to own the rights to her music

 Taylor Swift rereleased her Red album recently in an affort to own the rights to her music.

Taylor Swift 

Back in November of 2020 Taylor talked about a sale of her masters to a third party. This transaction occurred without her knowledge or permission. Taylor started rerecording those albums and Red is the second one.  

Red is raking in the streams.

A post on morningbrew.com was the source for this post.

wine: what to buy

There are thousands and thousands of wines on the market.

No wonder it’s so hard to know what to buy.

 

Shouldn't wine be easier to understand? Not really, thanks to a wealth of options.

Catch up with this story from Vox: How to learn more about wine.

 

margo: singing to middle america and beyond

I found an article from the Washington Post about Margo Price. She started singing to middle America as a youngster, influenced by Tom Petty. Petty's music was a favorite of hers. She got into country music to get here foot in the door and ventured away for a time to voice her views on social issues. Country radio doesn't usually go for artists who share their views about the social scene. That didn't stop her.

Spotify's Margo Price billboard in Nashville

Price has found fans all over the United States. She has played at several outlaw country festivals where her following has grown. She has several folks in her corner. Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, and Kris Kristofferson, to name just three.

Price's tune All-American Made tells the story of people struggling through everyday life. It strikes a chord of hope and improvement with me. It told me not to give up. Keep going. Do what you do with care and determination. That's what Margo does.

She is nominated for best new artist at the Grammys tonight. I have this feeling she'll get it.

courtney marie andrews

Thanks to @PasteMagazine for making May Your Kindness Remain the number one folk album of the year. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/ID2fK9hjJD

— Courtney Marie Andrews (@courtneymamusic) December 13, 2018

facebook live

Facebook has some neat, new features.

 

You've probably seen the little icon for Facebook Live. This gives you the opportunity to do live streaming video onto your Facebook page or timeline. 

To start Live, open up the status bar as though you were going to write a new post and click the little camera to the left. It reads "Live". If you have a page click "Post". When that opens up, look toward the bottom for "Go Live". Click that to make a video!

This will push you into a cue to start live streaming. 

You will be prompted to name your video feed and choose your audience. You can live stream to everyone or selected followers. 

Click the bottom to go Live and you're broadcasting! You can save the video if you want to share it later.

Tips:

• Ideal video length: 5 to 20 minutes
• Use a short title. If you need a longer description, do it in the comments.
• After the live event be sure to add a narrative and change up the thumbnail. 1 to 10 images
• Tags help people discover your video.
• You can only tag people under "edit video". You can't edit on mobile... only on a desktop.

Hope these tips help you. If you're in need of direction with your video, contact me to discuss your project.

music and the internet

The music industry's use of the Internet has come a long way. Let's face it, the Internet was killing music. Digital rights were a problem. Device compatibility was too. Streaming services came next. Big Data and analytics have played a big part in the positive evolution.

What's been moving the evolution?

Recommendation engines designed to make the perfect playlist is redefining the dynamics of the music industry. The relationship is creative between listeners and music. This relationship has built a new horizon for the music and the listener.

In the past, the record industry had limited ways to learn who was buying LPs, cassettes, or CDs. Downloading allowed record labels to begin tracking listening habits and making recommendations like Amazon does for books.

The current streaming model opened the floodgates.

All the listening is up for grabs. The industry wants to gain a deeper understanding of its customers and the music.

Raw music is unstructured data because it is easily digitized. It can be quantified and analyzed. Since 1999, the Musical Genome Project has been structurng music data by manual classification as well as automated algorithms. Up to 450 data points are used. 30 million songs are in the database.

The Musical Genome Project was developed by Pandora.

The Internet of Things could be finding its place in music. The streaming model is popular. Look for crowdfunding platforms to spring up. Live streams translate into revenue streams.

Data Analytics is the driving force.

divinion

Divinion is a progressive rock - metal band from Cedar Rapids/Iowa City. They frankly defy classification. There unique blend of metal, with what I'll dub classic rock, are blended together for a very unique sound that you won't forget.

Members are Tom Foraker - guitars, Jamie Lopata - drums, George Wood - vocals, and Gregory Apple - bass.

 Together they deliver the goods of strong leading edge musicianship. Tom's guitar riffs are sensational and George Wood has a unique voice that gives Divinion that something special we want to hear from every band we see. George is right at home on stage and probably would be in a Broadway musical too. He certainly has the strong voice for it.

Put the rhythm section of Gregory and Jamie in the mix and you have a sound that is very unique and amazing.

Their tune Insane Gesture is massive and crisp.

Learn how to get a song on itunes at ReverbNation.com

Catch Divinion when you can. They'll be performing at Missipi Brewing Company, 107 Iowa Ave. in Muscatine, IA on Friday the 26th. They along with special guest The Hong Kong Sleepover will warm folks up for Old Man's Curse. Show starts at 9:30 PM.

what american idol taught

I know American Idol is probably on its way out. A good run and all of that. There is most likely not enough room in the space for it and The Voice. That tells me the target audience isn't big enough for both shows.

 However, I picked up on something from Noisey, Music by Vice that I liked and feel is profound for musicians in bands.

In the article by Maura Johnston, a Kiss tribute band is auditioning for the Gene Simmons role. A distraction was created by the guy jumping around while playing. Yes, a distraction. He was told just to play. The connection with the band was lost.

All bands need to focus on this. Play. Don't create any distractions that keeps your band from connecting with the audience. Connect with your band and you'll connect with your audience.  

redbox better

Seems that a competition is going and going strong..... or is there? Redbox is outpacing iTunes and Netflix. Location, location, location. That's what is keeping Redbox in the game. Nice pricing is helping too.

HERE'S THE LINK TO THE STORY:

Redbox Better Than iTunes, Netflix - Business Insider

pearl jam: fall tour

Pearl Jam has announced recently new dates for their Fall tour which gets under way on October 1st in Cincinnati. They will be at the iWireless Center in Moline on October 17th, with ticket sales starting on Friday, May 30th.

Tickets are also available through TicketMaster.

More info on the Pearl Jam Tour.

time.com: coldplay

Time magazine featured Cold Play was featured in TIME.com, giving the band plenty of praise. Being a band to grab what's new and keeping their historical perspectives alive and well, Cold Play has matured through the process of beginning and beginning again. One can only hope they keep their spectrum of influence alive and well. I feel they will. Ghost Stories is their sixth studio album. They have explored with diligence, the rock and R & B sounds that have given them much.

blog biz

Reader click through rates are getting shorter. That's a challenge for bloggers. Posts aren't getting read all the way through. We bloggers must think through the entire writing process. That's a given in Social Media marketing and engagement efforts.

I have to ask, "Is my blog in the right place?" Meaning, I am putting my entire effort at the forefront of the topic and subject. Usually. But this means writing more by writing less. Welcome to blogging, the paradox of Social Media engagement. But we asked for it.

• We still need blogs
• Information is for sharing
• Entertain
• Start and lead the conversation

 Discussions are going away from comments. Hardly anyone comments anymore. I wish folks would. I can't quite put a handle on it. Are we too lazy? Tweeting the post with our own comment on the tweet is the new way. That's not bad, after all we get mileage from that. So, make "things" more tweetable. Quite a challenge... but we're in it for the challenge.

Keep the client at the forefront. The client provides the content. It's my job to be sure that content gets marketed in the right spots so users are kept up with what's going on. Also the user is part of the content to an extent. It's a two-way street. Pave the road. That's what I do.