Month: June 2020

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Haulix News

Why The Sharing Your Creative Process Matters [Video]

music biz coming soon

As the Music Biz team transitions to a new office, we consider the importance of sharing our journeys with fans.

There is a myth in the world of entertainment that claims people only care about the final product. Consumers, people will tell you, only want the best version of whatever you’re trying to give them. They don’t care about how things are made or how long it takes to make them good. Your customers want what they want, and you better give it to them as quickly as possible.

That is a lie. In the world of entertainment, the journey to making something is as important as the final product. Fans gravitate towards artists that are able to express thoughts or feelings the audience recognizes, but may struggle to share. That connection is at the core of every great artist-fan relationship. The creatives that make a career out of their pursuits do so by keeping fans involved in their journey. They show them how they do what they do, and in doing so, inspire others to do things they may have otherwise not.

Music Biz, the YouTube channel for this blog, exists to share insight into the entertainment business. We create videos on music news and marketing, as well as lessons learned from famous musicians. Our goal is to help the next generation of performers better understand and navigate this complicated industry because we believe education is the key to success.

Recently, several Music Biz viewers reached out about changes they were witnessing with our content. The format remains the same, but the look of our videos is evolving, and many wanted to know what was driving the choices made behind the scenes. That lead us to create the following clip, which shares everything we’ve been foolishly keeping to ourselves.

Brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Join today and gain instant access to the same platform trusted by Bruce Springsteen, Slipknot, Tool, and more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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Industry News News

COVID Concerts: The Good, The Bad, and The Irresponsible [VIDEO]

With coronavirus spread reaching record highs in the United States, Music Biz examines two recent performances and what they tell us about the future of concerts.

Here’s something you might not want to hear: Coronavirus isn’t going away. The disease, which first began to spread around the world at the end of 2019, has infected more than ten million people worldwide. Here in the United States, several parts of the country are experiencing record-high daily case rates. Other parts of the world are fairing better, but the point remains: COVID-19 is far from defeated.

As states and countries attempt to navigate reopening after months of lockdown, several places are now allowing live music to resume. There are rules in place to ensure the safety of staff and patrons alike, but recent events have shown that enforcing these policies can be difficult. Even if venues ask patrons to act or behave a certain way, there are little to no laws that require consumers to follow any guidelines.

The last weekend in June will go down in the history books as a time in the world of COVID concerts. Two significant events took place in two different countries, and the fallout from those performances are making headlines around the globe. The first, a reality TV star turned country musician performing in front of nearly 1,000 people in Tennessee as the state sees a surge in new cases, is being shamed by virtually everyone. The second, a so-called “Corona Safe” stadium show in Germany, is being praised as a glimpse at the future of live music.

This week on Music Biz, host James Shotwell examines these two performances and what makes them unique. He explains the criticism behind both events, as well as what the attendance of each show can tell us about how consumers feel about the return of live music.

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Editorials Haulix News Recommendations

Haulix Recommends: Tyler Carter – ‘Moonshine’ (Acoustic)

A career musician who has already proven his talent several times over, Tyler Carter returns with his most intimate work to date.

There is a saying that suggests the only way to be successful in business is to diversify your offerings. Consumers are easily distracted, people say, so you should never rely on what has worked in the past when considering where you will go moving forward. That idea applies to music as well. A great song or sound may get you far, but you can always go further by keeping listeners on their toes. Many artists may attempt to expand, but few pull it off as well as Tyler Carter.

A staple of the modern alternative scene, Tyler Carter is a musical chameleon whose signature croon has given the world anthems that will outlive us all. He’s got the kind of voice you would expect to hear at pop radio, especially in the era of artists such as blackbear and Jon Bellion, but he’s best known as a hard rock vocalist. The majority of his time is spent with Issues, an abstract metal act that combines a variety of sonic influences to challenge the perception of metal without completing alienating fans of the genre. It’s a challenging line to walk, but Carter and his bandmates make it look easy. Case in point, the band’s 2019 album was one of the year’s most celebrated releases. Not just in metal, but in music as a whole.

