
Music Ally Focus
Analysing vital music business topics in detail, as they emerge: Joe Sparrow breaks down important stories with expert guests in about 25 minutes. It'll keep you on the cutting edge, and it'll take about the same time as making and eating a good sandwich! (We recommend doing both simultaneously for maximum deliciousness.)
🌍 Music Ally provides analysis and context for the global music business: musically.com
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Latest episodes

Mar 25, 2024 • 38min
The biggest questions that music streaming platforms face in 2024 – Music Ally's Head of Insight, Stuart Dredge, answers them.
Stuart Dredge, Music Ally's Head of Insight, discusses the future of music streaming platforms in 2024. Topics include artist-centric payment systems, subscription price changes, and the industry's needs for marketing. Dive into the evolving landscape of DSPs and the upcoming changes this year.

Mar 21, 2024 • 29min
How do people search for music – and what do they really want in their results?
Ep. 146: In this episode we ask: how do people search for music today and what do people really want in their results? We welcome Einar Helde, AIMS API co-founder and CCO, to the Focus podcast to answer that question, as well as to explain how technology is allowing people to search in novel and nuanced ways – and what that means for people who make music.
The needs of people who make, share and use music have changed dramatically. Artists scramble to be discovered amongst the supposed 100,000+ new tracks uploaded each day, and equally, the people seeking music scramble to find what they really want. In this Music Ally Focus Extra episode, made in partnership with AIMS API, we discuss the future of this discovery quandary, and how being able to search for music in a way that allows those searchers – whether professional music supervisors or simply fans of music – to get what they want, and perhaps even get what they didn’t know they wanted in the first place.
AIMS API: https://www.aimsapi.com/

Mar 14, 2024 • 35min
How will AI-generated music be used in virtual spaces like metaverses and video games? And do we lose a communal experience if we all hear different music? Verses' Sean Lee & Kyungtae Kim explain.
Ep 145: Joe Sparrow is joined by Sean Lee, CEO/co-founder and Kyungtae Kim, co-founder and Audio & AI Specialist, of Verses, an AI music platform that powers music generation in virtual spaces. We wanted to talk about the use of dynamic AI-created music in the metaverse, and how that music then connects to virtual items. Essentially: where three of recent years’ most hypebeast products – AI created music, NFTs and metaverses – all come together.
Verses has recently been nominated for a 2024 CES Award for its “Beat-based AI music video generator”, aespa world, a tool that “automatically creates music videos when users touch the screen in sync with the beat.” We spoke about how AI generated music will fit into virtual spaces, who owns the music generated in this way, and whether human communities will miss out on communal experiences if they are not united by a consistent musical presence
Verses: https://www.verses.kr/
Transcript provided by Sean Lee and Kyungtae Kim: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U2p7hODk1LJj2wvaBCUJ45lUCAHuPDE-1JSahayYlKA/edit?usp=sharing
Cow tricks: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/730746-most-tricks-performed-by-a-cow-in-one-minute
Roni Size & Reprazent – Brown Paper Bag: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwI0gbGEyuI
SHINee - View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF53cptEE5k
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👉 FREE Amazon Music for Artists courses & certification: https://learn.musically.com/courses/amazon-music-for-artists/
👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Mar 7, 2024 • 31min
Should music streaming platforms charge to store music? Con Raso of Tuned Global explains the potential impacts on indie and major rightsholders.
Should music streaming platforms charge for storing music? Con Raso of Tuned Global explains the competition between large and small rightsholders. They debate the impacts of charging for storage on indie artists and labels. Imagine a future with small indie streaming platforms like small indie labels.

Feb 29, 2024 • 31min
Marie Clausen, Merlin's Managing Board Director, on mentoring women to help them rise to senior positions in the music industry
Marie Clausen discusses mentoring women in music to reach senior roles, sharing her experiences and the impact of Merlin's Engage program. The importance of allyship, breaking barriers, and fostering female leadership is highlighted. The podcast emphasizes collaboration, inclusivity, and the role of male mentors in supporting women in the music industry.

