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This Week In Music (March 11, 2022)

BTS

From BTS becoming Tamagotchis to the return of Limewire, we’ve gathered the must-read stories from the latest and wildest week in music.

March never disappoints. Maybe it’s the changing of the seasons and the knowledge we are inching closer to summer, but something about this month seems to set the industry on fire. Everywhere you look, major deals are being made. Catalogs are being bought, artists are joining labels, and fans are reaping the benefits of an industry hungry to return to normal.

We cannot ease your workload or give you more hours in the day, but we can help you stay informed. That is why we are thrilled to introduce This Week In Music, a brand new weekly column highlighting the best and most talked-about stories throughout the music industry. Each Friday, we will post links to various need-to-know articles and information. 

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 Stories In Music This Week

BTS become Tamagotchis in latest crossover promotion

Get ready ARMY, because the men of BTS are receiving their own line of Tamagotchis! A new ad from BANDAI shows RM, Jin, Suga, V, J-Hope, Jimin, and Jungkook in pixelated TinyTAN form in the miniature, egg-shaped games, which come in both red and purple versions.

Players can even change the outfits of the K-pop idols into three different styles — pajamas, dance practice, and mic drop — before they can perform to “Dynamite.” Throughout the day, the boy band characters also go about their daily schedules of waking up, practicing music, dancing and hitting the sauna.

The industry turns its back on Russia

This week, Warner Music Group and SONY joined Universal Music Group, Live Nation, Spotify, PRS for Music, and others in suspending operations in Russia. The moves are among the latest actions taken by music companies and professionals to stand in support of the Ukrainian people.

Beginning with Warner Music Group (NASDAQ: WMG), which established Atlantic Records Russia in Moscow last year, a spokesperson made clear in a statement that the major label has paused manufacturing, promotional efforts, and new releases in the European nation.

“Warner Music Group is suspending operations in Russia, including investments in and development of projects, promotional and marketing activities, and manufacturing of all physical products,” the WMG spokesperson said. “We will continue to fulfill our agreed upon obligations to our people, artists, and songwriters as best we can as the situation unfolds. We remain committed to supporting the humanitarian relief efforts in the region.”

Sony Music also informed the public of its withdrawal from Russia in a brief statement, indicating: “Sony Music Group calls for peace in Ukraine and an end to the violence. We have suspended operations in Russia and will continue our support of global humanitarian relief efforts to aid victims in need.”

Limewire to return as NFT Marketplace

They say that only the good die young, which may explain why Limewire cannot be stopped. The former haven for music piracy, which was originally shut down in 2010, will soon be back online with a new business model.

According to Bloomberg, two Austrian entrepreneurs bought the rights to defunct music platform LimeWire with plans to revamp its image for the internet’s next generation by selling nonfungible tokens attached to music, content and artworks.

“It’s a very iconic name. Even if you look on Twitter today, there’s hundreds of people still being nostalgic about the name,” said Julian in an interview, who will act as co-CEO alongside Paul. “Everybody connects it with music and we’re launching initially a very music-focused marketplace, so the brand was really the perfect fit for that with its legacy.”

LimeWire will debut with support for buying and trading music-related nonfungible tokens, such as exclusive songs, merchandise, graphical artworks and experiences like backstage content. The startup will also launch its own utility token via a private sale within the next three weeks, which Paul said would be used like a loyalty program.

RIAA: Recorded music reaches $15 billion milestone; 23% growth in 2021

This week, The RIAA released new data showing continued strong growth in virtually every recorded music format – including streaming, vinyl, and even CDs which jumped 21% last year. That strong, broad growth – which includes TikTok music revenue for the first time – pushed overall revenues to a historic $15 billion last year, the highest figure ever reported by our industry (though when adjusted for inflation still nearly 40% off 1999’s peak).  This data shows how artists and labels working together are achieving new heights of creative and commercial success and driving opportunities and income streams for songwriters, publishers, platforms, services, and apps.

Amazon hopes its Clubhouse competitor, Amp, will reinvent radio

Also this week, Amazon launched Amp, a Clubhouse competitor with music licensing deals.

Anyone who signs up will be able to host their own live show, complete with the ability to stream “tens of millions of licensed songs” from the big three record labels and “a long list” of indies, Amazon says. The goal is to turn any user into a radio DJ who can program a playlist, talk to listeners, and chat with call-in guests.

Critically, hosts and listeners won’t need to subscribe to any particular service to tune in — anyone can listen in to full-length songs as long as they sign up for Amp, which is free.

As The Verge points out, Amazon is positioning this as more of a radio-style service than a live chat service (there’s even a five-person cap on callers right now), which is probably for the best. Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces already have a big presence in the live audio space, and Facebook is taking a crack at it, too. But none of them have the music licensing agreements in place that Amazon does, and so those services have focused far more on conversations between hosts and guests. Amazon has a chance to let hosts do something very different here, giving everyone a shot at being something like a college radio DJ.