But Carter is more than a one-band man. His talent in various groups is equally matched by his brilliant solo career, which has admittedly taken a backseat to some of his more high-profile projects (such as Issues). When working alone, Carter has more room to experiment and develop as a songwriter. His solo material allows him to fully express himself as he asserts creative control over each song rather than being a contributing part of a whole. The results are often more cathartic than any other material he releases.

Carter’s latest release, Moonshine (Acoustic), is a stripped-down take on his 2019 solo record that features a pair of new recordings. The first, a new track titled “Escape My Love,” offers a beautiful ode to someone who doesn’t understand the power they possess. It’s mostly a love song, but also something of an anthem for anyone who hides from mirrors and feels like they don’t deserve the things everyone else gets in life. Carter wants those individuals he will always be there for them, as will the people who love them.

The second new offering is a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s timeless hit, “Landslide.” The challenge with covering a beloved song is finding a way to meet expectations while putting a fresh spin on a track people have heard countless times. Carter’s take is simple and airy. It’s a showcase of his vocal talents as much as it is an exercise in restraint. He resists the urge to go “too big” in preference of making sure the message resonates. It’s a massive success.

With Moonshine (Acoustic), Tyler Carter cements his place as one of music’s most exciting vocalists. He’s a crooner at heart, and it shows throughout this release. “Glow,” for example, brings the hazy chaos of a late-night rendezvous between lovers into a beautiful place that is undeniably compelling. “Good Things,” on the other hand, finds happiness in the simple joys of life. There is no topic Carter is afraid to tackle, nor a single track where his soulful voice fails to connect with the listener. We didn’t need more proof of Tyler Carter’s talent, but if anyone remains on the fence, this record will convert them.

Haulix Recommends is a recurring feature where the Haulix staff chooses one or more recent releases from their clients. Click here to discover more great music being promoted through Haulix.

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Industry News News

Trivium Presents: A Light or A Distant Mirror, A Global Livestream Concert Experience

Metal masters Trivium are planning to take the internet by storm with a unique livestream experience that is sure to please fans worldwide.

On Friday, July 10th at 4:00PM ET, Trivium, the kings of streaming who have been embracing the art of the livestream for years, will play their first live show since the April 2020 release of their new album What The Dead Men Say.

 This will be a brand new production and the arena-style visual show will stream globally from Full Sail Live, the state of the art event, and broadcast arena at Full Sail University in the band’s hometown of Orlando, Florida.  

Trivium will debut a new stage show that is cohesive with new album visuals and will perform songs from the new album on stage for the first time.  

Pre-show festivities will kick off at 3:00PM ET and will feature event host Terry Bezer of the Mosh Talks show on Knotfest.com, who will lead viewers through interviews, clips from pre-production week, and an opening support slot from Reading, England’s Sylosis.

Tickets for the event are $9 and will be available at live.trivium.org on June 25 at 12:00PM ET.

Exclusive, limited edition event merchandise and VIP bundles can be purchased here. 

A portion of the profits of the show will go to benefit the music therapy program at Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, a non-profit hospital.

“We had to get creative when we heard there was no touring this summer,” the band explains. “We held off on the Zoom concerts and asked our creative/production team to come up with the biggest real-time live metal streaming event of the summer and what we now have to present to you is our show called ‘A Light or a Distant Mirror.’ This performance will be 100% live and is not pre-taped. We will have a brand new epic stage set and lights, and we will bring it 100 percent. We are thankful to our friends at Full Sail University, who are providing us a first class performance arena and the Maestro broadcast team for streaming our show to the corners of the earth! We hope you can join us.”

“Hosting this virtual concert with Trivium is a true full circle moment for us on numerous levels,” says Jay Noble, Full Sail University’s VP of Alumni & Event Production. “Before its release, the album What The Dead Men Say was recorded on campus in our flagship professional recording studio — the Audio Temple, with Course Director Darren Schneider serving as a Recording Engineer. That experience allowed us to welcome home Full Sail graduate and Trivium guitarist, Corey Beaulieu, alongside the entire band including lead guitar and vocalist, Matt Heafy, who can recall recording at Full Sail during his teen years. Through our latest collaboration with Trivium, we are excited to bring this unique livestreamed musical experience to Trivium fans, our university community, and audiences around the globe, during a time when music is needed most.”

