Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y. & Indie MusicThis week, our tips and advice for independent and do-it-yourself musicians looked at album covers in 2024, a Groover expansion, how to drive music promos, safely releasing a cover song,. Continue reading
The post Getting It Done: The Week in D.I.Y. & Indie Music appeared first on Hypebot.

REWIND – New Music Industry’s Week in Review: Live Nation, Superfans, Concert Fraud & moreIt was a busy week by any definition, and the music industry was no exception, with Live Nation breaking records, a new UMG-backed Superfan hub, talk of AI copyrights, a. Continue reading
The post REWIND – New Music Industry’s Week in Review: Live Nation, Superfans, Concert Fraud & more appeared first on Hypebot.

Memories of DJ/Musician Mojo Nixon (1957-2024)Mojo Nixon was an irreverent, tongue-in-cheek psychobilly singer and songwriter known for pop culture-skewering songs like "Elvis is Everywhere" and "Don Henley Must Die" and for being name-dropped in the Dead Milkmen cult favorite "Punk Rock Girl."

Memories of Mojo:"Mojo was a comet of person,  but he was also very thoughtful.He looked after the people he played on the radio and was an americana mentor. He was one of the people architects of the genre as an artist and a person” - Todd Snider"When Bill Crawford and I did The Live Show broadcast during SXSW in 1989, Mojo was our special guest. Early Mojo was a funny guy but not the way-over-the-top persona most folks knew him as.  He was sharp, witty and fearless about saying stuff no one else would. A year later, my friend Jim Dickinson produced Mojo's first solo album Otis after Mojo split from Skid Roper, the one with “Don Henley Must Die” that was recorded in Memphis. Dickinson was showing me around his trailer home and Zebra Studios in Senatobia, Mississippi a few years later, name-dropping Dylan,  Toots, the Replacements and other acts he’d produced. But h estopped and paused when it came to Kirby, as Dickinson addressed him. “Now there’s an artist,” he said almost sentimentally, an emotion Jim Dickinson was not known for showing. He referred to other recording studio clients as ‘victims.’ Mojo Nixon stood apart and alone." - Joe Nick Patoski"I have a lot of fun Mojo memories, but the weirdest - and my favorite - is the time that, out of boredom, he told his listeners that I had checked myself into a mental institution in Wyoming to recover from a nervous breakdown. I was on vacation in Florida feeling relatively sane at the time, but he must have sounded sincere because tons of friends and fans reached out to check on me. It was the most press I had had in years. The Houston Press called me and then ran a story with my favorite headline ever…"Hayes Carll Is Not In a Mental Institution, says Hayes Carll.'” - Hayes Carll"My fave memory may always be the last show he played. It was absolute, pure rock-n-roll fire. The whole band, Mojo, Pete, Matt, and Jesse Dayton’s drummer, whose name I cannot recall at this moment. It was incredible. Seeing him right after he was smiling like a dog chasing a cat, wild eyed, sparkling, glowing with love in the moment. I’ll always remember that mischievous twinkle in his eye. He was the king who preferred to be the jester.”  - Kevin Russell/Shinyribs"What I admired about Mojo  was his institutional knowledge of  the radio and music  business. I remember once he said, "All that's left on AM now is hate." He could tell stories like how Dickey Betts saved the Allman Brothers with " Ramblin Man." There was a lot more to the guy besides that manic persona.” - Long Haul Paul"Mojo had me, Justin Townes Earle, Joe Ely and Gurf Morlix on the show for one segment. We all passed around a guitar and played songs. He was as lively and rambunctious as I remember him being on stage years before in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Mojo was a force of Rock and Roll nature.” - Tim Easton"My favorite memory of Mojo was the day I met him. He was hosting his annual SXSW coverage for Outlaw Country in his room at the San Jose. I was not working for SiriusXM at the time. I was just another artist on that relentless press junket. Right off the bat he said, "I hear you can dance like a hillbilly." I pulled my clogging shoes out of my purse, laced up and commenced to stomping on the floor, I'm sure to the absolute dismay of every single other guest in the hotel. It was SO loud. Mojo got down on his knees at my feet and beat the floor with his hands while letting out a series of hoots and hollers. It was the most fun I had the whole time I was there.” - Elizabeth Cook"I remember, showing up for an interview with Mojo at the San Jose Hotel one South by Southwest. He didn't see me sit down across the table from him before he growled to the guy next to him,'I don't feel like doing any fuckin' interviews today.' It was 'We Can't Make it Here' era. I guess I got political during the interview. He later told Kellie, 'I could have killed him. That shit ain't funny.' Probably wasn't funny, but I was supposed to be God's own protest songster at that time. I did my best.” - James McMurtry"In the late 1980s I met Mojo and Skid at the Continental Club. His first show there was under-attended but that just made Mojo work harder. It was the first time I saw an artist abandon the stage and take over the dance floor. He demanded your attention, not by being a jerk but by being really funny and compelling. He was one of a kind and I’ll miss him."  - Casey Monahan"Interestingly, I think Mojo loved the Folk Alliance. I sat in on a meeting with Mojo and Louis Meyers when Louis was looking for a  good city to move FA to when it had outgrown Memphis. Mojo was very convincing that San Diego should be the place to go. Of course, the FA board wanted it to stay in the central US, but Mojo’s enthusiasm for San Diego was something to witness. Leaping around the room, strong emphasis with his hands and loud positive voice about every little thing that was cool about San Diego. I reckon he was always so!" - Mike Stewart“Mojo Nixon was the first person to play my father Kent Finlay on the radio - SiriusXM Outlaw Country.  It was the day Dad died, Texas Independence Day, 2015.  We were all gathered around the radio - me, Brian T., James McMurtry and Kellie Salome, Jon Dee Graham and some others. Mojo opened the show in his unmistakable Mono way: 'Kent Finlay: DEAD!' And in my grief and daze, I go, 'Boy, I’m glad I called everybody already…people would be running off the road.' But Mojo did a beautiful job paying tribute to my father, playing songs off a record Todd Snider and Brian and I eventually put out on our Eight 30 Records and Aimless Records called I’ve Written Some Life."Later at one SXSW, I was standing in the back of the Continental Club at Mojo’s Mayhem next to the great man himself and asked him how SX was treating him that year. He said, 'Well Jenni, I don’t really know. I shit my pants on Wednesday.' I laughed with him and said, 'Well at least you got that out of the way right out of the gate. Like eating a lizard first thing in the morning - nothing worse can happen after that.' He replied, 'Well that’s the thing…I really don’t know - I don’t remember Thursday…' Mojo was a true character and a wonderful lovable soul that the world will certainly miss.” - Jenni Finlay "I was a little apprehensive about appearing on Mojo’s radio show. Wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up with his energy. But when I entered the studio he was friendly and professional, and within a minute or two we were talking about how much we both loved Don Walser. It was smooth sailing from there.“ - Slaid Cleaves"I had a few quiet sit-down discussions with the man known as Kirby, but I had many more occasions where I just listened to the man called Mojo. Every year (for several years) attending the AMA conference meant you got a ticket to the big Awards show. Despite the top-notch talent on the stage, the real show was in the Lobby. Mojo came in his best Hawaiian shirt, with Bullethead by his side, and Tepper satelliting in and out of the scene, with all his great stories loaded into the cue in his brain, and he’d wait for someone to walk by in a particular band shirt or mention a specific artist, and then, like the drug-addled bastard child of Jerry Clower, he’d wind up his story telling gears and slay everyone in listening range. It was the perfect field for Mojo, as his stories ran the gamut of west coast Cowpunkabilly weirdness, and he had his days at MTV in his back pocket as well. The BEST stories however, came with a look over his shoulder and a hushed tone. ('I was constantly trying to get hold of her back in the day and her husband does not care for me at all!') Those little asides punctuated already great stories, with the little personal embellishments said only for those of us in direct ear shot. He’d drop into a normal voice for more somber topics, but often follow that with a loud Mojo-esque capper, to let you know he wasn’t TOO broken up about anything. He was the Ringmaster MC. He teetered on the verge of being obscene every chance he got. I don’t recall him ever being mean-spirited to anyone around him, as long as you weren’t the topic of any of his songs that is. Even then, a spited subject like Don Henley, could find it in his heart to climb on stage with Mojo and help sing along. That is one of my favorite Mojo stories, which I believe he covers in The Mojo Manifesto documentary. Do yourself a favor and spend some time with Mojo on the interwebs. Youtube has many moments of Mojo Mayhem, and I believe the doc is on Amazon at present. Gonna miss you Mojo. Keep ‘em tucked up in them Daisy Dukes till you get past the gate keeper." - Swank*

