Hal
Ketchum, Opry member and 'Small Town Saturday Night' singer,
dies at 67
Hal
Ketchum, a 1990s country hitmaker and member of Nashville's
famed Grand Ole Opry, died this week at age 67.
Ketchum
died from dementia complications, according to a post on his
verified Facebook page Tuesday morning. Ketchum's wife
previously detailed his diagnosis in an April 2019 social
media post. "With great sadness and grief
we announce that Hal passed away peacefully last night at
home due to complications of dementia," a Facebook post
signed by his wife Andrea said Tuesday. "May his music
live on forever in your hearts and bring you peace."
Raised
in Greenwich, New York, Ketchum relocated in 1981 to
Austin, Texas, where he eventually began writing songs and
performing in local clubs under his full name, Hal
Michael Ketchum.
6
Easy Devices for Writing More Creative Lyrics
It’s
bound to happen. At some point, you’re going to find your
lyrics getting stale. Maybe you don’t even notice it
yourself; a friend or colleague has to tell you. Worse,
maybe you’re in that all-important pitch session and the
publisher says your lyrics aren’t fresh enough. So
how to get out of your rut and make your lyrics shine with
originality again? Here are a few devices to do just that!
Smart
Tricks For Boosting Your Music Marketing
There
are a myriad of resources out there when it comes to getting
the word out about your music but, thanks to a new
generation of smart tools, you can make your marketing even
more effective. Here, we look at four such innovative new
resources. There is no shortage of tools to help you
get your marketing job done online, but a new generation of
smart tools can help you do it even better. These 4 tools,
courtesy of Social Media Today, are worth looking into,
especially if there’s even a chance they can help you
increase your reach to a new audience.
Music
Production: What Exactly Does Producer Do?
Every
song you’ve ever heard and enjoyed went through the music
production. So what does a music producer actually do? Here,
we break down their four most vital roles. Professional
music production is creative and technical. It requires
well-developed listening skills, a good handle on recording
technology, a deep musical knowledge, and effective project
management and leadership skills by a music producer, also
known as a record producer. If you’re thinking about
getting into music production, here are some basics that you
should know:
Spotify
Expands Canvas Access via DistroKid, CD Baby, TuneCore,
Symphonic, Others
UPDATED:
Spotify is expanding access to its Canvas looping image
cover art feature to more artists and labels via deals with
independent and DIY distributors. CD Baby, Symphonic,
and TuneCore are among the first distributors to announce
automatic Canvas access for verified artists using their
services, but more are sure to follow.
Yesterday,
Spotify shared impressive new Canvas stats as well as a
marketplace for Canvas designers.
‘Several
Hundred Million Dollars’ In Black Box Royalties Is Due To
Musicians, Publishers
We’ve
known for years that there is a large pool of unpaid
royalties from Spotify, Apple Music, and other digital
service providers. Known as “Black Box Royalties,”
these unpaid funds usually accrue when a DSP can not trace
the writer or publisher of a song. Last year’s U.S.
Music Modernization Act was supposed to fix the problem by
establishing a better song database and deciding how much
“black box” money was due to artists as well as how it
would be divided and paid out. Things involving
Washington move slowly, and those implementing the MMA are
no exception. But thanks to a request from the Digital
Licensing Coordinator seeking more information, one portion
of the mystery is closer to being solved:
Is
The Music Modernization Act Stifling Industry Innovation?
When
the Music Modernization Act passed, many in the industry
were concerned about what impact the legislation might have
on the creative sector of the music business. Now, some fear
that those fears are being validated. [The chickens
are coming home to roost. As I warned before the Music
Modernization Act was passed, Title I has big problems.
Remember that Title I established the Mechanical
Licensing Collective (publishers and songwriters) and the
Digital Licensee Coordinator (digital music platforms). It
was sold to songwriters on the basis that “the services
pay for everything”. We will see how true that ends
up being (as the copyright owners have to pay their costs to
populate or correct the HFA database which is a massive
undertaking). Nobody talked to any DMP startups when
the legislation was drafted or when the “administrative
assessment” was litigated before the Copyright Royalty
Judges. But now startups are getting the bill and
they’re not too happy, particularly 115 services that
never had to pay for a license other than royalties.
Tower
Records Returns with 500,000+ Vinyl, CDs, Cassettes &
More Online
Much
loved music retailer Tower Records, which closed all of its
U.S. physical locations 14 years ago, has returned as an
online store. The stores may be gone but Tower is back
with 500,000 physical titles, an online version of its
flagship Pulse Magazine, merch sales, and even virtual
“instore” Tower Live! performances on Instagram.
Tower first opened in 1960 in Sacramento, California. In
2004, the chain’s parent company declared
bankruptcy,. In 2018, Tower Records founder Russ
Solomon died at age of 92.
