Soundcloud, Pandora & Tidal: - Quem São Os Novos CEO's

Soundcloud, Pandora & Tidal: How Will Each New CEO Fare?

SoundCloud, TIDAL and Pandora announced new chief executives within a seven-day span this month. How will each fare in the digital music race? Says one record-label exec: "They're all dressing themselves up for a sale."

TIDAL: RICHARD SANDERS

Previously: Kobalt Music Group president
Replaced: Jeff Toig
Successes: Helped launch Kobalt's label services division; bold catalog additions
Assets: Sprint's $200 million investment; artist-owners like JAY-Z and Beyoncé

Challenges: TIDAL struggled to gain and keep subscribers amid top-level turnover that sees Sanders as its fourth CEO in two years.

Analysis: "Almost the only thing that's been constant has been change," says Carey. "They need the right person in the job but also need to give them time to implement what you want from them." Still, with Sprint's 45 million customers, one label executive says, "We haven't begun to see the opportunities there with bundles."

SOUNDCLOUD: KERRY TRAINOR

Previously: Vimeo CEO
Replaced: Alexander Ljung
Successes: Increased Vimeo staff from 40 to 200; added 500,000 new paying creators
Assets: New $170 million investment; 88 million active users, per SimilarWeb 

Challenges: Closed San Francisco and London offices and laid off 40 percent of its workforce in July

Analysis: "SoundCloud is a beloved service," says Media Insight Consulting CEO Chris Carey. But to survive, it will have to adjust. "It's not, 'Can SoundCloud become a more professional service?' " says MIDiA Research founder Mark Mulligan. "Yes, it can. It just has do it in a way that's authentic and honest to its user base."

PANDORA: ROGER LYNCH

Previously: Sling TV founding CEO
Replaced: Tim Westergren
Successes: Turned Sling into a 300-channel over-the-top TV leader in just two years
Assets: $480 million SiriusXM investment; 76 million monthly users; genome project 

Challenges: Declining radio user numbers; $275 million net loss in Q2 2017; expensive entry into on-demand streaming

Analysis: "I don't think Pandora is that far off from returning to its former glory," says Mulligan. "Its ad-revenue business is incredibly robust; it's just embarking on a subscription business. It needs to focus more on markets beyond the U.S., but it has the potential to turn things around." But a possible Liberty Media acquisition looms.

‘Game of Thrones’ Temporada 7 - Detalhes Da Trilha Sonora

‘Game of Thrones’ Season 7 Soundtrack Details

The full details of latest soundtrack album for HBO’s Game of Thrones have been revealed. The album features selections of the original music from the show’s seventh season composed by Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man, Pacific Rim, Westworld, Clash of the Titans, Warcraft). The soundtrack will be released digitally tomorrow, August 25 and physically on September 29, 2017 by WaterTower Records. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD. Game of Thrones is created by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss based on the novels by George R. R. Martin and stars Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Diana Rigg, Natalie Dormer, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner. The final episode of Season 7 will air this coming Sunday night on HBO. Visit the official show website for updates on the show.

Here’s the album track list:

1. Main Titles (1:53)
2. Dragonstone (5:06)
3. Shall We Begin? (1:24)
4. The Queen’s Justice (1:21)
5. A Game I Like To Play (1:45)
6. I Am The Storm (6:25)
7. The Gift (2:03)
8. Dragonglass (4:19)
9. Spoils Of War, Pt. 1 (3:54)
10. Spoils Of War, Pt. 2 (4:03)
11. The Dagger (2:34)
12. Home (2:30)
13. Gorgeous Beasts (2:11)
14. The Long Farewell (2:46)
15. Against All Odds (7:48)
16. See You For What You Are (2:09)
17. Casterly Rock (2:23)
18. A Lion’s Legacy (1:34)
19. Message For Cersei (1:43)
20. Ironborn (2:19)
21. No One Walks Away From Me (2:11)
22. Truth (3:31)
23. The Army Of The Dead (5:26)
24. Winter Is Here (2:54)

Como A Música De Danny Ocean Se Tornou Um Hit Viral

How Danny Ocean's Valentine's Day Song Became a Viral Hit

In 2016, Venezuelan singer/producer Danny Ocean recorded a song for an old flame on Valentine's Day. He had moved to Miami to escape the turmoil in his homeland -- "It's a really bad situation going on economically and politically; it's basically a dictatorship right now," Ocean tells Billboard -- but the woman he liked, still in college at the time, couldn't come with him. "I didn't have money to send her something from Miami," Ocean explains. "So I said, I'm just gonna give her a song."

