Facebook is deleting all live streams: Act Now!Facebook is deleting all live streams and live video recordings that are 30 days old or older starting on February 19th.
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Study shows major growth in Patreon Creator incomeThere have been a major growth in Patreon creator income, according to the new State of Create report based on internal data from its creator community.
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Craft versus character: the equation the music industry needs to fixI recently wrote about the unflattening of music, how creativity, craft and fandom can – if done right – counter the growing commodification of music. Not surprisingly, I focused on the music side of the equation but in doing so I missed the other big flattening challenge music faces, not from music but from artists themselves, or rather what artists are having to become. Music, or at least popular music, has always been more than just about the music, it has been the artist too.  But if there was previously some kind of equilibrium, the balance between craft and character has tilted firmly to the latter. It has done so because the social ecosystems in which the music business operates, reward personality more than they do craft. The music business needs to find a way to extract itself from this culture meatgrinder.

A recent Rick Beato video critiqued a major label exec for his focus on the social prowess of artists. Social has done more than anything else to push the balance towards character. With its focus on the personal, social has inherently shifted the marketing burden onto the shoulders of the artist. They are the ones that most often build brand, audience and streams from their social activity. Social now accounts for 17% of all entertainment time, more than streaming music (13%) but its soft power is bigger than its share-of-time hard power. This is because social is often our discovery entry point for everything else. For example, TikTok is the number one place Gen Z discover new music. 

But music is just one sub-strand of social, which means that artists are competing with all other creators for attention. Which is complicated further by the fact that algorithms nichify everything, making cutting through harder still.

Building fan relationships may be the ideal, but ultimately the algorithm rewards ‘buzzy’ behaviours and artists find themselves not only having to continually say something, but having to say something that cuts through. So, it is not even artists’ character that is being pushed, but an exaggerated, caricature. Artists end up, intentionally or otherwise, building a persona, a character. It is because of this double meaning (i.e. personality AND persona) that I use the word ‘character’ – that, and because it alliterates nicely with ‘craft’ 

When labels (obviously not all of them, but many of them) look for artists that have strong social followings, they see that as a reflection of the artist’s popularity and potential. It is, but more so, it is a reflection of the artist’s character and the suitability of that character to the social algorithm.

All of this might be a price worth paying, were it not for the side effects:

Social is not actually that effective: Despite all the effort put into social, its conversion rate isn’t great. Only a minority of people stream music they discover on social. The music business thinks of social as a funnel but really it is more like panning for gold, with water streaming out of the bottom (pun intended) but what’s important being left behind – the gold nuggets of fandom, identity and community.

We can’t see the ‘whys’: Music marketers can measure the effects of virality (the ‘whats’) but not the causes (the ‘whys’). They can’t tell whether it was the song or the creator that created the viral moment. They can observe correlation but not causality.

Passive fandom: Viral moments are the result of passive fandom, but artist success depends on deeper, active fandom.

Character can be an obstacle: Artist character is important but it is only part of why we like the music we do. We all like some music by artists we don’t particularly like as people. But the more we rely on the artist’s character as our route into their music, the more likely we are to not engage with music at all if we don’t like the artist. And with streaming flattening music, there is progressively less chance of us serendipitously discovering a ‘real’ artist’s music on streaming, sans character.

Craft gets relegated: With the focus on doing and saying stuff that fires up the social algorithm, the craft of music loses ground. Either because artists find themselves with less time to make music, or because labels and management sign the artists who emphasise character over craft, content over composition.

In many respect, artists and labels can’t be criticized for playing to the system. If they don’t, they risk failure. They are caught up in a system that rewards character over craft. So, what is the solution? It is much easier said than done, but the music industry needs social places where either music alone lives, or at least it has a starring role. Apple tried and failed years ago with iTunes Ping! but it was the wrong execution and at the wrong time. It was basically TikTok 10 years before TikTok, but not done very well.

