From Tunecore’s unlimited release pricing model to Spotify’s new audio verticals, we’ve gathered all the music news you need to know.
Two weeks into June and the feeling of summer is everywhere you look. Bands are hitting the road, festivals are taking place in beautiful destinations, and music fans are getting the closest thing to a ‘normal’ year that they’ve experienced this decade. Professionals are busy as well. Between the onslaught of tour-related work, the ongoing release pipeline congestion, and the need to continue developing new talent, the industry is operating at near maximum capacity. If you are reading this now, it means that you have survived. You made it through the week without losing your mind or livelihood, and that’s considered a massive win in the world of entertainment.
We cannot ease your workload or give you more hours in the day, but we can help you stay informed. Below you’ll find the biggest stories of the week, all covered by the best outlets in tech and entertainment. Click around, learn what’s happening, and use the weekend to prepare for the end of the month.
But let’s be honest. There is no way we can hope to cover everything that happens. If you see a headline we missed that people need to know, please do not hesitate to send james@haulix.com an email. We’ll include your links in the next update.
The Biggest Music News Stories of the Week
Tunecore Launches New Unlimited Release Pricing Model
Believe-owned DIY distributor TuneCore has announced a revamp of its pricing, moving from a system where artists pay an annual fee per release to a system where they pay a set fee per year and can then release as many tracks as they like.
Although most of the DIY-level music distributors offer a similar service when it comes to what platforms they deliver content to, there is differentiation between rival companies when it comes to things like add-on services and pricing models.
Some charge less upfront but take a commission on future royalties, others charge fees and then take no commission. Some charge per release, some per year. And some bundle in add-on data and promotional services, while others charge extra for such things.
TuneCore says it is launching its new Unlimited Release service because artists increasingly want the flexibility to release more tracks more often and to test release tracks to a small number of services. The new distribution packages now available will allow artists to do that in an affordable way, it adds.
The firm’s CEO Andreea Gleeson states: “We’ve spent a year speaking directly to artists and labels about how we can make our service better for them. What emerged is: artists want to be able to test their new music for free before distributing to all services and they want to release the music they are creating instantly, regularly, and seamlessly with one annual subscription enabling unlimited music distribution”.
“TuneCore’s new programme gives self-releasing artists at any stage of their careers the freedom to choose the plan that works best for them”, she goes on, “while maintaining the high quality of service TuneCore is known for. With TuneCore Unlimited, artists pay less and earn more”.
Foo Fighters Announces Two Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concerts
Foo Fighters and the Hawkins family have announced two Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts. The shows commemorating the band’s late drummer are set to take place September 3 at London’s Wembley Stadium and September 27 at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum. The announcement promises performances from Hawkins’ peers and idols, with the lineup to be announced at a future date.
Ahead of the concerts, Hawkins’ wife Alison released a statement for the first time since the musician’s death:
My deepest thanks and admiration go out to the global Foo Fighters community and Taylor’s fans far and wide for the outpouring of love each and every one of you have shown our beloved Taylor. Your kindness has been an invaluable comfort for my family and me during this time of unimaginable grief.
As Taylor’s wife, and on behalf of our children, I want to share how much you meant to him and how dedicated he was to “knocking your socks off” during every performance. Taylor was honored to be a part of the Foo Fighters and valued his dream role in the band every minute of his 25 years with them. We consider every band member and the extended Foo Fighters team our family.
Taylor’s endearing spirit and deep love of music will live on forever through the collaborations he so enjoyed having with other musicians and the catalog of songs he contributed to and created.
In celebration of his life, it is now up to all of us who loved him most to honor Taylor’s legacy and the music he gave us.
Thank you all again for your love and sympathy. Taylor loved all of you & we love you too.
With gratitude,Alison Hawkins
Bad Bunny and Tyler, The Creator to Headline Made In America Festival
The City of Brotherly Love will welcome Bad Bunny and Tyler, the Creator as co-headliners for the Made in America Festival which returns for its 10th year. As usual, the event will take place at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend, from September 3-4.
