I. Music & Tech
Top Genre : 1st Time Hip Hop Tops Rock in U.S.
Accounting for 25% of the music consumed in the U.S., Nielsen reported that for the first time in history Hip Hop (combined w/ R&B) has passed Rock as the most popular music genre. While Rock is still dominating physical album sales with 40% of the overall market, Hip Hop’s popularity, specifically amongst the millennial audience and younger is helping to facilitate the transition into the era of streaming. With over 184 billion streams in the first half of 2017 (a 62% increase compared to the same period in 2016), the changing tide will most likely continue to gain momentum. Read more.
Pay the Cost to be the Boss : Spotify Facing Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
While Spotify has made significant technical acquisitions and upgrades to ensure royalty payments and avoid licensing issues they are not in the clear just yet. Last week, Spotify was the target of two separate licensing infringement lawsuits. Combined, the lawsuits are bringing into question over 4,000 works. With a potential fine of $150k a piece this could be a hefty (unexpected) expense. As streaming platforms continue to evolve and put more checkpoints in place these types of set backs seem to be a cost of doing business. Read more here.
Pandora Impresses with 1 Billion Artist Impressions
The streaming pioneer Pandora, hit a very significant milestone last week when it’s Artist Marketing Platform (AMP) hit 1 Billion impressions. The platform gives artists the opportunity to sift through huge data sets via visual demos and decide how to effectively produce and distribute their content on the platform. AMPcast, which is another tool on the AMP platform lets artists record messages to target listeners. With only 11,000 active artist using AMP, and 14,000 messages the impressions mean engagement is effective. Read more about Pandora’s artist resources here.
II. Entrepreneurship
Courtesy of LineForLine. Artists get started here.