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Industry News News

The First COVID-Era Music Festival Takes Place In Wisconsin This July [VIDEO]

Static-X is among a number of leading rock and metal bands scheduled to appear during the three-day outdoor music festival.

Coronavirus is still a problem. We shouldn’t have to say that, but every week, people everywhere express their desire to see life return to “normal.” The problem is, normal as we knew it is gone. Even if a vaccine is available in the next week or month, the world is changing, and there is nothing short of another ice age that can turn back the clock.

Some people are accepting of these changes. Others, however, are willing to fight tooth and nail to see regain a sense of control over their existence. People want to go out and see friends, eat at diners, and watch live music. They want to feel a sense of community that Zoom and Skype and other digital streaming platforms cannot duplicate.

Q & Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin, is ran by promoters who share the frustrations that many have with the current state of the world. They want events to return as well, and they’re doing their best to make that happen with a recently announced three-day event set to take place July 16-18. The so-called ‘mini-fest’ will feature performances from rock and metal bands, including Static-X, Dope, and Blacktop Mojo, to anyone willing to risk getting sick.

In the announcement of the gig, organizers wrote:

“As humans we NEED other human contact. MUSIC in itself is great, but the live streams as I am sure you all know is just not the same we need LIVE , feel it to the bones, run shivers up your spine MUSIC with people around us. Takes us all away on a trip that unless you have felt it you won’t understand.”

The event will host up to 2,000 music fans in a space that traditionally holds 10,000, which should allow for social distancing. Whether or not distancing will be required is not known, nor are any rules related to wearing masks.

In this Music Biz News update, host James Shotwell details the event, the plans to keep people safe, and how the world might not be as ready for live music as the festival organizers seem to believe.

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News Podcasts

Radio Host Regular Laura Appears on our Inside Music Podcast

Radio’s relevance in today’s world is not up for debate, and Louisville-area host Regular Laura tells us why on the latest episode of Inside Music.

Radio is alive and well. Despite the widespread belief that the streaming era has made terrestrial radio something of a dinosaur, millions of listeners from all age groups tune in to local stations every single day for music, news, and commentary from their favorite DJs. Regular Laura, otherwise known as Laura Hardy, is here today to explain how the format continues to thrive amidst uncertain times in media.

Those living outside of Louisville, Kentucky may be unfamiliar with Regular Laura. She’s a morning drive host for 107.7FM who lives to create entertaining moments of chaos in between classic hits from the bands you and your families grew up enjoying. She’s the type of person to play Bob Seger at 5 AM on a Tuesday because she understands that sometimes only the king of existential rock narratives can comfort the working-class masses while they commute back and forth from their jobs. She also has a lifesize cutout of herself, but that’s a story for another time.

On this episode of Inside Music, host James Shotwell calls Regular Laura to discuss her career in music. Laura details her journey to hosting, as well as the realities of working in media during a pandemic. She also offers advice to anyone considering a career in radio (which you should absolutely do).

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Business Advice Editorials News

3 Ways To Drastically Improve Spotify For Artists

Spotify’s importance in the music ecosystem is great, but there are several ways the streaming giant can improve their artist portal to benefit all musicians.

Analysts can and will debate the streaming royalty rates that Spotify offers musicians for as long as the service exists. We’ve written about it extensively ourselves, and we will continue to do so, but Spotify’s relationship with musicians is about more than money. The company possesses a massive amount of data, all of which is the direct result of artists sharing music on its platform. Still, only a tiny amount is made available to talent. Spotify For Artists is one of the best analytics services in the industry, and yet, there is far more that can (and should) be available to musicians.

The Spotify For Artists platform currently offers musicians the ability to submit music for playlist consideration, review play counts for their entire catalog, and learn the location of their listeners. Artists can also update their account by adding and removing photos, as well as updating their biography and concert listings. These tools are impressive, and they go a long way toward helping musicians understand and build their audience. Still, there are data points that Spotify could supply that needs to the company needs to consider for future updates.

Revenue Insights

The biggest thing lacking from Spotify For Artists today is information related to the money artists earn from the platform. Artists cannot see how much money their music has earned to date, nor can they access estimated revenue for the current day, week, or month. Aside from play counts, musicians don’t even know how much money they’ve earned from specific songs.

