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Google Is Sending You More Traffic Than Facebook and more...Google Is Sending You More Traffic Than Facebook In the first week of February, Google sent publishers 40% more or 466 million more pageviews than it did in January 2017. That same week, Facebook sent 200 million fewer, or 20% less. This shift is happening as Facebook adjust its algorithm to prioritize posts from friends and family over business, bands and publishers.
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Chartbeat data via Recode
          
Music Manager, Marketer Timothy Collins Talks Strategy In this interview Swedish twenty-two year old manager and digital strategist Timothy Collins discusses his company UNLTD, the importance of innovation, and the challenge of breaking through the social media landscape.
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Guest post by Veselina Gerova of The Message
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?
My name is Timothy Collins, 22 y/o from Sweden. I'm the Head Of Digital Strategies at UNLTD and the manager of artist and writer Kiaan and MIO under At Night Management.
My main interest lies within finding new ways to break through the noise of today's media landscape through growth hacking initiatives and creative actions as well as being a huge music lover. In my spare time I go rock climbing, experiment with social media projects and write music.
Also, can you tell us a bit about the company you work for?
The company was formed and founded in 2008 by Ash Pournouri through the success of Avicii. Since then we have developed into a much broader company than we were at the beginning; initially it was a management company. Today, UNLTD is a modern media house, record label, music publisher, event organizer, artist booking agency and much more.
What is your position there?
Head Of Digital Strategies, Manager.
Working with artists on the digital marketing side of things requires you to help artists build a strong brand. How important do you think it is for musicians to reach and connect with their fans directly online?
I believe it's extremely important, especially given how things are today in the modern music-consumers' life. We don't listen to artists the same way we once did, it's a much more singles-driven market which makes the interest of the person behind the music much lower than ever before.
That means it's super important for artists to nurture and really care about the relationship they build or can build with the fans that actually care about their brand.
Is it important for musicians these days to be innovative when it comes to technology? If so, why?
One hundred percent. Now, more than ever, it's easier to reach audiences that were previously impossible to reach. You can currently do that with very little resources compared to what you needed before in order to successfully market your music.
Today, if you have 500 bucks and a creative mind you can make A LOT happen just by spending the money wisely as well as using the right tools/apps. You are able to generate an insane amount of reach and buzz, but you just need to get creative!
Speaking of innovation, there has been quite some hype around messaging lately. Do you think that a Messenger bot is a good way for artists to connect with their fans online directly?
I do believe it's a good way, as long as you make it clear for the audience that they aren't really having a conversation with the real artist. I personally believe that the bot service is a great thing for established artists to help their fans keep track of what's going on.
However, I would always suggest for the artists to find a way to be personal and take their time to answer questions coming from real and devoted fans themselves and not ONLY automating the process. Bots are a great thing, as long as they don't entirely replace the personal connection you as an artist should create with your fans and followers.
What can musicians use a Messenger bot for?
It's a great way of letting your fans know what's going on through more personal push-notifications, providing information in an easy-to-consume way and also letting them interact "with you" in a more fun way.
How do Messenger bots differ from social media posts in your opinion?
Anything that has to do with direct interaction is great. This creates a more personal experience as well as it actually makes people remember you better. A message through a regular post is too ordinary and common today — therefore, using bots can help break through the noise with certain messaging sometimes.
What are the marketing advantages of having a Messenger bot? (for artists)
It's hassle free, automated, time efficient as well as timely — you can let your fans know what will happen and what you want them to know exactly when you want them to know it.
Do you think a Messenger bot can help with one's brand building? If so, why/how?
Sure! You become "top-of-mind" to your followers when you have a simpler process of reaching out to them. Using bots is also sort of a statement when it comes to being more in tune with the technical advances of today's communication — so in the least, it makes you look trendy and like you know your stuff.
Symphonic Adds Former Beatport Exec Peter Wohelski Symphonic Distribution has hired industry veteran Peter Wohelski as its Content Development Specialist. Wohelski had been the Senior Label Manager at Beatport after stints as Director of A&R at Astralwerks and General Manager at Planet E Communications.
