Billboard-THR Compra Spin, Vibe e Stereogum Para Se Tornar A Maior Marca De Música Do Mundo

Billboard-THR Acquires Spin, Vibe and Stereogum to Become World's Largest Music Brand

The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SpinMedia’s storied music assets Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum, establishing the world’s largest music brand by digital traffic, social reach, and audience share.

“In recent years, we set out to own the topic of music online, and the acquisition of these incredible music assets helps us do just that,” said Media Group co-president John Amato. “By making these storied brands part of our family, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group will be able to fully capture the value of millennials and music, and continue to strengthen its leadership position in this critical arena.”

“Bringing in these historic brands under Billboard gives us the chance to serve passionate music audiences from rock to urban to pop in one massive portfolio,” said Media Group co-president Janice Min. "The power and scale of these combined, complementary digital assets gives us the ability to deliver even more ways to reach our audience through TV, video, live events, and social and online media."

SpinMedia CEO Stephen Blackwell will be named Chief Strategy Officer of the newly acquired company and will oversee revenue, digital growth, and product, reporting to Amato.

The deal expands The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group’s online audience to 45 million readers a month, strengthening its reach among social-media savvy millennials who value listening to music digitally and live experiences in equal measure. The Hollywood Reporter and Billboard both launched aggressive moves into video earlier this year, with the brands currently delivering over 100 million video views monthly. The Media Group has also partnered with Facebook to create custom content for the recently launched Facebook Live.

In all, the acquisition will boost the Media Group’s revenues to more than $100 million a year, two-thirds of which will come from digital and video.

SPIN magazine became fully digital in late 2012 after BuzzMedia acquired the 27-year-old publication and rebranded it as SpinMedia. It bought the hip-hop and R&B magazine VIBE and its digital properties the following year, growing its footprint in music and entertainment.

Alicia Keys Sobre Composição: "Ele vem de algo que você não pode conter" - Video

Alicia Keys on songwriting: 'It comes from something you can't contain'

Fifteen Grammys and six studio albums into her career, Alicia Keys still hasn't cracked the formula for a hit song.

"I just don't know how to do that -- I just don't! And I've tried!" the singer said ahead of a performance at New York's Apollo Theater. 

"I've been like, 'Okay, I'm going to take those same chords that I did before, but I am going to play them differently, which is going to make me write something different,' and it just doesn't arrive because you are trying." 

Instead, every new track is a fresh start. Where she typically writes alone at her piano, for her latest album, "Here," Keys decided to collaborate with a team, gathering "a hub of interesting, creative people." 

Read: A night alone in St Paul's Cathedral

"Put all of us in a room together and give us nothing but space, an opportunity, and all of a sudden boom! When you write a great song, you don't know how you got there." 

Finding release 

Alicia Keys performs in Times Square in New York City on October 9, 2016 

Regardless of who else is involved, Keys stresses that genuine feeling is at the core of any good song. Musically, she strives for a striking tension between the bassline, the melody, and the way the song is sung that ends in a feeling of relief. Lyrically, it's about channeling emotions. 

Read: Risqué portraits and Hollywood secrets from photographer Marc Hom

"Songwriting comes from an emotion. It comes from a feeling. It comes from something you can't contain, something that makes you cry, something that makes you laugh, something that you can't describe because it is like a stone in your chest," she says. "It's some kind of emotion, and it provokes you to find the words."

As 3 Previsões Da Indústria Da Música Que Falharam Em 2016

3 Music Industry Predictions That Flopped In 2016

Daniel Ek, CEO of Swedish music streaming service Spotify, gestures as he makes a speech at a press conference in Tokyo on September 29, 2016. Spotify kicked off its services in Japan on September 29.

For such an erratic industry, music loves its predictions. From pondering the Grammys to calling the next big hit or the next technological innovation roadmap, music business executives, artists and commentators are eager to sidestep their own surprises—with mixed success.