Spotify’s payment system is complicated. There is no flat-rate for streams. The amount a song earns per stream is a complex calculation that includes the total streams on the platform. That may contribute to the company’s decision to withhold earnings information, but it doesn’t change the fact that artists deserve to know how and why behind their payments.

Advanced Audience Insights

Musicians can currently view the cities where they are most popular, as well as the total number of fans in that area. They can also see similar insights about the audience for each song in their catalog. That’s useful, to an extent, but stops short of providing key information such as:

  • What songs are most popular in each location.
  • Average listening of those in a specific location.
  • Change in listeners in a specific area from month to month.
  • Ages and Gender information for each region.
  • What percentage of the audience from an area follows the artists versus passive listeners.
  • The lifespan of the average listener.

Bring Back The Ability To Message Followers

In the earliest versions of Spotify, artists could message their followers. The tool disappeared to help streamline the platform and prevent users from being overwhelmed by promotional messaging from their favorite artists. It’s easy to understand how that decision came to pass, but it’s time to resurrect messaging to empower artists further. Spotify is now the most popular music streaming platform in the world, and its continuing reign over the competition depends on artists promoting their service. To do that, Spotify needs to give artists something other services have not, and a direct line to their a musician’s most active fans is the perfect solution.

Think about it. Spotify knows every musician’s most active listeners. They know their name, location, favorite songs, time spent listening, and more. Only a small fraction of that data is currently available to artists, in part because Spotify doesn’t want engagement happening outside its platform. Enabling a messaging platform provides a means of communication between artists and fans that occurs exclusively on Spotify and raises engagement across the board. Everyone wins.

There are more ways Spotify can improve, but these three changes would make a substantial impact on how artists use the platform and engage with their audience. By creating these updates, Spotify would be playing a role in determining future tour routings, recording efforts, release plans, and merch sales. Spotify could, in essence, become a complete music ecosystem rather than one small part of a much larger industry machine.

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Editorials Haulix News Recommendations

Haulix Recommends: Josh Orange – “Little Miss America”

Finding hope in the struggle of life, “Little Miss America” gives Australia’s Josh Orange a well-deserved moment in the spotlight.

Josh Orange is a group and not a person. More importantly, Josh Orange is a testament to the power of great songwriting. The band’s catalog speaks to the universal truth that strong storytelling and memorable melodies will always do more for a track than any amount of studio wizardry. As much as people may like disposable pop songs that pass like ghosts in the night, audiences want to hear something relatable, and that’s what the Australian gentlemen in Josh Orange deliver.

With their latest single, “Little Miss America,” Josh Orange paint a melodic sonic tapestry for those caught in the struggle of existence. For all the technology and on-demand pleasures that the modern world may offer, the fact remains that life is hard more often than not. Most of us have unrealized dreams and aspirations to be anywhere other than where we are at this moment. We have visions for our lives that we cling to despite knowing such outcomes are unlikely. We are doomed to work and die and the best anyone can do is find a small reason to smile in each day we’re given to exist.

“Little Miss America” taps into the same vein of therapeutic honesty in songwriting that Tom Petty used to make his name. With visions of cigarettes and rust belt struggles wound around a midtempo production that effortlessly syncs with the intangible feeling of loneliness we all recognize, the song finds hope in the little moments. It’s not about changing or saving the world, nor should it be. Most of us never the opportunity to impact the masses the way we see in high-budget movies, but we can do our part to make the misery of existence a little bit better for everyone. We can be kind to strangers, and we can never take more than we need. We can recognize we are all in this together, even if we’re alone, and there is power in that understanding that most never realize.

Josh Orange spent the better part of the last half-decade releasing music and entertaining audiences, but “Little Miss America” feels like the start of a new chapter. The group has honed its sound to the point of perfection. Each element of the track comes together to a soundtrack for making the most of a hard life. The band understands that it’s not the small decisions that not only make us who we are but that shape the world around us. If we can just learn to recognize the opportunities we are given to help one another; then maybe we’ll all be better off.

Haulix Recommends is a recurring feature where the Haulix staff chooses one or more recent releases from their clients. Click here to discover more great music being promoted through Haulix.

