DMN rewinds to bring you the top 10 music industry stories this week.
1. Music Downloads Are Collapsing at a Faster Rate Than CDs.
According to PwC projected figures shared with Digital Music News, revenue from physical formats is falling at a (compound annual) rate of —12.3%. But that’s nothing compared to paid download: according to the forecasted figures, paid music downloads will fall at a (compound annual) rate of… Read more.
2. Emails from 2014 Show Spotify Was Aware of Royalty Payout Problems.
Hundreds of emails dating back to 2014 indicate that Spotify executives were made aware of mechanical licensing payout problems, including serious issues with contracted partner Harry Fox Agency (HFA), but failed to take action. Major issues with non-payment of mechanical licenses to artists ultimately led to a pair of class action lawsuits, which have now been combined with an estimated liability of….Read more.
3. The Internet Archive: Notice and Staydown Would Be An “Absolute Disaster.”
For some time now, content creators and major rights holders have been fighting for the current takedown system to be reviewed. A campaign for a ‘Take Down, Stay Down’ system was kickstarted. But, The Internet Archive is completely against this proposal, saying that Notice and Staydown would be an….Read more.
4. Top 7 Interview Questions Bands Get Asked The Most (And How To Answer).
In the hundred-some interviews I’ve given (as an artist), a few questions have come up again and again. But as a singer/songwriter, the questions have obviously been more focused on my personal background and influences. What questions do bands get asked the most…? Read more.
5. A Crash Course on Mechanical Publishing Royalties — Part 1: The Basics.
The Basics: what a mechanical license is – and what it isn’t. The primer comes from Robert Klembas of Rebeat Digital, a provider of digital distribution, royalty accounting, Music Enterprise Software (MES) solutions. This is the first in a 12-part series….Read more.
6. Breaking: Song Downloads Plunging More Than 20 Percent In 2016.
Sales of a-la-carte track downloads from platforms like the iTunes Store and Amazon are now experiencing serious declines, according to preliminary Q1 and partial Q2 data shared this morning with Digital Music News. That drop could be more severe, with one executive projecting ‘shocking’ first-half declines for….Read more.
7. Vinyl Production Is About to Get a Whole Lot Easier for Artists.
One company putting a shovel to the ground is Dallas-based Hand Drawn Records, which is planning to start construction on an automatic pressing facility this fall. Hand Drawn claims this is the ‘world’s first automated pressing plant’ in 30 years, and hopes to simplify the ordering and turnaround process entirely….Read more.
8. Club Owner Gets Sick of Amateur DJs, Bans all Laptops On Stage.
This is all going down outside of Los Angeles, where the owner of a club called Cure and the Cause in Glendale felt that his club was turning into an amateur hour. Even worse, the flow of music was getting interrupted by DJs who didn’t even know how to plug their laptop into the sound system…Read more.
9. 2013: Radiohead Calls Spotify the ‘Last Desperate Fart of a Dying Corpse’. 2016: Radiohead Licenses Spotify.
On May 8th, Radiohead released their latest album titled A Moon Shaped Pool, on pretty much every other streaming platform except for Spotify. Well…it seem’s as though Spotify have been working on it, because reports have now pointed out that the album will be released on Spotify’s streaming service on….Read more.
10. Amazon + Urban Outfitters + Gentrification = 3 Dead Record Stores In June.
Vinyl sales keep exploding, along with sales of turntables and peripherals. There’s even a brand-new, high-quality vinyl format on the way. So why are so many vinyl stores closing down? That’s now an urgent question, with three legendary record stores shutting down in the past month alone…Read more.
(Image by Chris Marquardt, Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic, cc by-sa 2.0)
Hey Charlotte,
Say hi to the biggest asshole in the game, me!
These ten stories have nothing to do with the top things happening in music.
The music gist fresh off the streets is righteous and often times brutally seedy.
Here are a few much more interesting and hot topics.
#1 – Prophecies
Currently the music business is stuck in a pathetic closed loop of groundhog day playing and have set themselves up to find the next Tupac or the Next One, due to the desire some have of watching a train wreck get hot leaded out on National T.V.
You won’t hear much about this in the news or print but i assure you it is about the biggest hot story right now as the deals it takes them to have any chance at such a thing create and permeate a festering hell that few want anything to do with and rightfully so is slowly decimating the business anyways.
#2 – Denial
Currently the music business is stuck in a state of denial, unable to take their heads out of the sand. This topic is vague and widespread however the big picture view of the industry from afar and the top is not a good one. The brains are fried and the paranoia, psychopathic mind-states and rabid small kindergarten minds of some of the top tonnage shippers is so concerning it makes me wonder if there are any social workers or establishments in the states that could offer their services to such babies.
#3 – Failed Analytics
The big data spreadsheet games the music business has engaged in have squeezed the whole business into a trite contrite oneness where the whole game is lacking creativity and risk, innovation and freshness. It has once again become a stale desolate land where the old guard is servicing the new guard and just running out old glory and dwindling fan bases, shilling them whatever junky trinket has the most margin. This sort of process without the big picture view across the globe and all genres has only left the whole game a complete wash right now and a totally uninspired scene and no need to even listen in.
#4 – The Team Game is DOA
America awhile back, in conjunction with MJ going Hollywood, has resulted in a constricted and compressed and squeezed to death team game. This has resulted in songs where a simple poly synth bassline will have sometimes 40+ persons taking a grip. This has helped to scuttle a royalty scheme that was already in peril and thusly while the big boys like Universal have managed to scale their revenues up through volume, the result is individually across the board most pay is way down, even for the top guys.
Teddy Riley told me himself that all he tends to see is diminishing royalties on his large catalog. This message rings true throughout the industry which only helps to permeate and manifest the massive huge acts to try and turn and burn some serious cheddar. This causes problems when they don’t listen to those that are not interested in what they have to offer.
This helps to create manufacturing plant style art/musiuc/commerceial product and along with the States desire to continually shit on any and all Art with a disdain and laugh due to their belief they own the Globe and the Global Music Market, they have forgotten their roots and where they came from and thusly are still seeing massive negative pressure across the board.
The best records of all time were generally produced written and recorded with a small team, at least in regards to most popular music.
This has left open a righteous time in the history of music where people either need to take the plight and starve it our or else get back to laundering drug money. This is the state of the game and the team nature is only going to further decimate an industry once comprised of professional workers.
……..
These are just a few things that are going on that are hot topics.
This will be my only appearance back, i must be paid for anything and everything these days, including my damn mind and especially my work and my property and product.
Have a lovely life and cheerio!
Justin Mayer