Live performances account for more than 40 percent of their income, while profits from streaming and record sales amount to only 5 percent of their earnings.
Jazz represents a minority audience in an already relatively small music market and to cover costs, the aggregation of fans must be across genres to maximise numbers.
Two stories in the news this week are more closely-linked than you might have thought. First, Taylor Swift has pulled her entire catalogue from free music streaming service, Spotify, and second, the white…
While legal sales of recorded music continue to suffer from widespread music piracy, the popularity of live music appears to be enjoying an unprecedented boom, particularly in the UK where new stadiums…
On September 9, U2 released their new album, Songs of Innocence. Not quite in the normal style: they are offering it as a free download to all 500m iTunes users. Lead singer Bono described the release…
Apple recently announced its purchase of Beats Electronics, for a reported US$3 billion. Beats Electronics was started by Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine, and includes the signature headphones range and Beats…
American East Coast rappers the Wu-Tang Clan have developed a revolutionary model for musicians to make money from their work. They are about to sell a copy of their new album, but in doing so they will…
For the first time, streaming is to be included in the UK singles chart. This announcement was followed by reports that digital music sales now account for more than half the UK record industry’s income…
David Bowie, the Arctic Monkeys, and Ellie Goulding were among the winners at Wednesday night’s Brit Awards. In theory, these were awarded because they were the cream of last year’s music crop. To qualify…
The Grammys, that great annual showcase of the American popular music business, may not rank quite with the Oscars. But there is no doubt, that in the prize-giving season, this jamboree of self-congratulation…
Digital technology has transformed the music industry in Europe, making both distribution and piracy easier than ever. But regulators are yet to catch up with the pace of change, leaving them unable to…
Fact: worldwide sales of recorded music have declined significantly over the last decade. Fact: there has also been an increase in the use of P2P file-sharing technologies over the last decade. While there…