Peter Wohelski
The hire comes after the digital music distributor secured a $4 million investment from Ballast Point Ventures (BPV) late last year. Founded in 2006 by CEO Jorge Brea in Tampa, FL, Symphonic digitally distributes music to over 300 retail and streaming platforms, for thousands of labels and artists worldwide. Symphonic has staked out its place in the competitive music distribution sector as a fully independent flat fee "artist first" distribution solution with a variety of flexible services and payment options. "I am excited to have Peter Wohelski as a part of the Symphonic Distribution team," said Brea. "With a recent fundraise and one of our strongest years to date, Symphonic is poised to be repositioned as one of the world's leading music distribution services. Adding Peter will help us redefine our product and service offerings as well as ensure that our current and future record label and artist clients have an experienced industry leader to lean on for their development." "Having worked closely with Jorge Brea and Symphonic at during my time at Beatport, I've always admired the company's continual ability to evolve and successfully compete as an agile player in today's independent music distribution marketplace. I'm delighted to now be a central part of the Symphonic team as the company looks to further evolve and reposition itself into an even more robust music media distribution and solutions service for independent artists and record labels," said Wohelski. Streaming Platforms Are Changing Music Promotion, Discovery: Here's How While streaming has revitalized the music industry in lots of ways, many artists continue to struggle to make ends meet, something which the launch of numerous new analytic and discovery features by streaming services could help to change.
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Guest post by Patrick McGuire of the TuneCore Blog[Editors Note: This article was written by Patrick McGuire.] As music streaming giants like Spotify and Apple Music continue to transform and revitalize the music industry, artists are just beginning to fully comprehend the seemingly limitless potential of new music discovery and promotion technology in 2018's musical landscape. Songwriters and musicians continue to struggle to financially cope in a world with that's almost completely shifted to streaming music over owning it seemingly overnight, but a slew of new analytic and discovery features delivered by streaming platforms could be the silver lining artists have been waiting for.  Spotify, who has yet to make a profit as a company, isn't able to pay compensate an artist much money when one of their songs gets streamed through their platform, but they are able to help in other ways. Through tools like their Discover Weekly playlist, Spotify has made significant investments in helping new music find an audience. A thoughtful mixture of human curation and algorithm genius is helping new and unknown artists connect and resonate with fans in ways that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Will 100,000 plays on a big streaming platform earn a band enough money to pay all of their bills? No, but that sort of exposure might give a new artist enough attention to find opportunities that can.The music industry's newfound collective acceptance of music streaming is one of the driving factors behind what many are calling music's big comeback, but new opportunities for exposure and promotion ushered in by streaming platforms and playlist culture deserves a good amount of the credit. Last summer, an article published by The Guardian profiled a Venezuelan singer named Danny Ocean, an artist whose career was launched by Spotify. In a matter of months, the Latin star went from being completely unknown to having a smash hit with over 261 million plays through Spotify alone. Spotify's technology was able to detect interest in Ocean's single after its release, so it added the song to a few of its popular playlists and the rest is history. Songwriter Ron Pope has a similar rags to riches story. The Georgia native apparently earned over $250k from streaming alone in 2014 without significant radioplay and help from a label. The incredible breakout success stories of these artists is one that would be simply unthinkable just a decade ago. With big music streaming players increasingly lending a hand to small artists, the music promotion sector the music industry may need to rethink their strategy. In addition to helping to launch undiscovered new musical talent in a perpetual quest to satiate the music-addicted masses, streaming platforms are now able to give artists analytic insights and helpful information about their listeners that they used to have to pay good money for. For example, a college or alternative radio campaign usually runs bands anywhere from $1,500 to $10,000. The main purpose of these campaigns is to physically submit an artist's music for possible airplay, but a huge benefit they deliver are detailed insights into which stations have started playing the music, where they're located and how often they're playing it. Streaming platforms are now offering up this and other helpful information to artists for absolutely free. Radio continues to be a major source for music discovery, but with the trend of many influential stations curating playlists replicating the material they play over the air, the free analytic information artists can get from major streaming platforms can help them gain powerful insights about their unique audiences. With these free resources, artists can track the success of their individual songs, book tours based around countries and cities their music is being played in the most and can even see information as detailed as what gender their listeners are. Shortly after the birth of social media, platforms like Myspace and then later Facebook were the ones mostly responsible for hosting the party as far as where audiences went to listen to an artist's music, learn about them from their bio and find out about their shows. But in 2018, the party is swiftly moving over to streaming platforms. In addition to helping artists connect with and learn about listeners, major streaming platforms now provide customizable profile features like pictures, concert listings and even merchandise store options. Essentially, big streaming companies are now helping artists condense and leverage their virtual presences in ways that non-musical social media platforms have never been able to do. Just a couple of years ago, most people used Facebook pages to learn about and keep up with bands, but now fans can do all that directly from the sources they discover and consume music. But while some musicians and writers are rejoicing over the new features and benefits streaming platforms are offering artists, others continue to feel the strain of diminishing record sales and fear the possibility that the artform of the album will be replaced by playlists. While no one can predict the future, the music industry's sweeping irreversible transformation is a certainty, and those who learn to adapt will fare better than those who dig their heels in and wish for a pre-streaming era to return. Patrick McGuire is a writer, composer, and experienced touring musician based in Philadelphia.
