Music Business

If you're interested in the live music biz and the impresarios behind the scenes, Who the f_k is Arthur Fogal is a wonderful documentary. Interviewees include Bono, U2's former

In his article Music Streaming Is Booming, and That’s a Problem for Music Sales, Peter Kafka suggests the right price for a streaming subscription "might be $3 to $4 a month". But is it?

Digital Music News ran a story this week suggesting that because "file-sharing now accounts for less than 10% of US internet traffic ... file-sharing volumes are also plunging." But does it?

The music business needs to re-write their business models in a world without borders.

The concert ticketing is broken for consumers. Does Tickermaster really want to give consumers a "better chance"?

It's 2003 and Apple launches the iTunes Music Store. The un-bundling of the album format that started with Napster in 1999 has become official. The then ~$40 billion record music industry is on its way to ~$16bn within a decade.

If you're a Police fan you've probably read Any Summers' bio, One Train Later. For anyone else with an interest in the music business or creativity, you'll love it too.

"Do it for the exposure" is an infinite loop toward exploitation and poverty. The internet promised economic democratization. It hasn't delivered.

It's not about whether Spotify and Pandora are paying a fair rate. It’s that they’re not paying enough to make up for what has been lost in the transition to digital.

Some in the music industry seem surprised that Spotify subscribers don't buy music. Odd, since they're substitute products.

Don't make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer: Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer, she examines the new relationship between artist and fan.

Ironic message from Suffocation guitarist Guy Marchais, who went to the mall and bought his own CD. And filmed it. Just to make a point about buying CDs from the mall.

Tech needs to keep commodifying things to keep the share price up, but in doing so they have made all content, including music and newspapers, worthless, in order to make their billions. And this is what we want?

Spotify will negotiate price breaks in forthcoming licensing talks with major rights owners. What does this mean for the future of their business?

You know when you want to go to a hot show and tickets sell out really quickly? One of the causes is that scalpers buy a lot of tickets with the aim of reselling them on the secondary market.

Turning music into a commodity has far reaching implications that go well beyond the destruction of the record industry.

Always top yourself. Put the AWE in audience. If the crowd feels they can do better than you why would they take the time & $ to be bothered?

According to a report from Digital Music News, users of Spotify tend not to purchase music. This is hardly surprising.

Steve Stoute interviews Interscope's Jimmy Iovine about Rolling Stone magazine's first hip hop cover.

Steve Stoute, author of The Tanning of America, and music biz and advertising supremo, talks with Jay-Z.

Streaming will turn recorded music into a nickel and dime game, which will only work for multinational aggregated rights owners.

Interesting series of charts from Digital Music News (love your work PR!) breaking down recorded music revenues by format. Here’s a couple of charts, and for the full set go to the DMN site.

A good friend called me a week ago to help him out driving at a music festival. It was great fun driving artists and execs around. Happy days.