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This Week In Music (May 13, 2022)

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From the loss of Trevor Strnad to the arrest of Young Thug, we’ve gathered the latest need-to-know music news in one place.

Happy Friday, the thirteenth! We know this day is often associated with bad luck and things that go bump in the night, but this month, it’s also the date of an incredible New Music Friday. We’ve got new releases from Kendrick Lamar, The Black Keys, State Champs, Morgue Supplier, and Cage Fight, just to name a few. There’s also a slew of wonderful singles and a decent chance the weather won’t be terrible all weekend. We don’t see any reason to complain.

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 NEED TO KNOW MUSIC NEWS OF THE WEEK

Black Dahlia Murder Vocalist Trevor Strnad Dead at 41

Trevor Strnad, founding lead vocalist of the melodic death metal band the Black Dahlia Murder, has died at the age of 41.

Strnad’s bandmates confirmed his death Wednesday on social media. No cause of death was provided, but the surviving members shared the contact information for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Trevor Scott Strnad,” the Black Dahlia Murder said in a statement. “Beloved son, brother, and Shepard of good times, he was loved by all that met him. A walking encyclopedia of all things music. He was a hugger, a writer, and truly one of the world’s greatest entertainers. His lyrics provided the world with stories and spells and horror and whimsy. It was his life to be your show.”

Spotify launches editorial submission form for indie podcasts

Musicians have long been able to share new and upcoming music with Spotify’s editorial team for playlist consideration. However, podcasters have mostly been left behind. Unless tied to a major production company, most podcasts are left to fight with other shows for whatever attention they can pull. Until this week, when Spotify gave indie shows a shot at real growth.

To help better find, review, and amplify the latest, greatest, and most diverse indie podcasts, the Podcast Editorial team recently opened up an editorial submission form for the U.S. podcasting community. Each applicant will be considered for their editorial features, with the aim of highlighting a wide range of formats (including video podcasts), backgrounds, and experience levels. And if you do get an editorial feature, you’ll have earned a coveted spot as one of Spotify’s featured podcasts across one of our community destinations or in our New Releases section. Read more about how to get your podcast featured on Spotify.

REST IN PEACE: iPod

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) is discontinuing the iPod more than 20 years after the device became the face of portable music and kickstarted its meteoric evolution into the world’s biggest company.

The iPod Touch, the only version of the portable music player still being sold, will be available till supplies last, Apple said in a blog post on Tuesday.

Since its launch in 2001, the iPod took on a storm of competing music players before being eclipsed by smartphones, online music streaming and within the Apple pantheon, by the rise of the iPhone.

The iPod has undergone several iterations since its inception featuring a scroll wheel, the capacity to store a 1,000 songs and a 10-hour battery-life. The version that has been carried till date – the iPod Touch – was launched in 2007, the same year as the iPhone.

Rappers Young Thug and Gunna arrested in connection with RICO case

The popular rapper Young Thug was arrested in Atlanta on Monday, and faces a slew of accusations from Fulton County’s district attorney, including that he was allegedly a founder and active leader of the violent Young Slime Life street gang.

The 80-plus page indictment charges both Young Thug and another rapper, Gunna, with gang-related crimes, and includes more than 25 others who have allegedly participated in YSL gang activity.

The New York Times reported that the lawyer for Young Thug, whose legal name is Jeffery Williams, said that YSL was not a street gang and claimed that the indictment was “baseless to include him.”

“Mr. Williams came from an incredible horrible upbringing, and he has conducted himself throughout his life in a way that is just to marvel at,” Attorney Brian Steel said.

Ashley Gorley Signs With Sony Music Publishing & Domain Capital Group

Award-winning hit songwriter Ashley Gorley has signed a global agreement with Sony Music Publishing, in partnership with Domain Capital Group. The deal encompasses Gorley’s complete catalog of songs, as well as future compositions.

Gorley is one of the most in-demand songwriters in modern music, with a record-setting 59 No. 1 songs and over 400 songs released by artists such as Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Blake Shelton, Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Cole Swindell, Bon Jovi, Weezer, and more. He has been named ASCAP Songwriter of The Year an unprecedented eight times, and is a five-time Billboard Top Country Songwriter and five-time NSAI Songwriter of The Year.

Of the deal, Sony Music Publishing Nashville CEO, Rusty Gaston, says, “I’ve been a fan of Ashley Gorley’s songwriting since the late ’90s when we both attended Belmont University together. He’s a true music connoisseur in every sense of the word. His diverse influences combined with his genuine heart have led his songs to define the soundtrack of country music. Sony Music Publishing is so proud to partner with Ashley and our friends at Domain Capital to champion this new leg of his historic songwriting journey.”

“Ashley Gorley is undeniably one of the most talented, hard-working and acclaimed songwriters in the world,” adds Domain Capital Group’s Pete Chiappetta. “We are excited to see what he accomplishes next with Jon [Platt], Rusty, Cam [Caldwell] and the rest of the incredible team at Sony. To partner alongside such a passionate and well-respected group of professionals is an honor.”