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RIAA: Recorded music reaches $15 billion milestone; 23% growth in 2021

A new report from the RIAA is shedding much-needed light on recorded music’s incredible comeback story.

What a difference a decade can make. Back in 2010, the music industry was in dire straights. A decade-long battle against piracy had eroded album sales and hurt fan relationships, leading to crossroads where many questioned the industry’s future. Then Spotify happened, and as we all know, things slowly began to improve.

Now, there are more reasons than ever to celebrate.

Today, The RIAA released new data showing continued strong growth in virtually every recorded music format – including streaming, vinyl, and even CDs which jumped 21% last year. That strong, broad growth – which includes TikTok music revenue for the first time – pushed overall revenues to a historic $15 billion last year, the highest figure ever reported by our industry (though when adjusted for inflation still nearly 40% off 1999’s peak).  This data shows how artists and labels working together are achieving new heights of creative and commercial success and driving opportunities and income streams for songwriters, publishers, platforms, services, and apps.

RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier released the following statement:

“The incredible run of strong, industry-wide growth documented in this and prior reports speaks to the dynamic and vibrant creative and commercial relationships today’s labels have built with their artist partners. Labels haven’t simply reinvented themselves, they have helped transform the entire process of music creation, discovery, and distribution to bolster creative freedom and artistic expression while seamlessly meeting fans everywhere and anywhere they want to be. The result has been an incredibly vibrant period delivering new opportunities, platforms, and experiences – from music-powered fitness apps to gaming platform livestream concerts to must-have vinyl exclusives to global surprise digital album drops. Creative genius unleashed in new ways driving shared commercial success and record payments to artists.”

He continued:

“No industry in history has embraced changing technologies and innovations faster than music over the last ten years – taking streaming from novelty to ubiquitous in the blink of an eye and now working to drive a new generation of social apps, shared immersive experiences, and blockchain/NFT opportunities going forward.”

RIAA’s full 2021 Recorded Music Revenue Report is available here.

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Jay-Z’s new album went platinum in 6 days, but how?

This morning the RIAA announced that Jay-Z’s brand new album, 4:44, had already been certified platinum. The accomplishment gives Jay his thirteen platinum plaque for his solo albums, more than any other hip-hop artist in history, but already many are calling into question the math behind the feat.

4:44 was released as a Tidal exclusive on June 30, but in order to gain access to the album through Tidal alone consumers had to sign up for the streaming service within the first day of the record’s release. After that, those wishing to hear Jay-Z’s new record would need to join Sprint, which means a two-year deal for cellular service, in order to access the record.

To put Jay-Z’s six day platinum status into perspective, Beyonce’s Lemonade – also a Tidal exclusive when initially released – took six weeks to earn the same status.

So how did this happen? New rules introduced by the RIAA a few years back state that 1500 streams of a record is the equivalent to a single album sale. If 1,000,000 sales are needed to achieve platinum status then 4:44 would need to have accrued 1.5 billion streams in just six days of release. This is not impossible, especially considering the album’s scant 35-minute runtime, but it would be unusual. Tidal is far from the biggest streaming player in the game, and the same could be argued about Jay-Z’s position in hip-hop. He’s a giant without question, but in 2017 could he really be the most popular, in-demand rapper of them all?

The announcement made by the RIAA does not detail the specifics of how 4:44 reached this impressive milestone so quickly, but some have already questioned whether or not there may be bulk sales involved in the mix. When Jay released his last record, Magna Carta, Samsung famously bought one-million copies to give away through an exclusive promotion. Those sales count just the same as traditional album sales, so the album was essentially platinum before it was even released. Something similar could have happened with Sprint and 4:44 (via Tidal), but there might be some questionable activity found in that deal because Sprint owns one-third of Tidal.

Can a giant corporation buy a million copies of a record only available through a service they own and call them legitimate sales? If so, what does that say about the importance of such accreditation?

In response to questions raised earlier today, July 5, the RIAA released this statement:

We will keep an eye out for additional information regarding the certification of 4:44 and the future of Tidal. Follow Haulix on Twitter so you never miss another headline for us or the many music writers whose work we support through our channels.

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My Life As A Music Pirate (Part 1)

We love creating content for this blog, but the true mission of Haulix has always been to provide the most secure music hosting and distribution services available online. It’s no secret that piracy has crippled the music industry in many ways over the last decade, and we strive every day to do whatever we can to prevent future music leaks. You see, we may not be musicians ourselves, but recognize that the livelihood of everyone in the music business is dependent on the continued success and support of the artists we sign, promote, and otherwise get behind. If we do not do our part to help them support themselves however we are able then how can we expect anyone to help us when piracy eventually erodes entire segments of the industry?

