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Songwriting
Workflow: What One Month Of Daily Releases Taught Me
What's
it like to release a new composition every day for a
month? Composer Martin Fowler recently took on this
challenge (and then some), working to release new music
everyday for an entire month. Here he documents his
experience, and what he learned from it.
Spending
Music Money Smart
It’s
tempting to point fingers when things go wrong. Where
there’s cash or credit involved, there’s room to
scapegoat — not having enough, misusing what’s
available, losing opportunities to get more, you know the
drill. It’s easy to write off slower-than-expected
trajectories as the natural result of insufficient
funding. In most brains, understandably, more is better.
The
Value Consistant Branding In Music
As
an artist, cultivating and communicating and image to your
fans is important for success, but just as important to
that success is consistently maintaining said image, so
that consumers know who you are and what it is that you
create.
How
To Prepare For A Post-Album Music Industry
The
album is not dead, but it is fading away; and stats shared
by MIDiA analyst Keith Jopling confirm the trend. Adults
that claim to listen to whole albums monthly, stands at
just 16% according to Q4 ‘18 data from MIDiA, a drop
from 22% in the previous quarter.
Skip
Rates: Why The First 30 Seconds Matter More Than Ever
With
the album on the wane and attention spans shorter than
ever, the first 30 seconds of of a song matter more than.
Not only do they need to capture the listener's attention,
but in streaming, they determine if the songwriter is
going to get paid at all.
The
Importance Of Artwork In Your Music
With
the rise fo streaming the prominence of album artwork has,
quite literally, been greatly reduced. That said, it's a
mistake for artists to discount the incredible importance
of album art when it comes to releasing and promoting your
music.
Big
question: Could Google buy Universal Music Group?
It
would have been the most talked-about story to hit the
music business in decades.
Three
years ago, the world found out that Google
had made a play to buy 50% of Sony/ATV Music Publishing
from the Jackson Estate. The stake, which eventually
went to Sony Corporation
in a $750 million deal, would have seen Google – now
Alphabet, the world’s fourth largest company – acquire
ownership of over two million copyrights, including a
deluge of hits going back decades.
Spotify
vs. songwriters: Sony/ATV’s Martin Bandier and
Warner/Chappell’s Carianne Marshall urge composers to
fight royalty rate challenge
Outgoing
Sony/ATV boss Martin Bandier, who reportedly earned a
personal fortune in the region of $100m from Sony’s
recent acquisition of EMI Music Publishing, believes
Spotify isn’t sharing enough of its revenue with
songwriters.
In
a new letter to Sony/ATV’s songwriters, Bandier has
slammed an appeal from Spotify, Amazon, Google and
Pandora against new statutory streaming rates announced by
the US Copyright Royalty Board last year.
These
appeals are intended to reverse the CRB’s decision,
which would see streaming royalties paid to songwriters
and publishers in the States rise by at least 44% by
2022.
Music
Publishers Issue 'Fact Check' Of Spotify Blog Post
'Attempting To Deceive' Songwriters
Spotify
has released a blog post laying out their decision to join
Amazon, Pandora and Google in appealing a US Copyright
Board decision that would raise streaming payments to
songwriters by 44%, over time. Now, David Israelite of the
National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has issued
point-by-point "fact check" of Spotify's claims.
Streaming
Revenue Impressive, But Can It Ever Make Up For Lost
Physical Sales?
With
streaming revenue showing a massive increase in comparison
to previous years, the major three record labels are
rejoicing at their annual haul. A big part of this income
still draws from physical sales however, and as these
old-school revenue streams continue to thin to a trickle,
will streaming be able to fully compensate?
Streaming,
Artists Without Labels Are Driving Music Industry Growth
[Mark Mulligan]
Three
key factors shaped the music industry over the last year,
according to Mark Mulligan of MIDiA: continued growth,
streaming and artists direct (artists without
labels).These findings are highlights of the MIDiA
Research report: Recorded Music Market 2018: Stream
Engine.
Local
Radio Freedom Act' Is Actually Anti-Creator,
Anti-Property-Rights [Richard James Burgess]
The
National Association of Broadcasters and its horde of well
paid lobbyists are now working to coerce congress into
cosponsoring a bill dubbed the Local Radio Freedom Act, an
ironic title given the bill's far more sinister
anti-creator, anti-property rights content. Here A2IM CEO
Richard James Burgess explains why both parties should
lambast the bill.
