Warner Music Group Head Honcho Steps Down–Billboard
Sept. 24, 2012–Lyor Cohen’s imminent departure from Warner Music Group sent a tremor through the music industry on Monday and sparked speculation on the inevitable management shuffle around the industry to replace the colorful hard-nosed executive. Read more.
And Then There Were Three… FTC Approves EMI/UNI Merger–Billboard
Sept. 21, 2012–The Federal Trade Commission has weighed in, rubber stamping the EU’s decision to approve the Universal Music Group 1.2 billion euro acquisition of EMI, as expected. The Commission voted 5-0 to close its investigation without taking any action. Read more.
A Brief History of Spotify Royalties–Billboard
Aug. 30, 2012–Spotify’s per-stream royalty payments to one independent artist are showing the heft people might have thought impossible just a few years ago. David Harrell of the band the Layaways regularly posts numbers from his band’s CD Baby royalty statement at his blog, Digital Audio Insider. Harrrell’s latest post sums up nearly three years of Spotify royalties.
Spotify Grew Fast, Lost Money in 2011 — No Surprises
Warning: reading about Spotify per-stream payouts may cause a person to compare these royalties to the revenues of iTunes and CD purchases without regard for the volume of streams or the period of time over which an artist can receive streaming royalties. This often leads to feelings that artists are underpaid by subscription services based on the historical rates of payments for downloads and physical items. Such a conclusion cannot be reached without taking into account volume of streams and the period of time over which royalties are collected. Read more.
Apple Awarded $1B in Infringement Lawsuit – Music Row
A federal jury in San Jose, California has sided with Apple in its patent infringement lawsuit against Samsung Electronics, and awarded the tech company over $1 billion in damages.
Following the three week trial, the verdict was delivered Friday (Aug. 24) and found Samsung guilty of infringing on Apple’s utility and design for some (but not all) products, including willful infringement on five or six patents. The jury also ruled against Samsung’s counterclaim that Apple had infringed on its patents. However, Samsung was cleared of charges of violating antitrust law and the damages are considerably less than the $2.5 billion originally sought by Apple. Read more.
Twitter Founders Launch Medium.com – Music Row
Medium.com, a new publishing platform from Obvious Corp and Twitter co-founders Evan Williams and Biz Stone, is in soft launch mode. It is designed to group users’ posts, including text and images, into themed collections, and place the most favored posts at the top of the page. The idea is that quality content will rise to the top and reach people because it is based on rankings instead of how many friends or followers a user has.
BMLG / Valory Music’s Mavericks Release EP – Music Row
The Mavericks will release a new Valory Music Co. project, a five-song EP titled Suited Up and Ready, on May 29. The release is expected to be followed by a full-length project this fall.
The band began streaming the project’s first single “Born To Be Blue” earlier this month before its official May 29 country radio add date.
Facebook May Not be Free for Long – CNet
The other day, one of Facebook’s bigger clients was privately complaining to me.
This gentleman is in charge of digital advertising for a worldwide company. He told me: “First they charge me for ads. Then they try and charge me again in order to make sure those ads get seen by more people.”
He was referring to Facebook’s presentation in February when it suggested brands have “Premium ads.” You know, ones that might be enjoyed by more than the estimated 16 percent of fans who actually see a brand’s messaging currently.
Music City Pickers Set Up Shop on Music Row – Music Row
The Music Row area will gain two retail shops on April 9, when Music City Pickers and Toys In The Attic jointly open in Edgehill Village. The new businesses will host a grand opening gala on Sat., April 14.
Both shops were created by Little Texas band member and Hot Apple Pie frontman, Brady Seals, former Gibson Guitar web editor Gabe Hernandez, and appraiser Stephen Shutts.
Women Who Rule the Row – Nashville City Paper
Music Row was built, in significant part, on a legacy of women artists extending almost a century — a line that can be traced from Mother Maybelle Carter through Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton to the Dixie Chicks, the Pistol Annies and beyond.
But for an ambitious woman seeking a career in the country music industry 50 years ago, those opportunities largely began and ended at a microphone.
Artist Growth—The DIY Musician’s Toolbox
Artist Growth, a Nashville based company offering a sophisticated set of cloud-based business management tools for artists, officially launches today. Musicians Matt Urmy and Jonathan Sexton created the app that works on any mobile device to integrate finances, calendars, inventory, contacts, social media and mentoring resources from industry experts.
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