Gorley’s recent hits include “You Should Probably Leave” by Chris Stapleton, “Sand In My Boots” by Morgan Wallen, and “What’s Your Country Song” by Thomas Rhett. In addition to being a hit writer, Gorley also acts as a publisher. His Tape Room Music has celebrated 35 No. 1 hits.

SONG OF THE WEEK: Misery Index – “Complete Control”

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This Week In Music (May 6, 2022)

From Bad Bunny’s surprise announcement to Soundcloud’s latest acquisition, it’s been another unpredictable week for music news.

April showers gave way to May flowers and a whirlwind week of music news we won’t soon forget. Maybe it’s the warm weather and sunshine or the upcoming summer festival season, but the music biz is thriving at the moment. Deals are being made, hits are being released, and technology is further decreasing the time it takes to go from thinking about your favorite artist to interacting with them. Isn’t the future amazing?

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 MUST-READ MUSIC NEWS OF THE WEEK:

SoundCloud acquires Musiio, an AI music curator, to improve discovery

An online audio sharing platform and streamer, SoundCloud has acquired Musiio, an AI music curation company. With Musiio’s team and technology, SoundCloud plans to strengthen its music discovery features. The terms of the deal are undisclosed.

Based in Singapore and founded in 2018, Musiio built an AI that can “listen” to music faster than any human possibly could, tag the audio and curate playlists. The technology helps predict which songs a listener would want to hear next, and if users spend more time on SoundCloud, then the company ultimately profits.

Major labels control 70% – 87% of tracks on major Spotify playlists

Spotify claims equal access to its playlists, but a new data analyisis by industry consultancy Music Tomorrow shows just how dominate the major labels are of the larger official Spotify playlists.

In its Made to be Found report released earlier this year, Spotify said that in 2020 and 2021 more than 150,000 artists were added to a Spotify offical playlists for the first time.

Deeper in the report, the company found major labels accounted for nearly 70% of the tracks added to Spotify’s ‘New Music Friday’ playlist -30% for UMG and19% each for Sony Music and WMG.

The control majors have over playlists is made clearer when you look at rap. On Spotify’s top hip-hop playlists ‘Rap Caviar’ and ‘Get Turnt’ major label dominance jumped to 86% and then to 87% on the ‘Today’s Top Hits’ and ‘Pop Rising’ playlists.

Spotify Island launches in Roblox, a first for any streaming platform

Roblox fans, pack your bags—Spotify is entering your world. Today, we are introducing Spotify Island, a paradise of sound where fans and artists from all over the world can hang out and explore a wonderland of sounds, quests, and exclusive merch. 

Spotify is the first music-streaming brand to have a presence on Roblox, a virtual universe where users can create and play games and share experiences with friends. Through this interactive world, we’re creating a place where fans can link up and create new sounds together, hang out in digital spaces, and gain access to exclusive virtual merch. Spotify Island is an audio oasis that has it all. 

Roblox users can mingle with artists, complete interactive quests, and unlock exclusive content. Players can also enjoy an immersive audio experience by creating music and exploring sounds at the virtual beat-maker stations powered by Soundtrap. The island will have other musical Easter eggs at every turn for eagle-eyed users to discover. Users can even climb to the top of “The Charts” by collecting points.

Bad Bunny shocks music world with surprise album, Un Verano Sin Ti, due out today (May 6)

After making his first-ever appearances at Tuesday’s Met Gala, Latin superstar Bad Bunny is preparing to release his fifth studio album “Un Verano Sin Ti,” or “A Summer Without You,” at 9 p.m. Pacific on Thursday. It is the follow-up to 2020’s “El Último Tour del Mundo,” which became the first all-Spanish-language album to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican singer released the new album’s artwork and track list on Wednesday morning.

Modeled after a mixtape, “Un Verano Sin Ti” will contain 23 songs split into two “sides.” Featured artists include Puerto Rican reggaetón MCs Chencho Corleone, Tony Dize and Jhay Cortez, as well as rising pop star Rauw Alejandro and indie darlings the Marías and Buscabulla. The Colombian cumbia-pop duo Bomba Estéreo will also guest on a track titled “Ojitos Lindos.”

The album will close with the balmy “Callaíta,” his 2019 summer jam with star producer Tainy.

SONG OF THE WEEK: Stray From The Path – III

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This Week In Music (April 29, 2022)

From Soundcloud’s impressive royalty payments to Lizzo’s Roblox debut, we’ve gathered all the music news fit to print this week.

April is ending on a high note this week, as dozens of incredible artists flood new music Friday with exciting releases that will inspire waves of creativity worldwide. One could argue every new music Friday accomplishes that feat, but something about this week feels special. Maybe it’s the way we watched the world’s richest man spend the equivalent of the US budget for fighting climate change to purchase Twitter, but there is a feeling in the air that anything is possible—as long as you have several billion to spare, of course.

