Music Industry
Ticketmaster Will Require Fans to Verify COVID-19 Vaccination or Negative Test Prior to Attending Events
This week brought news that Pfizer is well on its way to developing an effective vaccine for coronavirus, which could be available to the general public by next spring or summer. At that point, live music and other entertainment industries involving mass gatherings will *finally* begin to ramp back up. Even so, Ticketmaster and its parent company Live Nation plan to be extra cautious by requiring attendees of its events to either prove they’ve been vaccinated or tested negative for COVID-19 prior to entry. According to Billboard, Ticketmaster is developing a verification system that uses smart phones to verify ticket-holders’ vaccination status or whether they’ve tested negative for the coronavirus within a 24 to 72 hour window. Under the current plan, ticket-holders will be asked to verif...
Spotify Offering to Boost Artists’ Algorithm Placement in Exchange for Reduced Royalties
Just days after the Musician Workers Union launched their “Justice at Spotify” campaign to demand better royalty rates, the music streamer has announced a way to take more money from artists. Spotify has begun testing a new product called “Discovery Mode” that would boost a song’s algorithmic placement in exchange for lower royalties. Spotify has a pretty decent track record of recommendation through its Autoplay and Radio features, which automatically play music it thinks listeners may like based on a number of “signals” (time of day, tempo, song length, etc). Discovery Mode adds in the element of money, giving artists a chance to give an extra push to “music that’s a priority for them.” The trade off is a “promotional” (read: reduced) royalty rate. Essentially, when an artist has a song ...
Three Crucial Issues at Stake for Musicians in the 2020 US Election
In less than 36 hours, we’ll reach the end of the strangest, sickest, most contentious election season in modern American memory. Many people reading this will have already cast their vote for the next President of the United States; data from the US Elections Project indicates that more than 95 million Americans have taken advantage of early voting options this year, just one more way in which the COVID-19 pandemic has upended the traditional sprint to Election Day. That said, there are still plenty of voters planning to cast ballots in person on Election Day (November 3rd). For those folks, we’ve put together a quick overview of where the two candidates for President stand on three major policy areas affecting the arts in 2020 and beyond: the economic impact of the pandemic on music venu...
Foo Fighters to Headline #SOSFest in Support of Independent Music Venues
In an effort to save independent music venues impacted by the pandemic, YouTube Music is teaming up with the National Independent Venue Association for #SOSFest. Taking place October 16th-18th, the three-day virtual festival will feature 35 original performances recorded live from 25 independent concert venues across the United States. Scheduled performers include Foo Fighters, Miley Cyrus, Dave Matthews, Demi Lovato, Phoebe Bridgers, The Roots, Brittany Howard, Portugal. the Man, Rise Against, Black Pumas, FINNEAS, Nathaniel Rateliff, The Lumineers, Leon Bridges, and more. Reggie Watts will host the festival. See the full schedule below, and stream the event via NIVA’s YouTube channel (below). During the livestream, viewers will be encouraged to donate to the NIVA Emergency Relief Fund, w...
Rolling Stone Updated Its Top 500 Albums of All Time List So It’s No Longer Just White Dudes
Rolling Stone has published a new version of its Top 500 Albums of All-Time, and the biggest takeaway is that it’s no longer dominated by white dudes who played rock music. Compare the top 50 selections of today vs. the one published two decades ago. The 2003 list (which was slightly updated in 2012) had just three albums by female musicians among its top 50, and the first entry — Joni Mitchell’s Blue — didn’t appear until No. 30. Meanwhile, five Beatles albums appeared in the top 14. The 2003 list counted just 12 albums by people of color and zero from women of color. There was also only one hip-hop album among the entire top 50 — Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back — which ranked at No. 48. The updated 2020 is much more diverse. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Goi...
UK’s Socially Distanced Music Venue Shut Down Amidst Spike in COVID-19 Cases
The UK’s new socially distanced music venue has been shut down amidst a spike in coronavirus cases within the country. The Virgin Money Unity Arena opened in Newcastle earlier this summer, offering live music junkies the chance to see a concert live and in person in a safe setting. Specifically, the venue’s viewing area consisted of a series of enclosed platforms — each spaced six feet apart. Individuals or small groups could watch the concert standing or seated on these platforms, while concessions and bathrooms could be accessed through a one-way system. All told, it was a pretty creative setup that safety accommodated up to 2,500 music fans who turned out to watch concerts put on by Two Door Cinema Club, Sam Fender, The Libertines, Maximo Park, and more. Unfortunately, as the UK fa...