To succeed, this new place (or places) will have to avoid making the same mistakes as today’s social apps. It will need to emphasise music over personality. It will need to be a place without trolling. Which will likely mean gated fan communities, where bad behaviour is not tolerated, perhaps leveraging the Twitch model of community-led moderation. Ideally, it will also be a slow internet, a place where virality, likes and follower counts take second place to community, culture and real conversation. 

Sounds ridiculously idealistic right? Perhaps it is, but these are the underlying values of human society. Technology has shifted us away from them and AI threatens to push us even further away. People are forced into behaviours that make sense to the machine more than they do to humans. Anyone who has seen the Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown will have seen an artist that wanted it to be all about his music, who didn’t want to have to be a star. Things will never be like that again, and indeed there are many ways in which today’s world is immeasurably better. But over the intervening decades the pendulum has swung entirely in the opposite direction. Now the time is right for it to settle somewhere in the middle.

AllMusic Feature - Birthdays On This DayA fun item that many users may not know about is our "Birthdays On This Day" feature on the homepage of AllMusic. Each day we highlight 15 prominent musicians who were born on this date, from rock, to jazz, to hip-hop, to classical and every genre in between. Scroll down to see today's list.

On… Universal’s Asian AdventureMBW Reacts is a series of analytical commentaries from Music Business Worldwide written in response to major recent entertainment events or news stories.
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Reach Music and Fitz and The Tantrums’ Lead Singer and Songwriter FITZ Conclude a Publishing Acquisition and Administration DealReach Music Publishing Inc. (Reach Music) has entered into a publishing agreement with Fitz, songwriter and lead vocalist of the multi-platinum band Fitz and The Tantrums.Through the deal, Reach Music has acquired copyright interest in Fitz’s entire back-catalog of approximately 100 songs released by Fitz and The Tantrums, including the hits “Handclap” (4x RIAA-certified Platinum), “Out of My League” (3x RIAA-certified Platinum), “The Walker” (RIAA-certified Platinum), and “Moneygrabber” (RIAA-certified Gold). Reach Music also controls the global administration rights to the shares it has acquired.In addition, Reach Music has entered into a new go-forward administration deal that covers Fitz’s shares in his current solo album “Summer of Us,” as well as the upcoming Fitz and The Tantrums album slated for release later in 2025.Prior to this publishing deal with Fitz, Reach Music was already the administrator for a large portion of his catalog via Dangerbird Records, beginning with Fitz and The Tantrum’s first album Pickin' Up the Pieces released in 2010.Michael Closter, President/Founder and Owner of Reach Music, said, “It’s very exciting to be able to enter into this publishing deal with Fitz, and to represent copyright interests in songs that we had already been administering for many years and know so well. We are also looking forward to building on this relationship with Fitz for his new releases and future venture possibilities.”Fitz said, “I’m thrilled to team up with Reach Music! Their passion for my music and hustle is real. I couldn’t be more excited about this deal and to make the future happen.”Fitz was represented in the acquisition by The Law Offices of Elizabeth V. Gregory and managed by Adam Harrison of Full Stop Management. About Reach Music PublishingReach Music is an independent publisher founded by Michael Closter 30 years ago in New York City. With locations currently in Los Angeles, Nashville and New York, Reach Music focuses on publishing administration and copyright acquisitions. Reach has acquired ownership interests in several iconic catalogs, including Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Public Enemy and Judas Priest. In addition, Reach also administers the works of John Mayer, Zac Brown, Lisa Loeb, The Knack, Lindsey Stirling and Ray Lamontagne, among others.The post Reach Music and Fitz and The Tantrums’ Lead Singer and Songwriter FITZ Conclude a Publishing Acquisition and Administration Deal first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.