As for us, we’re hard at work on the biggest developments in company history. The bosses tell us we cannot spill the beans, but believe us when we say the future is bright.

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 Need To Know Music News of The Week

Over 75% of artists on Spotify have less than 35 monthly listeners

Spotify loves to promote having 8 million creators on its platform, but Music Business Worldwide has learned some startling truths about the activity of those musicians. Notably, the site found that only 21.6% of all artists on the app have more than 50 monthly listeners, and only 7% have more than 1,000.

Lizzo and GAYLE will perform in ‘Roblox’ for the Song Breaker Awards

Logitech has announced its second annual Logitech Song Breaker Awards will be hosted in Roblox and will feature a performance by Lizzo.

The Song Breaker Awards will premiere in Roblox on Saturday, April 30, and will be hosted by YouTuber and TikTok entertainer Bretman Rock, along with multi-Grammy Award-winning artist Lizzo, who will debut her metaverse performance.

“I’m excited to be making my metaverse debut with Logitech and to be performing ‘Special,’ which is a song that means so much to me,” said Lizzo. “As a musician and creator, I love that [the] Logitech Song Breaker Awards show recognizes the unique talent of all creators, and how each of them are making an impact on pop culture and music.”

Warner Music launching podcast network Interval Presents

Warner Music Group has launched a podcast network that will include a slate of shows hosted by Lupita Nyong’o, Jason Derulo and Billy Mann. Called Interval Presents, the network is led by Allan Coye, WMG’s senior vp digital strategy and business development, and will focus on developing podcasts with subjects at the intersections of music, pop culture and social impact, the company said on Tuesday.

Nyong’o’s podcast, produced by Snap Judgment, will explore the African diaspora through the lens of nonfiction storytelling. Derulo will star in a fictional romance show with noir influences, while Mann will speak with other artists about failure and overcoming adversity.

WMG has also partnered with Snap Judgment, Awfully Nice and Double Elvis to create content for the podcast network. Upcoming podcasts will include a series from Double Elvis that explores the impact communities of color have had on entertainment mediums like radio, print and TV, while another series from the production company will tell the history of major Warner Music artists like Aretha Franklin.

Soundcloud announces ‘Fan-Powered Friday’ Event

To celebrate one year of their fan-powered platform, SoundCloud is launching ‘Fan-Powered Friday – a one-day event on Friday, April 29th that invites fans to stream music from their favorite independent artists all day long, and SoundCloud will double the artist’s payout — matching 100% of the revenue earned that day. 

Think about that for a second. Soundcloud will match every cent earned by artists on its platform this Friday, April 29. Such an undertaking would be crazy for any label to attempt, let alone a streaming service boasting thousands of artists. Nothing like this has been attempted at such scale previously, except for Bandcamp Fridays, and even that isn’t a far comparison.

In addition to announcing Fan-Powered Friday, Soundcloud shared several data insights from the first year of their new royalties system:

  • On average, independent artists earn 60% more through Fan-Powered Royalties v. the traditional pro-rata model 
  • Communities are feeling the love from fans: artists from scenes like Tribal House and Neo-Soul, and the collective Soulection, earned 2X more 
  • Fans are making an impact by supporting the artists they love: there was a 97% increase in fans contributing more than $5 to a single artist 
  • Fan-Powered Royalties contributed to the growth of the number of independent artists monetizing on SoundCloud by 30% (March 2021-present)

What remains to be seen is whether or not another streaming service will follow Soundcloud’s lead and offer fan-powered royalties.

Roger Daltrey says the music industry has been “stolen” from artists

Roger Daltrey has said he believes that the music industry has been “stolen” from artists during a recent interview.

Speaking to The Independent, the frontman of The Who claimed that the band’s 2019 studio album ‘WHO’ left him £10,000 out of pocket. “Musicians cannot earn a living in the record industry anymore,” Daltrey told the publication.

“That is ridiculous, and they’re being robbed blind by streaming and the record companies, because the old deals with record companies that existed in the Seventies, Eighties and Nineties, they’re still working on the same percentage breaks.”

SONG OF THE WEEK: Caliban – “Alien”

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This Week In Music (April 22, 2022)

From Walmart’s upcoming music festival to Wu-Tang entering Fortnite, we’ve gathered all the music news fit to print from the third full week of April.

If you’re reading this, you made it. The third week of April 2022 came and went like fury, but you remain undefeated in your quest for music business longevity. You’ve accepted that each setback is another opportunity for growth, and you appreciate each victory because you understand what it took to make it this far. We’re proud of you. Hopefully, you’re proud of yourself as well.

As for us, we’re hard at work on the biggest developments in company history. The bosses tell us we cannot spill the beans, but believe us when we say the future is bright.