Guitar
Center Is Officially Entering Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Less
than one month after rumors of a potential bankruptcy filing
began circulating, Guitar Center is officially entering
Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Guitar Center recently
announced the “comprehensive” restructuring plan, which
follows Moody’s downgrading the Westlake
Village-headquartered company’s credit rating earlier this
year. “Key stakeholders” have agreed to the
reorganization framework, and an equity group from Ares
Management (traded as ARES on the NYSE), overseen by new
equity investors Brigade Capital and The Carlyle Group
(traded as CG), is committing up to $165 million to the
process. Guitar Center then notes that the all-encompassing
restructuring initiative should enable it to maintain normal
operations, including paying vendors, suppliers, and
employees while meeting other financial obligations
“without interruption in the ordinary course of
business.”
Texas-Raised
Country Singer Doug Supernaw Passes Away At 60 After Cancer
Battle
Country
singer Doug Supernaw, who had hits in the early ’90s with
“I Don’t Call Him Daddy,” and “Reno,” died on
Friday, Nov. 13. He was 60 years old. The
Houston-raised singer announced in February 2019 that he had
lung and bladder cancer and he entered hospice care in
October after the cancer spread.
CDC
Data Shows High Covid Survival Rate: 99%-Plus for Ages 69
and Younger, 94.6% for Older (And the Gvt. shut down our
economy for this?)
The
U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC)
recently updated its estimated Infection Fatality Rate (IFR)
parameters to include age-specific data showing the vast
majority of people who contract the Chinese coronavirus
survives. That means that for people 69 years old or
younger, the survival rate is between 99.5 percent and
99.997 percent, while for those 70 or older, it is an
estimated 94.6 percent. In May, the CDC suggested the
overall IFR stood at 0.26 percent, about eight to 15
times lower than earlier mortality rate estimates of two to
four percent. As of Nov. 12, the actual death rate from
Covid-19 was 6% of the total published Covid deaths, while
94% had underlying conditions such as pneumonia,
flu, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and others.
What
Is Payola? Here’s a Simple Definition
Last
week, Spotify revealed that it would allow artists and
labels to influence recommendations provided that they
accepted a lowered “promotional recording royalty rate”
for the resulting plays. Now, a number of creators and fans
are asking: What is payola? The answer to that age-old
question – what is payola? – begins with a quick
examination of the radio industry. In the 20th century,
labels and promoters often paid station DJs to play records.
These broadcasting professionals would then fill the tracks
into airtime lineups without mentioning the compensation to
listeners – thereby creating the illusion that they’d
chosen the songs organically. The works would theoretically
find an audience and enjoy bolstered sales following their
illicit placements.
Spotify
vs. Apple Music: Which Is the Best Music Streaming Platform?
With
the rise of music streaming platforms and services over the
last ten years, another new rival can be added to the
already predominant group. While there are a number of
music streaming platforms to choose from, Spotify, a
Swedish-born platform, and Apple Music, the replacement to
iTunes, top the list. When you sign up on each of
these platforms – Spotify and Apple Music – you are
asked basic information related to your favorite genre and
artists to set up a personalized recommendation for you.
Both Spotify and Apple Music have radio stations based on
the choice you make while signing up. While Spotify
does not look for an upfront payment as you sign in, the
option to buy Spotify plans is always available. In fact,
you can look up Spotify plans to suit your purpose. However,
the free version of Spotify works just as fine. Apple Music,
on the other hand, though offers a free trial, but at some
point of time, you have to make a payment to benefit from
their services.
iHeartMedia
Layoffs Continue Across Multiple Radio Markets — Here’s
the Latest
Back
in April, following a series of personnel cutbacks that
preceded the COVID-19 pandemic, iHeartMedia revealed that it
planned to trim $250 million in costs this year.
Now, the company has parted with several additional
employees across multiple radio markets as part of this
far-reaching reduction. The
entity’s second-quarter revenue came in at $488 million, a
47 percent year-over-year decline that included a 57 percent
broadcasting-income falloff as well as a small digital boost
and a 103 percent podcast earnings hike. iHeartMedia is
scheduled to release its Q3 2020 financial report (for the
three months ending on September 30th) next Monday, November
9th.
Is
the MLC Putting Smaller Streaming Platforms Out of Business?
Five
days ago, sources revealed that smaller music streaming
services were pushing back against the Mechanical Licensing
Collective (MLC) over their perceived lack of input in the
development process. Now, Digital Music News has learned
that underlying disagreements center on the fees that these
DSPs are required to pay. After reading our initial
report on the matter, another source reached out to
elaborate upon the behind-the-scenes dispute at the MLC. The
“main concern,” this individual told us, “is the fee
that is payable by all DSPs whether or not they use the new
blanket license.” Moreover, the third party provided a
link to the corresponding “settlement” and stated that
it “was not subject to public comment.” According
to the document, digital service providers have to
cover the MLC’s startup fee ($33.5 million) via a
“startup assessment,” or “the one-time administrative
assessment for the startup phase of the Mechanical Licensing
Collective.” This payment must be made alongside the first
annual bill, which is due on February 15th, 2021; the second
annual fee disclosure is due in November of the same year
and must be paid by January of 2022, for a considerable
overall obligation.