Apple
Music the only major streaming service not appealing
royalty increase for songwriters
Spotify,
Google, Pandora, and Amazon are all coming together to
appeal a recent U.S. Copyright Royalty Board ruling that
would see songwriter royalty payouts increase by 44
percent. Apple, meanwhile, is seemingly the only major
streaming service not planning to appeal.
Study:
Facebook Lost 15 Million Users In Two Years.
Social
media usage has flattened – but at a very high level.
Eight in ten Americans (79%) currently use a social media
platform, according to the latest research from the
Infinite Dial. Facebook remains king of the social hill
but the number of American using it continues to dip, from
67% in 2017 to 62% in 2018 and now to 61% in 2019.
Amazon, Spotify Appeal CRB Decision-Tech companies signal fight to lower recently-raised rates to songwriters
Washington,
D.C.— Today,
March 7,
NMPA
President
& CEO
David
Israelite
and
Nashville
Songwriters
Association
International
(NSAI)
Executive
Director
Bart
Herbison
released the
following
statements
on Amazon
and
Spotify’s
decision to
file a
notice of
appeal of the
recent
Copyright
Royalty
Board (CRB)
ruling
raising
songwriters’
rates for
streaming
and other
mechanical
uses by more
than 44
percent.
Artists
Are
Increasingly
Rejecting
Record Deals
Some
record
executives
are starting
to sweat, as
the music
industry
morphs into
one where
the climate
is
significantly
more
favorable
towards a
DIY way of
doing
business and
many artists
are
eschewing
traditional
label deals
in favor of
doing things
their own
way.
SiriusXM
Creates
First-Ever
Pandora
Content Team
to Produce
Podcasts,
Playlists
& More
In
SiriusXM's latest
update to
Pandora
since acquiring the
digital streamer last
month, the
satellite
radio giant
on Wednesday
(March 6)
announced the
first-ever
dedicated
original
content team
at Pandora
Media. Led
by SiriusXM’s
chief
content
officer Scott
Greenstein,
the new
initiative
will create
original
music,
sports and
talk content
for Pandora
listeners. That
will come in
the form of
full-time
channels and
shows,
podcasts,
playlists,
spoken-word
pieces
married with
music,
events and
live
performances
and even
interactive
channels.
Over
A Third Of
Americans
Now Own
Smart
Speakers, So
What Does
That Mean
For Artists?
As
an
increasing
number of
Americans
(now over
36%) acquire
smart
speakers,
changing
what the
future of
audio
consumption
looks like,
some artists
may be
forced to
rethink not
just their
promotional
strategy,
but their
entire brand
identity.
Opposition To Radio Performance Royalty Grows In
Congress
.The broadcast industry’s road trip to Washington last week has paid off for the radio industry in helping to boost the number
of lawmakers who’ve gone on the record opposing a performance royalty for AM-FM airplay. The latest count shows there are 140 House members who have signed as cosponsors to the Local Radio Freedom Act. In the Senate, there are now 13 cosponsors.
Songwriters
Can't Sue
Without
Copyright
Certificate
says U.S.
Supreme
Court, RIAA
Cries Foul
In
a rare
unanimous
decision,
the U.S.
Supreme
Court has
ruled that
applying for
a copyright
is not
enough to so
sue someone
for
copyright
infringement.
It currently
can take
months to
receive the
formal
certificate
of
registration
The
Reality Of
Music
Journalism And
How To Get
Covered
Getting
good press in
the music
business
hasn't gotten
easier in
recent years.
Competition is
stiff and
engaging the
interest of
press can be
even harder
than capturing
the attention
of fans. Here
we look at
music
journalism and
how to
cultivate a
relationship
with industry
gatekeepers.
ASCAP
and BMI – two
of the critical
voices in the
debate over the
government’s
consent decrees
dictating how
songwriters are
paid by radio,
restaurants,
bars and live
venues – have
now spoken in
unison. Instead
of the
decades-old
agreements being
torn up or
replaced with
federal
copyright law
revisions,
they’re
suggesting new
consent decrees
be
adopted—with
an eventual end
date.
Subscribers
of
SiriusXM’s
streaming
platforms now
have more than
100 new
commercial-free
music channels
that take a
deeper dive
into formats
available with
a standard
satellite
radio
subscription.
Xtra Channels
marks the
largest
addition ever
to the
satcaster’s
content
lineup,
offering
multiple
variations of
such
contemporary
and catalog
genres as
country,
dance, pop and
rock, as well
as channels
devoted to
specific
decades.
