Investing in Individuality

New investment opportunities are arising in the contemporary marketplace for music fans and investors. Enabled by the positive market turnaround streaming has brought upon the…

SoundCloud’s Uncertainty

Berlin-based streaming service SoundCloud has enabled its users to upload, record, promote, and share their original content online since it was founded by Alexander Ljung…

The Power of Playlisting

Before the era of streaming services, Internet radio, and digital downloads, it was essential for artists to utilize a label’s resources in order to mass…

The Rise of Curated Playlists

Artists have traditionally commanded attention, serving as the primary inspirations and icons for diverse communities of fan bases around the world. However, with the unrelenting…

Pandora’s Inflexion Point

Pandora Radio, the pioneering Internet service that creates customized radio stations for listeners, is facing perhaps its greatest challenge to date since its IPO in…

Music’s Quantitative Methods

Today, recommendation engines designed to curate the perfect individual playlist are redefining both the demand and supply side of the music industry, affecting how listeners…

Managers of The World – Unite!

Managers across the world are coming together to form communities where they can network and stay informed about current issues. Getting their artists to sign…

2016 in Review

New developments marked the US music business in 2016, There was welcome growth in recorded music sales driven by more streams and streaming services. Still,…

Exclusivity and Its Limits

Major labels are pushing for the end of exclusive deals with streaming services as they are quickly realizing such a practice hinders the potential profit…

The Drama of Artist Payments

In recent times, artists/songwriters, who once made their living recording and writing songs, have been severely affected by the slump in royalty revenue coming from…

Gross Margin Blues

There has been a lot of excitement around streaming lately. At the end of last year, Apple launched their own service that amassed over ten…

The Billboard Power 100

One could do worse than write a history of the business from the pages of Billboard’s Power 100 rankings. This year the venerable music industry…

The Case For SoundCloud

SoundCloud’s mission has been to offer a free-to-register music platform with little or no advertising. It has gained a reputation since its foundation in 2007…