Twenty First Century Music
links to interesting articles about the music industry, compiled here mostly for my own benefit
Friday, 22 December 2017
How Ed Sheeran and co. wrote Shape of You
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/20/arts/music/ed-sheeran-shape-of-you.html
Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Electric Feel management
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8055046/electric-feel-management-interview-post-malone-camila-cabello?curator=MusicREDEF
Jo Charrington interview
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ar-isnt-something-you-can-just-wake-up-and-do-it-takes-time/
Friday, 8 December 2017
catalogue is king on streaming services
http://here.org.uk/2017/12/07/catalogue-is-king/
DOES THE MUSIC INDUSTRY’S DEFINITION OF ‘CATALOGUE’ NEED AN UPGRADE?
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/music-industrys-definition-catalogue-need-upgrade/
Wednesday, 6 December 2017
How YouTube Is Leveling the Playing Field for Indie Artists
https://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/8055090/how-youtube-is-leveling-the-playing-field-for-indie-artists
the most streamed music of 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-42225469
How Not To Be A Chart Chump in the race for Xmas no. 1
https://medium.com/@ChartUpdate/how-not-to-be-a-chart-chump-97d4e4a5ffa3
Sunday, 3 December 2017
interview with BEN COOK & ED HOWARD
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=309505
Friday, 1 December 2017
SPOTIFY TALKS PLAYLISTS, SKIP RATES AND NF’S NORDIC-FUELLED SUCCESS (#SLUSHMUSIC)
http://musically.com/2017/11/29/spotify-playlists-skip-rates-nf/?curator=MusicREDEF
how Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones made Thriller
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/thriller-how-michael-jackson-quincy-jones-made-bestselling-album-w512987?curator=MusicREDEF
POLYDOR SAYS IT’S ‘AT THE FOREFRONT OF BREAKING UK ACTS’ AFTER BRITS CRITICS’ CHOICE RESULT
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/polydor-says-its-at-the-forefront-of-breaking-uk-acts-after-brits-critics-choice-result/
Thursday, 30 November 2017
Despacito - and incredible stats about how much music is added to Spotify
http://musically.com/2017/11/28/umg-jonathan-dworkin-despacito/
Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Who We Be: Austin Daboh Interviewed
http://clashmusic.com/features/who-we-be-austin-darbo-interviewed
Tuesday, 21 November 2017
EPIDEMIC SOUND GIVES ITS SIDE OF THE SPOTIFY ‘FAKE ARTISTS’ CONTROVERSY
http://musically.com/2017/11/20/epidemic-sound-spotify-fake-artists/
Monday, 20 November 2017
This Is What Post-IPO Life Will Look Like For Spotify
https://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2017/11/17/this-is-what-post-ipo-life-will-look-like-for-spotify/?curator=MusicREDEF
Tuesday, 14 November 2017
How Scooter Braun Went From Promoting Parties to Building An Entertainment Empire | Blueprint
Thursday, 9 November 2017
Return of the Top 40 Troubadour: How Singer-Songwriters Reclaimed Pop Radio
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8015081/top-40-singer-songwriter-radio
WISDOM: A PORTRAIT SERIES B R I A N M E S S A G E
http://themanifesto.co/brian-message/
Monday, 6 November 2017
From El Paso To Platinum: How Khalid Moved One Million Copies Of ‘American Teen’
https://genius.com/a/from-el-paso-to-platinum-how-khalid-moved-one-million-copies-of-american-teen
Friday, 3 November 2017
Latin Power Players 2017
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/8022282/latin-music-power-players-2017-list
What's Behind YouTube's Struggle to Place Ads On Music Videos?
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/legal-and-management/8022326/whats-behind-youtubes-struggle-to-place-ads-on-music
Thursday, 2 November 2017
Spotify Reveals the Nominees for the 2017 Secret Genius Awards
https://news.spotify.com/sg-en/2017/09/28/spotify-reveals-the-nominees-for-the-2017-secret-genius-awards/
interview with Kobalt's Willard Ahdritz
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/kobalt-willard-ahdritz-building-company-future-music-business/
Monday, 30 October 2017
good article about digital ideas
https://blog.usejournal.com/why-the-music-industry-gets-digital-so-wrong-dd15cfeca5c1
Benny Blanco interview
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=309066
Sunday, 29 October 2017
WHY THE RELEASE RADAR PLAYLIST IS SPOTIFY’S SECRET WEAPON
http://musically.com/2017/10/26/release-radar-playlist-spotify/?curator=MusicREDEF
Thursday, 26 October 2017
Louis Bell on Co-Producing Post Malone's No. 1 Hit 'rockstar': 'We Weren't Thinking of the Hot 100 At All'
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8006781/louis-bell-rockstar-post-malone-interview
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
great interview with Poo Bear
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ive-never-felt-like-ive-really-made-it-in-the-music-business-and-i-never-want-to/
Monday, 23 October 2017
the 20 best pop songwriters in 2017
http://www.laweekly.com/music/the-20-best-pop-songwriters-in-2017-8763662?curator=MusicREDEF
Monday, 16 October 2017
what Spotify can learn from the Roman slave trade
https://musicindustryblog.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/what-spotify-can-learn-from-the-roman-slave-trade/
Tuesday, 10 October 2017
great interview with Chance The Rapper's manager
http://www.complex.com/music/2017/10/blueprint-with-pat-corcoran?curator=MusicREDEF
Thursday, 5 October 2017
I Wrote a Hit Song With Justin Bieber. Want to See My Royalties?
