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It’s unfortunately commonplace that many people — artists, small business owners and average music fans alike — don’t know that musicians should be making money every time their work is played in a restaurant, bar, or retail store. In fact, it’s illegal for businesses to play music through personal streaming …

Following threats to ban TikTok, Donald Trump set a deadline of 90 days to its Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest itself from its U.S. ownership of TikTok, the White House announced Friday in an executive order. “There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that ByteDance … might …

Universal Music Group just became the first of the three music majors to open standalone offices in Israel and Morocco, making the announcement early Tuesday morning. UMG’s EVP of market development Adam Granite, who’s eagerly awaiting a change of scenery, would have been in Tel Aviv for the announcement — …

Since the pandemic began, every record labels’ marketing team has been throwing around the same buzzword phrase: “getting creative.” Traditional album marketing tactics like touring — which is essential for developing artists who need to build up a new audience and strengthen relationships with their existing fanbase — have gone …

The abrupt reshuffling of major events like Coachella, SXSW, and Pearl Jam and Madonna’s shows due to coronavirus is already devastating to the live music industry — but by some predictions, we’re only seeing the start of the chaos. Coronavirus-related event cancellations seem to be barreling in by the hour, …

After a long day of panels, discussions and demos highlighting touring business trends at the Pollstar Live 2020 conference in Los Angeles, a keynote conversation between mega-mogul/manager Irving Azoff and the notoriously unabashed Nicki Minaj felt radical, refreshing and carefree. Plenty of previous guests talked in circles, providing fluffy, media-trained …

Are the world’s biggest superstars having a tougher time of things on Spotify in 2019? Or is it just that the service really misses Drake? On December 3rd, Spotify confirmed its biggest track and artist of the year. (A little premature, perhaps, but announcing such things early in December allows …

When Tunji Balogun was young, a series of black superstars soared through mainstream pop music — Michael and Janet Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston. “I remember growing up with tons of black faces on my screen,” he says. “But then something changed in the late 1990s, early 2000s: It just kind …

In its entire decade of existence, Spotify has struggled to balance the two tenets of its business — high licensing payouts to artists and labels and a wonderfully cheap monthly fee for users — resulting in a balance sheet that prompts worried squints from investors and music industry analysts. But …