Kickstarter Wants to Destroy Patreon — Starting With ‘Drip’

To fight Patreon, Kickstarter has re-launched Drip, a subscription-based patronage platform for artists. Several years ago, rising YouTube musician Jack Conte became frustrated.  While millions watched his videos on the platform, he only received check…

Google Invests $70 Million to Destroy the Major Label Ecosystem

With a strong financial push from Google, United Masters may do away with record labels entirely. According to Troy Carter, Spotify’s Global Head of Music, the music industry (and especially major labels) have unfairly harmed fans.  To listen to one or…

Spotify Removed My Album Because Of Seemingly Fake Streams

A few people have noted recently that I haven’t released a song in two years and how it can seem hypocritical as I instruct musicians to regularly release music. We’re in a fast food society where people’s attention spans are shorter than ever. You can…

Scam Alert: “Atlantic Records A&R” Solicit Musicians For Money For Submissions

I often run into people working in corners of the music industry who just can’t understand why so many musicians’ guards are up so high. Well, it’s because of scams like this. Musician scams, of course, have been going on for as long as I’ve been in mu…

13 Ways To Get Blacklisted From The Music Industry

The longer I’m in music, the bigger my network gets and the smaller the music community seems. I was on a layover at MSP (Minneapolis) and I saw Rashawn Ross, the renowned trumpet player for Dave Matthews Band, Soulive, Lettuce etc etc. I’d never met Rashawn, but a quick glance at his Instagram showed that we […]

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This Artist Left a Successful Career to Travel the World

I found Lucy Rose backstage at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, UK. She is a modest, witty, and understated individual.  Which is why she clearly did not want to discuss the private jet.  Private jet?  Oh yeah.  While booking this episode it came out that she was riding on Mumford & Sons’ private jet to Ireland. […]

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This Artist Wins Website of the Year Award

These screenshots barely do this 90s-vintage website from Giraffage justice. Do artists still need a website?  That’s a question for the (modern) ages, though this website is definitely helping this artist.  In fact, I’d argue it’s just as much a part of this artist’s creative expression as the music itself. And for those that can appreciate […]

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No, Legacy Musicians Do Not Have To Tour To Make Money If They Don’t Want To

I’m sure you’ve read by now the piece that has been shared relentlessly discussing how 69-year-old Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan) was “forced” to go on tour because his album sales money has dried up. Fagen told the Wall Street Journal: “When the bottom fell out of the record business a bunch of years ago, […]

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11 Things Millennial Musicians Just Don’t Get

1) Spotify Plays Don’t Equal Fans I can’t tell you how many artists I see on Spotify with hundreds of thousands or millions of streams, but can’t get even 100 out to their local (or any) shows. Or get anyone to back their crowdfunding campaign. Or support them in any way whatsoever. These listeners are […]

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