Some predictions for the music industry in 2016 stayed strong. Yes, touring is still a cash cow. Yes, curation is ever more important for music discovery, with an estimated 1 in 5 streams occurring on a playlist. Yes, streaming services are aggressively creating original content (and collaborating with labels in the process).

Other issues remain more ambiguous, particularly with regard to emerging technologies. How many people will actually cash into virtual reality music experiences? What impact, if any, will autonomous vehicles, chatbots and alternative advertising have on music companies' bottom lines?

Finally, a handful of industry predictions, many of which revolved around streaming, fell flat this year. Here's where we missed, and why:

1. The industry didn't kill freemium. In May 2015, rumorsbegan to spread that Spotify would limit its free, ad-supported tier to a three-month trial, facing financial pressures from major labels and following in the footsteps of competitors like Apple Music. While the rumor has since been debunked, publications such as Rolling Stone and Hypebot posited that free streaming would take its "last breath" in 2016.

In fact, freemium models not only remain alive and well, but are also arguably benefiting the music industry at large. Warner Music Group recently reported the highest annual revenue figures in eight years, driven by a 23.1% increase in streaming dollars—a significant rise considering that most users on multi-tier services like Spotify, Deezer and Pandora still stream for free.

Perhaps the largest burden lies not on the artists and labels, but rather on the freemium services themselves: to date, no such service has turned a profit.

2. Albums didn't die. Ever since iTunes launched in 2001, music industry professionals and commentators alike have prognosticated the death of the album. Unbundling otherwise premium-priced CDs into individual tracks that could be bought for 99 cents rendered physical album formats essentially irrelevant, undermining one of the industry's key revenue streams at the time.

Streaming was expected to take this effect one step further, eliminating altogether the need for listeners to "shop" for songs to purchase, embracing a buffet-style consumption model instead. Several electronic artists like Flume and The Chainsmokers have taken note, abandoning the traditional album format for a singles- and EP-oriented approach to music releases. More regularity allows not just for more experimentation with individual works, but also for more visibility; as radio personality Nic Harcourt told Billboard, "releasing singles every month or two keeps them constantly engaged with their fans."

Yet, 2016 also gave us some of the longest, boldest albums in recent music history, all of which became successful because of streaming, not despite it. Beyoncé's Lemonade, a Tidal exclusive, featured a whopping 60 writers and 22 producers. Frank Ocean's Blonde, The Weeknd's Starry and Drake's VIEWS clocked in at 60, 69 and 81 minutes respectively, and each nailed multiple songs onto the Billboard Hot 100.

Indeed, in the streaming era, longer albums not only usher in a new "playlist aesthetic" catered to digitally-native listeners, but also make economic sense. More tracks lead to more streams overall, which helps performances on the charts. Some have criticised this strategy for giving mainstream artists an unfair economic advantage, working against the theory that streaming is more beneficial for artists in the long tail.

3. Hi-res audio didn't catch on. The past few years have seen a growth in the number of high-resolution streaming options from the likes of Tidal and Qobuz, offering a lossless listening experience for $19.99 a month as opposed to the standard $9.99. In January 2015, Neil Young famously launched his hi-res Pono Player, which went on the market for $400 apiece. The assumption was that audiophiles—the consumer segment willing to invest hundreds of even thousands of dollars in high-quality headphones and audio systems—were a particularly important type of "superman," and would be willing to jump in masses on the opportunity to experience lossless music online.

As of May 2016, however, Tidal has only around 4.2 million subscribers, dwarfed by Spotify and Apple Music's subscription numbers, and likely a small fraction of these subscribers are paying a premium for hi-fi. French-orientated Qobuz went into receivership in late 2015, and has yet to enter the U.S. market. The Pono Player is still not a household name, and the accompanying PonoMusic online store has been out of commission since July 2016. Singling an even more competitive hi-res streaming market, Young recently revealed in an interview with Rolling Stonethat he was working with a company in Singapore to pivot his company from a hardware player to a streaming service.