Check these two free lists BEFORE booking a show!There are two free lists you need to check before booking a show. Smart booking agents and marketers use both every day to avoid conflicts and book better gigs.
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The rise of IRL Immersive Superfan ExperiencesSuperfan experiences are moving beyond the screen and into real life. From fan festivals to brand activations, artists and companies are finding new ways to bring fans together and create fresh revenue streams with IRL immersive superfan experiences
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Record companies in India want to join a lawsuit against ChatGPT maker OpenAINews organizations, book publishers, and now music companies want to join a copyright infringement suit against OpenAI being heard by a court in Delhi
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Hit the Decks! It's GrabbitzElectronic music producer, musician, composer, and DJ Grabbitz started producing around the age of 13."[It was] on my first family computer which came with Garageband," he says. "I made hundreds of beats and learned everything I could about the program, then transitioned to Logic Pro. I learned DJing out of necessity because I was making a lot of EDM at the time, and in order to show it off I had to DJ it. It started to become serious when I started to get attention from labels, got my first few major synch placements, and put out my first few official projects as Grabbitz that got millions of hits. "Today, he describes his sound as, "a combination of rock and electronic music. I exist in both the thriving bass music scene, but I'm trying to incorporate more original songs which I do through my voice and rock influence."His latest album is Big Epic Nothing."It's a collection of songs I really love and I think continues to push that line between rock and bass," he says. "I try not to set boundaries for myself while creating and I think the versatility really shows that on this record."As for gear: "I can make music with any set of tools I have available but when I'm at my home studio, I have a few toys I like to use," he says. "Moog One, Mellotron, my Neumann u87 Microphone, Shure sm7b, my guitar collection."Looking ahead, Grabbitz has plenty planned for 2025."I'm touring on a bus for the next few months, but I'm always looking to push myself further with my recorded music, and looking to collaborate more with my peers in electronic music this year," he says. "We're also going to be doing a lot of headline shows in the fall."Photo by Zach Frank