With a lineup curated by festival founder, Jay-Z, Made in America will include performances from hip-hop and R&B artists Lil Uzi Vert, Jazmine Sullivan, Burna Boy, Snoh Aalegra, Kodak Black and Pusha T. Fans can also expect additional performances by Lil Tjay, Tate McRae, Fuerza Regida, Toro Y Moi, Babyface Ray, Key Glock, Larry June, Rels B, Victoria Monét, Chimbala and Ryan Castro.
According to a statement from the festival, Made in America has generated over $150 million in economic impact for the city of Philadelphia since its inception in 2012. This year, Cause Village will be highlighting the efforts of groups like Black Voters Matter, HeadCount, ACCT Philly Animal Welfare, United in Community and more.
Bad Bunny’s headlining appearance follows the release of his summer blockbuster, “Un Verano Sin Ti,” which saw one of the biggest debuts for an album so far in 2022. Tyler, the Creator is also set to perform in mid-June for Pharrell’s Something in the Water Festival, after achieving best rap album at the 2022 Grammys for “Call Me If You Get Lost.”
Becky G Doing a Giveaway of $50000 in Bitcoin Through the Cash App
American pop artist Becky G has recently announced that she will giveaway Bitcoin worth $500000 to her fans. She has recently partnered with the Cash App and doing the giveaway. After dropping the news, all her fans went crazy. Not for the Bitcoin but for taking such an amazing initiative. This advanced method of the giveaway has stunned everyone.
This giveaway has been sponsored by the Cash App owner Block Inc. this company also owns many platforms, for example, the music streaming site Tidal.
Becky announced this news through her social media on 8th June, and by doing so she started her partnership with the company.
The pop artist has said ‘I’m thrilled to partner with Cash App for this Bitcoin giveaway.’
She has also added ‘I’m so thankful for my fans, who continuously support me through it all – it’s a priority for me to find moments where I get to give back to them and match their efforts however I can.’
According to the post, the celebrity has announced that her fans need to comment on her social media posts with $Cashtag which is the unique identifier of the Cash App. along with that they also have to put the hashtag #ESQUEMAS IN THE#ESQUEMAS in the comment section.
The artist has also said that the winner will be chosen randomly, and no order will be followed. On an average 27,500 winners will get $10 to $100 amount of Bitcoin, through the application Cash App. In more detail, she has said that 25000 people will win the prize of $10 in Bitcoin and the rest will be awarded with $100 in Bitcoin.
Spotify hypes the revenue potential of podcasts and audiobooks at its second Investor Day event
In its second Investor Day, streaming service Spotify updated the financial community about its potential for further growth and monetization, despite the overall economic downturn impacting the tech sector. The company spent a good portion of its presentation specifically focused on podcasts, which it said had been “largely unchanged” for years before its entry into the market, due to the limitations of RSS.
Spotify cited how unbundling podcasts from RSS technology has paved the way for Spotify to generate revenue through these popular audio programs — a sentiment that’s not universally beloved by those who support an open podcast ecosystem. Spotify has disrupted that market by bringing some podcasts in-house, where they can only be heard on its service, and competitors have followed. This has fractured the ecosystem and left consumers at a disadvantage as some shows are no longer broadly available.
“We’ve been able to replace RSS for on-platform distribution, which means that podcasts created on our platform are no longer held back by this outdated technology,” Maya Prohovnik, Spotify’s head of Talk, told investors.
The company also highlighted the growth of podcasts on its service, noting that Spotify today has over 4 million podcasts, up from 500,000 in 2019. One thousand of these are either operated or licensed as exclusives by the company. It noted, too, that its podcast creation tool Anchor has helped to contribute to this growth, saying that the app powers 75% of the podcasts on Spotify and each new show created on Anchor brings in an additional 2.5 million monthly active users to the service.
Combined with its other hosting platform, Megaphone, Spotify says that shows powered by its tools account for 45% of all podcast consumption on the platform.
