Warner Music Group is officially unveiling its new fan-driven, vinyl-only record label: Run Out Groove. The label’s forward-thinking format calls upon fans each month to determine which of three records — either previously unreleased, out of print, or an entirely new collection compiled from the Warner Music vault — will become available for purchase in a…
A New Strategy For Releasing Music
A new strategy in music releases is beginning to take place, even within the major labels. In almost a return to the early days of records, the single song is king rather than the album, and that requires an entirely new look at the timing of when your material becomes available. The basic premise of…
Geffen Records to Relaunch With Neil Jacobson as President: Exclusive
Geffen Records has had several incarnations over the years, and another one begins today: the storied record label is relaunching with veteran A&R exec Neil Jacobson as president. The move was exclusively announced to Billboard by John Janick, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M. “Geffen Records has always represented the true entrepreneurial spirit of the music business,” Janick said in a statement….
ASCAP relaunches royalty admin services arm Songwize
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) has relaunched its administration services business, Songwize. The business offers rightsholders such as major and independent music publishers a royalty administration service for digital platforms. It processes and matches performance files and pays royalties in accordance with ASCAP distribution policy and rules, and has been in…
How to Fix Spotify’s Business Model and Save the Music Industry
Wall Street doesn’t care that Spotify isn’t profitable. They care that Spotify doesn’t have a realistic plan to become profitable. That’s a big difference. So how can Spotify become wildly profitable, for decades to come? The answer is to change their relationship with the major content owners: Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony Music…
Imagine Dragons’ ‘Believer’ Makes Fastest Flight to No. 1 on Alternative Songs in Two Years
Imagine Dragons return to the top of Billboard‘s Alternative Songs airplay chart for the first time in four years with “Believer,” which jumps 3-1 on the chart dated April 1. It’s the band’s second Alternative Songs No. 1, following “Radioactive,” which ruled for 13 weeks beginning March 2, 2013. Since then, the Las Vegas-based rockers had reached the…
WMG Launches ‘Streaming First’ Record Label
Warner Music Group has launched a new imprint, Artists To Watch Records, that will identify singles with the potential to become global streaming hits; and the record company already has its first success story. Overseen by Kieron Donoghue, Warner Music VP, Global Playlists Strategy & Curation, the new ‘streaming first’ label Artists To Watch…
‘More Life’ Is an Album, Drake
Regardless of the original intent behind More Life, it’s a better Drake album than Views was. Leading up to the release of the project, which Drake has dubbed a playlist, he gave the impression that it’d focus on the rest of what OVO Sound has to offer and introduce the world to some new artists. Now that it’s here,…
Music Industry Experts Give Key Advice On Landing Your Dream Job
Welcome to music industry week! Instead of heading down to SXSW this year, we decided to highlight a bunch of music industry professionals who work in various parts of the business to keep it running all throughout the year. A single week down in Austin might seem glamorous for a time, but the truth is…