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5 Types of Artificial Music Streaming: How to Avoid ThemArtificial music streaming may seem like a shortcut to success, but it can destroy your career before it even begins. Learn the most common scams, how to spot them, and the right way to grow your audience.
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Music and AI Roundtable: Your Morning Coffee Special EpisodeOn this special edition of the Your Morning Coffee podcast hosts Jay Gilbert and Mike Etchart sat down with a panel of experts for a music and AI roundtable on how AI is re-shaping the music industry. LISTEN HERE.
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DIY and Independent Musician News Last WeekLast week, our tips, advice and independent musician news covered how get superfans via email, identify fake streams, use AI, wisdom from Jack White and Taylor Swift, and more...
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Last Week’s Top Music Industry NewsA busy week by any definition, and music industry news was no exception TikTok regained traction, Hangout becoming more popular for music marketing, Copyright office investigates PROs, and more...
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Kubernik: High Moon Records George Baer Wallace and the late JD Martignon founded High Moon Records in 2010, with the purpose of a record label as an exclusive outlet for the music they loved most. George and JD had a long and expanding wish list of titles that needed to be properly illuminated. Always at the top of that list was Arthur Lee and Love’s unreleased masterpiece from 1973, Black Beauty. Although it had existed as poorly sourced bootlegs for years, High Moon Records’ mission was to finally give the lost record the proper distribution in December 2012 it deserved. Black Beauty, the never-before-released outing by Arthur Lee's band Love is available as a TrueSound Audiophile CD packaged in a hardbound eco-book and as a 180 gram LP packaged in a tip-on sleeve. The deluxe CD comes with a 64-page photo-filled booklet. Both formats come with bonus tracks featuring live performances, two unreleased Lee studio cuts and an unearthed Arthur Lee interview from 1974. Recorded in 1973 for the ambitious new label Buffalo Records, the album remained unreleased when the company folded. Finally, after 39 years, High Moon delivered Arthur’s wish that Black Beauty be heard by music fans worldwide. Black Beauty made it's first-ever official release in any configuration, anywhere!With its potent eclectic collection of songs, the album gives Love fans a rare glimpse into a previously-undocumented phase of Lee's career, while new ears get to discover the unique genius that is the music of Arthur Lee and Love. The marvelous liner notes are written by esteemed journalist and author Ben Edmonds. Photo Credit: Herbert W. Worthington III“Black Beauty is as eclectic and eccentric as any of Love’s best.” – Mojo magazine. “There are a handful of musicians I actively collect and want to support their work,” George Wallace explained to me in a 2024 High Moon-centric interview. “Skip Spence, Alex Chilton, Townes Van Zandt, Moby Grape, Ace of Cups, Gram Parsons, Love, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds and their various permutations. No one sounds like any of those bands. “I also sort of realized there is no other country like America, where guys who liked bluegrass, jug band, jazz and pop music could bring us the Grateful Dead and The Sons of Adam. I think the bohemian elements of both San Francisco and Los Angeles informed these rock bands.” After spending considerable time exploring the High Moon catalogue, it was now really important to do a deep dive of their terrific retail endeavors and learn about the passion and efforts behind these albums that should be additions to your record collection. George Wallace and his High Moon team have done a wonderful job giving us sonic gems often forgotten, neglected and underserved when initially issued on LP.Out in late January 2025 is the Jeannie Piersol anthology The Nest, available on CD, LP and Digital formats. For fans of Jefferson Airplane, The Great!! Society!!, and Rotary Connection, The Nest is more than a curiosity—it’s a revelation. Piersol’s voice and vision finally step out of the shadows, offering a fresh perspective on the golden age of psychedelic rock.The Nest is the first-ever anthology from the long-lost 1960’s San Francisco psychedelic siren Piersol.The 12-track collection is accompanied by an extensively illustrated 20-page booklet with a 7500-word essay from compilation producer Alec Palao (featuring exclusive interviews with Piersol and many of her musical collaborators), plus lavish artwork, never-before-seen photos, memorabilia, and more.The Nest gathers her Chess Cadet Concept label singles alongside outtakes, demos, and live recordings from San Francisco’s Matrix nightclub, capturing the raw energy of Piersol’s bands in their prime.In 2025, Shindig! magazine hailed Piersol’s artifact as “sizzling soul-rock and exotic psychedelia…beautifully