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Articles on Music industry

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Justice Crew perform at Madame Tussauds Sydney, for the Australian launch of Michael Jackson’s Xscape album, May 2014. AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

Michael Jackson – there’s no Xscape from posthumous pop

Epic Records, in conjunction with the estate of Michael Jackson released the King of Pop Michael Jackson’s second posthumous album Xscape last week. To create the album Epic Records chairman and CEO L.A…
The Moog, 2014 Model Sub 37 – producer of squelchy bass lines and distorted expressive solos. Wikimedia Commons

Sublime design: the Moog synthesiser

The classic sound many of us imagine when the word synthesiser is mentioned is the sound of the Moog – the warm, solid propulsive groove of its bass sound and the distinctive sweep of its patented lowpass…
Shimmy shimmy ya, shimmy yam, shimmy yay, Gimme the mic so I can take it away. NRK P3

The Wu-Tang Clan are about to sell out

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…
Twitpic does all the hard work these days, so A&R men don’t even have to leave the office. marfis75

Twitter data puts music moguls back in the game

Twitter has decided to woo the music industry with a promise to share data on up-and-coming artists in a deal that would whet the appetite of most music lovers. It makes sense for one of the largest social…
Nodding to the past in the present. Matt Sayles/AP

Grammys remain out of touch with the modern music industry

Given the group’s sonic ownership of last summer with Get Lucky, it seems apt that Daft Punk collaborators dominated last night’s Grammy Awards. They had a total of seven wins, including Album of the Year…
The Grammys are about selling the industry, as much as its products. EPA/Paul Buck

The Grammys: music’s grim battle for industrial supremacy

On Sunday, “music’s biggest night,” the 56th Grammy Awards, will be held in Los Angeles – no doubt with the customary level of humility and circumspection so characteristic of the music industry. Commentators…
Mute Synth, a collaboration between Dr John Richards and Mute Records. MuteSynth creditphoto GeorgeBenson Stereographic

DIY music comes of age with new ways to collaborate

Following the explosion of do-it-yourself music in the 1990s, aspiring DJs and producers have been spoiled rotten. Home studios are increasingly commonplace now that there is such a wealth of affordable…
Blur recently pulled out of the Big Day Out, citing problems with festival organisers. EPA/Britta Pedersen

Music festivals are in trouble but the shows must go on

It’s no secret that the music festival scene in Australia has recently hit some troubled waters. Harvest festival has been cancelled this year, unpaid performers are still chasing the organisers of the…
Jessica Mauboy performs on stage at the 27th ARIA Awards in Sydney, Sunday. Do we expect too much of what is, essentially, an industry love-in? AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts

The 2013 ARIAs: another year of industry self-congratulation

After weeks of hyped-up national pride, the halting speeches are over and the awkward presentations made. The 27th Australia Recording Industry Association Awards (the ARIAs) have passed away, marooned…
Rapper 360 had six nominations including Album Of The Year and Best Male Artist in last year’s ARIA awards. AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy

Hip hop is now on top at the ARIA Awards

The 2013 winners of the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) Awards will be announced this Sunday night, 26 years after John Farnham cleaned up at the inaugural ceremony in 1987. A lot has changed…
There are doubts provisions will benefit copyright holders. AAP/Lukas Coch

Trade pact would make internet services more expensive

Last week Michael Froman, a US trade representative, took his son touring around the Paramount lot in Hollywood to visit a sound mixing stage, watch a movie and pose for happy snaps with company executives…
Even the most self-avowedly “unmusical” among us treasure their music collection.

Music is our GPS, so we need to keep supporting it

Music is not essential for humankind. Unlike air, food, physical safety or reproduction, music is not a precondition for survival of the species. We are unlikely to ever read that the cause of death of…
‘Big Data’ services track. every stream, download to allow for easier payment negotiations shutterstock.com

Revisiting royalties in the music industry: the promise of “Big Data”

For those who believe the music industry’s aim should be to encourage creativity, Robert Fripp’s diary makes for depressing reading. The veteran guitarist, founder of King Crimson, has published the diary…
Reed, who died today, knew how to place himself at the centre. Mick Tsikas/AAP

Transformer: the other faces of Lou Reed

The plaudits have arrived very quickly for Lou Reed, who has died aged 71. He is clearly regarded as a towering figure, credited with playing a central role in creating one of the most influential albums…
Music TV programs, like rage, have provided exposure for artists who would have otherwise been drowned out by the vast amount of music available online. shutterstock.com

Rage against the machine: music TV still important for the Australian industry

Digital production and distribution has made it easier to access music than at any other time in human history. But no one starts at “A” in iTunes or on YouTube’s homepage and listens to everything. There…
Platforms that allow users to ‘do things’ with content could represent a new age in music distribution. Shutterstock.com

‘Doing things’ with music: the newest arm of the industry

Even though revenues from recorded music have fallen dramatically over the past fifteen years, people across the world are not listening to less music. Actually, they listen to more recorded music than…
The social aspects of streaming services are an opportunity for listeners to promote their tastes. Flickr/Joel G Goodman

Spotify: merging music with social media

Our relationships with music are deeply personal and intimate. But we shouldn’t forget that music is also an incredibly powerful social tool capable of bringing people together to share in an experience…
Artists see very little of the “millions” of dollars paid to major record labels for the right to stream content. Blixt A. via Flickr

Music streaming revenue structures stacked against artists

Streaming services like Spotify and Pandora pay many millions of dollars each year for the rights to the music they play. But how much of this ends up back with artists and songwriters? The answer: not…
Music sales have been falling for some time, but this should not attributed to piracy alone. Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image

Music sales are waning but don’t blame the pirates

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…

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