Fresh off yesterday's staff announcements, A2IM is adding a another member to the team. Music industry veteran Chase Varga has been named A2IM Marketing Manager.

ASCAP has named Nicole Carbone-Rogers as Senior Vice President of Events. She will be responsible for ASCAP’s awards shows and other events. Previously, Carbon-Rogers was Head of Experiential Marketing & Live Production at Pandora, where she managed 75 events.

UCLA's  Music Industry Clinic (MIC) is offering free legal services for qualifying musicians and other members of the music industry. MIC provides UCLA Law students with the opportunity to represent clients in real-life music transactional matters under the supervision of experienced music attorneys.

With a brand new year comes a whole host of new opportunities for collaborating with your industry peers. Here we look at five such collaborative options you won't want to miss out on.

Vivendi has been clear that it would like to sell up to half of its Universal Music Group at a valuation of between $22 billion and $33 billion, and an army of investment bankers are out courting potential buyers. MIDiA's Mark Mulligan looks at who may want and can afford to acquire a major stake in the world's largest music group.

EXCLUSIVE ADVANCE LOOK: Emily White has deep first hand knowledge of how to build a sustainable music career from her years an an artist manager, consultant and more. She's shared some of that knowledge from the stages of countless conferences including MIDEM and SXSW and in a Billboard cover story. Her new book, How to Build a Sustainable Music Career and Collect All Revenue Streams, brings all of that knowledge together in a single volume.

In this piece nineteen different experts in fields ranging from musician to author to podcast host, weigh in with their marketing predications for the music industry in 2019, and what artists can do to prepare for the year.

Rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie topped the US album chart last week with a record low sales of just 823 albums. With no release on CD or vinyl, the 823 albums sold in the week ending January 10th were all digital downloads.

Verizon has added free Apple Music subscriptions to several of its Unlimited wireless data plans. The carrier had been offering 6 months or free Apple Music, but the move to permanent subscriptions potentially adds millions of subscribers to Apple Music.

WEDNESDAY 1.16.19

Music Business News From Around The Web

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Here one innovative music biz self-starter explains how successfully he eschewed traditional streaming service in favor of an incredibly old-school marketing tactic using, drum roll, the telephone.

Both hugely accomplished music and entertainment moguls, Jay-Z and Dr. Dre's success has been propelled by their ability to understand music as a business, and effectively market it to their fans thanks, in part, to focus groups.

Following its explosion in popularity, podcasting has established itself as a lead player in the audio renaissance. But can this platform continue to keep growing? Low barriers to entry have led to a crowded content field, leaving some in the industry concerned about its future.

After parting ways with comedian Kevin Hart, The Recording Academy and CBS announced today that Alicia Keys will host the 61st Annual  Awards. The awards will be broadcast live on CBS on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, 8 p.m.ET / 5 p.m. PT.

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) has renewed the contract of its respected leader Dr. Richard James Burgess, who will now serve as both President and CEO of the organization. The indie trade group has also hired a new General Manager and promoted four from within.

Punk magazine Maximum Rocknroll is shutting down its print edition  later this year after 36 years and more than 400 issues. The San Francisco based publication began life as a radio show in 1977, and in 1982 added a monthly print magazine to cover the burgeoning d.i.y. and indie label punk scene.

Lil Uzi Vert appears to be at odds with his record label and took to social media in what appeared to be a retirement announcement.  The  XO Tour Llif3 rapper whose real name is Symere Woods, announced that he has quit making music and “deleted” his work.

TUESDAY 1.5.19

Music Business News From Around The Web

Updated continuously under the More News tab

In this piece, David Deal explores how new tech innovation in the form of the app David Bowie Is has allowed the legendary performer to once again grace our homes in the form of augmented reality.

While the process of group-writing a song is not a new concept, a recent look at the Top Ten hits suggests that having more songwriters involved in the creation of a song can improve its chances of topping the charts.

The average price that a Spotify subscriber pays in dropping, and that has artists and record labels worried. Despite a stated price of $9.99 USD / €9.99 EU , the actual average price paid global is just $5.50 per month and falling.

In this new episode of the Music Biz Weekly Podcast,  Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert discuss an article that Jay wrote for Soultracks.com, 5 Basic Tips: Preparing to Release New Music.

Tidal has responded to reports that Norwegian criminal justice unit Økokrim has opened an investigation into hundreds of millions of possible fake streams that benefited new releases by Kanye West and Beyonce.

The Songwriters Hall of Fame will induct six new honorees at its 50th Annual Awards Dinner. The star-studded event is slated for Thursday, June 13, 2019 in New York City.

In a recent announcement, the Nashville, TN non-profit Music Health Alliance revealed that they have successfully saved the music community more than $40 million in healthcare costs during the course of the past six years, helping over 9,700 clients.

"RCA/Sony: Drop Sexual Predator R Kelly" read the banner flying over the Los Angeles offices of RCA and Sony on Friday.  It's the latest escalation in a growing protest movement to force record label RCA and corporate parent Sony to cut ties with Kelly, after repeated reports of predatory behavior and sexual abuse.

As 2019 gets underway, the public's appetite for live events shows no signs of waning. While this is great news for your next show or festival, a thriving live economy means it's more important than ever to make your event stand out. Here we look at some key strategies that will help you come out on top.

Official Norwegian criminal justice unit Økokrim has opened an investigation into hundreds of millions of possible fake streams on Tidal that benefited new releases by Kanye West and Beyonce.