The resulting single radically altered Ocean's life: to date, "Me Rehúso" has amassed more than 290 million streams on Spotify. To put that number in perspective, it's more than the tally for "La Bicicleta," a radio hit and a duet between two established superstars, Shakira and Carlos Vives. "Me Rehúso" debuted at No. 41 on the Latin Airplay chart this week, as programmers have slowly conceded the track's appeal. In June, Ocean inked a deal with Warner Music Group.

Streaming your way onto the airwaves is now more or less the norm in R&B and hip-hop -- recent examples include Bryson Tiller, Young M.A, Khalid and R.LUM.R. -- and the path is becoming more common in other genres. Ocean's rapid rise from unsigned upstart to major label priority on the strength of just one officially released song (there's also an English version of "Me Rehúso" with a tiny portion of the Spanish version's streams) suggests that the environment is ripe for this kind of trajectory in Latin pop.

And "Me Rehúso," a subtly combustible tune, was well-primed to take advantage of the new landscape. It opens stealthily, with a pair of synthesizers vying for your attention. Their interlocking pattern barely changes, allowing the song to maintain an illusion of stasis. But Ocean adds a lone sampled hand drum sound around the 40-second mark and a whiff of a reggaeton beat right before one minute has passed; suddenly he is singing in a hungry, scratchy register and multi-tracking his own voice, transforming his sleek, bare-bones instrumental into a vehicle for a crushing expression of heartache. "Me Rehúso" is at once gliding and downcast -- yearning elevates Ocean at the same time as it threatens to ruin him.

The single did not explode immediately. Ocean first posted the song on YouTube and his main listeners were friends. But his manager also showed the song to his then-girlfriend, now-wife the Venezuelan TV host Osmariel Villalobos. "She posted the video on Instagram and it had 300,000 views," Ocean remembers. "She didn't tag me, so all the comments were: 'what song is that?' But I had the song on YouTube, and some people figured out what it was."

Ocean had released a pair of EPs in Venezuela before leaving the country, but he had never incited this kind of fervor with his music. "It's a song about, 'hey, I don't want to leave you, but I gotta go,'" he explains. "It's not only about me. There are a lot of people that have to leave somebody behind. It doesn't have to be a love. It can be family. Since there's a lot of Venezuelan people out in the world because of the situation my country is passing through, I guess that helped the song grow."

"It's tough to live in a country like that -- you have this bunch of dreams, there's no security, no food right now," he continues. "Most of the youth in Venezuela is trying to get out because after you finish college, there's nothing else to do. You're in a country that's pulling you back. There are no possibilities in Venezuela. There's no life quality in that place."

"Me Rehúso" scooted quickly up various Spotify viral charts. Ocean ticks them off happily: Colombia, Chile, Peru. Before long, the track was promoted to the streaming service's Baila Reggaeton playlist, which has over five million followers, and labels were fighting to sign Ocean. He chose Warner. "I liked the vibe," he says.

Now Ocean faces the same plight of other streaming wonders: how do you follow up a personal project made in obscurity once it grows into a world-conquering hit? "You do have pressure -- you have a lot of people expecting a lot from you," Ocean acknowledges. "I'm just showing the world: this is me. I really hope people like it."

eOne Music E La Commission Forman Parceira E Lançam Um Selo Para Música Latina

Entertainment One and La Commission Launch New Latin Music Label, Sign Trap Star Bryant Myers

As Latin music continues to generate mainstream market interest, a group of veteran industry execs have joined to launch a new Latin music label: eOne Music/La Commission will be launched as a partnership between Entertainment One (eOne) and entertainment company La Commission.

The first artist signed to its roster is Puerto Rican rising star Bryant Myers, part of a new generation of Latin trap acts with huge traction on Spotify playlists, YouTube and increasingly the Billboard charts.

Myers will release "Pa Pasar el Rato," his first single under eOne Music/La Commission, on Friday (Aug. 25). 

Entertainment One's foray into Latin is a major move with major forces, and underscores just how important a target Latin is for entertainment companies today. EOne is a huge player in film and TV whose network of companies include film and TV studio The Mark Gordon company and music labels Dualtone Music Group and Last Gang. The company also does the international distribution of The Walking Dead.

