Indies sound alarm after UMG Downtown and PIAS acquisitionsIndie trade groups and label execs are sounding the alarm after UMG Downtown and PIAS acquisition - two crucial independent music companies. Learn what’s at stake and why it matters for artists and labels alike.
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Universal Music Group settles trademark dispute over use of ‘Republic’ nameThe deal comes after three years of litigation between UMG and OpenDeal's investment platform Republic
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Robert Kyncl talks new talent, new heights, and No.1sRead WMG CEO Robert Kyncl's internal note to staff...
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The Disco Biscuits and CashorTrade Team Up In The Fight For Face ValueGet ready to get your face melted for face value! CashorTrade and The Disco Biscuits are teaming up to keep tickets in the hands of real fans by launching a partnership that aims to end scalpers and scamming. The latest artist to join CashorTrade in the fight for face value, The Disco Biscuits are now directing their fans to the platform to score hard-to-get tickets to their forthcoming tour. Fans can buy, sell, and trade tickets through the official face value ticket exchange HERE. The partnership kicks off just days before The Disco Biscuits kick off their final tour dates of the year. In a video celebrating the launch of the partnership, Disco Biscuits members Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner joined CashorTrade outside The Fillmore to guide their fans on connecting with fellow fans to score tickets. “We're thrilled to have The Disco Biscuits join the CashorTrade artist roster,” says Jim Lane, Head of Partnerships at CashorTrade. “Their fan base is rabid, often attending multiple shows per tour. It’s a community especially in need of our safe and secure face value ticket exchange to buy, sell, and trade tickets with each other if their plans change or if a specific ticket type is sold-out.” CashorTrade has previously worked with The Disco Biscuits for special giveaways, and this collaboration levels up a longstanding relationship between the two partners. “We've had our eye on The Disco Biscuits for quite some time,” says Lane. “Now that they are with 11E1evenGroup, it seemed like a natural fit to work together to connect fans and keep all tickets within the Biscuits fan community.”  The post The Disco Biscuits and CashorTrade Team Up In The Fight For Face Value first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Music Execs share Advice for the Next GenerationTop music execs share advice for the industry's next generation with popular music business pundit and podcaster Warner Bailey of Assistants vs Agents.
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X / Twitter alternatives Threads, Bluesky take offTwo Twitter alternatives Threads and Bluesky have each gained tens of millions of followers in the last month or so.
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Google Search’s Top Musicians and Songs 2024: Misdeeds and SuccessesAs the year comes to an end, Google shares its annual list of Top Searches in 2024. This year's list of trending musicians and songs reminds that misdeeds can be more impactful than successes.
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Anti-algorithm, anti-perfection – the rise of a music counter-cultureToday’s music landscape is one defined by abundance and immediacy. In a chronically-online world, everything is overground immediately. Scenes have to work really hard to stay underground and even then, some eagle-eyed A+R or marketing person is going to see the buzz and try to bottle its essence for wider consumption. Underground never stays ‘under’ for long. Yet, at the same time, we are seeing a blossoming of scenes, both on and offline. While the former are shaped by platforms’ algorithms, the latter are inherently more human in nature and form part of a growing analogue revival. It is not quite a choice between ‘power to the people’ or ‘power to the platform’ but it is not far off. And it is from this cultural dichotomy that a truly unique counter-culture phenomenon is happening: the return of bootleg and remix culture.

The music business has spent the last half a decade or so grappling with the rise of the creator economy. While the long tail is facing endless hurdles (cutting through the clutter, earning thresholds, not to mention UMG’s proposed acquisition of Downtown), it is not going anywhere, but instead creating a bifurcation of the music business. The rise of the consumer creator has resulted in three tiers of music creation:

1.    Consumer creators

2.    Music creators

3.    Traditional professionals

But there is, in fact, a fourth tier: DJs. 

The role of DJs in music’s counter-culture movement

Generative AI and tools like speeding up and slowing down have enabled more people to create, while playlists have empowered people to curate. DJing channels both of those creative lanes, and it is booming. In 2023, DJ equipment was the only major music hardware category to see strong growth (most other categories declined). Meanwhile YouTube is abuzz with DJ sets from a new crop of young, often female, DJs. DJs are an alternative to the algorithm: pure, human curation. 

While much of the DJ boom has, unsurprisingly, been absorbed into the mainstream (e.g., Boiler Room now boasts 4.5 million YouTube subscribers) there is a thriving underground that both looks and feels different.  Its home is SoundCloud.

The problem with everyone having access to everything is that, well, everyone has access to everything. It is really hard to sound different. If you are an established DJ you have the advantage of getting sent promos ahead of release so you avoid just sounding like the Beatport Top 10. However, if you are in the long tail of DJs you do not have that advantage. Your alternative? Bootlegs. SoundCloud has become the home of unofficial bootlegs and remixes. The place where underground DJs source their sets with tracks that are not part of the dance mainstream.

