INDUSTRY
“Race to the Bottom”: U.S. Representative Drafts Letter to Congress for Music Streaming Royalty Reform
The hammer may soon come down on digital service providers. It’s an axiom among music industry professionals that royalties generated from streaming services are abysmal. While these companies rake in record profits and lease luxury office spaces for their employees, the musicians who constitute their userbases often bemoan their business models for practices many deem to be exploitative. Rashida Tlaib, the U.S. representative for Michigan’s 13th congressional district, has written a letter to Congress proposing that musicians should be fairly compensated for their work distributed by digital service providers like Spotify and Apple Music. Tlaib says she has been working closely with the Union of Musicians and Allied Workers (UMAW) to advocate for royalty reform. “W...
Avicii, Skrillex, DJ Snake Make Rolling Stone’s “Greatest Dance Songs of All-Time” List
Rolling Stone has published its list of greatest dance songs of all-time. Dance music has evolved immensely over the years and is now paramount to today’s contemporary music ecosystem. In order to land on their high-profile list, the songs “had to be part of ‘dance music culture,'” according to Rolling Stone. “It’s a more specific world, but an enormous one too, going back nearly fifty years and eternally evolving right up to today and into the future,” the outlet writes. Covering 200 tracks, the list features electronic dance music classics like Avicii‘s “Levels” (#52), Nero‘s “Promises” (#42), DJ Snake‘s “Turn Down For What” (#22) and Disclosure‘s “Latch” (#10)...
This Nonprofit Is Handing Out Free Narcan at Music Festivals to Combat Fentanyl Poisoning
LISTEN UP, a project launched by non-profit organization This Must Be The Place, is touring around the United States this summer to hand out free Narcan kits and combat opioid overdose. The Columbus, Ohio-based organization was started by Ingela Travers-Hayward and William Perry. Travers-Hayward is an Emmy Award-winning producer who formerly worked with MTV News Canada, and Perry is a reformed felon and victim of opioid addiction who served 10 years in prison after getting caught up in the opioid epidemic. Considering the importance of harm reduction in the dance music scene, the two formed TMBTP with the goal of “harnessing the arts to help in the fight against substance abuse and behavioral disorders.” This summer, Travers-Hayward and Perry want to hand ...
Delve Into the History of Synthwave With Digital Release of “The Rise of the Synths” Documentary
You can now stream the most comprehensive look into the world of synthwave music from the comfort of your own home. Directed by Iván Castel and released in 2019 to critical acclaim, The Rise of the Synths is a documentary offering an incredible look into the beloved genre. Now, he’s made it easier than ever for fans to enjoy the nostalgic delight as the documentary has been given a digital release. Narrated by John Carpenter, the horror legend known for Halloween, The Thing, The Fog and more, the doc finds Castel traveling to nine countries to explore the history of synthwave and its unique subculture. Along the way, he spoke with some of the most influential artists in the synthwave orbit, such as The Midnight, Gunship, Carpenter Brut, Perturbator, Waveshaper, Power Glove and Miami ...
Insomniac Music Group and Sony Music Publishing Ink Global Administration Partnership
Insomniac has signed a global administration deal with Sony Music, inking a partnership that has the look of watershed moment for the electronic music powerhouse. Billboard reports the deal entails royalty collection between the two companies as well as collaborative A&R schematics. The partnership arms Insomniac Music Group with an established administration partner to expand the services they provide to producers and songwriters, like in-house accounting and a new online royalty portal. “It’s an honor to work with Sony, who is the world’s largest publishing company,” explained Insomniac founder and CEO Pasquale Rotella in a press statement to Billboard. “Expanding our reach to support Insomniac Music Group artists to showcase their work strategically worldwide is a ...
The Results Are In: Here Are the Winners of the 2022 Electronic Dance Music Awards
Electronic dance music fans fans have spoken. The Electronic Dance Music Awards heard from the global EDM fandom, who eagerly cast their votes on this year’s best-in-class songs, artists, companies and more across a wide range of over two dozen diverse categories. The awards recognize the music and people whose achievements helped push the envelope of electronic music. The 2023 EDMA’s will be presented live from Miami at an exclusive, invite-only ceremony, the organization confirmed to EDM.com. They have also partnered with RCRDSHP, who will mint exclusive, branded digital collectibles for nominees and participating fans. “It’s been an honor for my partners and I to produce an accolade that was a long time coming, and their fans have spoken,” said Hollywoo...