The Most Important Lesson Learned On Tour Here a touring artist shares a tale of woe from the road, detailing the financial disaster which can await any band or artist heading out on tour, and just how bad it can get.
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In this latest post from MusicThinkTank, Daniel Matthews details a nightmarish account of how a band on the road can end up incurring massive crippling debt.
Gibson Is On The Edge Of Bankruptcy Gibson is weeks away from a forced bankruptcy, according to multiple reports and analysts familiar with the company. "At the end of the day, someone will take control of this company - be it the debtors or the bondholders," Debtwire reporter Reshmi Basu told the Nashville Post. "This has been a long time coming."
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 After just a year on the job, CFO Bill Lawrence has exited the company months before $375 million of senior secured notes will mature alongside a $145 million in bank loans that come due immediately if the notes are not refinanced by July 23. Refinancing on these notes, which were issued in 2013, seems increasingly unlikely according to analysts. "This year is critical and they are running out of time — rapidly," said Kevin Cassidy, a senior credit officer at Moody's Investors Service who downgraded Gibson's debt rating last summer. "And if this ends in bankruptcy, he will give up the entire company." "Some type of restructuring will be necessary," Cassidy said. "The core business is a very stable business, and a sustainable one. But you have a balance sheet problem and an operational problem." Neil Young On The Death Of The Pono Music Service A year after announcing the demise of his portable music player Pono, Canadian rocker Neil Young is still beating the music quality drum with the launch of a new music streaming service, the Neil Young Archives.  The Neil Young Archive is a collection of hundreds of tracks from Young's albums and live performances, all streamed at a rate that is much higher than the standard streaming rate of 320 kilobits per second. "The thing is, I want the sound of music to come back — and it's gone," Young told the Chicago Tribune in a recent interview. "CDs have less than 20% of the quality that music could be, and MP3s in most cases have only about 5% of what's on the master recording." The archive is cleverly packaged as well, with the website designed to look like a combination of an old file cabinet and a guitar amp. A toggle switch allows listeners to toggle between standard streaming rates and the full rate available for the track and a meter displays the current streaming rate for the track being listened to, with bit rates that are often measured in the thousands instead of the hundreds as with other streaming services. This isn't Young's first foray into trying to serve high-quality digital music to his fans. He launched his Pono portable music player via a successful Kickstarter in 2014, with promises of digital music at high bit rates, however, the timing of the project seemed off. The Pono was competing against smartphones, which could store tens of thousands of songs and which most people were already carrying.
"The record labels killed it."
The Pono also debuted as the transition from digital downloads to streaming music had already started, leaving the product to compete for a niche that was fast becoming obsolete. As well, the physical design choices for the Pono music player left many observers scratching their heads. Instead of being an easily portable and compact personal music player, the Pono came in a triangle-shaped package that was readily likened to a Toblerone candy bar – awkward to carry around but lacking the chocolatey goodness.However, for Young, none of those issues was the primary road block to the success of the Pono. Instead, Young lays the blame for the failure of the Pono at the feet of the labels. "The record labels killed it," Young told the Tribune. "They killed it by insisting on charging two to three times as much for the high-res files as for MP3s. Why would anybody pay three times as much?"
Producer Matt Squire On SoundExchange Letters Of Direction Here producer and SoundExchange member Matt Squire talks about the important role the company plays in the producer's careers via their Letters of Direction.
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Guest post from SoundExchangeProducers play an important role in the careers of recording artists and rights owners. And SoundExchange plays an important role in the careers of producers through our Letters of Direction (LOD). Last year we added an enhanced view of executed LODs on SoundExchange Direct. Recently, producer and SoundExchange member Matt Squire stopped by SoundExchange to talk about LODs. Watch our interview with Matt below.  If you want to learn more about LODs simply go to SoundExchange Direct, select the "Letter of Direction" tab and then select "View Current LODs" to see summary and detailed information of royalties paid to and received from third parties. That means a registrant can see who they are paying and who is paying them via LODs. This information is equally useful for recording artists who pay LODs and the producers who are paid by an LOD. Information available under "View Current" on "Letter of Direction" tab includes:
If you'd like to speak to a member of our Customer Service team about your account, our team is standing by. You can reach us by phone at (800) 961-2091 Monday through Friday 9am-6pm ET, or by email at accounts@soundexchange.com. Metallica, Afghanistan National Institute Of Music Named Polar Music Prize Laureates 2018 Metallica and the Afghanistan National Institute of Music along with its founder and director and Dr. Ahmad Sarmast, have been selected laureates for the 2018 Polar Music Prize. Likening Metallica to composers such as Wagner and Tchaikovsky, the band was recognized for the visceral speed and physicality of their music, as well as its accessibility.
