isocialitemedia-blog - Tumblr blog

isocialitemedia-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

THE FUTURE LOOKS BLEAK FOR THE ALBUM

Make no mistake, the album is fighting for its life.

Sales of music’s most beloved format are in free fall in the United States this year.According to figures published by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the value of total stateside album sales in the first half of 2018 (across download, CD and vinyl) plummeted by 25.8% when compared with the first half of 2017.

If that percentage decline holds for the full year, and there’s every indication it will, annual U.S. album sales in 2018 will end up at half the size of what they were as recently as 2015. To put it more plainly, U.S. consumers will spend around half a billion dollars less on albums this year than they did in 2017.

The CD album is, predictably, bearing the brunt of this damage. After a comfortable 6.5% drop in sales in 2017, in the first half of 2018, revenues generated by the CD album in the USA were slashed nearly in half – down 41.5%, to $246 million.

It’s not hard to see why. 2018 will go down as a landmark year for the acceleration of the decline in physical album sales: The likes of Drake, Eminem, Cardi B, Travis Scott, Migos and Kanye West have all released hotly-anticipated new LPs exclusively on digital services in their first week. All brought physical formats into play only after their records’ initial “sales” rush was over.

Hip-hop’s biggest names, it seems, are actively turning their back on the CD (and on brick-and-mortar retailers) — instead focusing on the likes of Spotify and Apple Music, where their genre is currently the king of kings.

None of this, of course, is a big shock.

Back in 2014, you may remember, Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek had an awkward public sparring match with Taylor Swift, following the superstar’s decision to pull her back catalog from his service. Facing down accusations that Spotify was “cannibalizing” the album, Ek wrote, “In the old days, multiple artists sold multiple millions [of albums] every year. That just doesn’t happen anymore; people’s listening habits have changed — and they’re not going to change back.”

He wasn’t wrong. As we all know, the music business held hands with Ek and dived profit-first into a streaming-led industry.

Now, however, a murmur is quietly breaking out: In the rush to follow the money, did the music business sacrifice something more valuable than it could have realized?

Sure, hits on streaming services make a lot of people a lot of money. But as the death knell rings for the album — and the music industry returns to the pre-Beatles era of track-led consumption — are fans being encouraged to develop a less-committed relationship with new artists?

The answer to that question ultimately depends on how those fans are consuming music on Spotify, Apple Music, et. al. One thing’s for sure: Not all new music is created equal — and the stats bear it out.

Take Drake’s Scorpion, the biggest album in the U.S. market this year. In a clear bid to rack up as many streams possible (and break multiple records in the process), Scorpion is 25 tracks long. Yet, according to numbers I’ve obtained and crunched from Spotify-monitoring site Kworb, some 63 percent of global streams from Scorpion on Spotify since the album’s release in June have come from just three songs: “God’s Plan,” “In My Feelings” and “Nice for What.”

In fact, just six songs on the album (also including “Nonstop,” “Don’t Matter to Me” and “I’m Upset”) have claimed 82 percent of its total streams. The other 19 tracks get just 18 percent of the spoils between them — an average of less than 1 percent each.

It’s a similar story with the biggest album of the first half of the year in the U.S.: Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys, from which just three tracks (“Rockstar,” “Psycho” and “Better Now”) account for 62 percent of worldwide Spotify streams.

You could argue that things have always been this way — that fans in previous eras would buy albums and then simply rinse and repeat their favorite individual tracks, ignoring what they deemed to be duds.

Additionally, you could argue that streaming has been wonderful news for the album — any fan anywhere in the world can now legally consume albums for “free” via Spotify, rather than shelling out a potentially prohibitive expense on CDs or downloads. If the experience of listening to full albums was compelling enough in 2018, therefore, the format should be thriving.

Yet industry machinery has certainly propagated this dismantling of the LP. The Billboard 200, still the most recognized album chart in the world, has, since December 2014, bundled together streams of individual tracks from an LP as “streaming-equivalent albums.” Billboard’s current, much-debated formula: 1,250 paid-for streams from the likes of Apple Music or Spotify Premium count as one album “sale”, as do 3,750 streams from ad-funded services like YouTube or Spotify’s free tier.