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 Stories In Music This Week

Is The Resurgence Of Vinyl Records Good News For The Environment?

Tomorrow (23 April) is Record Store Day, which is a chance for music lovers around the world to unite and indulge in their favourite pastime, without fear, judgement or next month’s credit card statement.

Researchers at Keele University estimate vinyl records typically contain around 135g of PVC material with a carbon footprint of 0.5kg of CO2.

Based on that calculation, sales of 4.1m records would produce 1,900 tonnes of CO2, which does not take transport and packaging into account.

The music business, like many other sectors after COP26 is keen to flex its sustainability muscles, so should more be done to promote more eco-friendly ways to produce vinyl and enjoy the music we all love.

Simon Parker, the founder of eco-friendly record club Naked, said he had always been aware that he’d been selling records made from plastic, but it had never caused him serious concern because most vinyl records enjoy such a long lifespan.

“I don’t think vinyl records are something people think of as a product with an environmental impact,” he told Forbes. “They’ve been around for such a long time that we take their existence for granted. But when we started looking into it, we soon realised there was a problem.”

Walmart Heirs Hoping To Launch Arkansas Music Festival

Names like Coachella and Bonnaroo are fixtures of the music and arts festivals scene. But one newcomer is about to enter the mix, with the help of none other than America’s richest family.

Members of the Walton family, heirs to the Walmart fortune, are helping to launch a new art and music festival later this year, The Wall Street Journal reports. The event is known as FORMAT, short for For Music + Art + Technology, and it will kick off during the weekend of September 23.

Its launch is being led by two grandsons of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Steuart and Tom Walton, and the latter’s wife, Olivia Walton. They’re working with creative firm Triadic and Lollapalooza concert promoter C3 Presents on the festival, according to the Journal.

FORMAT will take place on a 300-acre field surrounded by woods belonging to the Waltons in Walmart’s birthplace of Bentonville, Arkansas; there will be 400 camping sites on the festival’s grounds. The event will target an older demographic than the typical music and arts festival, welcoming up to 17,000 guests in their 30s and 40s, with tickets starting at $275, the Journal reports.

Wu-Tang is coming to Fortnite

It may not be a sequel to Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style, but it’s something: the Wu-Tang Clan is coming to Fortnite with a new clothing collection. The iconic members of the hip-hop supergroup aren’t coming to the game themselves; instead, players will be able to buy Wu-Wear gear in the Fortnite item shop starting April 23rd at 8PM ET. There will be two different outfits available, along with some Wu-Tang accessories like reactive backpacks and, naturally, a Wu-Tang hands emote.

Warner Nashville Succession Plan to Proceed in 2023, With John Esposito Taking Emeritus Role

As expected, Warner Music Nashville’s chairman-CEO John Esposito — widely known in Music City as just “Espo” — will move to an emeritus role in 2023 in a long-talked-about succession plan that will see his two key lieutenants moving into more elevated roles, a source close to the situation confirms to Variety. The move is expected to be formally announced within the next few weeks.

The label’s two current executive vice presidents, Ben Kline and Cris Lacy, are expected to pair up and together assume Esposito’s chairman-CEO roles at the label, as has been expected since they were promoted to their current posts in 2019. Billboard reported the news early Tuesday; a rep for Warner declined comment.

The move comes as no surprise, since Esposito has long said that he foresaw Kline and Lacy succeeding him. Having previously said he could never see retiring altogether, Esposito is expected to stay on in an oversight role.

RIP Cynthia “Plaster Caster” Albritton

Cynthia “Plaster Caster” Albritton, an artist whose best-known work her sculptures of male rockers members has died at 74. Representatives for the sculptor and self-described “recovering groupie” confirmed the news to Variety, reporting that Albritton died in her home town of Chicago on Thursday (April 21) after a long illness.

Caster became famous for her molds of body parts, including the penises of Jimi Hendrix and his bassist, Noel Redding, the Animals’ Eric Burdon, a variety of rock tour and road managers, the MC5s Wayne Cramer and Dennis Thompson, singer Anthony Newley, the Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, the Buzzcocks’ Pete Shelley and more than 40 other filmmakers and rock-adjacent figures.

Spotify Makes Video Podcasting Available to All Creators via Anchor

Spotify’s evolution into video continues with a new development available to millions of creators worldwide. This week, Video Podcasts are open to all Anchor creators in the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Like their audio counterparts, video creators can reach millions of people on Spotify and leverage exclusive monetization offerings—including Spotify’s Podcast Subscriptions—to turn Video Podcasts into a new source of income. Fans, meanwhile, have the option to either view episodes front-and-center or seamlessly switch them to the background for on-the-go listening.

