onedopeassblogger

  Daniel Ek’s side hustle as a lightning rod seems to be going very well. Last year  he shook the music industry  with  three big changes to Spotify’s royalty payments , effectively  demonetizing tracks with less than 1000 streams  per year… … and the internet went nuts. Then he  compared aspiring musicians  to  amateur footballers . And the internet went nuts. Then Spotify argued it could  pay less   mechanical royalties  to music publishers and songwriters because it’s now bundling audiobooks with music. And the internet went nuts. The cost of creating content: “close to zero?” And then… … Ek went and did  the most controversial thing yet … … tweeting something that (to me) sounded like… … the truth? Today, with the cost of creating content being close to zero, people can share an incredible amount of content. This has sparked my curiosity about the concept of long shelf life versus short shelf life. While much of what w...

  It’s been true for years: Artists who  release music   more frequently  have an advantage. And that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon. I’ll explain why in this article. The many different kinds of music releases There are a lot of different types of music releases today, including: Singles EPs LPs (full albums) Holiday tracks Novelty or topical songs Remixes Cover songs Mashups Remasters Alternate arrangements Acoustic takes Sped-up versions Demos Live recordings One-off collaborations And more In the 20th Century, many of those recordings would become the stuff of box sets and bonus material, or even go unreleased. But there’s a case to be made today that you should  officially distribute all of that music  (at least the types of releases that apply to you) — and give each track its time in the spotlight. RELEASE MUSIC NOW 5 reasons you should release music more frequently 1.  You stay on your fans’ radar If you use social and streaming...

  If your music’s getting botted, your music could get booted.  Yes, tracks and playlists with inflated streams (also known as  streaming fraud ) run the risk of  being removed from platforms  like Spotify and Apple Music.  And you run this risk whether or not you knowingly engage in bad behavior.  For instance, if you enlist a promotion company who inflates your streams, or if your song ends up on a botted playlist, you could see your track, your catalog, your entire user account, or your artist profile deleted from the very platforms you rely on to share your music with the world.  “How do I avoid getting my tracks removed?” Well, I wrote  a whole article about streaming fraud : What it is, why it happens, how it negatively impacts all artists and labels, and how you can avoid the fallout.  I recommend you read those tips. But there was one area that required a bit more detail:  How to know if a particular playlist has inflat...

  Can you  earn a living as a musician today  if you aren’t a household name? The short answer is  yes, absolutely . But that doesn’t mean it’s a piece of cake. Since you’ll be more empowered to succeed if you understand the state of  music revenue  in 2025, this article contains  13 truths about earning money  as a musician. Driving your own creative & business success simultaneously isn’t easy. You have to wear at least two hats well: artist and entrepreneur. And in a field that evolves as rapidly as the music industry (which stands at the intersection of technology, culture, marketing, and more), you’ve got to stay on your toes. Plus, many recent events have impacted artist revenue, including: Spotify royalty changes The acceleration of music creation (with 100,000+ new tracks released a day) Uncertainty around AI-generated and AI-assisted music Shifting trends in  concert attendance , and the cost of touring due to  inflation And...