Growing
Your Music
Industry Network
In 15 Minutes A
Day
While
most artists would
rather spend time
honing their craft
than rubbing
shoulders with
industry peers,
socializing and
networking is key
to moving up in
the industry.
Luckily, there is
a strategy for
building your
network that only
requires investing
fifteen minutes a
day.
Why
Word-Of-Mouth Is
Key To Live Music,
How To Earn It
Despite
all the changes
the world of music
marketing has
undergone
(technologically
and otherwise)
word-of-mouth
remains the most
effective method
of selling
tickets. So how do
you, as an artist,
harness the power
of such an elusive
form of marketing?
Could
The Proliferation
Of Indie Streaming
Platforms Be
Harming Unsigned
Artists?
As
the major
streaming
platforms continue
to bludgeon each
other in hopes of
gaining an
industry monopoly,
unsigned artists
are seeking
better,
independent
options for
sharing their
music with the
general public -
unfortunately, all
these smaller
platforms face a
number of
shortcomings.
CD
Baby Announces
Global Expansion,
New Hires
CD
Baby is continuing
to expand globally
with hires in
Canada, Latin
America, East
Asia/Pacific, and
the UK and EU. CD Baby
is also adding
local Artist
Support Centers
around the world,
starting with the
UK in the coming
months. These
centers will give
specific advice in
local languages
tailored to the
needs of artists
in those locales.
8
Essential Pages
For Your Music Website
When
you’re designing
a website for your
music, one of the
most important
decisions you’ll
need to make is
what menu options
to have, and how
to organize them.
Here are some key
points to keep in
mind when mapping
out the navigation
for your site:
Radio
Royalty Bill
Introduced in
Congress (Again)
Arguing Stations
Should Not Have to
Pay Artists &
Labels
Radio
lobbyists and a
bipartisan
coalition of
lawmakers in
Washington D.C.
are backing the
latest iteration
of the Local Radio
Freedom Act, which
would limit
royalties radio
stations have to
pay on recordings.
With
the 116th U.S.
Congress now in
session since
early last month,
this marks just
the latest
biennial attempt
at passing this
legislation after
similar bills
failed in 2017 and
2015.
Major
Labels Earn
$800,000 A Hour
From Streaming
The
three major label
groups, Universal,
Sony and Warner,
earned a combined
$800,000 per hour
or $19 million per
day from streaming
services in 2018.
That's up $1.6
billion from the
$5.3 billion that
they earned from
streaming in 2017.
AMLC
Makes Case For A
More Independent
Mechanical
Licensing
Collective
The
Music
Modernization Act
calls for the
creation of a
Mechanical
Licensing
Collective to
oversee the
blanket mechanical
licenses that the
new law
established. So
far, two groups
ave applied to the
Copyright Royalty
Board, who will
chose the new
collective in
July.
Resolution
Opposing Radio
Royalty
Reintroduced In
Congress.
It’s
a maneuver that
has successfully
sidelined efforts
to pass a
performance
royalty on
broadcast radio
during the past
decade as bills
have been
introduced to do
away with the
AM/FM exemption.
The Local Radio
Freedom Act has
now been
reintroduced in
Congress, where
more than half of
House members have
already come down
on the side of
radio.
If
You Perform Live,
You're Probably Not
Getting Paid
Royalties That You
Deserve
For
many artists,
touring is one of
the primary ways in
which they maintain
a living as a
musician, making it
that much more
troubling to learn
that many artists
who do live shows
aren't walking away
with all the
performance
royalties to which
they are entitled.
Here Ari Herstand
explains what
artists must do
claim this
additional revenue.
Rhapsody
and Napster To Pay
Songwriters Up To
$10M In Class Action
Settlement
The
law firm
representing
musician and artist
advocate David
Lowery and other
songwriters has
filed a motion for
preliminary approval
of a settlement that
will see
self-published
songwriters paid as
much as $10 million
by Rhapsody and it's
Napster music
streaming service.
Graham
Warns DOJ Not To
‘Disrupt’ Music
Market With
ASCAP-BMI Changes.
The
new chairman of the
Senate Judiciary
Committee is sending
a clear signal to
the Dept. of Justice
not to throw the
music marketplace
into chaos with
proposed changes to
the consent decrees
governing ASCAP and
BMI. Makan Delrahim,
who heads the
Antitrust Division,
has backed a
“smooth
transition” toward
a “market-based”
framework. That
could have
implications for how
much radio
ultimately pays to
songwriters for
music use.
