Let’s talk about business for a minute, or more specifically, competition within it. Let’s define competition in business like we’re writing the introduction to a boring high school graduation speech: the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines competition (as it relates to business and economics) as “the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure…
Sprint Purchases 33 Percent Stake in Jay Z’s Tidal
Nearly two years after first denying a rumored investment, Sprint has announced its acquisition of a 33 percent stake in Jay Z‘s competitive streaming service Tidal. The partnership will provide Sprint’s 45 million customers with “unlimited access” to exclusive artist content. Anyone with a preexisting Tidal subscription, meanwhile, will experience no change in their service. “Sprint shares our…
Alex da Kid Re-Ups His Label With Universal Music Group
In the five years since Alex Da Kid launched KidInAKorner in partnership with Interscope Records, the British-born, Grammy-nominated producer (real name: Alexander Grant) has landed nine songs in the top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 and five top 10s — among them “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem (featuring Rihanna) and Imagine Dragons‘ “Radioactive,” reaching Nos. 1 and 3, respectively. Universal…
How To Use Soundcloud To Drive iTunes Sales
[Editor’s Note: This blog was written by Janelle Rogers, the founder of Green Light Go Publicity, a music PR firm which helps up-and-coming musicians reach their audience.] There’s no doubt that convincing fans and music listeners to buy music in 2017 can be an uphill battle. For nearly 20 years the music consumer has been conditioned into downloading…
Music Streaming’s New Playlist Economy
Guest Post by Bas Grasmayer on Synchblog Playlists have become the default for listening to both new and unfamiliar music. Instead of digging through complete releases and saving them to our libraries, the design choices of companies like iTunes and Spotify mean we use playlists as the interface for music collections. What are the implications on the business side and…
Why Getting Signed To A Label Shouldn’t Be Your Goal
One of the joys of being involved in the Music Industry is talking music careers with unsigned musicians, discussing their goals and giving my advice to them on what I believe they should be focusing on right now to progress. I’m all about lending my experience to help develop new talent for the good…
SONY SPENDS £86M ON 50% STAKE IN SIMON COWELL’S SYCO HOLDINGS
Sony has been an acquisitive beast in music of late – snapping up Ministry Of Sound, Essential Music and Century Media for a combined £82m since summer 2015. But its biggest buyout of recent times was more inward-looking. According to new financial filings in the UK, Sony acquired a 50% stake in Simon Cowell’s label,…
HOW ONE AWARD-WINNING PRODUCER IS TRANSFORMING THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
In an industry struggling to transform in order to thrive in a rapidly changing and increasingly digital market, a young beatmaker turned renowned music producer found an opportunity to change how music artists interact with brands by becoming a disruptive entrepreneur. When Alex “da Kid” Grant began creating beats in his bedroom, he didn’t…
Apple Music Beats Spotify, Pandora To Rank 9th In Mobile App Usage, Says Nielsen
With so much music consumed on mobile devices, app downloads and usage are a major indicators of any music service’s popularity, and according to a new Nielsenranking Apple Music is entering 2017 in a very strong position. _______________________________________ Apple Music beat Spotify, Pandora and all other music services as the 9th most popular smartphone app in the U.S. in…
