Benji Rogers Exits DotBlockhain Media

Serial tech entrepreneur Benji Rogers is exiting DotBlockchain Media, a company he co-founded and severed as Chief Strategy Officer and board member. Rogers says he will focus on consulting work, two new ventures and his volunteer role helping to turnaround with PledgeMusic, which he also co- founded. "I leave our…

BUSINESS OF INDIE: Record Store Day 2019 • Drake Goes Indie? • Music Biz Conference • More

In this new edition of the Business Of Indie, Record Store Day reveals its 2019 lineup, Drake is rumored to be launching an indie label, the Music Biz conference shows Nashville some love and much more. Like Hypebot’s More News section, The Business Of Indie is nestled under its own…

Music Sync Roundup: Guild of Music Supervisors Awards, Robert Plant’s Green Book Soundtrack Role and More

This month’s overview of the world of music sync by Emma Griffiths of Synchtank journeys from 2019 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards to Robert Plant’s role In Green Book soundtrack and far beyond. ______________________________ By Emma Griffiths of Synchtank Film and TV 2019 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards: Complete Winners…

Pandora Launches Own Version Of Stories

Always looking to stay relevant, Pandora is one of the most recent platforms to incorporate a ‘stories’ feature into its offerings. Given the nature of the company, their stories look a little different than other platforms, marrying music tracks and podcasts into single playlists. ______________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski…

How To Build A Dynamic Website That Will Appeal To Fans, Attract New Ones

Monetizing your passions can be a frustrating and draining experience, and so while most artists would rather focus on their craft, marketing it is essential as well. Luckily, a well put together website can do a lot of that for you, appeasing current fans and drawing new listeners in. ___________________________…

2018 Was A Good Year To Be Spotify [Russ Crupnick]

While there has been much discussion of Spotify’s financial situation, another important metric to pay attention to is actual listeners. Here Russ Crupnick of MusicWatch breaks down some of the numbers on Spotify’s market share. _____________________________________ Guest post by Russ Crupnick of MusicWatch Spotify’s financial results are widely available and…

Publishers, Songwriters Respond To ‘Tech Bullies’ Spotify, Pandora, Google, Amazon Appeal Of Royalty Increase

National Music Publisher President & CEO David Israelite and Nashville Songwriters Association International Executive Director Bart Herbison have issued responses to Spotify, Google, Pandora and Amazon’s decision to fight the royalty increase granted to songwriters by the US Copyright Royalty Board. The NMPA, who has sad they will file their…

Ticketmaster, Amazon Partner: ‘Hey Alexa, Who Bought All The Good Seats?’

Live Nation’s Ticketmaster has announced that it was partnering with e-commerce titan Amazon to sell tickets via Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service. The partnership will allow fans to discover events and buy tickets directly from Alexa-enabled devices, such as Amazon Echo and Echo Dot via voice commands Would-be ticket buyers…

NoiseTrade Continues Serving Artists As Owner PledgeMusic Struggles, President Exits

[UPDATED] Last week, Christopher Moon, developer and President of NoiseTrade announced his resignation: "I recently wrapped up my tenure running NoiseTrade," he wrote in an email. Moon’s departure was the latest in a series of setbacks for the PledgeMusic owned music discovery platform. PledgeMusic acquired NoiseTrade, alongside online performance platform…

Streaming Revenue Impressive, But Can It Ever Make Up For Lost Physical Sales?

With streaming revenue showing a massive increase in comparison to previous years, the major three record labels are rejoicing at their annual haul. A big part of this income still draws from physical sales however, and as these old-school revenue streams continue to thin to a trickle, will streaming be…