Bieber: What a Multi-Platform Pop Star Looks Like…
The bundled album is still a profit generator for certain acts, and a source of billions in revenues for the recording industry. Still, most artists make quick cameos on the album charts, booming and busting within a few weeks. Yet a small cadre of acts are maintaining healthy week-over-week positions, including Justin Bieber.
Boomerang: Gaga Quickly Countersues Ex-Boyfriend…
Hardly a costume change later, Lady Gaga is now countersuing ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari. Last week, Fusari lodged a $30 million-plus lawsuit against Gaga, alleging unfair bilking of royalties. Fusari claimed a critical role in the formation, conceptualization, and transformation of Stefani Germanotta into the current pop juggernaut, though the Gaga camp is questioning that account of the relationship.
Already? New MGMT Album Now Leaking…
What is the modern ‘release date,’ anyway? Most albums slip before their ‘official’ street dates, leaving the big, bad internet to determine the real launch point. And, in that spirit, the latest MGMT album is now widely available across the internet, according to information unearthed Sunday by data partner BigChampagne. The album, Congratulations, first started circulating online over the weekend, [...]
The App Eclipse: Bigger Than CDs, Bigger Than Downloads…
Take one skyrocketing format, then juxtapose it against another, plummeting format, and the result is simple. According to a projection from app store GetJar, mobile apps will be worth $17.5 billion by 2012, a global figure. That easily trumps an IFPI-published projection for CDs of $13.83 billion, itself a lofty expectation. The $17.5 billion figure was produced by independent firm [...]
SoundExchange Responds: Billboard, Check Your Math…
Are streaming radio (non-interactive) royalties really in the toilet? Not according to SoundExchange, which is now challenging a report suggesting abysmal artist payouts.
What Happened In Canada Last Year…
Like many of its global peers, Canada is working through its own issues of piracy and cultural preservation. That picture also includes a downturn in recorded music sales.
IFPI: Labels Investing $5 Billion Annually on Artists…
Are labels – especially major labels – critical financiers of musical creativity? That is a tough thesis to defend these days, especially against a backdrop of surging music supply and consumption among unsigned artists. But record labels have played a major filtering and financing role in the past, and their pocketbooks have created some of the biggest superstars of modern [...]
Charlotte Church Gets $3M From Power Amp to Finance Album
London – Welsh singer-songwriter and television host Charlotte Church has signed a $3 million deal with investment fund Power Amp Music to finance the recording of a new album, the Financial Times reported.
Fanning the flames of innovation: New Fan Management Tools & Companies
This is the first interview in a series focussed on fan management. On one end of the spectrum there are companies offering basic CRM services and at the other end there are increasing numbers of companies claiming to be a full-service digital label. Through the series of CEO interviews, I hope to provide some insights into the new ways that [...]