This has led to some pretty odd situations: Drake’s Scorpion, for instance, sold 160,000 true album units (via download sites) in its opening week, but, according to Billboard/Nielsen, more than three times this amount (551,000) came via “streaming-equivalent albums.”

In Scorpion’s second week on the Billboard 200, the potential silliness of “streaming-equivalent albums” came home to roost: The album sold (as in actually sold) just 29,000 copies on iTunes, etc., yet nearly 10 times this “sales” volume (288,000) was cobbled together from single-track streams.

The music industry is facing a bit of an existential crisis, then: How can something (streaming) be considered the “equivalent” of something else (an album sale) when, by your own measure, the former now completely dominates the latter?

In 2018, “streaming-equivalent albums” seems like daft phrasing. It is e-mail-equivalent faxes. It is car-equivalent steeds. It is Netflix-equivalent Betamax.

The death of the album track, if not the album itself, is having a significant commercial impact.

Lucas Keller is the founder of Milk & Honey in Los Angeles, a management firm that looks after some of the hottest behind-the-scenes pop songwriters and producers in the modern marketplace. He told Music Business Worldwide last week that the days of his clients making any real money from non-hit album tracks are now “pretty much over.” Keller commented, “I sit at a dashboard . . . showing the publishing revenue across the board on all of my clients, and I have a really good idea what Track 9 isn’tworth.”

The music industry is waking up to this fact, and it’s keen to to arrest the devastation. On Saturday, October 13th, the U.K. music business clubbed together to launch a nationwide campaign: National Album Day.

This was a big deal. The major labels (via the BPI), the independent labels (via AIM), the Official Charts Company and a vast network of U.K. music retailers joined forces to push their crusade to the public. It got wall-to-wall coverage on the radio channels of the BBC — another key partner.

The idea was to ape some of the magic of Record Store Day, the annual initiative that sees a yearly surge in physical music-buying on both sides of the Atlantic. Can you guess what happened?

Despite everyone’s best efforts, U.K. album sales fell slightly in the week of National Album Day.

As predicted by Daniel Ek four years ago, the public is obviously growing increasingly comfortable with its playlist-driven, track-led music-consumption habits. The music industry, however, is starting to question whether it’s quite so sure. - #TimIngham

0 notes

isocialitemedia-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

Tips for Touring Musicians

Musicians are on the road almost constantly these days, which means they can’t always live healthily. But it’s not a 0-sum game. Here are a few pro-tips for taking care of your body.

It’s easy when living the rock star lifestyle to put your health on the back burner. And plenty of times, it’s not rock star living — just managing a demanding schedule with endless practical headaches.

Typically, you’re staying up late to play shows and you don’t necessarily make the best choices when it comes to what you eat and drink. However, musicians need to take care of their body just like everyone else.

As touring becomes a critical profit source for artists, staying healthy becomes incredibly important. The last thing you want is to get sick and have to cancel show dates. Sometimes that’s unavoidable: after all, the human body gets sick. But here are 10 tricks to take care of your health while you’re on the road.

1) Stay Hydrated

Seems basic, but this one piece of advice goes a long way. Of course, tour body needs water to stay healthy. Many Americans walk around dehydrated and mistake their dehydration for hunger.

When you’re constantly traveling, it can be difficult to remember to drink water. But you should be getting at least 2 liters of water every day. Ideally even more, since you’re moving around and sweating so much during your shows.

So carry a portable water bottle in your bag, and take small sips throughout the day. You’ll probably notice a nice bump in energy.

2) Work It Out

A lot of people forgo exercise when they’re on the road because they don’t have access to their usual gym. It’s just too hectic, and tour busses (or vans, or cars) aren’t exactly the best for working out.

But don’t let that become an excuse. For starters, there are a number of free workout videos you have access to on the web. There are plenty of routines you can do with no equipment at all. And you don’t really need a lot of space, at least for most workout routines.

MORE NEWS: How to Deal With the Headache of Managing Large Music Files

For example: jumping jacks and running in place make for great cardio, while lunges, push-ups, and squats take care of your resistance training.

Even a little will go a long way. All you need is 20 minutes a day to get in a solid workout. You don’t have to devote hours and hours to it. You just need something that gets your heart pumping and your muscles burning.

3) Pack Healthy Snacks

It can be so tempting on the road to just pull into a Taco Bell or McDonald’s and eat burgers and fries for the duration of your tour. It’s just so easy — and always right on the side of the road.

But over time, this eating behavior can wreak havoc on your health. Instead, stock up on healthy snacks that will last you a long time like carrot sticks and whole grain tortilla chips. Nuts and grapes are other examples of healthy snacks. You can typically load up on these healthier foods at supermarkets along the way.

You’ll notice the results, over the short-term and long-term. Simply stated: healthy snacks will give you more energy in the long run and keep you healthy.

4) Stretch

This one is frequently overlooked. But spending too many consecutive hours cramped in a car or tour van is bad for your body. Same thing with planes, trains, or any other long-haul transportation method.

It’s important to take rest stops where you get out and walk around. Do stretches for your hamstrings and quads as those are the muscles that get cramped while sitting. If you’re on an airplane, try to stand up and do some stretching — at least every few hours (if not more frequently).

Also, try to develop a routine where you stretch before bed or first thing when you wake up. You will soon notice that you feel more limber and you’ll start getting better and better at stretching. It’s good for musicians to have the mobility that stretching provides.

That will improve your on-stage presence, especially if you have a more active show. And if dancing is part of your act, stretching and overall health becomes critical to good performances.

5) See a Chiropractor

A musician’s touring lifestyle can definitely cause a lot of strain on your back. And the benefits of seeing a chiropractor include alleviating that pain and getting back to feeling great. So it’s worth doing before, during, or after a trek, depending on when you can squeeze it in.

No one should have to live with a tense back all the time.

6) Take a Multivitamin

This one’s pretty easy.

Even if you’re eating healthy, your diet is probably deficient in one vitamin or another. A multivitamin can help fill in a diet that’s deficient in nutrients. Even better: a multi-vitamin pack can be found at any drug store, before or during the tour.

7) Take Days off When You’re Sick

If you start to feel sick, the best thing you can do is to rest and take a night off. If at all possible.

Of course, the worst thing you can do for your body is trying to power through shows when you’re under the weather. Your body can’t heal without plenty of rest and fluids. If you try to keep playing, you’ll end up even sicker and will be forced to miss more shows.

Of course, in many cases the show must go on. But if possible, try to move things around. You can always apologize to your fans and reschedule the show at that location on a later date.

Listen to your body, and give it the attention it needs to get better.

8) See a Doctor

Just because you’re touring doesn’t mean you can just ignore your health. You should still be getting annual checkups from a physician to make sure you’re healthy. There are a lot of health issues that could be lurking beneath the surface that are better to detect sooner rather than later.

A doctor can also give you advice on ways to stay healthy that match your lifestyle.

9) Take Care of Your Sexual Health

When you’re on tour you’re probably meeting a lot of people and that can lead to sexual encounters.

Have some fun, but try to take care of yourself and your partner sexually by using protection. Condoms are a good way to protect yourself from STDs. Birth control is an avenue to ensure you or the one you’re with don’t end up pregnant.

10) Mind Your Mental Health

Mental health is just as important as physical health. And it’s a major and growing issue for many musicians.

So if you’re feeling anxious or depressed, it’s important you take care of those things as well. Don’t be ashamed to ask for help dealing with your mental health.

Take Care of Your Body on the Road!

It’s really, really easy to let your health slip while on the road. Musicians can easily get caught up in the excitement and prioritize music above health. However, keeping up with your health is the only way to ensure you can keep playing as a musician. At the end of the day, nothing is more important than your health — and the only way to make a living is to healthily make it from gig to gig, while playing high-energy, great shows.

So be sure to drink enough water, eat healthy foods, and work out regularly to keep yourself healthy. If you do get sick, take it easy for a few days while your body heals itself. If that doesn’t work, go see a doctor. - #GabeYont

0 notes

isocialitemedia-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

IFPI Says It Can’t Account for Half of YouTube’s Claimed $1.8 Billion In Royalty Payments

Google recently published an anti-piracy report claiming that YouTube has paid more than $1.8 billion in ad revenue to the music industry in 2017.