New features include:

  • Podcast Subscriptions: Spotify Podcast Subscriptions will be available for video podcasts, empowering creators to own their monetization model by creating exclusive content, gating video, and more.
  • Free Integration with Riverside: Spotiify has partnered with Riverside – a platform for remote audio and video recording. The integration enables creators to record and publish video content for free with Riverside, with a quick distribution path to Spotify via Anchor.
  • Embeddable video: Now, when you embed a Video Podcast episode from Spotify, the video will play directly in the embed player wherever you placed it.
  • Video Bulk-Replace: Bulk-replace allows Anchor creators to easily replace their existing audio episodes with video versions from an easy-to-use interface,
  • Video Analytics: Video-specific analytics will give creators deep insights into their videos’ performance on Spotify, enabling them to better understand their audience and publish content suited to them.
  • Interactive capabilities: Interactive podcast features, like Polls and Q&A, will be available for Video Podcasts, so creators can connect with and get feedback directly from their listeners.

SONG OF THE WEEK: Undeath – “Defiled Again”

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Spotify Is Testing A TikTok-Like Discovery Feature

Spotify continues to test a long-rumored discovery feature that looks a lot like your TikTok discovery feed.

First came Snapchat stories, and soon, every social media platform on the planet had a stories-like feature. Now, we have TikTok’s discovery feed, and soon, even Spotify will have a feed of its own.

Spotify is currently testing a personalized feed on the app’s home screen, which introduces users to new music through a feed of canvas loops (AKA, those GIFs that appear when you’re listening to certain songs).

If that news sounds familiar, we reported something similar back in November 2021. Twitter user Chris Messina shared screenshots from a test version of Spotify that included a new feature called ‘Discover.’ At the time, the feature appeared as a menu option anchored to the bottom of the app.

https://twitter.com/chrismessina/status/1463542227636867073

Like TikTok, Spotify’s Discover tool will showcase music and the accompanying Canvas clip in a vertical feed. Users will then be able to decide whether or not to listen further. Each decision will influence the algorithm’s recommendations, strengthening Spotify’s ability to give users exactly what they (don’t know they) want.

Every day, this feed — which is currently testing in the U.K., Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada — will recommend 15 songs. If you see a track you like on this feed, you can add the song to a playlist, follow the artist or share it on your social channels.

Spotify has not provided a release date for Discover, but we expect it to launch in 2022. In the meantime, watch our video coverage of Discover from late 2021:

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This Week In Music (March 25)

From Pusha T’s lyrical battle with McDonald’s to Rock’s presence at Lollapalooza, it’s been another wild week in the music business.

Spring is here, and music professionals everywhere are scrambling to prepare for the busiest summer of the 2020s. After two years of lockdown, people are ready to get in the pit and try to love someone, and musicians are more than happy to oblige. We’re doing our part to contribute to the chaos, and we hope the same is true for you. Whether it’s a good week or a bad one, you made it this far, which should be a pride point. There’s always tomorrow.

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 STORIES OF THE WEEK

Pusha T and Arby’s partner for “Spicy Fish Diss” aimed at McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwich “I’m Loving It” tagline

Pusha T is coming back at McDonald’s with extra beef. The rap icon says he only received one check for writing the Golden Arches’ long-running “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle, and he’s now out for revenge with the new Arby’s cut, “Spicy Fish Diss.”

The actual credit for “I’m Lovin’ It,” is famously disputed. When the song first appeared in a 2003 commercial, Justin Timberlake sang the hook and Pusha T rapped, while Pharrell Williams, Tom Batoy, Franco Tortora, and Andreas Forberger received credit for writing the tune. But in 2016, marketing CEO Steve Stoute revealed that Clipse — Pusha T and his brother No Malice — were the authors of that irresistible, “Ba da ba ba ba.”

Pusha T agrees. “I am solely responsible for the ’I’m Lovin‘ It’ swag and the jingle of that company,” he told Rolling Stone. “That’s just real. I am the reason.”

The return of rock continues as Metallica, Green Day, Lorna Shore, Turnstile, and more appear on Lollapalooza lineup

Lollapalooza is back for another year in Chicago, this time pulling in metal legends Metallica to top the entire bill for the music weekend, while Green Day and Machine Gun Kelly are also among the “big letter” names atop the 2022 lineup.

While Lollapalooza has always prided itself on providing an eclectic lineup, there is plenty of hard rock and metal to see over the four day weekend at Chicago’s Grant Park July 28-31. In addition to the three aforementioned acts, fans will be able to take in sets from Idles, Turnstile, Willow, Royal Blood, Maneskin, Dashboard Confessional, Wet Leg, The Wombats, The Regrettes, Kennyhoopla, Gayle, Taipei Houston, Giovannie and the Hired Guns, Lorna Shore and Meet Me @ the Altar among many other acts.

Shazam Adds Concert Discovery Feature

Shazam, an app popular for identifying the music source by just listening to a few seconds of audio, has added another cool trick to its kitty. The Apple-owned app now offers a neat concert discovery feature that doles out information about any upcoming concerts and tickets for a nearby show featuring the song it just looked up, or the artist behind it.

