Music streaming can be something of a catch-22 for fledgling artists: You can’t break through without impressive streaming numbers, and it’s hard to get impressive streaming numbers without breaking through. Spotify is making an attempt at leveling the playing field. On Wednesday (May 26th), the streaming service announced its new …
Read More »Prince's Sister on Honoring Her Brother's Vault of Unreleased Music
Since Prince’s death in 2016, Tyka Nelson, the musician’s younger sister, has been tasked with helping preserve the Purple One’s legacy. She shares one-sixth of Prince’s estate, with thousands of unreleased songs reportedly stowed away in Prince’s vault. Fans have eagerly demanded a taste of what the artist never got …
Read More »Thanks to Quarantine, Elevator Music Is Filing for Bankruptcy
Muzak is in trouble. Since 1934, the popular company has been providing retailers with musical strategies to boost worker productivity, encourage consumerism, and manipulate mood in a brick-and-mortar experience. Muzak was purchased in 2011 by Austin-based Mood Media, which also specializes in the manipulative power of carefully curated scents, decor, …
Read More »Sure, Streaming's Transformed the Music Business. But What's Next?
The fortunes of the global record industry can be neatly summed up in three stats: Its peak came in 1999, back when Ricky Martin wasLivin’ La Vida Loca, as the world’s record companies generated nearly$29 billion; by the close of 2013, according to IFPI data, that number had been slashed …
Read More »TikTok Proved It Can Make Hits — Its Next Test Is Creating Stars
Earlier this year, the app TikTok — which allows users to create short video clips set to music — helped shotgun Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” into the pop stratosphere. That accomplishment alone is cause for the app’s creators to celebrate. But that is just one way that TikTok …
Read More »'Fake Artists' Have Billions of Streams on Spotify. Is Sony Now Playing the Service at Its Own Game?
Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated? That classic line, delivered by Johnny Rotten in January 1978 during The Sex Pistols’ farewell show at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, remains the stuff of legend. The frontman appeared to hint that the Pistols – for many, the purest distillation of the punk …
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