Universal Music Group is worth more than $50 billion, as firm’s share price hits highest point in 2 yearsUniversal's market cap is currently around $12 billion higher than Spotify's
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DistroKid Launches Mobile App for AndroidDistroKid, the world’s largest distributor of independent music, unveiled today its first-ever mobile app for Android. Earlier this year the company launched its first mobile app for iOS which to date has been downloaded more that half a million times. Like its iOS predecessor, the new Android app puts DistroKid’s powerful suite of tools directly in the hands of artists, enabling them to upload new releases, receive instant payment alerts, access stats from Apple and Spotify, edit metadata, and more–right from their phones.

The DistroKid app is available for download here: https://distrokid.com/app

“DistroKid’s mobile app for iOS has been hugely popular,” said Matthew Ogle, Chief Product Officer at DistroKid. “We’re so excited to give millions of Android users around the world access to the same streamlined experience, so they can distribute and manage their music directly from their mobile device.”

Over the last year, DistroKid introduced other innovations to its platform. Earlier this year, the company unveiled Mixea, an AI-powered intelligent mastering tool that helps artists instantly make their music “radio ready” by optimizing bass, compression, stereo enhancement, EQ, limiting & loudness.

Late last year, the company launched DistroVid, a service which enables users to upload music videos to Apple Music, Tidal and Vevo. DistroKid was the first music distributor to offer this kind of deal to artists – unlimited full length music video uploads for one low price.

These were just the latest in a suite of services developed by DistroKid to help artists work faster & become more prolific. These innovations build upon DistroKid’s basic offering – unlimited music distribution – plus more than 20 free tools that help artists have fun, make music & get heard.

In September DistroKid acquired Bandzoogle, whose powerful tools enable artists to easily create websites and sell their music directly to their fans.

As always, DistroKid pays artists 100% of their earnings.

About DistroKid

Founded in 2013, DistroKid distributes 30-40% of all new music in the world. They have built their business on providing musicians, managers and record labels with online tools and services that are innovative, easy-to-use, and affordable. More than 2 million artists rely on DistroKid, including hobbyists, up-and-coming musicians, top influencers, and international stars. DistroKid’s expanding array of services include music distribution, monetization, metadata customization, storage, and promotion. DistroKid’s skilled staff, coupled with a largely automated backend, has enabled DistroKid to process more than 25 million songs, while simultaneously providing fast, personal & friendly customer service to artists of every size.

Apple eyes paying extra for music in a format Spotify doesn’t offerApple Music may soon pay all artists that release music in the Dolby Atmos spatial audio format a higher royalty rate than regular stereo mixes. “Listeners wouldn’t necessarily have to. Continue reading
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2024 Music Industry Predictions from Janelle Borg of AmplifyBetween now and the end of the year, Hypebiot will be publishing a series on 2024 Music Industry Predictions from our favorite forward thinkers in music and music tech. First. Continue reading
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Music Will & the Importance of Music EducationAs the founder and chief visionary officer of Music Will, David Wish helps teachers and students transform lives through music education. Wish joins Michael Brandvold and Jay Gilbert on the. Continue reading
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Metallica Announce FOR WHOM THE BAND TOLLS! Marching Band Competition FinalistsWith 450+ colleges and high schools across the U.S. having signed up since its April 10 announcement, the first annual Metallica Marching Band Competition has announced its finalists today at http://metallicamarchingband.com/.

Five finalists have been chosen in each of the following categories by professional judges, furnished by Conn Selmer: 

Collegiate: Division 1 – $75,000 in prizing:

Auburn University

Fresno State University

Iowa State University

University of Iowa

University of Texas at Austin

Collegiate: Division 2, 3 – $40,000 in prizing:

Blinn College

Eastern New Mexico University

Manchester University 

West Texas A&M University

Western Illinois University

High School: Small, Medium & Large – $15,000 each in prizing:

Small High School:Cleveland High School – Cleveland, ALEdinburg High School – Edinburg, TXOakton High School – Vienna, VAOologah High School – Oologah, OKValhalla High School – El Cajon, CA

Medium High School:Boerne High School – Boerne, TXDesert Mountain High School – Scottsdale, AZDeWitt High School – DeWitt, MIKell High School – Kennesaw, GAMalverne High School – Malverne, NY

Large High School:Austin High School – Sugarland, TXDobyns-Bennett High School – Kingsport, TNLambert High School – Suwanee, GALorena High School – Lorena, TXPell City High School – Pell City, AL

The members of Metallica will select the winners in each of the above categories at a date to be determined in early January.  

Additionally, two Fan Favorite winners—one Collegiate (across all divisions) and one High School—will be determined by popular vote and awarded $10,000 each in prizing. Go to https://www.metallicamarchingband.com/submissions/high-school#content to watch submissions and vote anytime up until December 31.

Winners will receive musical instruments and equipment for their school programs at the values listed above, provided by Metallica and sponsors including Tama, KHS America, Zildjian, D’Addario Woodwinds, Evans Drumheads, ProMark, and Gator, in partnership with Sweetwater. 

