tricks

By music licensing expert Andy Lykens. The C-levels at a music publisher I used to work at would drop by my cube once every few days. All nice people, they did their best to be friendly when asking “working on anything big?” They’d ask that question because I was the person who had developed a […]

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A glut of companies have recently unbundled their mobile apps. Google, Facebook, Foursquare, and the The New York Times have all started splitting their apps apart like a reverse Voltron, each addressing a specific task. Each company has unique motivations driving its decision to unbundle: Microsoft’s release of Office apps for iPad may have had […]

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Tango continues to expand the marketing possibilities on its highly popular messaging app. In April they added a news feed which opened up some marketing options. Yesterday they launched Tango Channels, official channels for businesses and celebrities forefronted with an attractive directory. Launch partners include music brands and musicians Spotify, Vevo, 8tracks, OK Go and […]

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Though sometimes described in such forms as “Lady Gaga’s Backplane,” the social networking company is an independent entity and Lady Gaga is an investor and shining star. Backplane gradually grew from LittleMonsters.com to an odd assortment of brands tied together by the platform. Now they’re planning to open the whole thing up, according to new […]

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U.S. independent music trade group A2IM has named the nominees for its 2014 Libra Awards. Designed to showcase the diverse landscape of independent artists and the companies that support them, The Libras are on track to replace a plethora of competitors as the indie music most prestigious seal of approval. The full list of 2014 […]

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Robert Sillerman’s SFX Entertainment has announced the formation of a new management team to oversee the company’s media, creative, e-commerce and event operations. In the revised structure, Joseph Rascoff will assume the mantle of Chairman of Live Entertainment as well as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors. Paul Greenberg, previously President of SFX, will […]

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Losing money on a tour beats staying home every time [The following article was written by our friends at MusicSubmit. It originally appeared on their blog.] Last month the DIY Musician Blog posted “Do traditional tours still make sense for independent artists” by guest blogger Jason Schellhardt. The blog post states that booking cross-country tours […]

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UPDATED – Are comedians the new rock stars? Yes, according to legendary music manager and deal maker Irving Azoff. Yesterday his Azoff MSG Entertainment, the joint venture between Azoff Music Management and the Madison Square Garden Company, announced the acquisition of a 50% stake in Levity Entertainment Group. LEG’s holdings include live comedy venues, a […]

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On social media, search engine optimization is an extremely important component of any marketing strategy. And although Pinterest’s bread and butter is predominately visual, the service is no exception. You might not think that an optimized Pinterest profile is necessary, but consider the fact that the platform’s users are buying items more often and in […]

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CB Insights, a relatively new site that’s building a database of startup and VC investment information, recently took a look at music startups and noted, that though the kinds of deals they’re tracking have risen in the last couple of years, a smaller percentage of them have been for U.S.-based companies. Though they seem to […]

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Walking the metaphorical tightrope between the needs of your business and the needs of your customers can be a real challenge, but this is exactly what community managers have signed up to do. Balancing the diverse needs of internal and external clients while maintaining your brand’s image and — hopefully — keeping everyone happy is […]

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We’re in a weird transitional period in relationship to streaming music services. It’s hard to know which service will survive and whether or not focusing on streaming alternatives to Spotify and Pandora, such as YouTube, is a better bet for the future. But if you are embracing or are now ready to embrace streaming music […]

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New on the Hypebot Jobs Board are two at MTV – an application engineer (Java developer) and a project manager both within the MTV Artists program. LA-based music management firm Family Artists is also looking for a bookeeper/office manager. Details on these opportunities and more are on Hypebot’s Music Industry Jobs Board. HIRING? How To […]

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5 years in, Kickstarter has introduced a guide to launching effective crowdfunding campaigns. “It’s your one-stop guide to designing a solid Kickstarter project, presenting it effectively, finding backers, and delivering on your plans,” according to Kickstarter. May of the tips translate to non-Kickstarter campaigns, as well. “It has insights and articles from Kickstarter veterans on […]

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Our friend Patrick McNease recently interviewed UK artist King Kash for his blog Praverb.net. In the interview they talk about the hip-hop scene in the UK and how to build a loyal fanbase by organizing your own live events. King Kash has some good advice for up-and-coming artists looking to produce and promote their own […]

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With the rise of digital merchandising comes a lot of look alikes. Everyone wants “in” on the successful artists‘ career – sometimes this means the illegal download and/or streaming of music or, a taking things a step futhe by counterfeiting merchandise for profit. Counterfeit merchandise is one of the most active ways “fans” are mooching […]

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UPDATE – Today, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee chaired by Bob Goodlatte (R – VA) begins the first of two important hearings on music licensing. The arguments will shape copyright reform and the royalty paid for decades. The hearings will be streamed live on the House Judiciary Committee site starting at 10AM ET. While representing […]

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For all the talk about illegal streaming, takedown notices and royalty rates, the amount of counterfeit music related merchandise available on websites like Amazon is almost hard to comprehend. This situation is holding back new revenue opportunities and damaging the artist-fan relationship. So, where is the outrage from the industry? How come artists, suppliers and […]

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