Topics - Water & Music

How music professionals use data to pitch artists

Accelerators

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Advertising

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

Afrobeats

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

Agencies

How booking agents use (and don’t use) data

When agents and promoters take the label’s job (and vice versa)

December 11 2020

Amazon

Three patterns in big-tech companies’ music strategies

October 27 2020

Amazon Music

Spotify and Apple Music disagree on the future of radio. Who’s right?

Apple Music

August 24 2020

The “celestial jukebox” era is dead. What’s next for music streaming?

December 13 2019

Streaming services finally care more about old* music

June 27 2019

Artificial intelligence

Who owns an A.I.-created song?

October 14 2020

Meet the architects of music’s new avatar economy

May 12 2020

New data sheds light on the realities of artist management

Artist managers

June 24 2020

Artist managers

How artists and managers evaluate livestreaming opportunities

May 27 2020

Artist services

What “Record Deal Simulator” is really telling us

October 01 2020

The problem with play-count purgatory

September 28 2020

The à-la-carte artist: How Drake uses variability to provide each fan with a unique experience

Artists

Marketing

September 14 2021

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Community Member Q&A: Dave Godowsky, Head of Artist and Industry Relations at iZotope

Audio

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Beyoncé’s 388-day album campaign and the death of premiere culture

Back catalog

September 16 2020

Streaming services finally care more about old* music

June 27 2019

Big ideas

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Big tech

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting

Blockchain & crypto

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

The root of the music NFT problem (CO:QUO panel recap)

Brand partnerships

Beyond the band-aid: How to create the music livestreaming platform of the future, now

Why the Target exclusive still has staying power in mainstream music

March 02 2021

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

Business models

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Careers

Community Member Q&A: Dave Godowsky, Head of Artist and Industry Relations at iZotope

More major artists are starting their own labels. Don’t expect them to be any more equitable

Accelerators

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

Charts

Tracking genre diversity and fluidity in the Billboard charts

February 08 2021

In a “genre-fluid” world, why is genre categorization still such a high-stakes business?

February 04 2021

Clubhouse

The art and science of virtual album-release parties

Top music-industry tastemakers are hanging out in Clubhouse. Why?

May 28 2020

Community

The root of the music NFT problem (CO:QUO panel recap)

Inaugural Community Member Q&A: Tim Shiel, broadcaster, musician and producer

Community

June 20 2021

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

Community Q&As

Community Member Q&A: Dave Godowsky, Head of Artist and Industry Relations at iZotope

Community Member Q&A: Michail Stangl, Head of Culture at Zora

Community Q&As

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Company analysis

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Beyoncé’s 388-day album campaign and the death of premiere culture

Back catalog

September 16 2020

Competition

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

Signing bonuses used to run the ticketing business. What happens now?

Consolidation

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

2020 in music and podcasts: How platforms shape programming

December 16 2020

Contracts

More major artists are starting their own labels. Don’t expect them to be any more equitable

Signing bonuses used to run the ticketing business. What happens now?

Copyright

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

The legal Achilles’ heel of the catalog buyout craze: Termination rights

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Creators

Beyond the band-aid: How to create the music livestreaming platform of the future, now

The case for bringing more musicians and music-industry execs to VidCon

The direct-to-fan tech stack for artists

August 22 2020

Crowdfunding

Beyond rights: How blockchain is underpinning a new generation of artist tools

August 31 2020

The rapid rise of paid membership models for music

June 12 2020

Data

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting

Music-streaming services are losing their brand identity. Here’s the visual evidence

Design/UX

How Spotify’s recommendations UX might be pushing down per-stream royalty rates — even if total payouts increase

How to build a truly “fan-centric” online music experience

Discord

Why so many music producers are starting their own Discord communities

September 07 2020

Disney

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Beyoncé’s 388-day album campaign and the death of premiere culture

Back catalog

September 16 2020

Distribution

Why the Target exclusive still has staying power in mainstream music

March 02 2021

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

Diversity, inclusion and equity

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

More major artists are starting their own labels. Don’t expect them to be any more equitable

8% of the corporate music C-suite is Black

Careers

June 05 2020

Downtown Music Holdings

Downtown Music Holdings now owns four music distributors. What’s next?

January 23 2020

Emerging tech

Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

Engineers

The music industry needs its own “no-code” awakening

July 11 2019

Entertainment

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

The “waterfall” strategy for monetizing music livestreams: An updated guide for emerging artists

December 14 2020

Any artist at any career stage can start thinking early on about how to increase the longevity of the art they create and distribute online.

Entrepreneurship

Accelerators

The downfall of the “recording artist”: Three perspectives

August 06 2020

Music-tech funding takes a hit in 2020

July 15 2020

Facebook

Three patterns in big-tech companies’ music strategies

October 27 2020

Fair use

Fandom

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

Beyond the band-aid: How to create the music livestreaming platform of the future, now

Film

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

The “waterfall” strategy for monetizing music livestreams: An updated guide for emerging artists

December 14 2020

Any artist at any career stage can start thinking early on about how to increase the longevity of the art they create and distribute online.

