Streaming
Rave Responsibly: EDM.com’s 2020 New Year’s Streaming Guide
We’ve finally reached the time of the year when we can say—with a sigh of relief—these four words: “2020 is almost over.” New Year’s 2020 will look and feel much different thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns that seem to become more strict by the minute. Staying at home on New Year’s Eve isn’t the worst thing, though. You can spend quality time with family, party in your sweatpants, save hundreds of dollars on a one-time outfit, and avoid the inevitable vomit-inducing jäger bombs. Here is a list of virtual dance music events to stream on New Year’s Eve and Day—because being stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t rave. Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 will begin before midnight local time in Melbourne, Australia w...
Rave Responsibly: EDM.com’s 2020 New Year’s Streaming Guide
We’ve finally reached the time of the year when we can say—with a sigh of relief—these four words: “2020 is almost over.” New Year’s 2020 will look and feel much different thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns that seem to become more strict by the minute. Staying at home on New Year’s Eve isn’t the worst thing, though. You can spend quality time with family, party in your sweatpants, save hundreds of dollars on a one-time outfit, and avoid the inevitable vomit-inducing jäger bombs. Here is a list of virtual dance music events to stream on New Year’s Eve and Day—because being stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t rave. Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 will begin before midnight local time in Melbourne, Australia w...
The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony
Congress looks to provide relief to U.S. citizens and small businesses, but the omnibus bill includes some legislative priorities for the entertainment industry as well. Providing relief via direct assistance and loans to struggling individuals and businesses hit hard by COVID-19 has been a priority for federal lawmakers this past month. But a gigantic spending bill has also become the opportunity to smuggle in some other line items, including those of special interest to the entertainment community. Perhaps most surprising, according to the text of the bill being circulated, illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony. It’s been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed work...
David Guetta Announces NYE “United At Home” Charity Stream Live from Paris
Third time’s the charm for David Guetta, who has announced a massive “United At Home” charity stream on New Year’s Eve 2020 in Paris. The barnstorming dance music superstar raised a whopping $1.5 million with his first two “United At Home” streams, which went down in Miami and New York, respectively. 50 million global viewers tuned in to watch him break the Guinness World Record for the most-watched DJ set on Facebook. Guetta has not revealed where exactly he will be broadcasting from, but a press release asserts that the performance will take place at “one of the most magical spots in Paris.” Could an Eiffel Tower stream be on the horizon? The Paris edition of the event series will benefit UNICEF and Restos du Cœur, a major French ...
Melvins Announce “New Year’s Evil” Livestream Event
The Melvins have announced “Melvins TV: Volume 1, New Year’s Evil”, a livestream event to ring in 2021. The virtual show will feature a five-song performance by the Melvins, interviews, extras, and an opening set by Void Manes. The stream goes live on December 31st at 3:00 p.m. ET / noon PT, and tickets cost $5 each. “‘Melvins TV, New Year’s Evil’ is as close to a live show as we can get during this hideous pandemic,” Buzz Osborne said in a press announcement. “We’ll be doing more of these so tune in and enjoy! Happy New Year!” The Melvins lineup for the stream will consist of the band’s core trio of Osborne, Dale Crover, and Steven McDonald (of Redd Kross fame). A commemorative limited-edition poster and T-shirt designed by Junko Mizuno and Mackie Osborne will be available exclusively to ...
Bandcamp Fridays Raised $40 Million (!) for Musicians in 2020
Earlier this year, as the pandemic strangled the live events economy, the artist-oriented platform Bandcamp decided to waive its own cut on sales of music and merch on Friday, March 20th. The one-off sale was such a success that the website soon extended it to the first Friday of every month in 2020. With the year almost over, the results are in: artists earned more than $40 million on Bandcamp Fridays in 2020. And since the vaccine isn’t widely available yet, and live music unlikely to return for several months, the platform has announced four more Bandcamp Fridays extending into 2021. While competitors like YouTube and Spotify have long been criticized for their miniscule streaming payout rates, Bandcamp has helped normalize consumers paying for music again. On those special Fridays, the...
