Music Ally Focus

👋 Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Music Ally has reported extensively on the hearings at the UK parliament’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) inquiry into the economics of music streaming – which has now published its report. And it’s fair to say major labels will be wincing the most as they read its recommendations – which include: Introducing broadcast-style equitable remuneration (ER) for streaming income An investigation by the UK’s competition watchdog the CMA into major labels’ market power and business practices Legislation giving artists a “right to recapture” their recordings rights after 20 years Calling for songs (and thus songwriters and publishers) to get a bigger share of streaming royalties Joe and Stu poured a very large mug of coffee, read the whole 120+page report, and then pull out the most important parts – and discuss what will happen next. Here’s the full written analysis of the report too: https://musically.com/2021/07/15/labels-under-fire-uk-streaming-inquiry-report/ -------- Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe Muhammad Rashid (Pakistan) crushing 49 watermelons with his head in 1 min: https://www.facebook.com/GuinnessWorldRecords/videos/489784921508299/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. British politician Kevin Brennan wrote a guest article for UK newspaper the Independent which offers a few hints on the outcome of the UK Parliamentary Inquiry into artists' streaming income. The British music industry will now be preparing for a big lobbying battle around applying equitable remuneration (ER) to streaming, although this is not a big surprise given the issue’s prominence in the hearings of the UK’s music streaming economics inquiry.  Joe and Stu try to figure out the most likely outcome; wonder if labels should be worried - or if they have an other card to play. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Que Jianyu solving three Rubik's cubes whilst juggling them in 5 mins 2.43 sec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6AsllXpKBU Music Ally appears on The Daily Show! https://mobile.twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1405867638199394317 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow.  Spotify has evolved from a pure music-streaming service to an 'audio-first' platform including podcasts and live audio. Perhaps major labels are going down a similar evolutionary path. Sony Music is the latest to beef up its podcasting activities. It has acquired UK-based radio, podcasts and TV producer Somethin' Else for an undisclosed amount, as part of an expansion of its global podcasts division. Joe and Stu delve into what's behind this purchase - and if it means major labels are creeping away from the music business. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

There are now more ways than ever for an artist to connect with audiences, and to make money doing it – exactly the kind of complex task that many artists look to a manager to help them with. So how do forward-thinking managers help artists connect with their audience, strike innovative deals, and make money in new ways? Joe Sparrow talks to three young managers who are all navigating this new landscape to find out what they have learned:  • Sarah, Muise Management – who works with Shygirl, LYZZA, Butch, Lou Hayter & Delilah Holliday.   • "T" Oyelola, Black Grape Global - who works with YolandDa Brown, Genevieve Dawson, Annastasia Baker.   • Ben Price - Harbourside Music Management - works with Viktoria Modesta , Lachi and Lucy May Walker.   Sarah, T and Ben are all members of Music Managers Forum's Accelerator Programme - an initiative they set up in 2019 with support from YouTube Music, Arts Council England and Creative Scotland, helping upcoming managers to become sustainable businesses.    We’ve been speaking about the “third pillar” of income for artists for a while now: a substantial stream of income that sits alongside the traditional duo of live performance and recorded income, and is composed of a unique mix of income streams for every artist. For instance: an artist could make money from Twitch streams, a “super-fanclub” on Patreon, a closely-aligned and long-term brand partnership, or a podcast. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Roblox is a buzzy platform with a huge user base making games, spaces and virtual experiences. As part of that process they can upload custom audio, which could be music - and now the US National Music Publishers Association is suing Roblox for $200m in damages for “Roblox’s unabashed exploitation of music without proper licences”. Joe and Stu discuss what this means for User Generated Content platforms like Roblox others in a similar situation – like Twitch. ...And here's Aneta Florczyk rolling 6 frying pans into a cylinder with her bare hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mME2J1E_P20 Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. This week, YouTube announced that it has paid out more than $4bn to the music industry in the last 12 months, according to its head of music Lyor Cohen. Joe 'n' Stu ask what this means for streaming services, artists, and labels: is it as simple as "more money in is better?" And what might other streaming platforms like Spotify do in response? Oh, and here's the link to Budimir Šobat’s world record of the longest time for the breath being held voluntarily. 52 Gaj Ka Daman – a regional song that became a billion-stream YouTube mega-hit. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Joe 'n' Stu talk about understanding what NFTs *really* mean for the music industry and how they should be part of long-term thinking; what the music industry can learn from sports marketing; and how artists are making more money from memberships on livestreaming platforms than they are from touring. It's a recap of a few of the most impactful things they learned from Music Ally's Sandbox Summit Global conference, which happened in late May 2021. Here are the links mentioned in the show: The world's fastest motorised toilet: guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/fastest-toilet What can the music industry learn from sports and other sectors? musically.com/2021/05/26/what-can-the-music-industry-learn-from-sports-and-other-sectors NFTs and music: ‘Proof of fandom, status, utility and engagement’ musically.com/2021/05/27/nfts-and-music-proof-of-fandom-status-utility-and-engagement How can memberships and tips economies work for musicians?: musically.com/2021/05/28/how-can-memberships-and-tips-economies-work-for-musicians Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Distributor Believe said that it is "contemplating" raising around €500m (around $608.5m) from its mooted IPO... the prospectus isn't yet public, but Believe has published some of the figures that will be key to its appeal to investors: In 2020, Believe generated €728m (886m) from 'digital music sales' and in the first quarter of 2021, the company made another €124m, up by 26% year-on-year. Joe and Stu analyse who might (alternatively) buy Believe outright, what this IPO might mean for artists, and if it changes the power balance between distributors and labels. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Games firm Roblox is firmly on the music industry map now, and Roblox published its Q1 results, revealing that it generated $387m of revenues in the first three months of this year, up 140% compared to Q1 2020. It also has 43.3m daily active users, and music is increasingly a part of the Roblox experience - so Joe and Stu analyse what this might mean for the music biz, and how artists could use it to make cool new experiences for fans. Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Music business news, analysed in brief by Music Ally's Stuart Dredge and Joe Sparrow. Will Page, the former chief economist at Spotify and PRS for Music, has published a new study of 'Twitch's Rockonomics' which contains data unearthed by Page – particularly the case studies of artists Laura Shigihara, Aeseaes, Sereda, Matt Heafy, mxmtoon and RAC – will be useful for any musician mulling whether to use Twitch. Joe and Stu talk about its insight into how Twitch's economy works and if it could be valuable for musicians, artists, performers and rightsholders. PLUS: Page talked to Music Ally about his findings, explaining that it was an attempt to help Twitch "understand the economics of their own business model", as well as to give artists and the wider music industry an insight into the platform. You can read the interview here: https://musically.com/2021/04/29/twitch-rockonomics-will-page-mxmtoon-rac/ And read his study here: https://www.twitchrockonomics.com Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-standard analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe 👋 Sign up for Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge – an at-a-glance overview of the whirling, weird maelstrom that is the modern music industry: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb