What Did It Take To Have A Billboard Top 5 Hit In 2017? Here’s The Breadown

In this extensive piece, Dean Olivet breaks down each song from 2017 that successfully hit the Billboard Top 5, looking at the compilation and structure of each chart topper and providing some technical insight on what made each one a success. _____________________________ Guest post by Dean Olivet of Soundfly’s Flypaper…

Songtrust Partners With EU Music Licensing Hub ICE

Royalty collection platform Songtrust announced that they’ve struck an agreement with the pan-European licensing hub, ICE Services Ltd. Under the terms of the new agreement, signed with Songtrust’s parent company, Downtown, ICE will provide a range of digital licensing and back-office royalty processing services for the Songtrust and its client…

New Guidelines To Monetize Fan Uploaded YouTube Videos [MUST READ]

There is an important change being rolled out concerning how YouTube will deal with content uploaded by its users which contain artist copyrighted content, including the omission of revenue-generating ads. ________________________ Guest post from Quarterlab As part of YouTube’s updates to their YouTube Partner Program and Google Preferred programs this…

Is Now Actually A Good Time To Invest In Music Royalties?

While shelling out cash in the music industry is nothing new when it comes to purchasing merch or paying for Spotify, the idea of a more traditional investment has also been gaining traction of late. Here Cherie Hu explores the viability of investing in music royalties, and one sort of…

Department Of Justice’s 100% Licensing Scheme Goes Down The Drain

A recent ruling by the Department of Justice that ASCAP and BMI should be required to license the entirety of works that they were only partial owners of. The legal powers that be, however, recently ruled against the DOJ of this issue. _______________________ Guest post by Stephen Carlisle of Nova…

Kendrick Lamar Eyes $20-$40 Million Publishing Bonanza

Rapper Kendrick Lamar is one of the hottest tickets in music, but the cash said to be on offer for his music rights are still an eye-popping, with reported offers of up to $40 million. According to a report in Billboard, Top Dawg Entertainment, which manages Kendrick Lamar, is considering…

Concord Completes Razor & Tie Acquisition, Layoffs Expected

Concord Music Group has fully acquired Razor & Tie. In 2015, Concord made a major investment in the independent label, rumored at the time to be just under 50%. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. _______________________________________ Staffers at Razor & Tie were told to expect major layoffs in the…

Do You Really Want A Record Deal? How To Legally Ensure An Artist Can Even Sign One

As the music business has changed, so too has the process by which artists sign a ‘record deal’. Here Justin M. Jacobson looks at the legal infrastructure artists must have in place in order to make sure they can actually sign to a label. ______________________________ Guest post by Justin M….

5 Techniques For Leveraging Music Press

After spending countless hours reaching out to the bloggers, podcasters, and other powerful tastemakers in the music business, being met with deafening silence can be frustrating to say the least. Here we look at five techniques for leveraging the press in your favor. ______________________________ Guest post by Suzanne Paulinski of…

Round Hill Raises New $263 Million Music Investment Fund

Round Hill Music Royalty Partners announced that it has raised $263 million for a second music investment fund. The private equity firm has taken stakes in music copyrights from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bruno Mars and others. Funds created by Round Hill, Kobalt and others are part of a growing…