MTV has announced its 2016 VMA nominees. Beyoncé tops the list with 11 nominations including Video of the Year for “Formation” and the newest VMA category, Breakthrough Long Form Video, for her HBO special Lemonade. That’s the most nominations she’s gotten in a single year. Adele comes in second with…
Category archives: Music Business
How To Make A Great Low Budget Music Video
The typical price tag associated with most music videos is out of reach for most up-and-coming artists, but a music video made on a shoestring budget can often end up looking cheesy and terrible. Here we break down the right way to frugally create a successful music video. _____________________ Guest…
Maximize Your Email Music Marketing Success
Despite all the many channels through which artists can promote their music through ads, email remains the most effective tool. In this article, we look at how to craft emails that will avoid the spam filter and actually be opened by their recipients. _____________________________ Guest post by Mark Walker of…
Spotify Starts Selling Your Fan Data Out Their Back Door [Chris Castle]
Spotify recently announced that it plans to start selling its free users’ identifiable information to major ad companies using pattern recognition and other data mining techniques to profile fans before packaging them for resale. _____________________________ Guest post by Chris Castle of Artist Rights Watch Spotify announced today that it is…
‘Pokémon GO’ Craze Hits Pandora
It seems nowhere is safe from the Pokémon GO craze sweeping the nation, with even the popular streaming service Pandora noticing an appreciable leap in searches for music relating the popular game. _________________________ Guest Post by Liv Buli on Next Big Sound LONDON, ENGLAND — JULY 15: A player’s phone is decorated…
Pandora Adds Personalized Concert Notifications, But Ticketfly Events Get Top Billing [UPDATED]
[UPDATED] When Pandora acquired Ticketfly, the two pledged to use the power of the music streamer’s giant platform to drive ticket sales. Today’s announcement of concert notifications is a good first step, but it is also is reminder of the severe limitations of using a single data source to drive…
Father John Misty Tell Fans He Declined $250,000 To Do Chipolte Ad, Restaurant Chain Responds With Special Themed Menu
During his intro to “Bored in the USA”, J. Tillman aka Father John Misty told the crowd that he had been offered a quarter of a million dollars to cover Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” for an ad for restaurant chain Chipotle. _____________________________________________ At this weekend’s Newport Folk…
Yesterday Apple Reminded Us Of Why Spotify Is Not Even Close To Winning The Streaming Wars
With 100 million users (including 35 million paid), it’s tempting to declare Spotify the winner in the battle for streaming music supremacy. But remember this… competitor Apple, which has a market cap of $520 billion and $231 billion in cash, yesterday reported a quarterly net profit of $7.8 billion -…
5 Things Songwriters Must Know About Consent Decrees
In this article we discuss how recent major changes to the federal agreement governing how performing rights organizations like ASCAP, SESAC, and BMI operate has much of the music community up in arms. _______________________________ In a recent posting on MusicThinkTank, Brian Penick breaks down how the consent decree works and…
Former AEG Chief Randy Phillips To Lead SFX Turnaround
Troubled EDM conglomerate SFX will get much needed new leadership when it exits bankruptcy, according to multiple sources. Former AEG chief Randy Phillips is reportedly the choice of SFX creditors who control the company’s future. _______________________________________________ Troubled electronic music giant SFX Entertainment plans to name veteran live-entertainment executive Randy Phillips…