Finance

Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

Fintech

Music NFT market update, Q2 2021: Sales down by over 90%, but artists are still experimenting

Music NFT market update, April 2021: $70.5M in sales to date

April 21 2021

Will Hipgnosis actually work?

September 11 2020

Funding

More major artists are starting their own labels. Don’t expect them to be any more equitable

What “Record Deal Simulator” is really telling us

October 01 2020

Gaming

15 ways to incorporate gaming into your music strategy

November 20 2020

Why so many music producers are starting their own Discord communities

September 07 2020

The major design element missing from virtual music festivals: Spatial thinking

June 09 2020

Gen Z

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Gen Z’s take on the future of new music discovery

Genre

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

Tracking genre diversity and fluidity in the Billboard charts

February 08 2021

Google

Three patterns in big-tech companies’ music strategies

October 27 2020

Health/fitness

John Legend on Headspace: Expanding what “wellness music” can sound like

September 15 2020

Brand partnerships

Spotify’s underrated competition: Meditation apps

May 01 2020

Hip-Hop

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

Brazilian funk has made waves in the global music industry. Where does it go from here?

August 18 2020

Top music-industry tastemakers are hanging out in Clubhouse. Why?

May 28 2020

History

The root of the music NFT problem (CO:QUO panel recap)

15 years ago, Daft Punk’s Coachella set helped spark an “arms race” for live music technology

April 29 2021

Independent artists

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Independent labels

Indie labels in 2020: A surprising tale of resilience

Independent artists

December 28 2020

Instagram

Gen Z’s take on the future of new music discovery

Intellectual property

Who owns an A.I.-created song?

October 14 2020

The Music Business Rectangle: A new framework for rethinking power in the music industry

January 13 2020

International Trends

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

The legal Achilles’ heel of the catalog buyout craze: Termination rights

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

K-pop, cell phone ads and the future of music-tech branding

November 29 2020

Interoperability

Inaugural Barometer Survey: The most pressing issues in music and tech right now

Artist-facing music business software is far behind Silicon Valley

K-pop

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

K-pop, cell phone ads and the future of music-tech branding

November 29 2020

Lawsuits

The legal Achilles’ heel of the catalog buyout craze: Termination rights

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Legal

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

Contracts

Live music

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

15 years ago, Daft Punk’s Coachella set helped spark an “arms race” for live music technology

April 29 2021

Live Nation

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

Contracts

Signing bonuses used to run the ticketing business. What happens now?

Livestreaming

Beyond the band-aid: How to create the music livestreaming platform of the future, now

The art and science of virtual album-release parties

M&A

Downtown Music Holdings now owns four music distributors. What’s next?

January 23 2020

Major labels

Which will be a better investment, Warner Music Group stock or Spotify stock? Four factors to consider

More major artists are starting their own labels. Don’t expect them to be any more equitable

The à-la-carte artist: How Drake uses variability to provide each fan with a unique experience

Marketing

September 14 2021

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Memberships

The direct-to-fan tech stack for artists

August 22 2020

The rapid rise of paid membership models for music

June 12 2020

Metadata

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

Artist-facing music business software is far behind Silicon Valley

Mobile

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

Music curation

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

How Spotify’s recommendations UX might be pushing down per-stream royalty rates — even if total payouts increase

Spotify and Apple Music disagree on the future of radio. Who’s right?

August 24 2020

Music discovery

How Spotify’s recommendations UX might be pushing down per-stream royalty rates — even if total payouts increase

Gen Z’s take on the future of new music discovery

How A&Rs use data to scout and evaluate artists

October 26 2020

Music education

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Music licensing

Why hasn’t the music industry’s pro-UGC mentality translated to merch?

July 07 2019

Music recommendation

How Spotify’s recommendations UX might be pushing down per-stream royalty rates — even if total payouts increase

Decoding 8tracks’ demise, and what it reveals about the state of music streaming

December 30 2019

Music royalties

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

How Spotify’s recommendations UX might be pushing down per-stream royalty rates — even if total payouts increase

Netflix

Does Spotify want to be more like Netflix or like YouTube?

July 30 2020

Netflix

“Rhythm + Flow” Proves Netflix Is Done With Niche

October 12 2019

Payments

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

Music NFT market update, April 2021: $70.5M in sales to date

April 21 2021

Performers

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

What will happen to all these music livestreaming platforms?

Spotify’s underrated competition: Meditation apps

Playlists

Brand partnerships

May 01 2020

The economics of 24/7 lo-fi hip-hop YouTube livestreams

January 29 2020

Decoding 8tracks’ demise, and what it reveals about the state of music streaming

December 30 2019

Podcasts

2020 in music and podcasts: How platforms shape programming

December 16 2020

Politics

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

Brazilian funk has made waves in the global music industry. Where does it go from here?