Dr. Ahmed Sarmast
"In 2008, Dr. Sarmast, the son of a famous conductor, returned to Kabul, at great personal risk, to establish ANIM. ANIM, a decade on, flourishes and is committed to preserving Afghanistan's rich musical heritage and to providing a safe learning environment to hundreds of boys and girls," the Polar Music Prize Award Committee said. Founded in 1989 by the late Stig "Stikkan" Anderson, publisher, lyricist and manager of ABBA, the Polar Music Prize honors individuals, groups or institutions for international recognition of excellence in the world of music. Each year, the organization selects two laureates from a group of nominees submitted to an independent 12-member prize committee. The committee receives nominations from the public as well as from the International Music Council, the UNESCO founded NGO which promotes geographical and musical diversity. - Celebrity Access FRI. BRIEF: Recording Academy Battles Diversity With Math • Gibson Nears Bankruptcy • Kanye Settles • More FRIDAY 2.16.18
Music Business News From Around The Web
Updated continuously under our More News tab
UMG Revenue Grows 10% To $7.1 Billion, Streaming Up 35% Universal Music Group revenue grew 10% last year driven by 35.4% growth in streaming revenue and new licencing deals that offset declines in download and physical goods sales. The news came as part of a positive financial report from parent corporation Vivendi. The highlights:
In 2018, UMG believes that it will find more profits from overall growth of the music, market particularly as a result of the development of subscription and streaming services. Radio Holds Key To Streaming Growth [Mark Mulligan] Streaming use is growing and broadcast radio's audience is shrinking. No surprise there. But what is of interest is the slow pace of the shift, which presents opportunities for streaming to reach a much broader audience and the time for radio to reinvent itself.
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By Mark Mulligan of MIDiA Last week MIDiA held its latest quarterly research and networking event at Gibson Brands Showrooms in the heart of London's West End. The event was heavily over-subscribed and was a great success (there are some photos at the bottom of this post). The event combined a presentation from Pete Downton, deputy CEO of our event sponsor 7digital, a keynote from myself and a panel of leading industry experts. Here are a few highlights of my presentation.  Streaming music has got where it has today largely by being the future of retail and replacing the download model, which in turn replaced the CD model (though vestiges of both remain). That premium model will continue to be the beating heart of streaming revenues for the foreseeable future but will not be enough on its own. The next big opportunity for streaming is to become the future of radio, which incidentally is around double the size of the recorded music market. In doing so, it will be a classic case of disruptive insurgents stealing market share from long-standing incumbents. The opportunity for streaming is to build ad revenue around the younger audiences that are simply not engaging with traditional radio in the way that previous generations of young music fans once did. As the chart above shows, radio's audience is aging and has an almost mirror opposite demographic profile to streaming. What is more, radio's audience is declining by around one percentage point each quarter. It might not sound like much, but you normally do not measure change in terms of consistent quarterly trends. Instead there is normally quarterly fluctuation. So, this is nothing short of a major decline. However, what is interesting is that free streaming is not growing by the same rate radio is declining. Instead, what is happening is that radio and streaming audiences are co-existing, with many that have spent a long time doing both eventually shifting all of their listening to streaming. Added to this, older consumers tend to embrace change more slowly than younger audiences. So, radio's older listener base effectively acts as a disruption buffer. What all this means is that radio is facing an existential threat like no other but it has some time to get its house in order, to identify how it can meld the best of the radio model with streaming experiences to start its fight back. And make no mistake, radio has so many unique assets that streaming does not (local content, talk, news, sports, weather, travel, brand personality etc.) and Apple's underwhelming success with Beats 1 shows that hiring a bunch of radio people and launching a station does not guarantee success. Nonetheless, streaming services will get there. And Spotify's recently launched Pandora-clone in Australia indicates just how serious the radio frontier is to streaming. For more (a lot more!) data and analysis on how radio and streaming are facing up against each other, check out our new report Radio – Streaming's Next Frontier: How Streaming Will Disrupt Radio Like It Did Retail which can be purchased directly from our report store here and is also available immediately to MIDiA clients as part of our research subscription service.   More Recent Articles
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