Bits & Bytes 6/8

INFLUENCING EMERGING MUSIC TECH CULTURE

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THIS WEEK IN MUSIC x TECH 

JUNE 8, 2015

Festival season is kicking into full gear! This weekend in NY alone, I had the privilege of attending Governor's Ball at Randalls Island, DigiFest at Citi Field, and Summer Jam at Giant’s Stadium. Each had a very distinct crowd, vibe and experience.Governor’s Ball, in 5 years, has turned into one of the top festivals in the world. They proved that building a major festival, even in a highly competitive market like NYC, is more than possible and very much in-demand. Sunday was hip-hop's Super Bowl, the 22nd annual Summer Jam was streamed "exclusively" on Tidal. Would be interested to learn how many people really streamed in for that. But the biggest surprise of the weekend was DigiFest at Citi Field. Ryan Seacrest has invested in this brand and you can really feel the growth potential of it. What's incredible is the fan bases of these YouTube & Vine stars, who are really become a new breed of super-stars. It's amazing to see and these kids really are the future! Though festivals continue dominating the live culture and yet, there is so much room for digital innovation. Everybody wants to take pictures, share it on social and connect with their friends while they are enjoying these festivals - yet there's never cell service! Sure, you gotta be able to turn your phone off and enjoy the moment but why can't anyone get this right? All we want to do is enjoy our moments  - and share them. Let's try to get this wi-fi thing right people, user experience is king!  

-Jesse K // CEO, NUE Agency

Apple's World Wide Developers' Conference, 2015 edition, kicked off today at 1pm. Here are all the news and announcements that came from it. 

Universal, Sony & Warner are demanding 60% of Apple's subscription revenue, but can Apple save the music industry from the destructive greed of record labels?

An app for finding and tracking concerts adds a white-label service for direct-to-fan ticket sales, which should make finding and buying tickets much easier. 

Bandsintown surveyed over 14K+ fans and gathered 7 ways of how music fans are shaping the industry's digital space, including how live translates to streaming. 

Linkin Park used to be known for angry, emo music (and are still touring) but are now pragmatic, hyper-rational, look-at-the-upside capitalists. So, what're they doing?

YouTube is giving subscribed musicians the insights to learn where their fans are, so they can route their concert tours there. Now, let's talk revenue streams. 

Soundcloud is kind of like a hip, video-free version of YouTube. For listeners & artists it's pretty perfect, but now that's changing and dramatic changes are being made.