Caroline, Universal’s US-based services partner to independent labels and artists, has joined the Artist Growth Accel Network: a platform which presents tour history and real-world data to help decipher which unsigned acts have the biggest potential….

The combined might of the independent labels is the biggest player in the US recorded music market – and growing fast. According to new stats from Nielsen/Billboard, the independents took 35.4% of the US market by ownership (volume) in the first half of 2015. That was comfortably ahead of Universal (27.6%), Sony (20.9%) and Warner (15.2%), and…

The Windish Agency, one of the most successful independent booking agencies in the music industry with acts including alt-J, Diplo, The War On Drugs, and Lorde, has entered the Paradigm fold in a deal described as a “partnership,” Billboard has exclusively learned. …

German music authors and publishers — through the associations of composers (DKV), lyricists (DTV) and music publishers (DMV) — released a dramatic joint appeal today (July 29), drawing attention to inadequate mini-licenses from streaming services, demanding a greater share in the (relatively) booming revenues of internet music services. The coalition is asking for a 50-50 split between labels and…

Rapper Ice Cube has revealed Dr Dre’s plans to release a new album on August 1. In an interview with Philadelphia’s Power 99 radio station, Ice Cube spoke at length about the upcoming NWA biopic film Straight Outta Compton and explained that the new music from Dr. Dre was inspired by the film about his former hip hop group. …

Having a good social media strategy is important for any a band or artist, but cultivating a strong online presence can be difficult. Here are  a few common pitfalls that should be avoided. SocialTimes recently ran a post about the 8 social media mistakes that you can make, but the post was aimed strictly at traditional marketers. I’ve reposted them here with…

The company reported revenue of $502 million but average monthly active users remained stagnant. Twitter outperformed during the second quarter. The San Francisco-based company reported on Tuesday adjusted earnings of 7 cents per share on revenue of $502 million, a 61 percent increase from the same period last year.  …

One year after its U.S. bow, Amazon’s Prime Music streaming service has launched in the U.K., providing British consumers with a fresh alternative in the increasingly crowded streaming market. As per Amazon’s North American offering, the ad-free service is bundled into the existing Prime subscription deal, which costs £79.00 ($120.00) for yearly access and provides users…

By popular demand, phone carrier T-Mobile has added Apple Music to its “Music Freedom,” giving listeners free streaming without having to use up their high-speed data….

ReverbNation, today launched EchoMusic, a free music discovery iOS and Android app aimed straight at fans of the 4 million independent musicians that use the ReverbNation platform to market and monetize their music….