Music creation company Muse Group acquires sheet music publisher Hal Leonard… with backing from private equity firm Francisco PartnersFrancisco Partners acquired a majority stake in Kobalt Music Group in 2022
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AllMusic's Best of 2023Each year at AllMusic, our editors look back through the albums that made the biggest impact, broke new ground, and just all-out moved us. We begin with our overall best-of list, and will explore a different genre each weekday until the new year. These are our 100 favorite albums of 2023.

WEEKEND MUST READ: Ex-Spotify Economist Will Page pulls no punchesThis Weekend’s Must Read is the transcript of an interview with music industry economist and truth-teller Will Page, who sat down for a bonus episode of the Your Morning Coffee. Continue reading
The post WEEKEND MUST READ: Ex-Spotify Economist Will Page pulls no punches appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND: The new music industry’s week in reviewLast week was a busy week by any definition, and the music industry was no exception, with Spotify Wrapped giving too much this year, thoughts on the future of AI,. Continue reading
The post REWIND: The new music industry’s week in review appeared first on Hypebot.

Getting It Done: Last Week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicLast week, our tips and advice for the independent, do-it-yourselfers out there covered how to take the less traveled road to success, how to sell your sheet music for extra. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: Last Week in D.I.Y. & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

Tabi Haly Releases 'Hello World' for International Day of People with DisabilitiesTabi Haly sings, “Hello World, We are here, We are strong, And we are more than what we probably let on” as a representative of the disability community. The 39-year-old singer-songwriter/software engineer, who lives with Spinal Muscular Atrophy, has released a single with a gorgeous-sounding acoustic and lyrically uplifting message to the world. The song launched on all streaming media Friday, December 1 in time for the Sunday, December 3 International Day of People with Disabilities (IDPWD) on all streaming media.  

There are two new versions of Tabi’s song “Hello World.” Her version was recorded at the state of the art, James Dolan Recording Studio at New York University. Other New York City favorites that recorded there include hitmakers Lady Gaga and A Great Big World.

One of Tabi’s favorite lyrics is “dreams are brought to life by diversity.”  She writes a lot of disability advocacy songs, but “Hello World” stands out for many reasons, “Life is constantly about introducing yourself to new people, and re-introducing yourself to people you already know in certain ways.”  “Hello World” is Tabi’s wish for people to understand disabled people, “don't judge, but do have dialog. This song is an opportunity to be more open than ever before about diversity.”

The “Hello World” music video will be featured on JP Morgan Chase’s YouTube page on December 3, The International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  That version of the song was recorded at Smash Studios in Midtown. This shows Tabi leading 6 musicians, who are also JP Morgan Chase employees, in the studio. Tabi says, “This is a Chase employee group version of the song; We’d never met, but everyone practiced beforehand, and showed great teamwork as we created a new version of the song for our company.” Directed by Chase video editor Seth Gomez, the video’s message shows JP Morgan Chase wants to be the employer of choice for people with disabilities.”

“Hello World” is also the name of the first Application program that every software engineer learns. Tabi explains why the name is used, “We learn new technology all the time to keep up with its rapid evolution. Therefore, every time we learn something new, it’s ‘Hello World’!”  

Tabi’s a Filipino American, born and raised in Houston, TX.  At age 3, her guitarist/pianist father introduced her to music. Since then, she sang to keep her lungs healthy. She moved to New York State area at age 17, and started writing songs. Tabi moved to New York City when she turned 18, and attended Pace University. After graduating Summa Cum Laude, Tabi began work as a coder, later advancing to her job as a software engineer at JP Morgan Chase.  

She is a professional recording artist with two studio albums: 2022’s “Stance,” 2019’s "I Wrote Life," 2023’s “High Notes” dance remix EP, and a number of singles—notably “Waiting in the Wings,” which Tabi wrote, recorded and released about disability activist Judy Heumann a few weeks before she passed away in Feb 2023.

Tabi is a member of the Recording Academy.   

As a songwriter Tabi uses a mouse and track pad and music software to compose (the disease is progressive, so while she could write in college, she can no longer even put on eyeliner), and she sings into a microphone. Once she is happy with her demo, she presents it to one of the musicians she works with to create the instrumentation. They collaborate on the structure until the song is ready.

Singing isn’t Haly’s only way of dealing with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. She sees occupational and physical therapists regularly. She works through daily range-of-motion exercises and employs home health aides who help her 24 hours a day. At night she sleeps with a ventilator. It’s a physical and mental ordeal. But music keeps her going.

TabiNYC.com

From Sony Music’s deepfake takedowns to iHeartMedia’s $100m BMI sale proceeds… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days.
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Jenny Hermanson, Spotify’s MD for the Nordic region, to exit company after 14 yearsSPOT's Sweden-based MD for the Nordic region, Jenny Hermanson, is leaving the company
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Alphabet/Google is now in the music rights management business buying stake in Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Expect fireworks. Very interesting.
#MusicIndustry #MusicBusiness #Google #MusicTechnology #AI #Google #BMI
https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/3-observations-on-the-sale-of-bmi-and-googles-entrance-into-music-rights-management/

Recent Classical Highlights for November 2023Each month we review a variety of classical music from different eras, countries, and genres. This month, many of the best releases were instrumental music, although there were several great vocal releases also. Organist and choral conductor Anna Lapwood released her sophomore solo album to well-deserved acclaim, while award-winning ensemble Third Coast Percussion (pictured) gathered a few new, inventive compositions.

