Most artists hastened to postpone their big album releases when Covid-19 struck, fearing they’d risk losing chunks of their audience as global attention focused elsewhere. But Dua Lipa forged on. As a result, her album Future Nostalgia became known as a beacon of the quarantine era in late March — …
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In Rolling Stone‘s series At Work, we go behind the curtain with decision-makers across the fast-changing music business — exploring a range of responsibilities, burgeoning ideas, advice for industry newcomers, and more. Read earlier interviews here. Most people in the music industry work one job at a time; Jake Terrell …
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“Every single week of quarantine, I’ve executed a contract by signing it on my phone,” says Sony/ATV Nashville CEO Rusty Gaston. His sentiment is echoed by many other music publishers — which, even as their label counterparts slow down on new signings, are ramping up deals. Labels are feeling the …
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“If the ad revenue currently spent on radio instead flowed to online platforms, it would double the current size of the music business.” Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ekis making that argument in the wake of his company’s Q1 earnings announcement. According to Ek, the record industry should stop obsessing …
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The future of major label A&R may be rooted in intense parental instincts. “I’m obsessed with my artists,” Caroline “Baroline” Diaz, Interscope’s senior director of A&R says. “They’re like my kids.” While most A&Rs tend to take a cool-headed, hands-off approach to their artists, Diaz, a 24-year-old New York native, …
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