Monday Nov. 10th,
Thoughts from the CEO:
“I’m Not Willing to Contribute My Life’s Work to an Experiment that Doesn’t Compensate Artists” - Taylor SwiftThe hot topic right now is Taylor Swift pulling all of her music off Spotify, during the release of her album. What an uproar - but was it an effective strategy? For Taylor, it seems like her goals were to sell a million records in the first week (something that has not been done this year) and gather a ton of buzz. Pulling all music off of Spotify put Swift in the center of the biggest tech conversation right now and allowed her short term sales to be streamlined. She achieved her goal and has one of the largest selling first week’s of all time. In reality, physical album sales are not coming back in any meaningful way, which leaves us with the options of either piracy or streaming. As the music business reinvents models and we watch these evolutions occur in front of us, it's clear that streaming is essential moving forward. Consumers are no longer interested in the notion of collection, they are interested in portability and user-experience. Oversimplifying this issue can set us back - again. Kudos to Taylor on the stunt, but we should be careful with misplacing blame on companies like Spotify - who are and simply adhering to a model that has been in place for years. They very much are compensating artists in valuable ways, including providing channels for artist discovery and helping build a fan base.
CURRENT CONVERSATION:
SPOTIFY
via Leftsetz Letter
- Perceived to rip artists off, but Spotify puts discipline in the system, pays artists & their playlists add coherence.
- Why aren't 10M views on YouTube not viewed the same as 10M streams on Spotify? - "People who put brakes on the future end up screwing themselves." - Lefsetz
MUSIC
Yahoo Slips Up; Releases Taylor Swift's New Video Earlyvia Business Insider
- "Black Space", Swift's latest track made its way onto the internet via Yahoo last night.
- Video was taken down this morning, with director of video tweeting: "Yahoo effed up."
- Swift's team has yet to comment on Yahoo's premature release.
TECH
NYU's Stream-Tech Conference Teaches, Explains, & Tries Not to Ruffle Feathers
via Billboard
- Panels fairly assessed the pros and cons of streaming and discussed "New World Order" in Tech. - Q&A included: "Streaming is the future but will artists ever make any money in a 'rigged' industry?"- "Every generation has gone through [these] problems, it's about embracing new ways of reaching your audience." - Kareem Fanous
Taylor Swift's Label Didn't Want To Disrespect 'Superfans'via SPIN
- Reason provided for Swift's music pulled from Spotify: to respect fans.
- Label's desire is not to alienate fans who purchased album, then find it free on Spotify
- "We're being completely disrespectful to super fans who want to invest".
CD Baby Reduces Shipping for Holidays
via Hypebot
- Promotion starts Dec 1, 2014 (Cyber Monday) for 3 days. - Shipping will be 1¢ for domestic and international. - CD Baby advises artists to check their stock and prepare to alert their fans.
Adele's Manager Talks Future of Music: Streaming Will Be Ubiquitous
via The 405
- Jonathan Dickins, manager to Adele, believes streaming outlets are the future.
- His suggested solution? Provide "a window between making something available on premium earlier than on the free service."
- We are going towards a streaming model, and it will be less about buying and more about consuming moving FWD.
Aloe Blacc Is Also Upset With Spotify, But Why?
via Moke Hill Music
- Aloe Blacc puts out piece in Wired entitled: “Streaming Services Need to Pay Songwriters Fairly.”- Blacc points finger at streaming services, while Spotify simply adheres to model that has been in place for years. - Daniel Ek tweets: "Lot of incorrect numbers flying around on Spotify payments."
Pasquale Rotella Says "Culture Is At Its Best When There's Diversity"
via THUMP
- Discusses revolution of electronic dance music & culture- On going into business with Live Nation, "We have complete autonomy." - Releasing book that likely will be titled Insomniac; Fox movie deal following shortly after.
WMG Signs Licensing Deal with SoundCloud, Gets 5% of Company
- WMG and Soundcloud have signed a deal, covering plays on tracks - including mixes and mashups. - WMG is going to pay for 3-5% stake in SoundCloud. - They are paving a way for future ad-free subscription service, a requirement in WMG deal.