"I was in Austin, Texas for South by Southwest around 1993 when a guy from USA Today took a picture of me walking down the street. I had this full beard and crazy jacket. They ran the picture in the newspaper the next day but confused me with Roky fucking Erickson. The headline said, “Texas legend Roky Erickson walks the streets of South by Southwest.” I’m not sure if that says I’m crazy or Roky’s crazy. Who’s supposed to be offended here? The guys from my band made a t-shirt that they sold with the picture: “Mojo Nixon Mistaken for Roky Erickson.” The shirt looked like the front page of the USA Today with the photo of me looking like I was pretending to be Roky. I mean, I was proud to be mistaken for Roky Erickson, but it does say something about how fucking high I was.” - Mojo Nixon (Excerpt from True Love Cast Out All Evil - The Songwriting Legacy of Roky Erickson 

"I'm positive there will be more and more Mojo stories circling around the globe for an enternity. Oh the stories we could tell...In the end, we are all just stories that live on an on as they are told and re-told again and again. And so, there is no doubt that Mojo will live on forever." - Jenni Finlay

Compiled by Jenni Finlay

www.jennifinlaypromotions.com

The MLC Announces Six Advisory Committee AppointmentsThe Mechanical Licensing Collective (The MLC) announced six appointments to the organization’s advisory committees, including three appointments to the Dispute Resolution Committee, one appointment to the Operations Advisory Committee and two appointments to the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee.

Dispute Resolution Committee

Songwriter, David “DQ” Quiñones, has been appointed to the Dispute Resolution Committee, to fill a songwriter seat. Quiñones attended Shenandoah Conservatory for music education and opera studies before attending Berklee College of Music where he studied music production and engineering. He has an extensive studio resume in vocal production and arrangements and has written most notably for Beyoncé, BTS, Brandy, The Pussycat Dolls, Enrique Iglesias and Nicki Minaj.

Consuelo Sayago (Industry Relations Advisor at Spirit Music Group) has been appointed to the Dispute Resolution Committee. Sayago is a seasoned music industry professional who has dedicated her career to championing the rights of creators. With a background in contract administration at BMI and EMI and most recently serving as Vice President, Global Administration at Spirit Music, she has played a pivotal role in working with CMOs worldwide to form equitable standards and alliances.

Matthew Skiba (Vice President, Rights and Content at Vydia) has been appointed to the Dispute Resolution Committee. Skiba brings a wealth of knowledge to the committee from his role at Vydia, where he’s held positions in digital rights management. Previously, Skiba worked in publishing administration and infringement claims at The Royalty Network, Inc., managing settlement agreements for mechanical and sync infringements.

The Dispute Resolution Committee makes recommendations to the Board on policies and procedures for the processing of royalties related to works that are subject to disputes over ownership and is comprised of five songwriters and five representatives of music publishers.