packaged and exhaustively annotated.”High Moon in 2023 and 2024 also reminded us about singer/songwriter Laurie Styvers.Let Me Comfort You: The Hush Rarities follows High Moon’s 2023 release of Gemini Girl: The Complete Hush Recordings, the first-ever comprehensive anthology of Styvers’ body of work, including her two deeply moving solo albums, Spilt Milk (1971) and The Colorado Kid (1973).Akin to a lost third album, the new collection gathers 11 alternate takes, demos, and previously unissued songs from the original album sessions, further displaying the enigmatic Texas singer-songwriter’s honey-voiced intimacy and intangible magic, its lovelorn presents like 'Let Me Comfort You' and 'Crazy Rainy Spring' equal of anything on either now-rightfully acclaimed albums with Hush Productions, founded by noted producers Shel Talmy (The Kinks, The Who, Small Faces) and Hugh Murphy (Gerry Rafferty).Styvers recorded a small number of tracks in addition to Spilt Milk and The Colorado Kid. Drawn from the original session reels, Let Me Comfort You: The Hush Rarities compiles those completed masters that remained in the can, along with a smattering of alternate versions and early demos, all appearing on vinyl for the first time. Pitchfork applauded Styvers’ heretofore obscure music as “a piano-driven wonderland that invoked the buoyant pop side of Laurel Canyon vogue to frame a complicated internal portrait.” Gene Clark served as The Byrds chief songwriter in the mid-sixties, penning some of their most essential songs, including “Feel a Whole Lot Better,” “Eight Miles High” and “You Showed Me.” Two Sides To Every Story, the criminally long out-of-print solo album from founding Byrds member, Clark, finally returns to vinyl. 35 years after its initial 1977 release on RSO. High Moon Records re-mastered, 180-gram audiophile vinyl LP is presented in rich and crisp audio fidelity on this beautifully-crafted Gene Clark classic. The album was produced by Thomas Jefferson Kaye. Singer Emmylou Harris, banjo-virtuoso Douglas Dillard (The Byrds, Dillard & Clark), Country violin legend Byron Berline, guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter (Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell), and pedal-steel ace Al Perkins (Flying Burrito Brothers, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones) contribute to Clark’s album. In 2023, record collectors, author Jan Henderson and myself were thrilled by the High Moon edition of The Sons of Adam’s Saturday’s Sons: The Complete Recordings 1964-1966, the first-ever comprehensive anthology of the fabled 1960s L.A. band. All formats – including a gatefold 2 LP set, CD, or digital download –feature remastered recordings, along with deluxe packaging, extensive liner notes, lavish artwork, never-before-seen photos, and more. Steve Stanley is the founder of Now Sounds, a reissue label distributed by Cherry Red Records. In addition to his work with Now Sounds, and High Moon Records, Steve is a graphic designer who has art directed and/or designed releases for Rhino Records, Sony, Warner Bros., ABKCO, and many other labels.In 2019 he assembled High Moon’s absorbing compilation, Curt Boettcher & Friends: Looking For The Sun. It houses a remarkable liner note essay from Dawn Eden Goldstein, who last century first chronicled and spearheaded the awareness of Boettcher’s legacy.Shindig! magazine hailed the various artist collection as “the best of 2019.”Best known for his groundbreaking hit productions for The Association (“Cherish,” “Along Comes Mary”), Boettcher formed the pioneering rock bands The Ballroom and The Millennium, and add heavily to classic pop-psych album Sagittarius created and crafted by producer Gary Usher (Beach Boys, Byrds). Boettcher was innovative in utilizing the studio as an instrument—an approach that made a lasting impression on a young Brian Wilson.Looking For The Sun is the first release to focus on Boettcher as a producer and arranger rather than a performer, highlighting cuts that were released only as singles. Most of the tracks have remained out of print since their initial release. Collected here are 21 tracks (18 on LP)—all sourced from the original master tapes—which Boettcher wrote, produced, arranged, or sang on. Artists include: Cindy Malone, Sandy Salisbury, Gordon Alexander, Keith Colley, Summer’s Children, Jonathan Moore, Ray Whitley, Eddie Hodges, The Bootiques, Action Unlimited, and Sagittarius. The musical contributions of Glen Campbell, David Gates, Gary Usher and Keith Olsen are also showcased.The 36-page booklet that accompanies the release, beautifully designed by Stanley, features fascinating and deeply researched notes on each of the songs, rarely-seen archival photos, that match the words penned by Boettcher scholar Dawn Eden Goldstein.“I am very attached to Curt’s legacy,” enthused Goldstein in a 2025 interview. “There is a need to educate people and teach the present generation beyond what they read on the internet. Steve had actually tracked down the artists himself. And so, it was the most pleasant collaboration.