Enforcing Rights Just Got Much Easier for Copyright Owners
Copyrights are very expensive and timely to enforce. The United States established the Copyright Claims Board (CCB), which allows copyright owners to file disputes and resolve issues more efficiently and avoid an expensive federal court case. Comprising three members who are well-versed in copyright law, the CCB was developed from the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement (CASE) Act of 2020. Damages can’t exceed $30,000, which seems like a lot. If you use an attorney you can get an additional $5,000 and $2,500 if you don’t. But if you’re a musician with work that gets stolen from someone whose track ultimately goes Platinum, you could likely sue for much more in damages. “Copyrights [are] an issue for federal courts only—it’s not a state ...
Inside the Origins of “EDM” With the Man Who Coined the Term—And Transformed It Into a Global Movement
It was a Tuesday night in London when Richard James Burgess found himself on the doorstep of Blitz for the very first time. He was dressed in ripped jeans and a t-shirt, surrounded by people with “amazing clothes and amazing hair.” Unbeknownst to Burgess at the time, that door was, in reality, a gateway that would ultimately lead him to coin the term “electronic dance music” in 1980. It landed him at the forefront of a sonic revolution—one marked by experimentation and a desire to “electrify” the acoustic instruments of the heyday. And it all started out with a drum set and a dream. Richard James Burgess is now the President and CEO of The American Association of Independent Music. c/o American Association of Independent Music Born in London and raised in New Zealand, Burgess was drawn to ...
Study Reveals the Best Times to Snag Resale Concert Tickets
When it comes to buying resale tickets, FinanceBuzz says it pays to wait. In a new study, the financial publication revealed that the best time to snag tickets to the sold-out show you’ve been eyeing may just be the day of the event itself. In fact, data revealed that discounts to resale tickets in 2022 are bountiful if you have the stomach to wait until the last minute. The study found that tickets were 33% less than the average cost when purchased on the day of the event, and 27% less on average when purchased the day before. FinanceBuzz Scroll to Continue Recommended Articles Despite the obvious time constraints, second-hand sellers have seemingly no trouble attracting buyers at the eleventh hour, according to the data. The same study revealed that 7% of ticket vo...
All the DJ Gear We Wanted to Take Home at NAMM 2022
Road-weathered faces rubbed elbows and tilted hats scratched records in what may be the largest such expo on the continent. Even those in the music industry can tally up the music festivals and the international artist tours, and still there will be few learning experiences as prized as the NAMM Show. It’s here where roadies, live performance artists, back-of-house technicians, production experts and more exchange knowledge with representatives from prestigious tech providers like Pioneer DJ, Harman/JBL, Cerwin Vega, Technics, Guitar Center and AudioTechnica, among many others. Organized by the National Association of Music Merchants, the NAMM Show is the first opportunity for many to see and experiment with all the newest gizmos for live performance and studio recording. From microp...
Kaytranada, HNTR, and Tor Take Home The Dance Music Awards At The JUNOS 2022
Held on May 15, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, the Juno Awards returned this year to once again celebrate the best musicians Canada has to offer, as well as their remarkable commercial and creative achievements. For the first time in three years, the annual event was an in-person ceremony, with singer and songwriter Charlotte Cardin winning the most awards, with four wins on six nominations. This year also marked the introduction of a new category at the JUNOS–Underground Dance single of the Year–with the purpose of shining the spotlight on the dance music artists who are crafting the sounds of tomorrow and contributing to Canada’s buzzing underground scene. mau5trap and Thrive Music signee HNTR took home the award for Underground Dance Single of the Year for his immersive “Shado...
Revisiting Daft Punk’s “Silhouette” iPod Ad: May Its Memory Never Die
Apple dealt a deadly blow this week when they announced the iPod, originally released in 2001, will be no more. While its memory lives on via features now standard to the casual listening experience (playlists, play counts, and most famously, the shuffle button), there’s one iPod feature that we can’t dare to forget: the “silhouette” commercials. Debuted in the early 2000s alongside the 3rd and 4th generation iPod Classics, Apple’s most iconic line of ads featured silhouette figures moving and grooving in front of candy-colored backgrounds and of course, their white corded headphones. One of our favorite songs to set the soundtrack for a silhouette commercial was “Technologic” by Daft Punk. It’s like a time capsule for its 2005 release ...