Recently, it dawned on us that we did not have a strong grasp on what actually makes someone want to leak music. The assumption has been made in the past that these so-called ‘music pirates’ think the praise from anonymous commenters on message boards and forums is enough of a reward to convince them to hurt artists and those who fund them, but frankly we thought that felt a bit too simple to be entirely true. So we decided to do something we had never done before: Seek out a music pirate and convince them to share their story.

Today we are sharing the first in a four-part series on the life of a real-life music pirate. Each entry will tell a chapter of one pirate’s life in music, beginning with their introduction to CD duplication and building to a role in what was once one of the internet’s fastest-growing music leak communities. It’s the story of one individual who managed to engrain themselves in the music industry professionally while simultaneously leaking highly-anticipated records to the world, and it’s told entirely in their own words.

**As part of our agreement with the author of this series, a number of names and websites have been altered to protect identities and certain brand reputations. We have no intention to reveal the author’s name or location.**

Part 1: The Early Years

I suppose my foray into the world of piracy started like most, by digging through my parents’ entertainment cabinet, plundering their CDs and cassettes. I’d store these in my room and listen to them in secret. I doubt I would have gotten into much trouble if caught, but the idea of listening to something that wasn’t delivered to me by radio stations my parents chose excited me to the ends of my tiny little world.

My first cassette was by a boy band. It was the 1998 re-issue of Backstreet Boys. I was probably 10 years old then. I listened to that tape day in and out until I received my second tape, by yet another boy band, ‘N Sync. No Strings Attached.

It was from these humble beginnings that I fell in love with music. From that point I was determined to listen to more than what my mother’s preset FM stations could provide. That’s when the raiding began. I’d sneak listens to CDs by Journey, RUSH, Chicago, and Simon & Garfunkle whenever I could. I strayed as far as possible from my family’s country-western obsession as possible in that cabinet. I found an old walkman and used it when listening on my room’s stereo wasn’t an option. These were my first steps.

Eventually I was found out and encouraged as long as I was careful not to scratch anything. That made listening to these albums unadventurous and obsolete. I needed something else. Something forbidden. That’s when hip-hop came into play.

My childhood best friend had a much different set of parents than I. Whereas mine sheltered me from anything thuggish or promiscuous, his parents allowed him to indulge in violent video games and sexually-charged music. Playing with him meant hours of Duke Nukem and SWAT 3 while Eminem and Nelly played in the background. I learned a lot in that house.

It was during that time that I got my first portable CD player/AM-FM tuner combo. This gave me much greater access to music my parent’s weren’t down with. I’d listen to Casey Kasem’s countdown every week and the local college stations in the days between. While my parents thought I was listening to “Weird Al” Yankovic in my backyard tree-house, I was actually becoming a young rap aficionado.

Outkast, Jay-Z, Usher, Chingy, and the Ying Yang Twins became my soundtrack. Biking around town with my padded headphones on and my CD player in my backpack, I felt like I not only owned my neighborhood, but myself as well. While I certainly wasn’t free to listen to what I wanted by my parent’s rules, I felt free in the music I chose. Hip-hop guided me out of parental restriction and into musical expression.

My rap days faded as the Internet became more prevalent in school and society. Internet blockers weren’t as strict back then, which allowed me to indulge in music videos and websites like SingingFish (RIP). This is about the time pop-punk music started taking hold of my life. Bands like Green Day and Fall Out Boy became my favorite thing. I’d download System Of A Down songs at school, copy them to a disc, and bring them home to burn to another disc. This was by no means an ideal process, but I had no real Internet connection in my house until I was in college. AOL’s dialup service notwithstanding.

No, I wasn’t an Internet pirate until my 8th grade year. Until that point I found other means to obtain music without pay. I’d borrow CD’s from friends and copy them using Windows Media Player at home, returning them the next day. They were none the wiser. This idea carried over to the local library when I realized that it was more than a haven for bookies.

After school each day, I raced to the library to grab one of 4 computers before the other kids arrived. During my hour of registered computer time, I would log onto Runescape and collect coins and medieval weaponry. In a second window (this was pre-tabs), Yahoo! Music would be loaded and ready to go, introducing me to new bands every day. When I heard a song I liked, I’d switch from my game to the player and capture the artist’s name. This would be added to a written list that I would use in my last 10 minutes of each web-session. If my library didn’t have the CD by the artist I wanted to hear more of, I’d order it in. For the next several years, I’d have a new stack of jewel cases waiting for me every week for pick-up. I’d take them home, rip them to Musicmatch Jukebox (Later Yahoo! Music Jukebox and Rhapsody), and then return them after school the next day.

This is when my obsession with collecting music began. Watching the number of albums and hours of audio grow became a drug to me. It became less about listening to the music as it did cataloguing it on my family’s computer. My library grew substantially through the years via my library ordering method. I became the guy my classmates would come to for music. They’d hand me flash-drives and CDs and ask for music. Nothing specifically, just things I thought that they would like. Music became more than a hobby for me in my middle school years. It became an identity.

My Life As A Music Pirate will continue next Thursday, March 27. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for updates.

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