Operations Advisory Committee

Lidia Kim (Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs at Concord Music Publishing) has been appointed to the Operations Advisory Committee. Leveraging a rich background in the legal industry, Lidia oversees the digital business and legal affairs for Concord Music Publishing, advising company executives and internal departments on global digital and catalog matters, and managing the global digital licensing network, DSP relations and mass copyright litigation and other new media rights enforcement matters. Her expertise extends to managing business affairs as well as drafting and negotiating agreements with both emerging and established talents, including artists, songwriters and contemporary classical composers.

As described in the Music Modernization Act of 2018, The MLC’s Operations Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Board on policies and procedures related to the operations of the Collective, including the efficient investment in and deployment of information technology and data resources. It is comprised of six representatives of music publishers and six representatives of digital music providers.

Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee

Songwriter, “Bruce” Waynne Nugent, has been appointed to the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee,filling one of the five songwriter seats. With over two decades of experience in the music industry, working at the intersection of entertainment and technology, Nugent brings a vast array of knowledge in music production and A&R, co-producing for artists like Frank Ocean, Justin Bieber and Nelly.

Dale Esworthy (Executive Vice President, Worldwide Administration at Sony Music Publishing), who previously held a position on the Operations Advisory Committee has also been appointed to the Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee. In his position, Esworthy manages all administration operations for the company across its network of 38 offices in 24 countries, including copyright, royalty administration, tracking and other client services.

The Unclaimed Royalties Oversight Committee recommends policies and procedures to The MLC’s Board related to the distribution of unclaimed accrued royalties and is comprised of five songwriters and five representatives of music publishers.

Committee appointments are for three-year terms. Alisa Coleman, Board Chair states: “The MLC Board and its nominating committee appreciate all the submissions by writers and publishers who want to do their part by working with The MLC on these important committees. In reviewing and interviewing the many applicants, the Board has chosen those who we believe will best contribute to the diversity and knowledge of the existing committees.”

More information on The MLC’s Board of Directors and three advisory committees can be found here.

Live Nation reports soaring concert attendance as small shows struggleLive Nation reported record growth last year and predicted continued growth in live music for the next decade. But Live Nation and Ticketmaster's soaring numbers come even as many small to mid-level music venues struggle...
The post Live Nation reports soaring concert attendance as small shows struggle appeared first on Hypebot.

From Universal’s stake in Chord Music to Live Nation’s biggest year ever… it’s MBW’s Weekly Round-UpThe five biggest stories to hit our headlines over the past seven days…
Source

Does Album Art still matter?Once upon a time, creative album art could help sell a release. But does it still matter when most music is streamed, and artwork has been reduced to a square inch or two? ..
The post Does Album Art still matter? appeared first on Hypebot.

What’s it like to be a Music Director?Are you ready for the long hours and maximal effort of being a Music Director?...
The post What’s it like to be a Music Director? appeared first on Hypebot.

Over 145m fans attended 50,000+ Live Nation events in 2023, with company’s FY revenues up 36% YoY to $22.7bn in its ‘biggest year ever’Concert giant publishes its Q4 and FY 2023 financial results
Source

Producer Crosstalk: The IvyBand and production team The Ivy – Wyatt Clem and Shawn Abhari – met in 2016 while studying music production at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Oklahoma City. Both arrived with a music background and a passion for the craft of making records. Together the duo has released three self-produced EPs and the full-length A Door Still Open is slated to drop on February 23. To date, The Ivy’s 2017 “Have You Ever Been in Love” has earned more than eighteen million Spotify streams.

Writing and recording a song is typically only part of the artistic equation. Another crucial piece is how an artist knows if what they’ve created has merit or commercial viability. “If I’m not vibing with it within the first few days, then I move on,” Clem observes. “But Shawn and I won’t give up if there’s a song with one sound that doesn’t fit. Sometimes we can lose sight of whether it’s a good song as a whole because we want to make a certain tone or performance work. Otherwise we try to follow our joy and excitement, especially if we both feel it.”

