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As Paid Music Streaming Escalates Paying Downloaders Can't Be Left Behind

Although paid streaming subscriptions have continued to grow at a steady rate, the far more rapid decline of paid downloads, along with CD sales suggests that streaming services need to grow their paying subscriber base at an even greater rate.

How Many Counterfeit CDs Is Amazon Selling?

While it's difficult to get an exact number on such things, it seems as though Amazon has been doing a tidy trade in counterfeit CDs of late, with third party merchants now ripping albums off platforms like YouTube and reselling them in a physical format.

5 Alternate Ways Of Making Money From Your Music

In an era where CD sales have been replaced with a paltry streaming royalties, artists looking to make a living off of their music career must find other, alternative methods of earning money from their music.

Indie Music Store Top 100, Top Debuts, Vinyl Sales Charts For Week Ending 11/4/2016

This weekly indie music store sales charts come from The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), a collective of 50 independently owned record stores in 25 states across the U.S. 

Why The Rebirth Of Liner Notes Matters For Music

In the old days, consumers of music were able to flip through liner notes of an album in order to ascertain precisely who was behind their favorite tracks. Now, after a digital hiatus, new technology could once again make this information, plus more, easily accessible once again.

Independent Music Store Chart Week Ending 10.28.16

[UPDATED] This weekly chart comes from The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS), a collective of 50 independently owned record stores in 25 states throughout the U.S. 

10 Ways To Maximize Sales, Streams Of Your Latest Release

Releasing music requires a massive amount of work for any artist as they must ensure their music is promoted and marketed in such a way as to actually reach the listener. Here we look at ten different techniques for increasing the revenue earned from your tunes.

Rock Music Fails To Chart In Hot 100, But Americana Has A Breakthrough Week

The big musical tent that is Americana had its best sales week ever, even as rock music failed to find even a single slot on Billboard's mainstream Hot 100 radio chart. The exception: rock with a heavy dose of EDM.

Indie Label Association Issues "Serious" Alert For Counterfeit CDs For Sale Via Amazon

A2IM, the U.S. indie music trade group, has issued a rare and unusually strong warning to be on the lookout for look alike counterfeit CDs for sale on Amazon.

Indie Label Association Issues "Serious" Alert For Counterfeit CDs For Sale Via Amazon

A2IM, the U.S. indie music trade group, has issued a rare and unusually strong warning to be on the lookout for look alike counterfeit CDs for sale on Amazon.

Smokin'! Amoeba Gets License To Sell Weed Alongside Music

In what looks to be an ideal marketing pairing, Berkeley CA based record store Amoeba Music will soon be complimenting its traditional musical offerings with marijuana, hopefully helping to keep another brick and mortar record store's doors open.

Down Under, Streaming Is Up, Downloads Are Down

In an extension of a music industry consumer trend seen in the United States, it seems our neighbors to the south are embracing the streaming age, as Australians increasingly eschew CDs and downloads in exchange for streaming.

5 Methods For Avoiding Costly Band Merch Mistakes

Merch can be one of the best ways for a touring band to bring in some additional cash, but get it wrong and you can easily be saddled with an expense load of unsellable junk. Here we look at five useful guidelines for ensuring you get your merch right.

New Drone Service Delivers On Demand Vinyl. Just Kidding! Sort Of

In this op-ed, CMO Taishi Fukuyama of the company Qrates discusses how is organization is working to capitalize on the recent vinyl boom, and working to push the boundaries of the medium and implications it might have for the future of the music industry.

Streaming Hits Important Mile Marker In 2016

While streaming's growth has certainly been noticeable in 2016, the full extent is greater than many previously thought. Indeed, recent stats show that purchase revenue barely surpased non-purchase revenue, putting streaming in a dead heat with retail and downloads.

10 Tips To Make Your Album Release A Success

While some artists may think that once and album is finished, they kick back and relax, they should actually be taking steps to build fan interest, increasing the likelihood of the album actually selling.

Why Indie Artists Should Invest In Vinyl

Though making it as an indie artist can certainly be a struggle, merchandise still provides an excellent source of revenue. Here Michael Moore makes a case for why independent artists should take steps to invest in stocking their merch table with vinyl.

Most Expensive Vinyl Record Ever Sold

How much is the most expensive vinyl ever sold worth? A recent test pressing of The Beatles White Album sold for a record setting amount of cash, providing some insight into how high stakes the world of record collecting can become.

The High Wire Of Releasing Music [David Emery]

In this piece, David Emery muses on the changing face of the music industry, and how windowing and streaming exclusives are precipitating gradual but fundamental alterations to the way artists release music and listeners consume it.

Vinyl Sales Projected To Grow Exponentially Through 2020

The global vinyl records market is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 55.15% during the period 2016-2020, according to a new study by Research and Markets.

Frank Ocean's "Blonde" Debuts At #1, But "Endless" Deemed Ineligible [BuzzAngle Top 10 Chart]

Frank Ocean's Blonde, his second studio album, debuted at #1 on the BuzzAngle Music U.S. Album Chart for the week of August 16, 2016 with 278,110 album project units, including 232K album sales and 69.1M audio streams. 

In Japan, Music Business Changes Very Slowly

A recent look at some overseas music industry numbers in Japan has revealed streaming's continued growth, and that physical sales, while still dropping, are slower to decline there. Additionally, and unlike the US, ringtones continue to take up an appreciable share of the market there as well.

Kanye West, Leonard Cohen And Death Of The Creative Full Stop

With physical products on a continuing decline in the music industry, there is little stopping artists from following in the footsteps of artists like Leonard Cohen and, more recently, Kanye West by continuing to re-work and improve their music after its initial release.

UK Vinyl Buyers Different From Those In The US

Although vinyl's new popularity boom spans overseas to the UK, the demographic of vinyl consumers there is significantly different, with UK listeners averaging much older than those in the US, although there listening habits are fairly similar.

Old Music Is Outselling New Music For The First Time Ever

Even Adele can't save the legacy music industry... Old music is outselling new music for the first time ever, according to Nielsen.  Some of its has to do with millennials preferring to consume music via streaming or not to pay for it at all.  But how bright is the future of any industry that generates more revenue from old products instead of new ones?

More Changes In The Landscape Of Physical Music Retail

While there's no question that, when it comes to recorded music, the world of retail isn't what it was, it isn't all doom and gloom. Here we look at how selling music has changed, and the state of the music retail industry today.

Today Is National Vinyl Record Day: Support You Indie Music Store

Over the last few years before labels started to get significant checks from music streaming, the one bright spot was the rebirth of vinyl.   Today, August 12th, is officially Vinyl Record Day.  Go support the music and the stores that you love.  Go buy some vinyl.

I Wanted To Spend $40 At Your Show, But Instead I Spent $0

Here a concert attendee recounts his disappointment after visiting the merch table following a concert, only to find their supply of records tragically depleted, and issues a warning to artists that fans are still eager to buy physical copies of their music.

The 5 Things You Pay Too Much For As A Musician

For most musicians, profit margins are already pretty slim, meaning they can't typically afford to shell out a lot of unnecessary cash when purchasing gear. Here we look at some items on which far too many musicians will overspend.

Hastings Shuttering All 123 Music Stores, Liquidation Sale Starts Saturday

Hastings is shutting down all 123 stores and liquidating inventory and fixtures at a deep discount. Hastings had filed bankruptcy and been given 30 days by the court to find a buyer. We got details of the sale and a list of all Hastings locations.