American copyright authorities have ruled to increase royalty payments on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora over the next five years. On Saturday, the Copyright Royalty Board of the U.S. Library of Congress issued a written decision to adjust the revenue rates for songwriters and music publishers on streaming sites. The National Music…
Pop Keeps Changing. And the Grammys Turn a Deaf Ear, Again.
By any measurement, Cardi B’s ascent over the last year has been supersonic, the rare example of a raw young talent speeding unfettered into the pop consciousness, and thriving. And yet, there was something bafflingly off about her appearance at the 60th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday. She performed alongside Bruno Mars, the night’s big…
Spotify (Finally) Adds Songwriter and Producer Credits
Spotify has addressed a long-standing complaint about its service by adding songwriter, producer and musician credits for tracks on its desktop platform, effective today. Users can right-click on a track and select “Show Credits” from the menu of options to view information on performers, songwriters and producers. In a blog post the company explained the…
Khalid on Time’s Up: ‘The Fact That Everybody Is Standing Up for Something That Needs to Change Is Awesome’
Khalid took some time to catch up with Billboard on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards on Sunday (Jan. 28), speaking about being nominated for five Grammys and what the Time’s Up movement means to him. Back in January 2014, Khalid tweeted, “I want to go to the Grammys one day.” Reflecting upon attending…
National Association of Broadcasters Signs On to Support Music Modernization Act
Music copyright owners have addressed the concerns that the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) had over the Music Modernization Act and now has the powerful trade association and lobby group onboard to support the legislation as it faces review in both houses of Congress. According to a joint statement from the NAB, ASCAP and BMI,…
YouTube Will Merge Vevo Channel Subscribers Into Unified ‘Official’ Music Artist Accounts
Music is hugely popular on YouTube, and artists with Vevo-branded channels are among the most-followed channels on the platform. Now, YouTube is about to consolidate the millions of subscribers to Vevo’s channels — as well as those on “unofficial” artist-related channels — under a single account for each artist. A YouTube spokesman said artists will not…
How Spotify Beat Apple to Charting the Future of Music
Jimmy Iovine was supposed to save the music industry. When he arrived at Apple in 2014 as part of the company’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Music and Beats Electronics, he sought to inject humanity back into a world that had become dominated by recommendation algorithms and pirated zip files. Apple Music, the company’s much-hyped…
Brains of jazz and classical musicians work differently, study reveals
A study published by the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS), has found that musicians who work in the two fields demonstrate substantially different brain activity, even when they’re playing the same music. The research could help explain why musicians seem to excel in one or other style, and not usually in…
Gucci Mane Wants to Sign Lil Pump: ‘U Name the Price
Gucci Mane performs onstage at the Rolling Loud Festival at NOS Events Center on Dec. 16, 2017 in San Bernardino, Calif. Gucci Mane has a penchant for reeling in new talent. With budding acts such as Young Dolph, Ralo and Hoodrich Pablo Juan bubbling under his tutelage, Gucci is hoping to expand his 1017 Brick Squad…
Consumers Willing To Pay For Music, If There’s A Benefit
The majority of consumers today are not paying anything to listen to music today, but they might if they were given a good reason. According to research conducted by MusiComm, which looks to connect music distributors with technology companies, more than half of consumers (52%) don’t pay anything for music services. The majority (25%) of…