Hi-res evangelism has seen a bit more success in the form of artist and B2B services. LANDR—a freemium algorithmic mastering tool that charges anywhere from $0 a month for two lo-fi Mp3s to $25 a month for unlimited WAV files—syncs with SoundCloud, while Aftermaster Audio Labs has a partnership with independent distributor TuneCore starting at $75 per song. The 2017 installment of the Consumer Electronics Show will feature the first-ever Hi-Res Audio Pavilion, featuring product demonstrations sponsored by the Digital Entertainment Group, a trade organization that includes all three major record labels. The biggest challenge for these organizations may be to convince the average music consumer to join their cause.

Os 10 Albums Mais Populares Da Apple Music Em 2016

The 10 most popular albums on Apple Music in 2016

It's been a good year for hip-hop. 

Apple has released its year-end lists for the top music, movies, apps, and more, and hip-hop albums swept several of the top spots. The top 10 albums were ranked based on downloads and streams through Apple Music. 

Several relative unknowns cracked the top 10, including singer/songwriter/rapper Bryson Tiller and breakout duo Twenty One Pilots. A little-known musical known as "Hamilton" also managed to sneak on the list. 

Here is the full list of Apple's top 10 albums of 2016:

10. Panic! At The Disco, "Death Of A Bachelor"

Isaac Brekken/Getty

9. Twenty One Pilots, "Blurryface"

Getty

8. Bryson Tiller, "T R A P S O U L"

Theo Wargo/Getty

7. Original Broadway cast of Hamilton, "Hamilton"

Theo Wargo / Getty

6. Chris Stapleton, "Traveler"

Rick Diamond/Getty

5. Justin Bieber, "Purpose" (Deluxe)

Keork Djansezian/Reuters

4. Frank Ocean, "Blonde"

Jason Merritt/Getty

3. Adele, "25"

Gareth Cattermole/ Getty Images

2. Rihanna, "ANTI" (Deluxe)

Jason Kempin/Getty

1. Drake, "Views"

Jack Plunkett/AP

O Piano Mais Antigo Do mundo Continua Soando Muito Bem! - Video

The World’s Oldest Piano Still Sounds Pretty Good

Many times we take the grand piano for granted, thinking that it’s been around forever in musical history. The fact of the matter is that it’s a somewhat new instrument in the grand scheme of things, being invented in the early 1700s by expert harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori. The harpsichord predated the piano by about 300 years.

That being said, there are 3 pianos still in existence made by Cristofori, and the video below features the oldest one, made in 1720. What’s more, it still sounds better than you’d expect an almost 300 year old instrument to sound.

When I listened to this video I first thought that I was listening to a harpsichord, since it had a lot of those high harmonics associated with the instrument. The piano is a lot different though, and quite an improvement in that the strings are struck, and not plucked like the harpsichord. As a result, the player is able to play with dynamics, while the notes played on the harpsichord are all at the same volume.

Regardless, enjoy listening to this priceless instrument, which is part of the collections at Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Go here for more on the differences between a piano and harpsichord.

Como Vender Os Produtos Da Sua Banda Nos Shows -Dicas

How to Sell More Merchandise at Your Show

First of all thanks to Grant Brandell for this article.

Selling merchandise at a show is probably one of the biggest sources of revenue that an artist has left today. It’s clear to anyone in the music industry that selling music has taken such a dramatic dive in sales that it’s almost a necessity to search and reach out for other sources of income as an artist first, with record sales second. For larger artists, their brand seems to take over everything. They become this image/icon with corporate sponsorships making large portions of their income. For the rest of the world (not top 40 radio), playing shows and selling merchandise is probably their biggest asset. So, how can you increase your revenue by selling your merchandise at your shows?

