Music Industry News

I Think We Could All Use "A Bit More Miles Davis"

Source: Miles Davis Online
December 8, 2010

Interesting business story on BusinessJournalism.org about Miles Davis and the effectiveness of his longtime association with the notion of 'cool.'

Alan Deutschman's article finds him at the Eleven Madison Park restaurant in New York. During a tour of the kitchen, he notices a large photograph of Miles Davis.

It turned out that four years earlier, a critic from the New York Observer, Moira Hodgson, had mentioned the trumpeter in her review, Madison Avenue Makeover: Star Chef Gives New Personality, ...

Continue Reading...

A Four-Part New Year's Exercise for Musicians

Source: HypeBot
December 8, 2010

BY: Ariel Hyatt After traveling to eight countries this year, teaching master classes and speaking on panels the thing that stands out for me is:

How hard we can be on ourselves.

It's almost the end of the year, and it was a crazy year for most of us. Musicians and colleagues alike tell me that they were busier than ever before.

We have all had to come up with more creative ways to stay relevant and vital in the ...

Continue Reading...

Should an Artist Sign a 360 Deal?

Source: HypeBot
December 8, 2010

Continue Reading...

5 Things I Think About Every Day as a Professional Musician

Source: MusicianWages.com
December 8, 2010

If you were to take a look at my planner, you'd see no two days alike. I have a career that's filled with a great amount of variety. One day I'm playing musical theatre auditions, the next day I may be playing organ at a church, the next day I might have a songwriting session with a singer. Most of my musician friends are the same way—we all have many different kinds of gigs that fill up our weeks. But ...

Continue Reading...

Leaksport: Why Your Music Just Ain't Safe Anymore...

Source: Digital Music News
December 7, 2010

The leak used to be a one-dimensional concept. You finished your music, and then it leaked ahead of street date. And everyone was stressing out. Then, things got really complicated. Not only were songs leaking, they also started leaking half-baked. Unfinished, raw, released by nefarious insiders. And totally and completely against the wishes of the artist. Dr. Dre and others have become resigned to the problem, but the animal is growing even more tentacles. Over in Germany, a pair of ...

Continue Reading...

Music Has Been Reduced to a Set of Flow Charts.

Source: HypeBot
December 7, 2010

"Listening to music has historically made people feel free and let us revel in our subjectivity. By contrast, listening to Pandora makes you feel predictable. The first few times I tried Pandora and heard the new songs derived from my old songs, as clone puppies might be derived from a dead dog, I lost my fighting spirit."  More Below: My path through this human civilization, my choices of things to like and not like, a path that I believed was ...

Continue Reading...

The Dalai Llama's Advice on Building a Fan Base

Source: HypeBot
December 7, 2010

How the artist and fan relationship is manifested on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, the artist's own web site and bolg as well as at live shows, can make or break a career. (Just ask Kayne West.) Too often, artist and fan interactions feel forced or even worse, driven entirely by commerce. (Buy my fabulous new album!) Anyone trying to build and maintain a Tribe faces similar dilemmas, even The Dalai Lama. How does one of the world's most respected religious leaders ...

Continue Reading...

Taylor Swift is an 'Indie'. Time to Change the Definition?

Source: Digital Music News
December 4, 2010

Seems like someone is always stumping, championing, or advocating for the 'indie.' And groups like AIM, A2IM, Merlin, and until recently—eMusic—have been built around the concept. But whatisan indie exactly? Well, the list now includes Taylor Swift, according to A2IM, by merits of her association with Big Machine Records. But Swift is also associated—quite heavily—with Universal Music Group Distribution, and seemingly every mainstream media outlet available. So, that still qualifies? This is a debate that got started after the Grammy ...

Continue Reading...