Why Gen Z and millennials are reviving ‘90s dance music classics

Bootlegs and unofficial remixes are by no means something new. What is new, however, is that the fragmented, scenes-based nature of SoundCloud is enabling bootlegs to power underground dance scenes. And what is particularly interesting, is that much of this is being done by young producers and DJs, reimagining ‘90s classics. The ‘90s were, in many people’s eyes, the heyday for many dance music genres, or at the very least, the defining decade. And there are three very important defining qualities of ‘90s dance music:

1.    Production techniques were much more rudimentary than today. As a consequence, the tracks can sound much more raw  and organic than the highly polished electronic music of today

2.    Most ideas, sounds, melodies and chord progressions were being done for the first time, so they had a purer and simpler feel. Electronic tracks since then have had to embellish and modify to be different, putting sonic distance between idea and output

3.    Less music was being made and was being played by fewer DJs, so big tracks became really big. Big enough to still be well known today (a dynamic true of all music genres pre-streaming)

The result is that SoundCloud is awash with Gen Z and millennial producers and DJs remaking ‘90s classics for today’s genres. Whether that be ‘90s trance revival or classic garage tracks being beefed up into UKG bangers. I will refrain from dropping any  links to these creators to avoid putting a  big takedown target on their backs, but there are many who are almost exclusively releasing bootlegs on SoundCloud, each with tens of thousands of followers that eagerly listen to and comment on their tracks. Many of the productions are ‘rough around the edges’, but that is often the point. It is meant to sound different to the over-produced mainstream. It is electronic music’s punk / garage rock moment, where idea matters more than form. 

This is bifurcation in action. These creators are opting not to play in the traditional music business lane (largely because they would struggle to get the rights cleared). So, instead they are operating in the music business’ ‘grey market’ – not quite a black market but not the formal market either. Because this is by its very nature, below the radar, it means these scenes each have a soundtrack of their own, one that you simply cannot find on Beatport or Spotify.

How SoundCloud’s scenes are different from the rest

Crucially, what marks these music scenes as being different from the very-online scenes that prosper in places like TikTok, Reddit, and Discord, is that online is only a link in the chain. The music comes to life in the DJ sets, at parties, small clubs, and raves. Online is where the music is sourced and where people go to relive memories, but offline is where the fun is being had and where the culture lives. There is also a creative virtuous circle at play: the bootlegs are the kicking-off point for scenes but they also respond to the scene, the sound evolving quickly in response to what moves the dance floors.

There are ways in which the traditional business can play in remix culture. Armada’s BEAT Music fund is acquiring rights to classic tracks and getting producers to create modern remixes. This is a smart strategy but it is something different, because those remixes flow into the traditional industry structure. Labels could also tap into (and monetise) the opportunity by creating stem sandboxes with a subscription fee. Though many labels would likely worry about quality control of the output and tracking royalties and plays.

But there is a more fundamental problem / opportunity with trying to assimilate the underground: as soon as you start trying to place formal structures around it and elevate its profile it is no longer underground. Perhaps instead, the best thing the traditional music industry can do is observe and admire from afar. To let these new, anti-algorithm, anti-perfection scenes flourish and wait to see what they create.

YouTube partners with Creative Artists Agency on AI deepfake recognition tools“CAA’s clients’ direct experience with digital replicas... will be critical in shaping a tool that responsibly empowers and protects creators"
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4 observations on… Downtown’s agreed $775 million sale to Universal Music Group/Virgin Music GroupIt's one of the year's biggest deals – and it's come right at the final whistle of the year. We dig deeper into the details.
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Discover an exclusive documentary on Tape J-37Arturia just unveiled Tape J-37: a detailed recreation of the iconic Studer J37 tape recorder. Perfect for subtle tape coloration or rich harmonic distortion, Tape J-37 brings tube-driven depth and character to any mix with unmatched accuracy.Discover the story behind this legendary machine, featuring artists Howie B, Craig Bauer, Steve Baughman, Poussin Kechit, and Clément Bastiat.Explore the world of legendary sound with Howie B, Craig Bauer, Steve Baughman, Poussin Kechit, and Clément Bastiat in our feature documentary.They share personal insights into the rich history and iconic sound of the Studer J37, revealing how the Tape J-37 faithfully brings this legendary tape recorder to life with stunning detail and cutting-edge neural-based modeling.

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SoundCloud Artist subscriptions get much more affordableMoney is almost always tight for most musicians, and SoundCloud has launched an affordable yet robust Artist subscription tier that acknowledges that.
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Stop the TICKET Act before it’s too late: FixTheTix Call To Action!There is new movement in Congress to pass devastating ticket legislation as part of a year-end Continuing Resolution (CR) and the FixTheTix coalition has issued an urgent call to action to stop the Ticket Act before its too late.
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Members Media review: Brian Hazard tests the music marketing platformMusic promo expert, Brian Hazard (aka the Ralph Nader of musician services) does the testing and shares a music marketing platform Members Media review.
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AllMusic Loves 2024Our editors share 227 of their personal favorite albums of 2024, featuring some of the year's biggest releases and a wealth of lesser-heard gems.