Kanye West Says He Will No Longer Release New Music Until He’s Freed From Record Contracts
Kanye West says he will cease releasing new music until he’s freed from his existing contracts with Universal Music and Sony/ATV. In a tweet on Monday night, Kanye wrote, “I’m not putting no more music out till I’m done with my contract with Sony and Universal … On God … in Jesus name … come and get me.” “I need to see everybody’s contracts at Universal and Sony,” Kanye wrote in another tweet. “I’m not gonna watch my people be enslaved … I’m putting my life on the line for my people … The music industry and the NBA are modern day slave ships … I’m the new Moses.” Kanye has been at odds with Universal (his record label) and Sony/ATV (his publisher) for several years now. In early 2019, he filed lawsuits against both companies over unpaid royalties and ownership rights. He claimed his e...
Visa Fees for Foreign Artists Touring the US to Nearly Double
It just got a lot more expensive for independent foreign artists to tour in the United States. According to the Federal Register, the daily journal of the American government, the US Department of Homeland Security has doubled the cost of visa fees for international artists starting this October. The fee increases impact visa types frequently used by musicians to enter the US: the P visa, which can be used for performers entering a competition or any family members of the performer; and the O visa, which is for individuals who possess “extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics.” The filing fees for P visas now stands at $695, while the cost of O visas is $705 — a 53% increase from it former cost of $460, notes NME. Additionally, the visa application wai...
Scotland Bans Music in Bars to Prevent “Leaning in to Talk”
Scotland is one of the few countries that’s created an extensive fund to support its performing arts venues, but that hasn’t stopped it from tightening restrictions on music elsewhere. Last week, Scottish government officials proposed a ban on music in bars and other hospitality venues to help prevent “leaning in to talk,” reports BBC. This order arrived alongside other updated guidelines for bars and restaurants to prevent the spread of COVID-19. By law, there should be “no background music and TVs should be muted so that people do not have to lean in to be heard.” Additionally, bars and restaurants in Scotland must provide table service, allow pre-booking, and avoid customers standing together or queuing. Police and local environmental health teams will enforce these regulations if neces...
Nigel Godrich, Lupe Fiasco, Massive Attack, Dee Snider, More Slam Spotify CEO
Thom Yorke once compared Spotify to “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse” and, these days, the streaming company is sure earning the reaction of one. Last week, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek suggested the secret to higher Spotify payout rates is more output from musicians. Since then, everyone from… Please click the link below to read the full article. Nigel Godrich, Lupe Fiasco, Massive Attack, Dee Snider, More Slam Spotify CEO Nina Corcoran You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Spotify CEO To Artists: “You Can’t Record Music Once Every Three To Four Years And Think That’s Going To Be Enough”
In many ways, Spotify and other similar streaming services have been a godsend for music lovers who want to access anything and everything at a moment’s notice. However, since its launch in the late 2000s, Spotify has also earned a shady reputation due to its meager streaming payout rates for artists. According to a recent report, a mid-sized indie label earned just $0.00348 per stream. Many major acts have slammed the Swedish company for failing to properly support musicians, including Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke, who once likened Spotify to “the last desperate fart of a dying corpse.” In a turn of events that probably shouldn’t surprise anyone that’s even vaguely familiar with the music industry, Spotify doesn’t think it’s doing anything wrong. In fact, the streaming company believes i...
Talent Agent and Lollapalooza Co-Founder Marc Geiger Predicts Concerts Won’t Return Until 2022
One of the concert’s industry’s top executives believes that live music won’t fully return until 2022. Marc Geiger, the former global head of music at talent agency William Morris Entertainment and co-founder of Lollapalooza, made the startling prediction during an appearance on The Bob Lefsetz Podcast. Asked when he thought concerts would return in the era of COVID, Geiger responded, “In my humble opinion, it’s going to be 2022.” In Geiger’s estimation, “It’s going to take that long before, what I call, the germaphobic economy is slowly killed off and replaced by the claustrophobia economy — that’s when people want to get out and go out to dinner and have their lives, go to festivals and shows.” “It’s my instinct, that’s going to take a while because super-spreader events — spor...