 “I’ve learned over the years that all of the sounds in a song should feel like they’re in the same environment,” Abhari adds. “If you use a certain amount of reverb on one instrument, then make sure that it blends into the mix so that it all sounds like it’s in the same room. If I get stuck, I just turn on the main core elements. If those all sound good, then I’ll add other things piece by piece. If something is really jarring, we figure out what’s working and what’s not by building it up track by track.”

Knowledge gained on earlier projects is drawn upon regularly when a new record is begun. Further lessons are also likely to be learned in the process. “A Door Still Open came from a bunch of demos we’d written before we even knew we were doing an album,” Abhari recollects. “The challenge was how to make only a chorus and a verse fit with some of our other ideas. That was always hard but engineers and producers in LA helped us make the environment feel like it was in the same headspace.”

Virtually any band would be thrilled with the eighteen million Spotify streams that “Have You Ever Been in Love” has amassed. But what was it about that song that imbued it with such stellar reach? “I don’t know why it hit other than maybe that indie-pop eighties genre was popular at the time and maybe it fell right into the algorithm,” Abhari speculates. “I loved the crunchy, eighties-sounding four chords. I took the drum rack from one of Wyatt’s demos that had some really cool reverse snares and things and made the beat from it.”

Many artists are noted for their customized gear. Eddie Van Halen had his Frankenstrat and Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready has a custom-modified amp that goes to eleven (really). In Clem’s case, his most prized piece of gear is his hacked Mexican Strat. “I took the body off of Shawn’s first electric guitar – a twenty-dollar Squier – and combined it with parts from my own,” he recalls. “Now it feels better than it ever did. I don’t see myself parting with that anytime soon.”

The three most important lessons the two have learned as producers, musicians and engineers are:

It’s not about what you can do with your instrument. It’s how you can serve the song.

Any sound can be cool if you manipulate it hard enough. We once made a song entirely out of six samples of paper being torn.

You can achieve everything you need without spending thousands of dollars. Our songs that have reached the most listeners were done on inexpensive equipment.

For 2024, The Ivy plans to concentrate on local shows initially and to join a larger tour towards the summer. The two also have material for another record in their creative queue. Both Clem and Abhari maintain home spaces from which they record demos. Often they work at the Santa Monica studio of SameSame, the production duo of Rob Cohen and Blake Mares. Until 2021, all of their music on Spotify was recorded in their bedrooms.

Contact - wearetheivy.com; Instagram = @wearetheivy;

Amanda Curtis - Press Here Publicity, Amanda@pressherepublicity.com

Reservoir has spent nearly $1B on acquisitions and signings, and 5 other things we learned from its latest investor factsheetReservoir Media has clocked yet another year of strong growth, with revenues up 14.6% YoY in calendar year 2023. The company’s quarterly financial results show revenues of USD $140.5 million during the year, up from $122.6 million in 2022. With the company’s stock trading at $7.00 as of February 22 (up 6.4% over 12 months, … Continued
Source

UMG, Jimmy Iovine backed NTWRK buys Complex to build a Superfan hubUMG and Jimmy Iovine-backed live-video shopping platform NTWRK will acquire media company Complex to create a music and culture superfan destination...
The post UMG, Jimmy Iovine backed NTWRK buys Complex to build a Superfan hub appeared first on Hypebot.

MIDiA identifies the top seven challenges Musicians face
Continuing from his "how difficult it is to make it in the music business" post, Bobby Owsinski breaks down a recent study revealing what's most difficult about being a professional musician.

Spoiler: It has nothing to do with talent...

The post MIDiA identifies the top seven challenges Musicians face appeared first on Hypebot.

Free tracking app Playlist Alert adds Apple MusicThe Playlist Alert iOS app sends real-time alerts when songs are added to playlists. Since 2021, the popular free app has focused on adds to thousands of Spotify editorial playlists...
The post Free tracking app Playlist Alert adds Apple Music appeared first on Hypebot.

TikTok’s ‘Add To Music App’ feature is rolling out in another 163 countriesDespite its ongoing spat with Universal, TikTok is undeterred in its push to capitalize on the popularity of music on its platform
Source