This weekend Lyor Cohen revealed more about 300 at Midem where he gave a keynote interview with Tom Silverman. The primary new information seemed to be the Twitter deal for 300 that will help Twitter learn how to organize music data and give 300 an opportunity to take a highly granular look at musicians and music fans. At least part of the concept is to develop an approach to A&R that could conceivably indentify emerging artists at an early stage based on who's doing the tweeting.
Independent music took home 50 % of the awards at last nights 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards, the highest percentage of wins since indie label trade group A2IM began tracking the awards in 2006. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis won in four categories, including Best New Artist and Best Rap Album, for their independently released album, The Heist. Accepting one of his Grammys, Macklemore said, "we made it independently and appreciate all the support."
I'm sure at some point in your career you've heard someone say "If only I knew then what I know now" - or something to that effect. We've all been in circumstances where we could have benefited greatly from a considerate "heads up" but instead, we learned the lesson the hard way.
ADA has named Jessica Lehrman as Director, Business and Legal Affairs, Previously, she was an Associate at the law firm Morrison & Foerster. ADA is the indie label arm of the Warner Music Group and is distributor for Alligator, Beggar's, Domino, Epitaph, Matador, Merge, Nettwerk, Rykodisc, Saddle Creek, Secretly Canadian, Side One Dummy, Sub Pop and others.
According to a Billboard Magazine analysis of 2013 SoundScan statistics shared by A2IM, independent labels grabbed 34.6% U.S. of the overall recorded music market. That's up 2% over last year and means that collectively indies outpace each of the major label groups followed by Universal, Sony and Warner Music.
Longtime Music Think Tank contributor Ariel Hyattopened the floor for the best ways to build your career in 2014. Polling her own favorite contributors, she brings us a compilation of responses. Looking to make this new year the best of your career?
Lyor Cohen, the music industry bigwig who began his career as Run DMC’s road manager before founding Def Jam Records and helming Warner Music Group, is launching a record label called 300, with Google as the primary investor.
While this doesn’t count as Google (owner of YouTube and Google Play Music), starting its own record label, it does reveal that Google is prepared to invest in at least partially owning music copyrights and helping to develop artists outside of the traditional label system.
In the great streaming royalty debate, the focus has been on tiny royalty rates per stream. Artists are up in arms, many are opting out of streaming services, and the noise and debate has been growing louder. Lost in that noise is a voice that is seldom heard: that of the record companies. There’s good reason for that: they’re making more money from streaming and the future looks extremely bright for them.
David Bowie’s surprise release "The Next Day" was the best selling album in 2013 for the UK’s independent record shops. The Arctic Monkeys’ "AM" was #2 and Daft Punk’s "Random Access Memories" was #3 according to the Official Charts Company.
With the challenges of ever-evolving technology in today's music business come great opportunities for aspirining producers - if you're willing to put in the work. It is critical to make informed equipment choices, smart networking decisions, and be willing to devote a lot of time to personal development if you're serious about being successful.
Now more than ever independent artists are forced to fight to be valued. Illegal downloading is going viral and the security in "being signed" just doesn't provide the foundation and financial stability it used to. In a world where digital is default and free streaming is king, how can indie artists position themselves for a successful career? The answer is - know what you're worth. Mark Knight brings us Alex Keevill's thoughts on the challenges facing today's indie artists on MusicThinkTank.com
The Americana Music Association has announced its year-end Top 10 & Top 100 Albums of the Year. The chart is based on those records reported to the Americana Airplay Chart during the period of November 19, 2012 through December 2, 2013. This year’s Top Ten most played albums are:
Have you ever walked into the studio with no inspiration and bashed out a song just because you know you're supposed to? Let's be real - so has everyone else. You probably didn't like if very much and bet your fans wouldn't either... but before you went into the studio, did you think through your desired end result?
The Music Business Association (formerly NARM and digitalmusic.org) has added Glenn Dicker, co-owner of Redeye Incorporated, and Dave Zierler, President of INgrooves Music Group, to its Board of Directors. These two independent distribution representatives expand the Music Biz Board to 18 members from different sectors of the music industry.
On and off the stage you have to be your own best representative - that's a given in any successful career. What should you be hyper-focused on as a musician when approaching any event? Is your set list more important or your presence off-stage? The answer is both. Music Gorilla discussed the ten most important things to consider when playing a showcase on MusicThinkTank.com
The game is ever changing for independent artists entering the new music business. It's important that you understand your role as well as the roles of others in order to break into this world successfully and professionally. Matthew Meyers gives us a look from the inside the step by step process of indie artist development on MusicThinkTank.com
Though you can't quite call it a comeback, indie record stores in the States are making news with events like Back To Black Friday. But the biggest news draws on England's love of vinyl with the opening of Rough Trade NYC adding to two London locations. The Guardian has an interactive digital presence in one of Rough Trade NYC's shipping containers. London will also host the first 3d record printing shop and the citiy's Independent Label Market manifests in LA later this month.
NoiseTrade is one of the quietest of the music tech startups that I consider top of the class. But now that they're planning to add a section for writers, called NoiseTrade Books, they're making a bit more noise. I spoke this week with co-founder Brannon McAllister about how NoiseTrade has been doing and why it's still a great tool for artists seeking to raise their profile. And I include some thoughts of my own on why giving away music for free can sometimes be a smart thing to do.
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