It’s Blockchain Week, which means the crypto world descends upon NYC in a big way.I’m glad to hear from trusted folks like Fred Wilson that the “crypto winter” is coming to an end and a more hopeful spring has arrived. I remain bullish about the music business needing to take stock of this sector and get excited about its prospects.I also look to ConsenSys, a NY-based industry leader in the space, for reliable forecasting. Their Ethereal Conference at week’s end is drawing a top-notch crowd that I’m excited to hear from.Nue has always expressed interest in blockchain’s potential. I even wrote an article for AdAge last year that highlighted areas in which the music business could innovate using this technology.Sadly, nothing has been adopted and, by the looks of the week’s agenda, the music industry is not being targeted at all. Typically, music is a leader in innovation and disruption. This has not been the case with crypto.In the fine art space, on the other hand, ideas are flowing. One concept is to add what I call a “legacy ledger” that tracks the buying and selling history of collections. With so much discussion in the music world around credits and royalties for writers and producers, I wonder if similar behind-the-scenes, administrative gains could be made in the publishing space.That is but one idea. Hopefully, after a week of horizon-expanding events, there will be many more. Welcome to New York, crypto crew!
BEATS
TikTok Is the New Music Kingmaker, and Labels Want to Get Paid They’re seeking a better deal after they missed the rise of the social video platform and sold music rights for a flat fee. (Bloomberg)
Rihanna brings LVMH into the Fenty-first century with an influential new partnershipLast week, LVMH Möet Hennessy Louis Vuitton added Fenty — Rihanna’s beauty line — to its group of luxury brands. (The Hustle)
Spotify’s leanback instant listening app Stations hits iOSSpotify has launched its instant listening app Stations on iOS, but only in Australia for the time being. (Tech Crunch)
Could Crypto And Blockchain Shake Up The Music Streaming Monopolies?Spotify and Apple are the kings, with the internet behemoths Google and Amazon chasing up behind and others coming along in their wake. (Forbes)
The Record Industry is Booming Again - But the Digital Services Who Rescued it Deserve BetterIt’s hard to believe from the vantage point of 2019, but from the market’s historic high in 2001, in the following 10 years, the UK recorded music business lost over half of its value. (MBW)
21 Questions To Ask an Artist Before Working With ThemWhen I start working with a new artist client the very first meeting I do is a discovery session where I to get up to speed on their brand and understand how I can help as a music marketing consultant. (Medium)
Musical Artist Questions for the “DSP”’s (aka Streaming Music Services)Music Business Association’s Annual Artist Workshops begin Sunday 5/5 at the MusicBiz 2019 Conference. But many of these music services seem to be lacking “artist services” for the independents — and we have questions about that. (Medium)
Rolling Stone Takes Aim at the Competition with a Billboard Charts KillerMini media mogul Jay Penske is pushing into territory Billboard has held since the 1940s. But is the music world ready to switch? (Vanity Fair)
How Vevo Is Boosting Views by Optimizing Video ThumbnailsThe major label-owned music video platform has been on a quest to optimize the preview thumbnails it is using on YouTube, and seen double-digit improvements in engagement as a result. (Variety)
A Wu-Tang Clan Documentary Captures the Group’s Wild Self-InventionThere was no precedent for the Wu-Tang Clan insurgency in the early and mid-1990s, and, if we’re being honest, there’s been nothing quite like it since. (NY Times)
Grammy Awards Name First Female PresidentDeborah Dugan will become president and chief executive of the Recording Academy, the organization behind the Grammy Awards, replacing its longtime leader, Neil Portnow. (NY Times)
Post Malone Expands His Branded Crocs Line Into AustraliaFor the fiscal year 2017, revenues topped $1.023 billion, and the company has managed to sell upward of 300 million pairs of Crocs shoes since 2002. (Digital Music News)
Disney Recruits Janelle Monae to Help Reinvent the Racist ‘Siamese Cat Song’The live-action version of Lady and the Tramp will cut the controversial ‘Siamese Cat Song’ in favor of a new track.
BYTES
Bloomberg Opinion columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews legendary guitarist Don Felder, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee best known as a member of The Eagles.
See How Memes and Controversy Took Lil Nas X to the Top of the Charts
Musixmatch is the world’s largest lyrics catalog, giving you synchronized song lyrics with multilingual translations for all your music.
Remember when artists used to go on tour to support and album. Well this is 2019 and now artists put out music to support a tour. Blige and Nas’ new single arrives ahead of their co-headlining tour, which kicks off this July.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!