Talking about artists, Shazam users can now head over to an artist’s page in the app to check out time and venue details of their upcoming live shows, tour calendar, and other relevant concert details. Moreover, there’s also an option to mark the dates of interest in one’s own calendar.

The dedicated concert pages are now available on the official Shazam website, and in the mobile apps for both Android and iOS. The app is sourcing all that information from Bandsintown, a platform for cataloging music events used by everyone from music fans to artists and event managers.

SONY and Roblox partner for 24KGoldn concert

Roblox and Sony announced that music artist 24kGoldn will perform a virtual concert inside the platform for user-generated content.

It’s just one more sign that brands and musical performers are drawn to Roblox’s platform, which attracts more than 55 million people a day. And Roblox wants to expand beyond games to broader entertainment as part of its mission to provide a metaverse for fans. Roblox is a pretty good contender for the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected, like in novels such as Snow Crash and Ready Player One.

The 24kGoldn El Dorado Concert Experience will take place in Roblox on Friday, March 25 at 4 p.m. Pacific time.

Spotify and Google announce User Choice Billing Option

Today, we are excited to announce a new chapter in our partnership with Google: a multiyear agreement that represents a first-of-its-kind option in payment choice and offers opportunities for both consumers and developers.  

Users who’ve downloaded Spotify from the Google Play Store will be presented with a choice to pay with either Spotify’s payment system or with Google Play Billing. For the first time, these two options will live side by side in the app. This will give everyone the freedom to subscribe and make purchases using the payment option of their choice directly in the Spotify app. Spotify will continue to freely communicate with users about our Premium subscription service, promote discounts and promotions, and give listeners on our Free tier the ability to convert to Premium directly in the app. 

Over the coming months, Spotify will work with Google’s product and engineering teams to build this new experience, and we’ll roll out in countries around the world. Working together, the companies will test and learn, jointly exploring product innovations across the Android platform. We anticipate launching the first iteration of User Choice Billing later this year.  

SONG OF THE WEEK: Morgan Wade – “Take Me Away”

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This Week In Music (March 18, 2022)

From Spotify’s headline-grabbing sponsorship to TikTok’s latest feature, its been another wild week in the music business.

The third full week of March 2022 did not disappoint. While thousands gathered in Texas for South by Southwest, the biggest companies in music made moves that will shape the future of our business. From new ways to connect with fans to the latest billion-dollar valuation, the stories we’ve gathered this week showcase an industry very much in a state of evolution.

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 what the end of the month will hold.

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

Spotify’s $310m Barcelona sponsorship is more than it ever paid an artist in royalties.

This week (March 15), Spotify announced that it had struck a major four-year sponsorship agreement with Barcelona. The deal will see Spotify’s logo splashed across the Spanish football/soccer giant’s shirts from July 1, resulting in the world-famous stadium, the Camp Nou, being rebranded with Spotify’s name.

The cost of this sponsorship? $310 Million.

Our friends at MBW decided to see which, if any, artists had made that much money from streaming their music on Spotify. The answer may (not) surprise you.

Linktree valued at $1.3billion (and its worth every cent)

Linktree, the company that makes landing pages that can provide a host of links to other sites and is most popular on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, has been valued at $1.3 billion.

Who knew that websites that only allow users to put one URL in their profiles (think Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok) would end up spawning a startup worth over a billion dollars? While it is entirely reliant on these services retaining this limitation, it hasn’t stopped Linktree’s continued success at finding funding at incredible valuations for a company with what is basically one subscription-based product.

That said, Linktree claims it has helped 1.7 million people drive 1.2 billion clicks to commerce-related websites in the last year alone.

TikTok is rolling out a Snapchat-style Stories feature

Snapchat’s stories feature has revolutionized social media. The short-lived update feature for friends and followers has been copied by virtually every other social media platform in existence, including—as of this week—TikTok.

In a statement provided to TechCrunch, TikTok noted that “Currently, we’re expanding a pilot test, which provides creators with additional formats to bring their creative ideas to life for the TikTok community,” although that doesn’t say how many users are currently included in the test or what the future rollout of the feature will look like.

Adding a video or photo to a story works extremely similarly to taking a photo or video for TikTok’s standard feature, with the same editing tools, effects, filters, and sounds. Unlike a regular TikTok video, though, stories won’t show up directly on your profile or feed and disappear after 24 hours.

Global Recorded Music Revenue Hit $28.8 Billion in 2021, According to Midia

Global recorded music revenues are estimated to have grown by 24.7%, to $28.8 billion in 2021. That’s according to a new report from Midia, published today (March 18), a few days ahead of the release of IFPI’s Global Music Report. Midia says that the 24.7% increase in 2021 represented the market’s “largest annual growth in modern times”.