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/10/03/hit-song-justin-bieber-royalties/
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Five times Clive Davis changed the course of music, including sending Springsteen back to write more singles
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-41482660
Saturday, 30 September 2017
the most followed Spotify curators
https://www.edmsauce.com/2017/09/26/most-followed-spotify-curators/
Uncovering How Streaming Is Changing the Sound of Pop
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/uncovering-how-streaming-is-changing-the-sound-of-pop/?curator=MusicREDEF
Monday, 25 September 2017
Bloody Slippers: The Fairy-Tale Come-up of Cardi B
https://www.theringer.com/2017/9/21/16345124/cardi-b-bodak-yellow-career-rap-rise-nicki-minaj?curator=MusicREDEF
Thursday, 7 September 2017
how reggaeton became a global phenomenon on Spotify
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/09/how-reggaeton-became-a-global-phenomenon-on-spotify.html
Wednesday, 6 September 2017
interview with Stuart Camp about Ed Sheeran
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/stuart-camp-ed-sheeran-weve-never-disagreed-over-anything-major-99-of-the-time-we-think-the-same-way/
Thursday, 10 August 2017
fake Instagram followers
http://mediakix.com/2017/08/fake-instagram-influencers-followers-bots-study/#gs.yxWXccQ
Monday, 7 August 2017
A load of articles about songwriters compiled by MusicREDEF
https://redef.com/set/music-set-1497381154674
Monday, 31 July 2017
Lana Del Rey's Instagram and visuals
http://www.thefader.com/2017/07/13/lana-del-rey-social-media-instagram-essay-lust-for-life
http://www.musicweek.com/labels/read/she-does-everything-on-her-own-terms-polydor-co-presidents-tom-march-and-ben-mortimer-dissect-lana-del-rey-s-no-1/069296
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
Randall Wixen interview
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/randall-wixen-there-are-an-immense-number-of-songwriters-not-making-enough-money-to-live-on/
Thursday, 20 July 2017
The Big Bet - streaming and majors labels in the US - from Hits
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=307537
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=307543
FORGET ABOUT FAKE ARTISTS – IT’S TIME TO TALK ABOUT FAKE STREAMS.
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/forget-about-fake-artists-its-time-to-talk-about-fake-streams/
Tuesday, 18 July 2017
interview with Athena Koumis, Spotify editor of Fresh Finds playlist
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/07/her-job-is-to-curate-official-spotify-playlists-of-emerging-artists-video.html
Monday, 17 July 2017
Spotify's Tuma Basa On Curating RapCaviar, What Not to Do When Pitching and Why He's No 'Gatekeeper'
http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/7866036/spotifys-tuma-basa-on-curating-rapcaviar-what-not-to-do?utm_source=twitter
Sunday, 9 July 2017
Desmond Child interview
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/i-joined-a-cult-for-4-years-and-lost-1m-but-maybe-in-the-end-i-won/
Thursday, 6 July 2017
The Streaming Problem: How Spammers, Superstars, and Tech Giants Gamed the Music Industry
http://www.vulture.com/2017/07/streaming-music-cheat-codes.html?curator=MusicREDEF
Monday, 3 July 2017
Fake Hits, and why the chart should only count elective plays on streaming services
http://www.de-online.co.uk/2017/07/02/fake-hits
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Jonathan Dickins interview
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/jonathan-dickins-september-its-important-not-to-take-anything-for-granted-in-this-business/
Monday, 26 June 2017
A Conversation with Matt Pincus and Ron Perry of SONGS/RECORDS
http://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=307176
YouTube's Unofficial Dance Music Curators Take Their Brands Offline
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/dance/7841133/youtube-unofficial-dance-music-curators-labels?curator=MusicREDEF
Tuesday, 20 June 2017
Spotify Sponsored Songs
https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/19/spotify-sponsored-content/?curator=MusicREDEF
How to Have a Number One Song on Spotify, the Easy Way
https://thump.vice.com/en_us/article/how-to-have-a-number-one-song-on-spotify-the-easy-way
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
great Justin Tranter interview
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/7825801/justin-tranter-homophobia-music-industry-interview?curator=MusicREDEF
Friday, 9 June 2017
new Spotify initiatives
https://www.fastcompany.com/3068915/spotify-artists-streaming-playlists-data?curator=MusicREDEF
Thursday, 8 June 2017
Julia Michaels interview
http://clashmusic.com/features/sorry-not-sorry-julia-michaels-interviewed
how a Danish Warner artist broke China
http://musically.com/2017/06/07/wmg-christopher-charts-china-midem/
Thursday, 11 May 2017
Richard Russell of XL interview by The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/15/richard-russells-xl-recordings-empire
Sunday, 7 May 2017
The Secret Hit-Making Power of the Spotify Playlist
https://www.wired.com/2017/05/secret-hit-making-power-spotify-playlist/
Wednesday, 3 May 2017
Who Decides What Gets Played On The Radio? More And More, It's Listeners
https://www.buzzfeed.com/reggieugwu/who-decides-what-gets-played-on-the-radio-more-and-more-its?curator=MusicREDEF&utm_term=.iiXYvV9q5#.fi9VBP7Jj
Friday, 28 April 2017
Alan McGee interview - quite funny in places
http://www.pias.com/blog/to-this-day-im-still-not-allowed-in-the-sony-building/
Jason Flom interview
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/unless-youre-100-sure-your-artist-is-wrong-go-with-their-vision/
Inside the Podcast That's Giving Pop Songwriters Their Due. 'And the Writer Is ...' host Ross Golan on why penning hits won't necessarily make you rich.