In this case, the deal was struck between Artie Pabon, a veteran concert promoter and manager and the founder and CEO of La Commission, along with Alan Grunblatt, eOne's president of rock & urban. Jerry Blair, who has a long history with Latin music and was the EVP of Sony Music Entertainment and later Arista at the height of the "Latin explosion" of 1999-2001, acted as chief liaison officer between the two companies. 

"With the monumental shift that's occurring in the music business, this is the best time to be partnering with eOne," Blair said. "It's the disruptive, artist-focused music company for today and the future. It operates like a speed boat, not a barge … We look forward to being the place where artists will be nurtured, and will thrive."

The eOne/La Commission team also includes La Commission partner and VP Carlos Javier Casillas and GM David LaPointe, and Blair's Global Entertainment Management team of Tony Cammarota and Ryan Fionda in New York and Garrett Schaefer in Miami. 

"It is no longer a secret that Latin music is a global language and key alliances like this one are necessary for expansion," Pabon added.  

The eOne/La Commission alliance is the latest of several recent partnerships between Latin and general market. Earlier this summer, GoDigital Media Group, a Los Angeles-based media and technology company, invested $20 million into Cinq Music, its record label, distribution, and rights management company, focused on Latin music.

Danny Ocean was signed jointly by Atlantic and Warner Music Latina. And indie publisher Pulse Music has a deal in place with Marc Anthony's Magnus Media, in addition to a growing roster of Latin writers and producers.

4 Coisas Que Você Deveria Saber Quando For Licenciar sua Música

The Four Things You Should Know When You Request a Music License

First of all thanks to Art Neill   and Teri Karobonik  for this article.

You found the perfect background music for your new video. The only hurdle left to jump is to get permission to use the music. Music is one of the most difficult types of creative works to license.  This is because there are multiple layers of rights for each song: the rights to the composition (typically the sheet music and lyrics), and the rights to the recording of a song. And then there are sub-rights to each of those rights: performance rights, rights to publish arrangements, and rights to synchronize a sound recording with video… the list goes on.

If you’re working on films, documentaries, YouTube videos, games, or podcasts, you’ll need to become familiar with at least the basics of licensing. New Media Rights has spent almost 10 years advising musicians, so we’ve distilled some our recommendations into a list of four key points to set you on the path to getting the license that you need.

What follows is breakdown of some of the basics for getting permission to use music. But before that, we need to provide a few points of background on how music is protected by copyright law.

A “Song” = Musical Composition + Sound Recording

A recorded song has two parts: the musical composition and the sound recording. 

The musical composition is made up of the written lyrics and the musical notes – think of it as the original sheet music. 

The sound recording is the recording artist’s specific recorded version of those lyrics and musical notes, whether recorded as a solo track or with a band. 

Copyright law protects each half of this musical equation separately because each is a different creative step, often produced by different people. Once you realize that copyright in most music is split between the composition and sound recording, and that each of those copyrighted works has its own rights attached to it (that can be given away independently), you can see how music licensing questions get complicated quickly. 

It’s obvious that you should always try to obtain permission from the correct copyright owner, but with music, know that you may have to track down multiple copyright owners, publishing companies, and performance rights organizations to fully clear the music you want to use.

Also keep in mind, even though you may have legally purchased a song from a music store like Amazon, you only have the rights to listen to the music – you do not own the rights to use that song in a film and must still obtain permission from the copyright owner to use the song.

Who Owns What In Practice?

Because of the practical realities of how the music business works, the copyright owner of a particular musical composition or sound recording is not always the person who created it. 

Copyright owners of the composition are often the songwriter, a music publishing company, or sometimes a combination of both. 

The copyright owner of the song recording is sometimes the recording artist, but the recording artist might also assign (transfer) their copyrights (in whole or in part) to a record label.

Remember that permission to use a song must come from both:

• The copyright owner of the composition (or the arrangement) and,  
• The copyright owner of the sound recording.

How Do I Navigate This Mess? How to Ask For Music Licenses

Now that you know that there are two potential works that you need to get rights to, and the rights to each can be split more than a handful of different ways, the most important thing you can do is tailor your request to only ask for what is necessary to do what you are trying to accomplish.

The more rights you ask for, the more expensive the rights will end up costing and the more likely your request may end up getting rejected or ignored.  So to figure out “how” to ask for a license, you should start by figuring out exactly what rights you need. 

