It was the middle of June when more than two dozen songwriters, producers, and publishing representatives poured into an expansive, secluded creator’s “compound” just outside of Los Angeles’ wealthy Brentwood neighborhood. For three days, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., they wrote songs — in between catered meals and fierce …
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This story appears in Rolling Stone‘s 2021 Future of Music issue, a special project delving into the next era of the multibillion-dollar hitmaking business. Read the other stories here. The first time Nwaka Onwusa toured the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, she was blown away by everything …
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Eleven-year-old Will Page is sitting on a Scottish beach, imploring his math-teacher father to teach him “what economics means.” His father points to the water and asks him how a politician should combat a rise in child drowning deaths. “Why not make swimming lessons compulsory?” Page suggests. “No more children …
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David Crosby sold his recorded music and publishing rights to Irving Azoff‘s latest venture Iconic Artists Group, the two announced on Wednesday, marking the latest high-profile deal in the booming music acquisition market and Azoff’s second deal after taking a majority stake in the Beach Boys’ intellectual property — including …
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The conventional artist-driven fan club needed reinvention. Finally, after years of looking, we found away to do that. Fans clubs have existed since the advent of popular music: The Grateful Dead pioneered and perfected it, then others monetized it. The Dead firmly believed fans should be in control and gave …
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On Wednesday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) launched its inaugural “Class Of” campaign, which the organization will use to celebrate artists who earned first-time U.S. certifications in a given year. In announcing the 2020 class, it revealed that 53 artists scored their first gold or platinum awards. 32 …
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The only artists up for the 2021 Best Children’s Album Grammy are white — which, in a year of reckoning for the Recording Academy over diversity problems, has drawn wide ire, and led to three of the five white nominees writing to the Academy last month asking for their names …
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Spotify stock is down Thursday as the company missed analyst projections on sales, but the company reported double digit year-over year-increases in both revenue and monthly active users, and ad revenue, which had taken a slight dip because of the pandemic last quarter, returning to growth. Revenue, up to $2.3 …
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Live Nation has launched a new initiative to temporarily turn venues it owns into polling sites for the 2020 elections. The concert industry giant said Wednesday that it is discussing with local officials the feasibility of converting over 100 venues across the country. So far, Live Nation confirmed four venues …
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Each month, more than 120 million people sign onto Minecraft, an expansive, free-wheeling computer game that allows users to build and defend towns, communities, and inventions with digital bricks. Minecraft is also one of the most-vlogged-about games on YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook. (This user-generated video of gameplay, for example, has …
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