“The whole design of the booklet was done in such a way that the designers knew how to let the visuals compliment the text, and everything is beautifully integrated. It’s the closest thing that I’ve come to my original dream of writing Curt’s biography.”In her extensive and inspiring scripture, Goldstein illustrated the excursions producer Boettcher forged, and underscored his participation in his profound work with the Association, The Millennium, The Ballroom, and Sagittarius.High Moon in 2018 released the self-titled debut studio album by The Ace of Cups, the pioneering all-female rock band from the 1960s San Francisco scene.A High Moon press announcement mentions, “The Ace of Cups may not have been the first all-women rock and roll band, but they were the one that mattered within that bizarre wrinkle in time that constituted late 1960s San Francisco. Yet despite the avowed interest of the industry and obvious hometown support, the original Ace of Cups never got to make a record. Until now…“High Moon Records is honored to present the first studio record by the mesmerizing Ace of Cups. Produced by Dan Shea (Santana, Jennifer Lopez, Mariah Carey), and recorded at Marin’s Laughing Tiger Studios, the record’s twenty-one tracks span fifty years of masterful songwriting, that sound as timeless as they do cathartic.“Special guests include legendary players (and longtime Ace of Cups friends) Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, and Charlie Musselwhite as well as lead vocal turns by Bob Weir on ‘The Well,’ Taj Mahal on ‘Life In Your Hands,’ Peter Coyote on ‘As The Rain,’ and Buffy Sainte-Marie on ‘Pepper In The Pot.’”“I have a serious soft spot for the small, independent re-issue label,” writer and author Daniel Weizmann emphasized in a 2025 phone conversation.“These are the heroes and heroines I tried to immortalize in Cinnamon Girl, my second mystery…often working with old acetates and faded tapes, with aging Letraset cover art on art boards with printer's instructions and mucilage smears. These people are more than historians, more than nostalgia nuts. They connect the dots for us and bond us to the legacy. They're keepers of the flame.”“We’re all constantly searching for new sounds or sounds from the past that truly deserve to be heard,” underlined George Wallace.“Almost an elusive journey that can yield results we never planned on. Especially when you are running a label and searching for recordings that need to be discovered and heard.“It’s a real pleasure to receive wonderful comments from fans and collectors. Some fans in England raved about Arthur Lee’s Black Beauty, others tout the Ace of Cups album, while some are just happy to hear more music from Gene Clark.”In 2025, we can look forward to High Moon titles, including the deluxe reissue of the Bob Crewe-produced Lotti Golden Motor-Cycle 1969 debut album on Atlantic Records.High Moon Records has also scheduled for 2025 an unprecedented upcoming collection of Arthur Lee and Love recordings called Just To Remind You. Recorded during the last fifteen years of his life, and sourced from Arthur’s trove of tapes, most of these songs are being heard here for the first time ever.The album will be comprised of the songs Arthur asked his wife Diane Lee to release after his death. Having been hospitalized for several months, Arthur realized he was losing his fight with Leukemia, and asked Diane to oversee the release of a final record of his unreleased songs. Although many of the tracks were in various stages of completion, Arthur left some specific musical notes to execute his sonic vision.I’ll have additional news and details in 2025 about High Moon audio delights.Harvey Kubernik is the author of 20 books, including 2009’s Canyon Of Dreams: The Magic And The Music Of Laurel Canyon, 2014’s Turn Up The Radio! Rock, Pop and Roll In Los Angeles 1956-1972, 2015's Every Body Knows: Leonard Cohen, 2016's Heart of Gold Neil Young and 2017's 1967: A Complete Rock Music History of the Summer of Love. Sterling/Barnes and Noble in 2018 published Harvey and Kenneth Kubernik’s The Story Of The Band: From Big Pink To The Last Waltz. In 2021 the duo wrote Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child for Sterling/Barnes and Noble. Otherworld Cottage Industries in 2020 published Harvey’s Docs That Rock, Music That Matters. His book Screen Gems: (Pop Music Documentaries and Rock ‘n’ Roll Television Moments) is scheduled for 2025 publication. Harvey wrote the liner notes to CD re-releases of Carole King’s Tapestry, The Essential Carole King, Allen Ginsberg’s Kaddish, Elvis Presley The ’68 Comeback Special, The Ramones’ End of the Century and Big Brother & the Holding Company Captured Live at The Monterey International Pop Festival. During 2006 Harvey spoke at the special hearings by The Library of Congress held in Hollywood, California, discussing archiving practices and audiotape preservation. In 2017 Kubernik appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, in their Distinguished Speakers Series.The post Kubernik: High Moon Records first appeared on Music Connection Magazine.