1.       Think about purpose, exhibition, and distribution before contacting a representative.

Specifically, think about how you want to use the song (Background music? In the credits? As the focal point of a scene? On the title screen of your game?)                                            

Then, think about how your project will reach your intended audience:

•  Do you intend to submit it to a film festival?
• Plan to screen it in a movie theater (known as theatrical rights)?
• Video on demand, or strictly online streaming?
• Will your video, podcast, or game be available in other countries?

Thinking about how you want to use the song within your creative work and how the audience will access your work will be very helpful in figuring out the type of license you will need. 

To make the process go smoothly, you need to be prepared to clearly articulate exactly what rights you need before talking to a representative. It makes the most financial sense and increases your odds of success to ask for the specific rights you need, no more, no less.

2.   Do a basic search, and identify the copyright owner

After you identify what you want, you should find who owns each of the rights that you need. 

Take note of who owns the copyright (the record label who produced the song and the publishing house), and the date the song was published. 

Sometimes if it is not clear who owns the publishing rights, and it may help to reference the ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC databases. 

3.   Be specific and clear

When you contact a licensing representative to negotiate for a license, be as specific as possible. You want to make sure you obtain the rights and permissions that you need. You might need multiple different types of licenses, so clarity and precision are key. And be persistent: the costs of licenses vary, but you can negotiate for a reduced rate.

4.   Make sure you got the actual rights you need

Once you’ve actually been issued a license, make sure the contract describing the extent and nature of the license doesn’t leave out important rights you’ll need.

Ways to move forward

Although reading this article can’t turn you into an experienced music lawyer, hopefully we’ve provided the basics to help you start researching some of these concepts on your own. If you have additional questions and want us to do a more advanced article on the topic or a series, feel free to contact us with your questions, comments, and suggestions.

If you want to get beyond the basics, you can check out our book Don’t Panic :) A Legal Guide (in plain english)for Small Businesses and Creative Professionals, which covers intellectual property and many other legal issues you'll encounter in your business or sign up for our free music law updates list.

Quem Ainda Neste Dias Continua Roubando Música?

Who Still Steals Music These Days?

First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre for this article.

Despite music being everywhere online these days and available to anybody who wants to listen to their favorite tunes while still supporting the artists in one way or another, millions of people are still stealing music. It’s a sad fact, but who is actually committing these crimes and robbing musicians of the sales and royalties they deserve in today’s musical economy, which is already so customer-focused?

Stream-ripping has taken over traditional file sharing and illegal downloading as the No. 1 way people steal music these days, even though it is still a relatively new form of piracy, and it is happening everywhere. According to a report from the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), an incredible three in 10 internet users have engaged in stream-ripping in the past half year (from when the report was released just under a year ago—an updated release is expected in the coming months). When taking into account all forms of unlicensed services that allow users to listen to or download music, that figure climbs to just 35%, which shows that stream-ripping really has grown by leaps and bounds over the past several years. 

As with any new technology, younger crowds are leading the way, and it’s millennials and Gen Z that are stream-ripping the most music these days. While 30% of all internet users have stream-ripped some music, that number climbs to almost half (49%) of those between the ages of 16 and 24. 55% of internet users that fit into that age group are indulging in some form of music piracy, so again, it’s obvious that stream-ripping is the method choosy kids choose most often. 

The percentage of those connected to the internet that stream-rip at least one song drops precipitously as consumers are lumped into older groups. For those between the ages of 25 and 34, 40% of those online stream-rip, and that dips to 25% for those 35 to 44, 21% for those 45 to 54, and above that, it’s a lowly 16%. 

Stream-ripping figures are growing across the board, and when the IFPI publishes new numbers later this year, every demographic will surely have risen, as this is the way things have been going for some time now. In 2015, 27% of internet users chose to stream-rip music, and that number was even lower in the years prior. Soon it will be over one-third of all young people online, and unless something is done to curb the spread of this new technology, the music industry will continue to be plagued by piracy, which seems to never fully disappear.

Como Usar O Feature.fm E Ter sua Música Em Mais De 200 Playlist No Deezer

How I used Feature.fm to get my song onto 200 Deezer playlists

Promoting your songs on Deezer using Feature.fm.

Last month Feature.fm offered me a $100 credit to run a promo campaign for my newest single. CD Baby was thinking about a deal where our clients would have exclusive access to promote sponsored songs in Deezer, and also get 500 free spins. We wanted to take the service for a test drive, and I happily accepted the $100 credit. One of the perks of editing this here blog!

