Blackpink is an undeniable force right now. And anyone who doesn’t yet understand the hype will have the chance to check it out for themselves when the group hosts its top-of-the-line livestream concert on YouTube this weekend. Since signing with Universal Music Group’s Interscope Records in the United States in …
Read More »Dua Lipa's Very Expensive Concert Is the Future of Livestreaming
Dua Lipa‘s Thanksgiving-weekendStudio 2054livestream was a smashing success: It drew five million viewers — a number that Lipa’s team says is a new record for livestreams — and broughta starry guest list that included Kylie Minogue and Elton John. Fans can definitely expect more livestreams from Lipa, her management team …
Read More »TaP Music's President Wendy Ong — Future 25
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 — …
Read More »Spotify Is Fusing Music, Podcasts, and Radio in New 'Original Shows'
Why stay in a single lane when you could take all of them? On Wednesday morning, Spotify announced “Original Shows” — a mélange of music, podcasting, and audio clips that feels oddly similar to an AM/FM radio experience, as the latest new feature on the rapidly expanding streaming service. “We’ve …
Read More »At Work With Jake Terrell, Who Put Hot Cheetos in Lizzo's 'Good As Hell'
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 …
Read More »J Dilla Died In 2006. He's Now Being Sued for Using a 1974 Rock Sample
2020’s spate of copyright cases just keeps getting weirder. In the latest legal tussle over music rights, the record label and publishing companies that worked on J Dilla‘s Donuts — an album that dropped three days before the hip-hop artist’s death in 2006 — have until next Wednesday to respond …
Read More »TikTok Is Music's Latest Gold Rush. But It Won't Be Enough for Artists
The music business suffers from a bad case of short-term memory loss. In the industry’s history, famine has nearly always followed feast. More often than not, the industry has turned away disruption and innovation, because of the very fear it will interrupt the success of their current business model. But …
Read More »Music From Netflix's Erotic Romance '365 Days' Is Shooting Up the Charts
For the last month, amid the usual teen flicks and true-crime shows, an erotic drama has sat at the top of Netflix‘s list of most popular offerings. That film, 365 Days (365 Dni) — which movie critics have called a Polish 50 Shades of Grey —has garnered an intense, if …
Read More »'It's Completely Eye-Opening': Why Publishers Are Still Snatching Up New Songwriters
“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 …
Read More »Why Is Daniel Ek Repeating YouTube's Arguments From Four Years Ago?
“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 …
Read More »