The Metallica Marching Band Competition promises to be a yearly national challenge to marching bands of all levels to craft their most exciting, unique, and impressive performances of the band's songs. For further information, please go to http://metallicamarchingband.com

Fan engagement and social media platform FENIX360 plans to list on NASDAQ in $610m SPAC mergerSingapore-based FENIX360 to combine with blank check company DUET
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Here’s exactly how Spotify’s new 1,000 annual streams royalty policy works…Spotify is introducing a significant update to the way it calculates recorded royalties next year
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2023 Pollstar Top Tours up 46%, but other Artists & Venues struggleRevenue from the Top 100 grossing Tours jumped 46% in 2023 to reach a record high of $9.17 billion, according to an analysis by live event industry trade Pollstar. Taylor. Continue reading
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Top TikTok Songs of 2023 show shifts in music trendsTikTok is its own not-so-little world when it comes to music trends, and those trends can teach us a lot about how music listeners are changing. by Bobby Owsinski of. Continue reading
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All the major Music Streaming News & Updates from 2023 in one place…2023 has proven to be a landmark year for music streaming services, with the royalty pay-out debate noise reaching all-time levels and AI music on everyone’s worry list. But so. Continue reading
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Cast Your Vote in the AllMusic 2023 Readers' PollAs we review our favorite albums of the year, we turn it over to you to vote in our annual readers' poll. ​Each of you has five votes to spend in our annual year-end poll, with a ballot built from our readership's best-rated albums of 2023.

Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for independent, do-it-yourselfers covered how to learn more about your fans, the best modern strategies for releasing music, and more…
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REWIND – New music industry’s week in review: Spotify troubles, Chart turmoil & MoreLast week was a busy week by any definition; the music industry was no exception, with Spotify making big cuts, a new streaming service emerging, and more…
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THE VINYL RECORD MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION AND THE VINYL ALLIANCE JOINT STATEMENTThe Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association (VRMA) and the Vinyl Alliance have joined forces to voice their combined concern to Luminate’s upcoming changes to reporting methods for independent physical retailers.  This fall Luminate, the entertainment industry’s preeminent data and insights company and Billboard’s data partner, announced that starting week one of 2024 data on physical sales (vinyl, CDs, and cassettes) will reflect a direct representation of those reported from indie retailers in the United States and Canada which have agreed to participate in their new program. Historically and currently, these sales are algorithmically determined due to the very small number of record stores contributing to the weekly sales activity acting as the representative base for the entirety of the Indie Retail market segment.  This change is a dramatic departure from the current practice and one that will unfairly minimize numbers creating a seismic change in providing true insight into the importance and scope of both physical media and independent retailers and their impact on the makeup of the music business landscape. The joint statement from the VRMA and Vinyl Alliance is as follows.

“We at the VRMA and the Vinyl Alliance are committed to both accurate data and reporting.  With less than 5% of independent physical retailers currently reporting directly to Luminate, the data collected will be a grossly inaccurate representation on the sales of physical products, and therefore the overall size and strength of the industry. There will be an immediate break between the market reporting by the RIAA and the IFPI, both important and globally recognized industry organizations. Reviewing current data, the overall US physical market reporting could be reduced by as much as 40% in units and by 35% in value in retail dollars. This break from the historic measurement process will have many consequences, most notably the decimation of market share currently held by Independent Retail. This reduction will have an immediate effect, and the downward perception of the value of the market will reverberate around the globe. We agree that accuracy is the goal and with the proper amount of time dedicated to onboarding an expansive list of new Independent Retail reporters we will arrive at the desired destination - an accurate measure of the market confirming the most popular artists in any given chart week.”

The sale of Vinyl Records has seen continual growth year-over-year for the past 16 years. Last year, in 2022, was the first time in over 30 years that vinyl record sales surpassed the sale of CD’s.  In the U.S. Vinyl sales YTD for 2023 in the United States, as reported by Luminate, are up 18.4% from the previous period (39.5M units vs.33.3M units). There are currently fifty-two pressing plants in the US that are conservatively producing 193,550,000 record discs per year.  Globally, the annual number is 360,180,000, with close to 200 plants targeted to be online by the first quarter of 2024.

“The continued growth in vinyl sales was the impetus for starting the Association, says VRMA President and Chief Creative Officer of Hand Drawn Pressing’s Dustin Blocker.  “This new reporting would be a widely imprecise reflection of the popularity of physical products and the strength of the industry as a whole, with the potential to have a large ripple effect on not just pressing plants but the entire vinyl value chain. We have over 50 members from across the industry which include half the pressing plants in the United States, but also audio companies, plating, mastering, print, packing, technology, record labels, and, of course, record stores, all of whom would be affected.”

Says Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day and Vinyl Alliance member, "The most devastating thing that any corporation could do to an artist, a record label, a vinyl manufacturer, or a record store is to take away the sale of an album. All of the resolve of the artist, all of the passion of the artist, all of the efforts to bring the artist’s creation to their fans by their record label, vinyl manufacturer, and distributor, all of the hard work by the record store to support the artist, all of it, are all zeroed out by Luminate and Billboard with this change. It will not increase accuracy in reflecting sales, but only create more doubt of the legitimacy of Billboard’s charts.

ABOUT THE VRMA

The VRMA is a professional trade association of independent businesses committed to the craft of vinyl record manufacturing through collaboration, advocacy, standardization, and education. The association serves to advocate and promote the vinyl record manufacturing industry while providing the latest and most accurate information to the industry at large. The association offers a forum for member companies to engage in ongoing discussions and provide external communications concerning various issues and opportunities related to other new technologies that may emerge. 

ABOUT THE VINYL ALLIANCE

The Vinyl Alliance is a global industry group committed to the future of the vinyl record business. The Alliance unites prominent players from across the global vinyl record value chain to exchange knowledge and work together to jointly address issues facing the industry. Vinyl Alliance members include record labels, manufacturers, materials and component suppliers, retailers, printers, and many others. Together, Vinyl Alliance members work to strengthen vinyl’s position in the recorded music market and advocate for vinyl records as a premium listening experience with unique cultural significance.