Feb 22, 2024 • 1h 11min
The enshittification of music – Cory Doctorow explains how a monopolistic music industry's rush to claw back value might also kill it. PLUS! An exclusive extract from Cory's new audiobook
Cory Doctorow discusses 'enshittification' in the music industry caused by monopolistic platforms. He advocates for better copyright laws. Exclusive audiobook extract from Cory's new novel included. Insights on labor rights, sampling, and copyright in music. Exploring the dangers of platform manipulation and AI advancements. Personal anecdotes about Talking Heads and an Afrobeat cover album. A battle for rights in the music industry recounted.

Feb 15, 2024 • 33min
How can you unlock more value from music catalogues using AI? Harmix CTO Dmytro Lopushanskyy explains how this AI tech works – and how artists should be able to opt music out of AI model training
Dmytro Lopushanskyy, CTO of Harmix, talks about using AI to discover hidden gems in music catalogues. Harmix allows users to search with words, images, and videos to find the perfect music. The discussion also touches on the ethical aspects of training AI models with music data and the future of AI in the music industry.

Feb 8, 2024 • 38min
Will this idea disrupt the record label model? Sherry Saeedi says that her company Verswire – “a venture capital model alternative for signing musicians” – is the future of music. We ask how and why.
Exploring Verswire, a venture capital model alternative for signing musicians, disrupting the traditional record label deal by offering majority ownership and upfront resources. Sherry Saeedi discusses the potential impact on the music industry, emphasizing artist-centric ownership and sustainable financial success. The podcast delves into the future of music, embracing competition, specialization, and the personal musical choices of the guest.

Feb 1, 2024 • 32min
What's it like to manage the Black Eyed Peas? Co-manager Rachel Strassberger explains the challenges of managing a household name artist, and how managers will need to change in the coming years
Ep. 139: The Black Eyed Peas have sold an estimated 80 million records, are one of only a handful of artists to have simultaneously held the number-one and number-two spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and have headlined the Super Bowl half-time show. We were very happy to talk to Rachel Strassberger, one third of the Black Eyed Peas' management team. She speaks to Music Ally’s Editor Joe Sparrow about what it's like to co-manage one of the world’s best-selling and well-known groups, and what she has learned along the way.
Rachel also talks about how the team balances promoting a mix of classic hits and front line releases, and what the modern requirements are from managers for artists – of all sizes. She also talks from her personal perspective about the skills managers will need to adopt in the next ten years as the industry undergoes another cycle of rapid change.
Rachel Strassberger: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachel-strassberger-1434141b/
Where is the Love? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpYeekQkAdc
Dice/feet https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/716798-most-dice-stacked-with-one-foot-in-one-minute
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👉 FREE Amazon Music for Artists courses & certification: https://learn.musically.com/courses/amazon-music-for-artists/
👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Jan 18, 2024 • 37min
What next for song lyrics? From autonomous cars to AI chats, we discuss lyrics' future with Darryl Ballantyne of LyricFind
Ep. 138: Lyrics are now everywhere - in our streaming apps, on short form social media, and in the now ubiquitous lyric video. So how might lyrics be used in the future in ways we may not have thought of? Joe Sparrow is joined by Darryl Ballantyne, founder & CEO of LyricFind, one of the oldest companies to license lyrics on behalf of rightsholders to various digital services, who chats about the how lyrics will be used in autonomous vehicles – and by various generative AI tools. Are these platforms licensing them and what are the wider legal implications if someone, for instance, asks an AI to create a new set of lyrics in the style of U2 or "Penny Lane"? (He also explains how Hanson’s “Mmm-Bop” is actually a very tragic song if you think about the lyrics...)
LyricFind: https://www.lyricfind.com/
Don Henley - The Boys Of Summer: youtube.com/watch?v=6RUIeX6UCT8
Pancakes https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-tosses-of-a-pancake-in-one-minute
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👉 FREE Amazon Music for Artists courses & certification: https://learn.musically.com/courses/amazon-music-for-artists/
👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb
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