Live Review: Drew HolcombThe Greek Theater   Los Angeles, CA

Web: drewholcomb.com

Contact: danielle@stuntcompany.com

Players: Drew Holcomb, guitar, vocals; Rich Brinsfield, bass; Nathan Duggar, guitar;

Jonathon Wamble, drums

Material: Drew Holcomb is a country singer hailing from Memphis, TN who's crooning country tunes to his audience’s content. The songs are very country. Just shy of rock & roll, on one end, and just shy of traditional country on the other. Holcomb brings out the best in his band as he sits nicely in themiddle watching and listening to his audience soak up all of his lyrics; and even sing along to a few of the tunes, too.

Musicianship: What can you say about Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors except that they sounded tight. Great musicianship encompassed Holcomb on all the tunes as these top-notch players had their way with the audience. Brinsfield and Wamble were on point as the rhythm section held the bottom end ever so groovily. Duggar added sweetness to the mix, as he doubled on guitar and pedal-steel guitar and was outstanding throughout the evening.

Performance: Excellent. Drew came out swinging from the get-go and didn’t let up all night. The band had the audience dancing in the aisles and singing along to “Dancing with Everybody” and All the Money.” Drew and the Neighbors played flawlessly to 6,000 plus fans and had them all eating out of his hand by the time the set was over.

Summary: Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors have been making music for the better part of 20 years and are still going strong. The ballads, “Song of Gratitude” and “What Would I do Without You,” sum up what’s been in Holcomb’s heart this whole time—gratitude and love. Their very first No. 1 hit, “Find Your People,” from the Strangers No More album, shook the charts in 2023 and the band hit the road in support of the record. If you’re a country music fan (and even if you’re not), Drew Holcomb is worth checking out! 

Out Take: Eric Foster WhiteMusician/Producer/Screenwriter

Web: linkedin.com/in/ericfosterwhite

Contact: Mike Jones, mjones@shorefire.com

Most Recent: MusicClubKids

Eric Foster White credits his alma mater, the University of Miami, for drastically raising the bar for his musical standards and setting him on the path to becoming the Grammy-nominated songwriter, producer, musician and screenwriter he is today. A trombone player who once toured with Frank Sinatra, Foster White traded the horn for a career in producing and songwriting after his demo recordings led to a contract with Jive Records. He then went on to write several hit records for the likes of Whitney Houston, Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys.

These days, White is working on MusicClubKids!, a YouTube musical show for kids in which White—with the permission of the original artists and songwriters—has transformed some of the day’s biggest pop hits into kid-friendly songs and narratives. The idea sprang from a car ride with his three-year-old niece. 

“Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’ came on the radio, her mom clicked it off because of the lyrics, and my niece was perturbed, because she loves that song,” he says. On the spot, White came up with the idea for the more age-appropriate “I’m in Love with My Doggy”—an adaptation of Sheeran’s song.

“It’s like Weird Al-meets-KIDZ BOP,” White says. “And we don’t want to denigrate the original artists’ songs; the idea is just to introduce these pop songs to the next generation.” MusicClubKids! has just released a holiday album, which adapts OneRepublic’s “Runaway” to the new “Holidays,” and Ed Sheeran’s “Bad Habits” into “Ask Santa.” White says that industry opportunities are actually better for aspiring songwriters today. 

“Music is less a monoculture; there are more niche markets and niche styles,” he says. “It’s still competitive, but now there are lots of other artists, maybe of lesser stature, that you can start out writing for."

Most of #artists and #Producers as well as #Musicians will not get ANY royalties next year from #Spotify.
I personally understand the background but can't agree. If you want to keep your topline growing or at least stay at the same level and feed so-called business "elite" please use other ways to do this. So many talents are there below this 1000-streams threshold!
#FairSpotify #MusicIndustry #MusicIndustry #majorlabels

From BMI’s private equity sale to what UMG thinks about AI and copyright law… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days.
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Spotify re-positions two-tier licensing (we are getting closer, and it can be even better)Spotify released a blog post laying out how it wants the world to understand its new two-tier royalty system. The positioning is clear, leading with the statement that it will drive “an additional $1 billion toward[s] emerging and professional artists” and the PR push included several supporting quotes from the independent sector (with no major label quote to be seen). Positioning-wise, this is certainly now a case of ‘where it started’ (reverse Robin Hood) and ‘how it is going (everyone is a winner). Of course, the truth lies somewhere in between, but we are getting to a better place and there are some really important positive points made by Spotify. 

The main benefits outlined by Spotify are:

Reducing fraud (financial penalties for actors that manipulate streams)

Cutting back on ‘noise’ (increasing the minimum stream length to two minutes)

The cumulative impact of these measures will be more money going into the royalty pot for ‘honest hard-working artists’. This is all positive and represents part of a much needed recalibration of the wider model to tackle the long-term rise of unintended consequences of the streaming economy.

However, because the two-tier royalty system is also deployed alongside these measures, it will still be bigger artists that benefit from the larger royalty pool. Spotify states that redistributing the revenues from the end of the tail will be more impactful for ‘these tens of millions of dollars per year to increase payments to those most dependent on streaming revenue — rather than being spread out in tiny payments that typically don’t even reach an artist’. Spotify also makes the important point that most of the royalties from