques in the marketing of her albums, making particularly smart use of ‘windowing,’ writes Chris Castle. ____________________ Guest post by Chris Castle of Music Technology Policy There are…

YouTube’s Lyor Cohen To Keynote Music Biz Convention In Nashville

Often controversial music industry veteran Lyor Cohen, the Global Head of Music at YouTube and Founder of music content company 300, will keynote the Music Business Association’s Music Biz 2018 conference at the Omni Nashville Hotel. Cohen will discuss his career journey, his current role at YouTube and Google and…

5 Lessons From A Music Business Supermensch

Here talent manager and producer Shep Gordon shares five important lessons from his autobiography They Call Me Supermensch, which details his series of misadventures as an artist manager beginning in the 1970s. ___________________________ Guest post by Stephanie Grimes of William Patterson University from Musicbiz 101 Shep Gordon’s story begins as…

Catching Up With Despacito’s Luis Fonsi: An Artist Q&A

Undeniably one of the biggest songs of 2017, the chart topping, record breaking "Despacito" is also up for a number of awards. Here SoundExchange sat down to chat with Luis Fonsi, one of the artists behind the hit single. _______________________ Guest post from SoundExchange When we look back on the…

Here Is What Spotify Looks Like After Its IPO [Mark Mulligan]

Spotify appears headed to a much-anticipated public stock offer in the first half of next year. How the markets react will affect the future of the entire music industry. Even UMG is more likely to be spun off if Spotify’s IPO goes well. But Wall Street often has high expectations…

Latin Grammy Awards 2017 – Complete List Of Winners

Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee took top honors last week at the 2017 Latin Grammys, winning four awards for their smash hit "Despacito." The track won Record and Song of the Year, as well as Best Music Video and Best Urban Fusion/Performance for Fonsi, Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber. Hosted…

Vivendi’s Universal Music Group Valued At $40 Billion, says CEO, As IPO Speculation Mounts

Universal Music Group (UMG) is valued at $40 billion or more, Arnaud de Puyfontaine the CEO of parent corporation Vivendi said on Friday, sending shares in the French media group higher. after a mixed Q3 report that highlighted growth at the music group. ________________________________________ Asked about the value of its…

Taylor Swift’s Record Breaking "Reputation" Week One: 1.29 Million

Taylor Swift’s Reputation has surpassed first week U.S. ‘sales’ of her last album 1989’s debut week racking up 1,291,404 Project Units, which includes sales plus the stream of the fours songs that Swift has place on Spotify, Apple Music and other music streamers. To date, the full album has not…

When Will Taylor Swift’s "Reputation" Be Available On Spotify, Apple Music? [UPDATED]

[UPDATED] When will Taylor Swift’s new album "Reputation" be available on Spotify, Apple Music and other music streamers? It’s was a big debut week for Taylor Swift’s "Reputation." But two weeks days after release, Swift has not placed the full album on any music streamer. Swift has long been a…