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News

5 Ways To Bring Back Concerts And Touring [Video]

The ‘New Normal’ is here to stay, so we’re giving you five creative ways to bring back touring as soon as humanly possible.

The spread of COVID-19 has changed the music business in ways we never imagined. Fans and artists alike want things to go back to the way they were before March 2020, but that is a fantasy. The past is dead, and no amount of begging or wishful thinking will resurrect it.

We live in a new reality where the old way of doing things no longer works. We can either complain or adapt, and we at Music Biz believe change is always a positive. Discovering new ways to do things challenges us to be more creative, more inclusive, and more understanding. All of that is something we as a species could use more of right now.

The biggest obstacle the music business faces right now is touring. The vast majority of artists make the bulk of their living by being on the road. There have been no tours for the last three months, and there is only a handful currently scheduled for the fall. Those that are daring to step out and perform again do so with the knowledge their dates may be canceled when the “second wave” of COVID-19 takes the US by storm this fall.

With all the questions and concerns surrounding touring, it’s easy to understand why so few feel comfortable announcing or discussing their plans at this time. Still, the conversations around live music are ongoing, and the fan demand for talent has rarely, if ever, been higher than it is right at this moment.

In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell shares five ways touring can resume in the near future. No solution is perfect. At least one is inarguably terrible. But all these ideas need to be considered and at least attempted if we have any chance of discovering what works best for everyone.

Music biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Join today and receive instant access to the same promo tools used by Bruce Springsteen, Slipknot, Tool, and thousands more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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Industry News News

Watch Our Haulix LIVE! Music PR Panel with eOne, Better Noise Music, and more

Did you miss our recent Haulix LIVE! event? No worries! You can watch the full music PR panel right now, for free.

Haulix LIVE! is a new digital webinar series brought to you by Haulix, the industry standard for music promotion. Each free event will feature conversations with leaders in music promotion and publicity. The latest discussion took place on Thursday, June 18, and a recording of it is now available online.

About our panelists:

Bill Meis is an aggressive multi-skilled music business professional with more than fifteen years of experience in marketing, media relations, and logistics. He is still driven by the same love for rock n’ roll that fueled him as a teenager growing up on Long Island, New York. 

Currently, Bill oversees all media relations and marketing for the rock and metal artists found on the eOne music roster. During the last decade, he has landed his artists in significant publications like Billboard, Rolling Stone, NPR, Pitchfork, and Guitar World. Bill was also at the publicity helm when his artist High On Fire won for “Best Metal Performance” at the 2018 GRAMMY Awards.

Metal music publicist Ebony Jeanette’s lifework is connecting people with the entertainment and brands they love by converting messages into discoverable media experiences. Ebony currently owns and operates boutique Public Relations firm, Ebony Jeanette PR (EJPR), and over the course of her decade on this side of the desk in the music industry, she has held posts as the in-house publicist for two of the world’s foremost extreme heavy metal record labels; Century Media Records (Sony) and Prosthetic Records. Additionally, Ebony is a singer and music journalist whose work has been featured in Substream Magazine, SonicBids, New Noise Magazine, and more.

Jamie Roberts from Better Noise Entertainment has a wealth of experience as a music publicist and PR executive, having led departments at Roadrunner Records, Universal Records and EMI’s The Enclave prior to her time at Better Noise (previously Eleven Seven Music) as well as running her own firms – Right Angle PR, then For The Win Media. Over 25+ years in the music industry, she has worked with such top-­tier artists as Mötley Crüe, Blondie, Papa Roach, Godsmack, Nick Lachey, and Paulina Rubio, among others. She has been an integral part of building the careers of bands like Slipknot and Nickelback and has helped artists like The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sloan, and Nothing More reach new heights of success.

Freeman Promotions is the brainchild of Jon Freeman, whose humble career beginnings are rooted in college radio. Freeman has worked his way up the music industry ranks, thanks to a cocktail of ambition, drive, and good, old-fashioned elbow grease.

Some key artists whose careers he has been intrinsically involved in include Type O Negative, Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, GWAR, Mark Morton, and Municipal Waste. If you’ve heard about these acts in some form or another, chances are, it’s because Jon Freeman was involved in spreading the word and creating their media profiles.

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