Pretty much every kind of social media capital is available for sale these days, and followers are no exception. Surprisingly, however, the very people whom you would think didn't need to purchase fake fans have, for one reason or another, accrued vast swathes of these artificial followers.

UPDATED: A2IM is sponsoring its fifth annual SynchUp conference presented by Vydia on October 30th at the Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica, California.

Musician, teacher, author and industry provocateur Martin Atkins has partnered with Millikin University for his most audacious project yet - Tour:Smart Bus Edition which embeds real live students on a real live rock tour.

This week Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert discuss why you should release your video to both YouTube and Facebook on the Music Biz Weekly Podcast One of the most common questions that these two music marketers get asked is… 'I have a new music video. Should I release it to both YouTube and Facebook?.'

Once an artist has started selling fan subscriptions, it's important to establish a rewards system which consistently gives back and keeps them engaged enough to stay subscribed.

Chance the Rapper has become the first independent SoundCloud Premier creator to hit a billion streams. The Chicago native’s upload of his "#10Day" mixtape 8 years ago introduced his music to the world.

Troy Carter's new music & technology company, Q&A has named industry veterans Clarissa Reformina as Vice President of Creator Services, Ray Kurzeka as Vice President of Digital Strategy and Austin Hurwitz as Vice President of Music Operations.

The idea of constructing a marketing plan can seem intimidating at first, particularly when it comes to the expense involved, but in reality a solid and effective marketing plan can be more about goals and careful planning than total dollars spent. Here we look at the five steps to putting together a solid music marketing plan.

Indie distributor and publisher Cinq Music has inked independent record label Rancho Humilde to a worldwide distribution deal. The label targets 2nd and 3rd generation Mexican Americans in the US.

In this piece we explore the role of the music publisher, looking at the services they perform as well the relationship between the publisher and the other members of your artist development team.

Spotify has launched an upgraded Spotify Premium Family at the same $14.99 price. The upgrade comes alongside a reported Spotify Family price increase test in Scandanavia and pressure from rightsholders to reverse a continuing slide in per listener revenue.

Dave Pichilingi, who founded Modern Sky UK in 2016, is expanding his role to take over operations of its US division.  In his new role as Modern Sky’s CEO UK and North America, he is tasked with creating opportunities for Modern Sky’s Chinese repertoire for sync and publishing.

MONDAY 8.19.19

Music Business News From Around The Web

Updated continuously under the More News tab

In our tips and advice section this week, we offer independent, DIY artists advice on how to promote themselves on social media when they have zero followers, why touring has become more important than ever for up and coming musicians, some of the best techniques for boosting merch sales, and much, much more!

This week on MusicThinkTank, our contributors broke down some of the reasons behind Old Town Road's success, how you can keep the headliners at your summer festival safe, what you need to do to get your band sufficiently pumped for their first major show, and more.