However, the IFPI is challenging Google’s claim, saying that it can’t verify the information provided in that report.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry represents the interests of record labels across the world. And CEO Frances Moore is flatly stating that Google’s claims are dodgy.

“The figures in Google’s anti-piracy paper don’t match our own.”

Instead of booming billions, Moore notes that the IFPI’s own data suggests a much starker picture. Revenue returning to the recording industry through video streaming services (including but not limited to YouTube) with 1.3 billion users amounted to $856 million in 2017.

That’s less than half of Google’s claim and less than $1 per user per year.

Moore contrasted streaming performance versus subscription services, showcasing how much more valuable subscription services are to the industry.

A much smaller user base of 272 million users of audio subscription services returned royalties of $5.6 billion in 2017. That’s a bit more than $20 per user per year. That figure included both ad-supported and paid subscription service models.

Moore described the difference between YouTube and audio subscription services as the ‘value gap’ for the industry. She says that user-upload platforms like YouTube exploit the industry without returning fair profits to initial creators.

Google/YouTube is standing by its figures, however, noting that IFPI isn’t getting the full picture.

“IFPI has a limited view of payments that we make across the industry, including to collecting societies, and our direct advertising deals with music partners,” Google offered in a statement.

Meanwhile, the new Copyright Directive’s Article 13 component has been a thorn in Google’s side in the EU. The anti-piracy report was released in the middle of Google’s opposition to the new Article, and part of a broader opposition attack against the measure.

In part, Article 13 states that user-generation content platforms must implement automatic content recognition systems to block infringing content before being uploaded, with stiff penalties for non-compliance. - #AshleyKing

0 notes

isocialitemedia-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

ARTIST: IDK LOCATION: PG, MARYLAND PROJECT: IDK & FRIENDS

LABEL: HXLY (Indie Label/Owner)

0 notes

isocialitemedia-blog · 7 years ago

Photo

SPOTIFY LAUNCHES BETA PUBLISHING ANALYTICS PLATFORM

Spotify has launched a new analytics tool in beta, specifically for music publishers.

The new feature, called Publishing Analytics, was developed “in close collaboration with a range of publishers” according to Spotify.

Spotify Publishing Analytics will give publishers daily streaming statistics for the works and recordings they have identified, including playlist performance, as well as the ability to view data for each of the songwriters on their roster.

Spotify says that the new platform won’t change the way publishing royalties are currently accounted or paid.

Interested publishers can visit publishers.spotify.com to learn how they can get started.

“One of our core missions at Spotify is to enable creators the opportunity to live off their art,” said Jules Parker, Head of Publishing Relations & Services, EMEA and APAC, Spotify.

“The publishing community is integral in supporting the songwriters that create the music we love.

“With more information, publishers are empowered to make the most of the opportunities the global reach of Spotify provides, and the more information we can share with each other, the more opportunities we can help create for songwriters.”

“THE PUBLISHING COMMUNITY IS INTEGRAL IN SUPPORTING THE SONGWRITERS THAT CREATE THE MUSIC WE LOVE.”

JULES PARKER, SPOTIFY

Rich Scott DePerto, Director of Royalties & Copyright Administration, Reservoir added: “Reservoir was happy to jump on board as one of the first music publishers to help shape the new Spotify Publishing Analytics tool.

“Access to daily global analytics for the leading DSP allows us to better track our catalog’s performance and gives us valuable insight that we can use to make more informed business decisions in supporting our songwriters.”

Patrick Joest, EVP Global Content Partnerships & Synch, BMG said: “Armed with this level of streaming data, directly from Spotify, music publishers can gain insights into new opportunities for their songwriters, more efficiently collect royalties on their behalf, and more effectively market their works.

“Spotify has been a collaborative partner in the creation of this new product, and we are looking forward to further collaborating and contributing to its development and easy accessibility of data to the publishing community.”

0 notes