U.S. digital sales are beginning 2014 just like they ended 2013: in negative territory. Through the third week of the year, track sales are down 11.9% and digital album sales are down 13.3%, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Both figures stand in stark contrast to the same period last year. Through the first three weeks of […]
Spotify has launched a new service which allows artists and managers to promote their merchandise on the platform for free. Launched in conjunction with Topspin, artists can now display t-shirts, vinyl, posters, bundles and other merchandise to all of their fans and followers. The system works by using Topspin’s ArtistLinks tool, which allows acts to […]
Bruno Mars “Grenade” Song Analysis I’m a big fan of Bruno Mars and believe he embodies what’s best about the music of today. While I don’t usually care much about who is performing during halftime at the Superbowl (I find it a distraction from the game), I must admit that I’m looking forward to Bruno […]
Good news: SoundExchange wants to get your money in your pockets a little bit faster. Users can now expect to receive payments monthly—as opposed to the old quarterly practice the company used in years passed. Starting this month, digital music performing rights organization SoundExchange moves from quarterly to monthly payments to artists, labels and rights […]
One thing about the music industry is that it likes to be comfortable. Life was so easy for about 50 years as the way business was conducted hardly ever changed. The label found an act, made a record, sold it to retail and promoted it through radio. Publishers and songwriters went to the mailbox and […]
Digital music sales for 2013 were up in Canada from the previous year, according to a year-end report released today by Nielsen SoundScan. Digital album sales rose 9% from 2012, moving 11.4 million units from 10.5 million, while digital track sales were up 2% with 116.1 million units from 114.3 million. The trend stands in […]
The latest episode of Digital Music Trends features Sebastian Dittman, one of the creators of Audiobus, discussing the state of the iOS routing technology: Audiobus is an iOS app that enables app-to-app audio, allowing users to route an audio signal from one app to another so that you can – for example – play on […]
After a one-week vacation from the top slot on the Billboard 200 chart, Beyonce is heading back to No. 1. The diva’s self-titled set could sell around 85,000 to 90,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Jan. 12, according to industry forecasters. If it returns to No. 1, it will mark […]
In an increasingly crowded sector, it’s important to launch with a little noise and a better product. That’s exactly what Beats Music intends to do later this month, according to multiple sources. Just before the holidays, Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers announced that Beats would launch in January. Here’s what we’ve learned in the last […]
Lily Allen has said she feels record companies are scared of taking risks on experimental artists. Speaking to NME in this week’s issue, which is on newsstands or available digitallynow, the singer says record labels are veering towards picking safe, “watered-down” music when choosing singles to release. “What pisses me off about music right now […]
Nielsen & Billboard have released 2013′s U.S. music report, a report analyzing data for the year in music. According to the data presented in the report, overall music streams have increased from 2012, with 118.1 billion streams in 2013, a 32 percent increase from the previous year. Overall music sales have decreased 6.3 percent, according […]
Billboard Magazine recently posted the Nielsen Soundscan year-end 2013 music sales numbers, and while they may not correspond exactly with the upcoming figures from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) or IFPI (International Federation of the Phonograph Industry), I don’t think they’re far off the mark. I’m sure music execs everywhere are looking at […]