Make it Personal

Your merchandise is a direct representation of you as an artist and your music. If you aren’t involved with picking out what pieces of merch you sell or what designs you put on them, you’ve already missed the first step. Like social media or any other hands-on interactive experience, your fans want to support you and they want to know every aspect of you as a person and an artist. So if you aren’t involved in, at very least, approval of what designs you’re selling to them and giving your personal input on, why would they want to purchase it and wear it? Your merchandise should be the best combination of what you as an artist enjoy stylistically and what your fan base tends to prefer. It’s a line that a lot of artists have trouble walking. You can’t control what demographic embraces your music, so without (and I hate this term) “selling out” or completely conforming to what sells to them, you have to find that happy medium. At the same time, you can’t be always have an “art over everything” attitude and expect to sell the maximum amount of merchandise you can. It’s the line of business vs. art and every musician has to walk it at some point.

Managing Inventory

Once you have put the time in and reflected on the designs you enjoy and believe your fan base will equally enjoy and support, it’s time to sell it to them. So you’ve got a big show coming up and you just refilled on your merch supply and you want to, obviously, sell the maximum amount possible. Well, another obvious step is sizing. Do you have all sizes available? Are you keeping tabs on past sales and seeing what sells the most? I can, without a doubt, guarantee that a band like Tool is going to sell way more M-XL shirts to their fan base, as opposed to Justin Bieber who sells a majority of XS-M-sized shirts. It seems obvious, but a lot of artists just order the same amount of every size because they don’t know (or don’t pay attention) and think that makes the most sense at the time, leaving them short on certain sizes and having a surplus on sizes they aren’t going to sell.

Another tactic you should be implying is seasonal wear. While you may be able to get away with selling tank tops in a hot sweaty club in the middle of January in Boston, there’s a lot less of a chance a fan is going to be into buying a hoodie in the middle of July in Miami. “Sweet! Now I have this hoodie I can’t wear for six months!” You’re also more likely to sell those hoodies in the previous Boston scenario and make more money than you would on tank tops.

Pricing

This leads me to my next point: Pricing. Are you keeping your eyes open to what other artist are selling their merch for? If you’re selling your new T-shirt for $25 and all the other bands are selling their T-shirts for $10 at the same show, who do you think is going to make the most money in the long run? People want the most bang for their buck. Not only will you sell less but some fans might be offended by your higher-than-average prices. Sure, you spent $500 for the design on your high-quality American Apparel shirt with five colors and designs on the front, back and sleeves, but that won’t matter in the moment when fans only have $25 left and like every artist that’s playing.

It’s smart to pay for merch that you can make a profit on while keeping it affordable at the same time. You aren’t playing arenas and people won’t pay $25-$50 for a T-shirt yet, no matter how nice it is. There are creative ways to design a piece of merch and keep it affordable with regards to the artist level you’re currently at.

Display Counts

“Hey guys, we have merchandise in the back. Please check it!” I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that at shows. The simplest way to sell more merch at shows is to make people aware that it’s available. It’s so obvious, but some bands forget to mention it or think it’s too tacky to say on stage. It doesn’t come as needy, it’s part of the experience of going to a show and every artist should say it while they’re on stage, and every fan should expect to hear it. When they go back there—most likely between sets—make sure it is clean, organized and professional looking. Having something to hang certain items up, tape things neatly to the table so you don’t have to worry about a cluster-f*ck table while trying to sell. Make things simple and legible for fans like the names and prices of items. If there is a back-side design to an item, have it displayed and labeled so you don’t get asked 100 times to keep showing people.

Efficiency always increases sales. Another great selling tactic is the use of limited edition items or limited quantity. It may push a certain fan over the fence they are on about buying that item.

