music industry
Not one artist's album has gone platinum this year
According to Billboard (via Digital Music News), after nine months, not a single artist’s album has hit one million units sold in 2014 (in the U.S.). By far, Disney’s Frozen soundtrack is the year’s bestseller, hitting 3.12 million units. So far, the bestselling artist albums of 2014 are Beyoncé’s self-titled (776,000) and Lorde’s Pure Heroine […]
Native advertisements now being inserted into old music videos
According to a new report by BuzzFeed, Universal Music Group—the largest record label conglomerate—has hired a tech ad company to “weave advertising campaigns directly into streaming music videos.” Under a new deal with Universal, ad company Mirriad will insert native, in-video advertisements to old both old and new streaming videos. Universal CEO Lucian Grainge said […]
Urban Outfitters is now the world’s biggest seller of vinyl records
Urban Outfitters chief administrative officer Calvin Hollinger confirmed to Buzzfeed recently that the company is the world's biggest seller of vinyl records. “Music is very, very important to the Urban customer… in fact, we are the world’s number one vinyl seller,” he said. Hollinger credited the company’s vinyl success to a system that lets them […]
Who are the people still buying music?
The music industry hasn’t had much good news lately. Album sales recently hit an all-time low. Downloads from iTunes are falling and will continue to fall significantly. More and more people are switching to streaming services like Spotify, which don’t pay artists that much money yet. Who are the people still actually buying music and […]
Album sales are at an all-time low
As more and more people choose streaming as their method of consumption for music, album sales continue to go down. As Billboard reports, this week’s album sales total 3.97 million, the smallest weekly sum since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking this data in 1991. This is also the first time weekly sales have dipped below 4 […]
Sam Pura (The Story So Far, State Champs, Basement) announces CreativeLIVE recording classes
Sam Pura, founder and owner of the Panda Studios in Fremont, CA, will teach two recording classes for CreativeLIVE this month. As always, they are free to stream in real-time, and anytime access can be purchased. A producer and recording/mixing engineer, Pura’s worked with AP favorites like the Story So Far, Balance & Composure, Basement […]
Industry Profile: Lucas Keller of The AND Group
Lucas Keller has worked with artists like Breathe Carolina, Tim Armstrong (Rancid), Metric and many more, recently started the AND Group. APTV Los Angeles correspondent Nick Major chats with him about his new company, their plans for 2014 and the music industry.
9 Things Women In Music Are Sick Of Experiencing
In a recent AP Poll, we asked if you’ve ever experienced sexism at a show. You’ll have to wait for your copy of issue 304 (revealed today!) to see the final results, but some of the discourse opened through the question was a bit unsettling. It seems many young people turn a blind eye to […]
New regulations significantly increase cost for international artists to perform in Canada
New regulations in Canada, enacted July 31, stand to make it significantly harder for international artists to perform in the country. While dedicated venues are exempt, establishments with a primary business other than music (restaurants, bars, coffee shops) will face dramatically increased fees when booking non-Canadian talent. Previously, the Labour Market Opinion performance application fee […]
RIAA to begin counting streams toward gold and platinum certification
The RIAA have announced via Billboard Biz that they will begin counting streams from services like Spotify, Vevo, YouTube, Rhapsody and more toward gold and platinum record certification, marking the first time the RIAA have recognized a non-sales format in thier 55-year history. Every 100 streams of a track will now be weighted as one digital […]
Jesse Cannon releases new book, 'Get More Fans: The DIY Guide To The Music Business'
Producer, engineer, blogger and now officially an author, Jesse Cannon has released the text adaptation of his popular music business blog Musformation into Get More Fans: The DIY Guide To The Music Business. The book goes step-by-step through every bit of the process of building a fanbase as told by writers who have done just that. Cannon […]
The Lead - Brand New Calamity: If downloading won’t kill labels, maybe the post office will
With the explosion in file-sharing on the internet and the incremental obsolescence of the CD, traditional models for purchasing music have been hit hard in the last decade. But for years, a steadfast dedication to buying music the old-fashioned way—on vinyl and cassettes—has helped indie-music labels stay afloat. A recent change in the process of […]
The Lead: Does “First” Mean Worse? Can information leaks affect bands adversely?
There isn’t a person in the music industry who doesn’t have an opinion on how download culture has affected artists’ careers. While everybody in the biz knows it’s hard for a $10 retail CD to beat the lure of a free download, the internet poses additional challenges for bands, managers and labels. The recent controversy […]
Music photographer Jeremy Saffer to give "Capturing Music" seminar/workshop
Rock photographer Jeremy Saffer has announced that he will join SoundCheck Hollywood for an intimate “Capturing Music: A Music Photography Seminar” on February 9 and 10, 2013. The photographer, who has recently shot bands such as Black Veil Brides, Coheed And Cambria, Motionless In White and the Misfits and has contributed his work to AP, […]
Study: What merch is the most profitable?
Digital Music News recently collaborated with merchandise company Jakprints to research the average cost of creating goods versus the retail price. The following graph shows the gaps between the two, laying out potential earnings per item. It's worth noting that the best selling items vary from artist to artist. (source: Digital Music News) Bands: Does […]
Mike Gitter (Killswitch Engage, Bad Religion, Jawbox) joins Razor & Tie's A&R team
Mike Gitter has joined Razor & Tie's A&R team, as reported by Billboard. Gitter is best known for his tenures at Roadrunner and Atlantic Records, where he signed acts like Killswitch Engage, Megadeth, Glassjaw, DragonForce, Bad Religion, Samiam, Orange 9MM and Jawbox. Razor & Tie are currently home to a variety of artists including Such Gold, Hit […]