I’ll give you the spoiler now: the campaign was simple to set up, I thought the results were impressive, and I was provided helpful performance insights to make any future campaigns stronger. Whether you have a budget for this kind of promotion is another question, of course, but we’ll get to that at the end of this article.

What does Feature.fm do?

Feature.fm promotes songs to users of Deezer’s free non-interactive streaming service (think Pandora Radio). You choose the song and the parameters for your campaign; they serve that track to a targeted group of listeners. These are guaranteed plays to your ideal audience, and they count as “real streams” in Deezer, boosting your stream count and increasing your chances of connecting with new fans.

Note: Feature.fm can also promote songs to 8tracks, but my campaign was focused specifically on Deezer.

When you create an account, you will list sounds-like artists (Some of mine: Paul Simon, John Vanderslice, Tame Impala, Elvis Costello….) and Feature.fm will promote tracks to Deezer users based on their listening habits, favorite artists, moods, etc.

Your promoted song will play on Deezer in the exact same way that any other track would in the non-interactive service, except for the fact that there is a “Sponsored” banner that appears at the top of the album artwork. That way if anyone is really curious they’ll know it’s a promoted track.

Another note: Feature.fm also allows you to run multi-song campaigns where their algorithm makes real-time adjustments to optimize for your better performing songs, but that kind of campaign requires a bigger spend.

What results can you expect?

Here’s what Feature.fm says about itself:

feature.fm is an online ad platform that only promotes songs, so you are able to achieve much better results than traditional online ad platforms. Here is a table that shows some of our average results compared to what you might see across traditional ad platforms with a $1,000 budget to help provide benchmarks for what you can expect to see with your own campaigns.

Show me the money.

First, all promoted plays on Deezer are monetized and royalties for non-interactive streams can be collected through SoundExchange.

Also, Feature.fm advertises on their site that “You only pay if your song is heard for at least 30 seconds, and your budget is completely up to you with no commitments.”

I’m not sure how that played out exactly in my campaign (math isn’t my strong suit), but it’s an attractive hook if you’re worried that you’ll spend big money only to have your song skipped a bunch of times.

The results of my Feature.fm campaign.

For $100, my song was streamed 5100 times and added to 200 playlists, with 134 people adding my track to their “favorites” playlist and another 66 people adding it to some other playlist in Deezer.

When you include another 51 people who checked out either my artist page or album page on Deezer, I saw a 4.92% engagement rate and an average CPP of $0.020. Not bad at all.

After running this first campaign, I now have actionable data (especially geographic information) with which to run an even more successful campaign.

Some of the analytics provided by Feature.fm:

• Play sources (Android, iOS, website)
• Streams, sponsored plays, and engagement on a timeline
• Engagement breakdown
• Reaction to song (you can see when during the track people skipped or engaged)
• Gender and ages of listeners (for both sponsored plays and engagements)
• Geographic map for streams
• Geographic information for engagement 

This last one was the most interesting to me, as I could see the breakdown of where songs were promoted, where engagement happened, and the engagement % by country. Apparently I should be living in Germany.

Some thoughts about promoting a song through Feature.fm.

This blog has all types of readers, from artists spending thousands a month to promote a new release, to those who might not spend $100 in an entire year to promote their music. I don’t want to make assumptions about your budgets or what’s “worth” spending money on.

So I’ll say IF.

If you have a promo budget that allows for it, Feature.fm is worth looking into, especially if you consider the deal they’re giving CD Baby artists for 500 free streams (given as a $10 credit when you sign up for a sponsored song package).

Since Deezer is big internationally, I would particularly recommend Feature.fm to any artist trying to reach a targeted audience outside the United States. If you’re building a presence in another country or about to embark on an international tour, Feature.fm could be a great way to get your music to fans of your genre in that region.

And, while I wouldn’t earn back the cost of my campaign in non-interactive royalties, it does make it feel like less of a risky expense when you know all the promoted plays are monetized, tallied with your total stream count, and you don’t pay a thing unless the listener hears more than 30 seconds of the track.

And on a purely “I just want to get my music out there” level, it’s pretty cool to know that 200 new listeners have added my song to their playlists. Yes, I would’ve had to pay to make that happen had feature.fm not given me the credit — and you will have to pay for that engagement too — but it’s really not much to spend when you consider the overall reach to a targeted audience, plus the fact that out of the 200 who added my song to their playlists, some of them will become repeat listeners and, hopefully, fans.