How
streaming music
could be harming the
planet
The
plastic and
packaging that comes
with CDs and vinyl
makes them seem
worse for the
environment, but the
popularity of music
streaming services
may be polluting in
other ways.
Cox
TV Group Sale
Reignites Rumors Of
More Radio Selloffs.
Friday’s
announced sale by Cox
Enterprises of its
entire TV group and
one of its radio
clusters by an
investor group led by
Apollo Global
Management has
reignited speculation
about the company’s
plans for the rest of
its radio group.
Brokers say they
expect Cox to sell
more of its radio
clusters in the months
ahead. “You will see
some additional sales
as things move through
this year,” one
dealmaker told Inside
Radio.
SoundCloud
Adds Free Distribution
To Spotify, Apple Music
To All Pro Accounts
SoundCloud
has added free digital
distribution to its
SoundCloud Premier
monetization toolset.
With the new feature,
creators monetizing
music on SoundCloud can
distribute to Amazon
Music, Apple Music,
Instagram, Spotify,
Tencent, YouTube Music
and other music services
directly from their
SoundCloud account.
Radio
Royalty Battle’s First
Salvo In New Congress.
Familiar
battle lines, with some
new players, are being
drawn in Washington in
the decades-old battle
over whether radio
stations should pay a
performance royalty for
on-air music use. The
effort comes just months
after Congress passed a
sweeping copyright
reform bill that gave
the music industry much
of what it had sought,
raising questions of how
intent lawmakers will be
on covering similar
ground in the new
session.
What
Should Be Included In A
Tour Sponsorship Deck
Nothing
is free, particularly in
the music industry, and
putting together a
fantastic tour or
festival requires money.
One of the best ways to
secure funding for these
sorts of events is
through sponsorships -
but doing so requires
careful planning.
Being
A Successful Musician:
What Actually Matters
While
talent and ability are
certainly important
factors when it comes be
becoming a successful
artist, more important
still is
differentiation. Here we
look at what it means to
separate yourself from
the back like this, and
what really matters when
it comes to
differentiation.
Identity
Theft New Trend In Music
Piracy
Music
piracy has existed as
long the music industry
itself, but like every
thing else in the biz,
it's constantly changing
and adapting. The most
recent trend appears be
impersonation, and has
digital buccaneers
pinging labels and
publicists, claiming to
be an artist or manager
in order to access their
music.
Guide
To Releasing Your Own
Music
Once
you've gone to the
trouble of recording and
producing music, you're
likely going to want to
release it to the public
- this can be a daunting
process however, so here
we look at a
presentation that covers
all the details of how
to release to music.
UN
Issues Guidelines for
Audio Devices, Warns 1bn
People at Risk of
Hearing Loss
The
World Health
Organization and the
International
Telecommunications Union
on Tuesday presented new
standards, or voluntary
guidelines, for the
manufacture and use of
personal audio devices.
As
Country Radio Seminar
Turns 50, Terrestrial
Radio Redefines Its Role
When
broadcasters convene in
Nashville for the 50th
annual Country Radio
Seminar running
Wednesday to Friday this
week, they will find
their industry in a much
different position than
it occupied during the
first convention in
1970.
Music
Streaming Rates 2018: Per
Stream Rates Drop and
YouTube's Value Gap Is
Very Real
This
data set is isolated to
the calendar year 2018 and
represents a mid-sized
indie label with an
approximately 250+ album
catalog now generating
almost 1b streams
annually. 2018 is the year
we saw streaming truly
mature as the dominant
source of recorded music
revenues. The Spotify per
stream rate drops again
from .00397 to .00331 a
decrease of 16%. Apple
Music gains almost 3% for
an total global market share
of about just under 25% of
all revenue. Apple’s per
stream rate drops from
.00783 to .00495 a
decrease of 36%.
NMPA
Warns Spotify May 'Declare
War' On Songwriters Over
44% Royalty Rate Increase
The
NMPA and its member music
publishers are reminding
songwriters and other
publishers that Spotify
and other digital music
streamers thus far
"won’t say" if
they plan to appeal the
44% increase over five
year in mechanical
royalties to songwriters
made official by the US
Copyright Royalty Board
this week.