WinAmp joins the NFT marketplace, and its founder hates it

Announced to widespread derision on Wednesday, Winamp will auction off the media player’s original skin as a one-of-one NFT on OpenSea, with bidding to start on May 16 and run until May 22. It then intends to sell 20 more artworks starting from May 23, all of them duplicated around 100 times to create 1997 NFTs in total (a nod to the year the program launched). Each will cost 0.08 ETH, which is approximately $225 at the current conversion rate, so if all 1997 NFTs are sold it would total almost $450,000. 

SONG OF THE WEEK: Bad Wolves – “If Tomorrow Never Comes”

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How The Pocket Gods Fought Streaming Royalties And Won [Video]

A clever marketing decision from UK rock band The Pocket Gods has launched the group into the global music spotlight and brought much-needed attention to concerns over streaming royalties.

Spotify finds itself in a lot of hot water right now. The streaming giant is currently embroiled in a battle over misinformation and free speech centered around controversial podcast host Joe Rogan that has, to date, involved multiple rock legends and even earned a response from the White House. In addition to this, the Daniel Ek founded platform is battling several protests from artists worldwide concerned over the minuscule royalty rate offered by Spotify. While Joe Rogan earns $100million, musicians earn roughly $0.004 per stream before splitting that money with their team.

Longtime Haulix clients The Pocket Gods have developed a unique solution to their problems with Spotify. The English rock band is currently making headlines with plans to record and release a 1,000 track album comprised entirely of 30-second songs. The tracks are long enough to be counted as legitimate streams by Spotify but run much shorter than the average song.

The Pocket Gods were inspired to attempt this undertaking after reading an article in The Independent from professor Mike Errico. He said that Spotify’s methods surrounding what constitutes a song—otherwise known as their decision to count plays after 30-seconds—could signal the end of the three-minute pop song.

“I saw the article, and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds?’” The Pocket Gods frontman Mark Christopher Lee told i News.

The new album – ‘1000×30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore’ – directly references Spotify’s business model, and as such, Lee says that it means the band “run the risk of being thrown off the platform.”

Of the process of writing the album, he added: “We wrote and recorded 1,000 songs, each a shade over 30 seconds long for the album. The longest is 36 seconds. It is designed to raise awareness about the campaign for fair royalty rates.”

The logic behind Errico’s original story and The Pocket Gods’ new material is sound. If an artist stands to make the same amount of money for a 30-second song as they do from one that runs several minutes in length, then what is the value proposition of making longer songs? When it takes the same amount of time to consume one modern pop song in full as it does to hear 4-6 tracks of The Pocket Gods’ record, any artist hoping to make money will see the value in writing shorter material.

“Spotify is a great musical resource, and it allows indie bands like us to upload our music without record companies,” the frontman added. “I also believe in free speech even though I’m a massive Neil Young fan, so I don’t support the boycott. We just want to raise awareness of the royalties issue.”

This week, Music Biz host James Shotwell connected with Pocket Gods’ Mark Christopher Lee for a quick chat about the album, the response, and where the band goes from here. Check it out:

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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Industry News News

This Week In Music (February 18, 2022)

From YouTube’s Ad Revenue to Kanye’s plans to keep ‘Donda 2‘ off streaming platforms, it’s been another crazy week in the music business.

After six weeks of uncertainty, it’s safe to say the music business is back in action at full capacity. The second full week of February has been filled with major shifts in tech, massive tour announcements, and new insight into the possibilities of Web3 that give us hope for the future of our industry.

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

Spotify’s Joe Rogan Problem Continues (For A Third Week)

Just when the controversy surrounding Joe Rogan and Spotify was beginning to quiet this week, a new report from The New York Times has thrown gas on the fire. According to the story, sources inside the streaming giant now say that Rogan’s exclusivity deal was worth north of $200 million—more than $100 million more than previously reported.

Spotify notoriously pays artists roughly $0.004 per song stream. Based on that, it would take approximately 50 BILLION song streams for a musician to make that much money from Spotify.

You could also consider that 50 billion songs are streamed before Spotify pays $200 million to musicians, but the company had no issue paying one person that much for their podcast.

Kanye West says Donda 2 won’t be available on streaming services

Kanye West will release his highly-anticipated new album Donda 2 on February 22 (2-22-22). To date, two songs allegedly off the project have found their way online (“Eazy” and “City of Gods”), but fans may have to work harder to hear the full project. According to West’s Instagram post on Thursday, February 17, Donda 2 will only be available for Kanye’s stem player.

“Donda 2 will only be available on my own platform, the Stem Player,” he wrote. “Not on Apple Amazon Spotify or YouTube. Today artists get just 12% of the money the industry makes. It’s time to free music from this oppressive system. It’s time to take control and build our own.” An order page for the Stem Player is currently live; it currently costs $200.

