Industry news
High5: In other news #5
Looking at the last week in music, it seems new artists need to be ever-more innovative in getting noticed, downloads may be done, Prince is fed up with music execs... again, pirates in the UK can look foward to 'love letters' from their ISPs, and exciting predictions are made for the future of music.
Creative AND sustainable campaigns
Looking at Vulfpeck's very cleverly poised means of making money from Spotify to fund their tour, "Embracing the silence of 'Sleepify'" covers the need for new artist ingenuity in trying to get noticed on the music scene. It is a huge hurdle for up-and-coming artists, but perhaps it should also be viewed as a challenge to their creativity. However, if that campaign isn't a sustainable one, it will only end up being the flavour of the month. In this article, rapper, activist, and cofounder of Anticon, Sole looks at the broken state of the music industry.
Are we done with downloads?
Is the era of music downloads over? Is streaming soon to become the dominant listening mode? These are questions being thrown around with news emerging of Apple's $3.2bn pursuit for Beats Electronics. That's a lot of money, and it shows a lot of confidence in the brand, the technology, and the medium. While nothing has been officially confirmed, we could very soon see similar subscription providers looking desirable to the big player players in the market - time will tell; for more info, read "Apple's flirtation with Beats may foretell shift to music streaming".
Prince tired of artists doing all the work
The Artist Formerly Known As Prince is fed up with industry execs, even though he just recently signed a deal with Warner Bros. He recently lamented the fact that whenever he calls up group heads they're at the beach - he's essentially tired of artists doing all the hard work and corporates reaping the benefits. Nonethless, Prince will soon release a new studio album under the Warner Bros label - for more, read "Prince slams music industry bosses for relaxing while artists slog".
Pirates to get warning letters
Online piracy - the bane of our digital existance. On the left we've got demands for everything to be free, on the right we've got demands for cutting the pirates' internet supply, and in the middle we have requests for fair price along and ease of accessibility. In the UK, pirates can look forward to receiving 'love letters' from their ISPs as part of a Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme brought about in partnership with the entertainment industry. Read more about VCAP in "Illegal downloaders to get warning letters in 'watered down' deal with music industry".
Return of rock
In a guest post on Reverbnation, artist manager and chair of The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, New York University, Jeff Rabhan predicts some of the trends we'll see unfolding in the music industry in the not too distant future. He sees a streaming war at a cross-section with a royalty battle, the evolution of the live EDM experience, and a comeback for rock music, among other exciting prophecies. Read more predictions from Rabhan in "Whats Ahead For Artists, Labels, and Fans: Industry Insider Jeff Rabhan Predicts the Future of Music".