Why
A Trademark Can Be
Valuable To Your Music's
Brand
If
you've gone to the trouble
of cultivating a specific
logo or brand for your
music, there are a number
of benefits to
"making it
official" by getting
it trademarked. Besides
just establishing a
potential source of
revenue, a trademark can
provide you with certain
legal protections down the
road.
Smart
Speaker Penetration: 66
Million Units In U.S.
Amazon
Echo continues to make
itself at home. A new
report reveals that as of
Dec. 31, 2018, the
installed base of smart
speaker devices is 66
million units, up from 53
million units in the
September 2018 quarter and
36 million units as of
December 2017. Amazon has
a dominant 70% of the
marketplace, according to
Consumer Intelligence
Research Partners.
Songwriters,
publishers unveil bid to
run nation's music
licensing
The
three largest trade groups
representing the nation's
music publishers and
songwriters on
Monday unveiled their
proposal to operate a
powerful new licensing
organization created by
the landmark passage of
the Music Modernization
Act last year. The
National Music Publishers
Association, the Nashville
Songwriters Association
International and the
Songwriters of North
America announced their
bid in joint press
releases. In
addition to announcing the
board members who would
steer the new collective,
the publishers and
songwriters announced
broad support from
virtually every major
music industry company and
trade association.
SoundExchange
Flirted With a Billion in
Payouts to Artists and
Labels in 2018
SoundExchange
paid out $952.8
million to artists
and labels last
year, the most it
has ever
distributed since
the organization
began. That
represented a $300
million, or 46.1
percent increase
over the prior
year when it paid
out $652 million.
Paid
streaming set to overtake
free music services for
first time
Paid
music streaming looks set
to overtake free services
for the first time later
this year, as more people
opt to pay for the likes
of Spotify and Apple
Music. Experts believe
that streaming has made it
fashionable to pay for
music again, with the
latest numbers from
November 2018 showing
20.6% opting to pay, up
from 18.3% the year
before. At the same time,
free streaming – either
through services that use
adverts, as part of a free
trial or with a family
license paid for by
someone else – is
gradually decreasing,
currently standing at
21.5%, down from 21.7%
previously.
Building
Your Dream Team: Managers,
Music Management Companies
In
this edition of Building
Your Dream Team, AWAL breaks
down the who, what, when,
where, and why of music
managers and the music
management companies behind
them so you don't have to,
so you can make an informed
decision about where
managers fit into your music
career.
Your
Spotify Streams Could Be
Supporting Fake Artists
A
recent study from the BBC
revealed a number of fake
artists accumulating plays
from very much real accounts
- something which has
recently been revealed to be
the result of account
hacking.
5
Dangers In Becoming A
Musician
A
career in music can fill
your life with
excitement and passion, but
while incredibly rewarding,
life in the music business
carries with it a number of
inherent risks as well,
including financial and
personal instability and
risk of addiction.
Getting
Press For Your Music Harder
Than Ever, But Maybe That's
Not A Bad Thing
New
information suggests that
indie music publicists have
been struggling with a media
landscape that's getting
smaller and smaller, making
it that much harder get
coverage from an ever
shrinking pool. Still, as
Chris Robley here suggests,
as the power of the press
decreases, it's one less
gate keeper for musicians,
who can instead invest their
resources elsewhere.
27%
Of 18-49 Broadcast TV
Viewers Vanished In Two
Years.
New
Nielsen ratings analyzed by
AdAge present a bleak
picture of network TV’s
declining audience. Face
with heated competition for
viewers from streaming video
service, broadcast C3
ratings plummeted 11% year
over year during fourth
quarter 2018.Tracking the
trend back to 2016 shows the
latest numbers are no fluke.
ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox
combined have seen more than
one quarter (27%) of their
advertiser-coveted viewers
disappear.
Pandora
stockholders have approved
the sale of the company to
SiriusXM Radio, moving the
$3.5 billion purchase one
step closer to completion.
Roger Lynch, the Sling TV
founder who joined the
webcaster as CEO 16 months
ago, will exit the company
upon closing, making way
for SiriusXM CEO Jim Meyer
to lead Pandora and Sirius
XM as a combined company
Is
Printing, Selling Physical
CDs Still Worth It?
While
there is a lot of
nostalgia surrounding the
CDs and CD buying culture,
the manufacturing costs
and associated
complexities of creating
them leave a lot of more
contemporary artists
wondering if, in the
digital age, CDs are
really worth it at all.
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