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/inside-ross-golans-and-the-writer-is-podcast-w478768?curator=MusicREDEF
Friday, 21 April 2017
Why Can We Still Buy Music?
https://medium.com/attention-econome/why-can-we-still-buy-music-d1019361d994?curator=MusicREDEF
Distrokid on "free" internet distribution
https://news.distrokid.com/how-to-tell-if-your-music-distributor-is-ripping-you-off-d8c8e9e69fa1
Patreon on how to build a company culture that lasts
https://patreonhq.com/how-to-build-culture-that-lasts-dc25b086cefd
Taylor Swift on Ed Sheeran
http://time.com/collection/2017-time-100/4736211/ed-sheeran/?curator=MusicREDEF
Friday, 7 April 2017
interview with Philip Ginthör, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria)
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/why-do-major-artists-keep-on-breaking-in-germany/
Wednesday, 5 April 2017
UNIVERSAL AND SPOTIFY’S DEAL IS AN EVEN BIGGER DEAL THAN IT LOOKS
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/universal-and-spotifys-deal-is-an-even-bigger-deal-than-it-looks/
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
Conor Maynard's guide to YouTube and Facebook
http://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/conor-maynard-interview-i-am-recognised-more-now-than-when-i-had-top-10-singles-every-month-a3494951.html
Thursday, 9 March 2017
Savan Kotecha interview
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/music-is-about-emotions-and-connecting-people-not-about-money-or-ego/
Thursday, 2 March 2017
Max Martin interview
http://storytelling.di.se/max-martin-english/
Tuesday, 14 February 2017
DISSECTING THE DIGITAL DOLLAR – EXTRACT 2 – SHARING VALUE
https://themmf.net/2017/02/10/dissecting-the-digital-dollar-extract-2-sharing-value/#.WJ5UPVWLRPZ
Friday, 10 February 2017
Jeff Bezos and Steve Boom interview
http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7684981/jeff-bezos-steve-boom-amazon-power-100-cover
how Spotify balances employee autonomy and accountability
https://hbr.org/2017/02/how-spotify-balances-employee-autonomy-and-accountability
Tuesday, 7 February 2017
DISSECTING THE DIGITAL DOLLAR PART 2 – EXTRACT 1 – DIVISION OF REVENUE
https://themmf.net/2017/02/01/dissecting-the-digital-dollar-part-2-extract-1-division-of-revenue/
Tuesday, 31 January 2017
Projecting Trends: The Music Streaming Playlist Economy
http://blog.synchtank.com/projecting-trends-the-music-streaming-playlist-economy
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Justin Tranter interview - every session should have a woman, black or gay in
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/being-an-artist-sucks-im-just-going-to-be-honest/
Wednesday, 4 January 2017
interview with Twenty One Pilots' manager
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/a-breakthrough-artist-is-a-much-more-complex-idea-than-a-breakthrough-song/?curator=MusicREDEF
Spotify financial numbers
https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-01-03/is-daniel-ek-of-spotify-ready-to-save-the-music-business
lots of recent hit songs have ambiguous key centres
http://www.vox.com/culture/2016/12/26/13956220/top-40-ambiguous-key-centers-bieber-chainsmokers-adele
Bradley Walsh had the biggest debut album by a British artist in 2016
http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/biggest-british-debut-album-2016-hang/
Tuesday, 3 January 2017
what Songkick have done for Adele, the xx and others
http://blog.songkick.com/2016/12/23/a-home-for-live-music/
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