August 18 2020

Pop

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Power

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

Producers

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

The “first-mile/last-mile” problem of making music remotely

Why hyperpop artists are flocking to Matter

Promoters

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

The “waterfall” strategy for monetizing music livestreams: An updated guide for emerging artists

December 14 2020

Any artist at any career stage can start thinking early on about how to increase the longevity of the art they create and distribute online.

When agents and promoters take the label’s job (and vice versa)

December 11 2020

PROs

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

Artist-facing music business software is far behind Silicon Valley

The legal underbelly of livestreaming concerts

Copyright

April 10 2020

Publishers

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

The legal Achilles’ heel of the catalog buyout craze: Termination rights

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Radio

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

The biggest misconceptions about TikTok music marketing

Data

November 23 2020

Spotify and Apple Music disagree on the future of radio. Who’s right?

August 24 2020

Recaps

The root of the music NFT problem (CO:QUO panel recap)

2020 in review: Ten takeaways from our top stories this year

Recaps

December 31 2020

Record labels

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Why more music companies are paying artists’ royalties in crypto

Rights holders

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

Scarcity

Digital music’s new drop culture

October 11 2020

Superfan experiences reinvented — and repriced — for a digital world

July 21 2020

Digital scarcity in music: A practical introduction

April 28 2020

Smart speakers

Five music-tech forecasts that misfired in 2019

December 20 2019

Social audio

The art and science of virtual album-release parties

Why so many music producers are starting their own Discord communities

September 07 2020

Social media

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

Songwriters

Understanding music rights data: the challenges of delivering timely royalty payments to artists

The legal Achilles’ heel of the catalog buyout craze: Termination rights

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Artist-facing music business software is far behind Silicon Valley

SoundCloud

SoundCloud, “digicore” and the observer effect in emerging music scenes

Five music-tech forecasts that misfired in 2019

December 20 2019

Spotify

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Why artists are releasing “mood EPs” to game Spotify’s algorithm

Marketing

February 05 2021

Startups

Community Member Q&A: Jennifer Bonita, Senior Manager, Artist Relations at Yousician

The root of the music NFT problem (CO:QUO panel recap)

The à-la-carte artist: How Drake uses variability to provide each fan with a unique experience

Strategy

Marketing

September 14 2021

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

Streaming

How Spotify’s new advertising strategy impacts artists

From Napster to now: The legacy of Y2K music piracy

Streaming

May 28 2021

Telcos

How Mexico’s YO Telco puts a new spin on music/telco partnerships

K-pop, cell phone ads and the future of music-tech branding

November 29 2020

Ticketing

Contracts

Signing bonuses used to run the ticketing business. What happens now?

Tidal

Five music-tech forecasts that misfired in 2019

December 20 2019

The biggest misconceptions about TikTok music marketing

TikTok

Data

November 23 2020

How the labels behind Mitski and Mac DeMarco navigate TikTok

October 20 2020

Where TikTok fits in Microsoft’s music strategy

August 05 2020

Touring

Why a COVID data strategy for live music doesn’t exist (yet)

How booking agents use (and don’t use) data

Hire roadies: The case for tour managers and crew without tours

Careers

September 15 2020

TV

Olivia Rodrigo and the fall of Disney’s music machine

Twitch

What will happen to all these music livestreaming platforms?

The state of music livestreaming discovery

May 03 2020

The data behind music’s rapid growth on Twitch

April 24 2020

Twitter

Anatomy of a modern pop fanbase: How fans use data to build their own music marketing powerhouses

How Nigerian fandoms helped center the #EndSARS movement

Will voice and audio tweets rewrite Twitter’s rocky history with music?

June 24 2020

Venture Capital

The 2020 Music-Tech Investment Report: A six-year low, but with genuine impact on the horizon

January 29 2021

Accelerators

Music-tech funding takes a hit in 2020

July 15 2020

Small music venues embrace diversified strategies for survival

Venues

Business models

July 28 2020

Vinyl

Why the Target exclusive still has staying power in mainstream music

March 02 2021

VR/AR/MR

Virtual reality and immersive concerts: An introductory primer

February 07 2021

The rise of the virtual livestreaming “tour”

July 01 2020

The major design element missing from virtual music festivals: Spatial thinking

June 09 2020

Wall Street

Will Hipgnosis actually work?

September 11 2020

The hidden trends in Warner Music Group’s IPO filing, visualized

February 14 2020

Warner Music Group

Which will be a better investment, Warner Music Group stock or Spotify stock? Four factors to consider

Unpacking Jefferson Studios, Warner Music Group’s new podcast network

March 31 2020

The hidden trends in Warner Music Group’s IPO filing, visualized

February 14 2020

Y2K

15 years ago, Daft Punk’s Coachella set helped spark an “arms race” for live music technology

April 29 2021

YouTube

The art and science of virtual album-release parties

The case for bringing more musicians and music-industry execs to VidCon

Does Spotify want to be more like Netflix or like YouTube?

July 30 2020