Sales Team

Lastly, and one of the most important aspects of selling merch whether it’s you, a friend, or someone you are paying, is to make sure they are outgoing, friendly and organized. Not everyone is suitable to deal with people. Add to the fact a lot of people may be drunk, sweaty and rude coming in mass numbers, and you have a pretty solid recipe for disaster if you’re not the type of person that can handle it. If you are paying someone, take the time to go back to the merch table and check on him or her, or get feedback from a random third party. They are representing YOU! If they come off as an ass, it will be associated with you. Also make them count in and count out items. I’ve seen more than a few merch people in my day steal from their artist or jack up prices on their items and pocket the extra because the artist wasn’t involved with the merch situation to know any better.

Hopefully these tips will help you out in maximizing your profitability at your shows. There’s no secret recipe for success in the merchandise world, but the more you are organized and involved in it as an artist, the more you will sell.

CD Baby Agora Oferece Uma Simples Maneira De Legalmente Vender Músicas Cover

CD Baby now offers the simplest way to legally sell cover songs

CD Baby announces one-stop distribution AND cover song licensing for standard single releases.

Putting your own spin on a popular song is a great way to reach new listeners. But in order to record and distribute a cover song, you need to secure the proper license and pay the publishers. That often comes with a lot of paperwork and ongoing accounting headaches — until now.

With CD Baby’s cover song licensing, you can license and distribute your cover song (to platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, etc.), manage it all from one account, and CD Baby will handle all of your accounting and mechanical royalty payments FOREVER.

You just pay a one-time setup fee of $14.99 per song (in addition to the one-time signup fee for worldwide music distribution). CD Baby will secure the required mechanical license and pay any mechanical royaltiesyou owe to the publisher/s for sales of that cover song.

Yes, CD Baby will take care of all that work for you — AND automatically pay the publishers each time your cover song has a sale, so you no longer have to keep a running tally of your cover song sales for the purposes of renewing the license. This “covers you” (pun!) for the sales of your cover song forever.

It’s easy and affordable cover song licensing AND distribution, built into the same signup process.There’s no other charges, no recurring fees, and the royalties you owe are deducted automatically before your sales revenue goes into your CD Baby account. Simple.

Here’s how to license your single-song release:

• Sign up your new single at members.cdbaby.com
• Select the “cover song” option in the sign up process
• Pay the additional one-time processing fee of $14.99*
• CD Baby will then secure the proper license and take care of paying the songwriters and publishers as your music sells

During the song registration process, CD Baby will ask for information to help identify your cover song to be sure the correct license is secured.

That information includes:

• Original Song Title
• Original Composer/ Songwriter
• Original Performing Artist
• Song Source Link (if you have a YouTube video or other link that will help ID the song)
• Song Source Notes (ie. If this is a song from a Broadway production, opera, motion picture etc.)

How to license cover songs on your album:

CD Baby Cover Song Licensing is currently only available for singles. A full-album cover song licensing service will be in place soon, but until then, please check out Loudr.

How much does it cost to secure a license through CD Baby’s licensing service?

Setup fee

CD Baby charges a one-time fee of $14.99 per cover song to secure the proper mechanical licenses. There are no other out-of-pocket costs beyond that point, since CD Baby takes the mechanical royalties you owe to the publisher/s for each sale of that cover song directly out of your sales revenue.

Royalty Fee

Every time you sell a cover song, you owe the publisher/s of that song a mechanical royalty of $.091*.  With CD Baby’s Cover Song Licensing service, CD Baby takes that owed royalty amount out of your earnings for each sale and pays it directly to the publishers for you, so you never have to worry about mechanical royalty payments again.

Remember, CD Baby still takes a 9% cut of your net digital distribution earnings, but does NOT keep ANY additional cut for taking care of your mechanical royalty payments. That’s what the initial setup fee is for.

Your earnings for a cover song sale will look like this:

Cover Song Sale earnings (after the download store takes its cut) – CD Baby Commission (9%) – $.091 (the mechanical royalty owed for the cover song) = Artist Share

* $.091 is based on the length of the song being 5 minutes or less. An additional fee of $0.0175 x (duration in minutes or fraction thereof, rounded up to whole minute) will be taken from songs longer than 5 minutes.