Discogs Adds Inventory Platform For Professional Record Sellers, Serious Music Collectors

Music marketplace and community Discogs has launched NearMint, a new software platform for professional sellers. NearMint was created to help professional and hobbyist music sellers manage their inventory and business more effectively. The platform already manages over 1.9M inventory items for a number of large sellers who were part of…

Music Physical Product Issues Signals Upheaval Ahead

Although the sale of physical music is still a large part of the revenue pulled in by major labels, their whole-hearted embrace of streaming has caused them to neglect traditional retail sales, with some fairly disastrous results. ____________________________ Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0 The U.S. recorded music…

Albums Still Have Some Value According To Nielsen Music Mid-Year Stats [Bobby Owsinski]

Even a casual industry observers know that album sales haven’t been what they used to be, although some new numbers out from a Nielsen Report reveal that, even in the height of the streaming age, there is still some value in album sales, particularly if you belong to the music…

Amoeba Music Issues Statement: ‘We Are Not Closing’

Pushing back on reports that Amoeba Music was closing its Hollywood location after a residential development was green-lighted for the site., the iconic record store issued a statement: "We are NOT closing. We are going to be in the current location at 6400 Sunset Blvd for about another year, and…

Amoeba Music Forced To Move Iconic LA Store

The LA City Council has approved zoning changes that clear the way for the demolition of Amoeba Music’s distinctive Los Angeles outlet. According to the LA Times, the vote facilitates the development of a new, 26-story building at the site of the current Amoeba Music store, located at the corner…

5 Out-Of-The-Box Promotion Ideas For Your Next Album

In this ever-expanding world of entertainment publicity, reaching your listeners and fans requires a carefully orchestrated, unique marketing plan. Here we look at five eye-catching promotion ideas for building that extra bit of buzz around your next release. ___________________________ Guest post by Cait McMahon of the Symphonic Blog In the…

Indie Stores Are Being ‘Strangled’ By Major Label Distribution: ‘Things are a complete mess.’

Independent music stores are demanding action from all three major labels over repeated missing and incorrect shipments handled by their primary fulfillment partner Direct Shot Distributing. "We need help right now on this issue or you will begin to see stores fold simply because their supply chain strangled them," says…

Why Physical Promotion, Release Formats Are Still Important

Living in the age we are, many musicians may be tempted to invest their time and money solely in digital promotion, but eschewing more archaic forms of promotion like vinyls, shirts, and stickers in favor of targeted social media ads and playlist promotion can sometimes backfire. Here we look at…

Dublin Vinyl Adds Direct-To-Fan Service For Artists, Labels

Record pressing plant Dublin Vinyl has launched a direct-to-fan service for independent labels and artists. Dublin Vinyl now offers vinyl manufacturing right through to fulfillment, has begun accepting orders directly from artist or label’s e-commerce sites including Bandcamp, Shopify, Woocommerce and Big Cartel, and shipping them directly EU based fans….

PledgeMusic Owes This Indie Artist $197,559

Progressive composer John Zorn is owed $197,559 for a completed PledgeMusic campaign that he was never paid for. "The Book Beriah," a box set of 11 albums to be released on his own Tzadik label. features different groups interpreting his compositions inspired by Jewish folk music. PledgeMusic.com Limited is in…