Ticketmaster and Snapchat partner on Ticketmatcher

Snapchat is partnering with Ticketmaster to launch a new way for users to discover live entertainment events within the Snap Map, the company announced on Wednesday. The new feature will be accessible through a new in-app Mini. For context, Snap Minis are third-party programs that live inside Snapchat’s Chat section. The new “Ticketmatcher Mini” matches users with events they might be interested in based on their preferences.

To get started, users can access the Ticketmatcher Mini through the rocket icon in the Chat section of the app. From there, users will be promoted with a brief survey to gauge their interests. The app will then display suggested upcoming shows based on your preferences that you can swipe left and right to browse through. The company sees this as a reimagined dating app that pairs users with interesting events as opposed to partners.

YouTube Ad Revenue Turns Heads

YouTube has long been one of the leading music discovery and consumption sources. The industry loves how easy the platform makes it to stream your favorite artists and discover similar new talent. However, YouTube also offers the lowest royalty rates of any digital music service, which has been a thorn in the side of musicians and professionals alike for years.

This week, the industry got an idea of how much revenue YouTube generates from its content. According to a report from MBW, YouTube is making close to $100 million every day from ad revenue. In fact, having generated $20.21 billion from ads in the first nine months of 2021 and $8.63 billion in Q4, YouTube’s total ads business across the 12 months of 2021 raked in a whopping $28.84 billion.

The Music Industry Still Fears Piracy in 2022

Remember Napster? The idea of downloading illegal MP3s of a new album when services such as Spotify and Apple Music exist may seem anachronistic in 2022. Still, piracy is a threat many continue to fear. As Forbes highlighted this week, a recent report found piracy in 2021 was up more than 15% compared to 2020, and many believe it will continue to worsen.

Snoop Dogg ends Super Bowl week having sold $44 million in “Stash Box” NFTs

It must be nice to be Snoop Dogg. Not only is the living rap legend a beloved pop culture icon worldwide, but he recently celebrated the release of his twentieth studio album, bought Death Row Records, and performed during one of the most critically-acclaimed Super Bowl halftime shows of all time. That alone is worthy of celebration, but Snoop also found success this week in the metaverse. According to reports, Snoop’s “Stash Box” NFT collection, which was released alongside his album, has generated more than $40 million in sales this week. That’s going to fill a lot of doggy bags.

Song Of The Week: Simple Plan- “Ruin My Life” feat. Deryck Whibley 

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News

Band Protests Spotify With 1,000 Track Album of 30-Second Songs

Haulix clients The Pocket Gods are taking on the biggest music streaming platform on Earth by plotting an album tailor-made to extort a loophole in Spotify’s rules.

Spotify finds itself in a lot of hot water right now. The streaming giant is currently embroiled in a battle over misinformation and free speech centered around controversial podcast host Joe Rogan that has, to date, involved multiple rock legends and even earned a response from the White House. In addition to this, the Daniel Ek founded platform is battling several protests from artists worldwide concerned over the minuscule royalty rate offered by Spotify. While Joe Rogan earns $100million, musicians earn roughly $0.004 per stream before splitting that money with their team.

Longtime Haulix clients The Pocket Gods have developed a unique solution to their problems with Spotify. The English rock band is currently making headlines with plans to record and release a 1,000 track album comprised entirely of 30-second songs. The tracks are long enough to be counted as legitimate streams by Spotify but run much shorter than the average song.

The Pocket Gods were inspired to attempt this undertaking after reading an article in The Independent from professor Mike Errico. He said that Spotify’s methods surrounding what constitutes a song—otherwise known as their decision to count plays after 30-seconds—could signal the end of the three-minute pop song.

“I saw the article, and it made me think, ‘Why write longer songs when we get paid little enough for just 30 seconds?'” The Pocket Gods frontman Mark Christopher Lee told i News.

The new album – ‘1000×30 – Nobody Makes Money Anymore’ – directly references Spotify’s business model, and as such, Lee says that it means the band “run the risk of being thrown off the platform.”

Of the process of writing the album, he added: “We wrote and recorded 1,000 songs, each a shade over 30 seconds long for the album. The longest is 36 seconds. It is designed to raise awareness about the campaign for fair royalty rates.”

The logic behind Errico’s original story and The Pocket Gods’ new material is sound. If an artist stands to make the same amount of money for a 30-second song as they do from one that runs several minutes in length, then what is the value proposition of making longer songs? When it takes the same amount of time to consume one modern pop song in full as it does to hear 4-6 tracks of The Pocket Gods’ record, any artist hoping to make money will see the value in writing shorter material.

“Spotify is a great musical resource, and it allows indie bands like us to upload our music without record companies,” the frontman added. “I also believe in free speech even though I’m a massive Neil Young fan, so I don’t support the boycott. We just want to raise awareness of the royalties issue.”

If you agree with The Pocket Gods, the time to act is now. Spotify and other major streaming services recently proposed the “lowest royalty rates in history,” and many believe not enough is being done to fight back.

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