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page Urges Streaming Companies to Pay Musicians Fairly
Jimmy Page is using his status as a rock icon and a knighted Order of the British Empire to urge streaming companies to fairly compensate musicians. The legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist penned an open letter on his Instagram account in response to a recent inquiry into streaming services by the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee. Among the items the committee is reviewing is the business model employed by Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google and other streaming services, especially when it comes to artist royalties. Page shared the following letter on his Instagram page: “Having recently viewed the Select Committee for Music Streaming on 24 November 2020 I feel compelled to write this letter. I fully appreciate the dilemma surrounding streaming royalties that should be ...
Proposed Law Could Make Streaming Copyrighted Material on Twitch Without Permission a Felony
In the latest omnibus spending bill making its way through Congress, a provision has been added that would effectively render the streaming of copyrighted music without permission a felony offense. The provision has been added to the bill by Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina. If passed, the provision would likely land streaming platforms—including Twitch—in more hot water, as the video giant has continued to butt heads with major labels and copyright representatives for much of 2020. This fall, Twitch introduced what they claimed was a fully licensed product called “Soundtrack by Twitch,” which purportedly allowed streamers to play music without fear of being issued a DMCA takedown. However, the Recording Academy and the RIAA, among other organizations, rebut...
Every Time I Die Share New Songs “A Colossal Wreck” and “Desperate Pleasures”: Stream
Every Time I Die have returned with the double single, “A Colossal Wreck” and “Desperate Pleasures”. They’ve also announced a livestream event for December 19th. The songs mark the first new music from the Buffalo, New York hardcore act since 2016. In the interim, the band’s lost none of their mathematic prowess and virtuosic precision. If the rest of Every Time I Die’s forthcoming ninth studio album lives up to these tracks, fans are in for another excellent slice of passionate metal. As the titles “A Colossal Wreck” and “Desperate Pleasures” imply, there’s more than a little of 2020 that’s seeped into the new material. Vocalist Keith Buckley stated in a press release that the songs are “two sides of the same reactionary coin.” “While ‘A Colossal Wreck’ looks around at the current state o...
The Year in Live Streams 2020: StageIt Helps Artists Connect and Monetize
StageIt was founded in 2009 as a livestream platform but has seen a, wait for it, unprecedented surge in activity since March. A leader in providing a platform for artists to host ticketed livestreams, they helped acts monetize live performances (both in ticket sales and tips during broadcasts) when the most lucrative piece of artists’ business was on pause. Perhaps the most successful artist on the platform was Blue October. The Texan rock band played a series of livestreams centered around different albums from their discography and collectively grossed more than $506,000 across 10 streams. This achievement is, in part, due to the group’s engagement with fans, walking a thin line between selling tickets on the platform in order to earn a living and respecting the delicate financial polit...
Deafheaven Release New Studio-Recorded Live Album 10 Years Gone: Stream
Deafheaven have released their new studio-recorded live album 10 Years Gone, commemorating the illustrious first decade of their career. Initially, Deafheaven were to go on a world tour called “10 Years Gone”, but the pandemic shut that down. Making the most of the situation, the band decided to properly record its planned setlist live in the studio, offering a vivid document of what fans would have witnessed had the tour happened. The only thing missing is the crowd noise as Deafheaven deconstruct arguably the strongest set of songs in their catalog. “Daedalus” and “Glint” were released as singles, teasing the immensity of this psuedo-live document. Tackling each song full bore, it’s Deafheaven at their most intense and direct. “Revisiting the songs in this studio sessions format with Jac...
Roddy Ricch Dominates Apple Music’s Year-End Charts
As the year’s top album on Apple Music, Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial additionally spawned three more tracks that earned placement on the service’s top songs of 2020 chart: “High Fashion”, “Start Wit Me” and “Bacc Seat.” Ricch was additionally featured on the fourth most-streamed song of 2020, DaBaby’s “ROCKSTAR.” The year’s second most-streamed song on Apple Music, “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd, had an even broader reach than “The Box” worldwide, charting in the top 5 on Apple Music’s Top 100 songs charts in 92 countries and reaching No. 1 in 62 of them. While “Blinding Lights” had fewer streams than “The Box,” it racked up the most listeners overall. One notable facet of Apple Music’s end-of-year charts this year is the inclusion of two new...
