βοΈ What if Marilyn Manson was a YouTuber? π‘ The music streaming playlist economy π 1,000 subs! πΎ
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Big edition this week. Loads of great articles and interesting news - in music and in tech. Enjoy!
Love,
Bas
From me, for you
What if Marilyn Manson was a YouTuber? Constructing your artist narrative in the digital age.
How to use your artist narrative to sustain attention over long periods of time.
medium.com β’ Share
The music streaming playlist economy
Taking a look at music streaming playlists, from gatekeepers and business practices, to how playlists are influencing music itself.
Digital music space
How to measure the value of playlist placement
Getting your music placed in a popular playlist is one of the most valuable ways to get heard by thousands of fans. But not all playlists are created equal.
www.digitalmusicnews.com β’ Share
Tidal will now let you edit the length and tempo of tracks
Music is about to become a lot less static. Important trend - surprised to see Tidal is the first major streaming service to let people influence tracks, despite Spotify having the brilliant Echo Nest team on board (who built the Infinite Jukebox). This trend will change the way we listen to, interact with, and create music.
TIDAL sells 33% stake for $200m to Softbank-owned telco Sprint
I guess TIDALβs going to ride out 2017. And wow, a $600m valuation. MBW quoted a Jay-Z lyric on Twitter: βI sell ice in the winter, I sell fire in hell; I am a hustler baby, Iβll sell water to a well.β
www.musicbusinessworldwide.com β’ Share

Why Netflix can turn a profit but Spotify cannot (yet)
Cites three reasons, but βthe main reason for Netflixβs stronger position is that it owns so much of its content, while Spotify and co rent their content.β Interesting, as streaming services have started investing in their own content in recent years.
www.midiaresearch.com β’ Share
New figures show payouts of Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube
Spotifyβs average per-stream payout has fallen by 16% since 2014, according to a new dataset published by artist-rights blog The Trichordist.
musically.com β’ Share
Beyond digital

Looking for a (paid) gig as a music curator? This startup has you covered
Everybody wants to be a DJ nowadays, right? Well, nowβs your chance to actually get paid for selecting music. Music curation meets on-demand economy.
By the wonderful Kollekt.fm team - one of whom hosted me during Amsterdam Dance Event. π
thenextweb.com β’ Share
Storytelling in music: the next chapter
Lucy Blair Pettersson about how a combination of human storytelling and machine learning can empower artists and audiences to write the next chapter of music marketing.
www.lucyblairpettersson.com β’ Share
Letβs Be The Change tackles diversity at music conferences
If youβve ever found yourself annoyed by all-male βmanelsβ at music-industry conferences, a new initiative thatβs launching today should be encouraging. Letβs Be The Change >>
musically.com β’ Share
iLoveMakonnen tweets βIβm gayβ
Great to see artists in a very masculine subculture coming out. If weβre going to rely on music to fuel protest culture, then itβs essential that elements of hiphop show the way forward beyond a rather homophobic and misogynist legacy.
The unlikely odds of making it big
What three years and 75,000 shows in New York tell us about the chance your favorite band will succeed.
pudding.cool β’ Share
This artist wants to show you how machines βseeβ music
Trevor Paglen discusses artificial intelligence, machine vision technology, and music.
Wide view
Apple shows its walled platform muscle with a 25% App Store price hike in UK
Has to do with currency fluctuations⦠but still.
www.midiaresearch.com β’ Share
The inside story of BitTorrentβs bizarre collapse
Started reading How Music Got Free recently. BitTorrentβs story reminds me a bit of how the Fraunhofer Institute struggled to monetize the MP3 technology in the 90s.
backchannel.com β’ Share
How to move your audience to a new platform
One of the most important skills in the digital age. Canβt rely on just one platform. Donβt put your eggs in one basket.
AI software learns to make AI software
AI expects being put out of work byβ¦ AI! βGoogle and others think software that learns to learn could take over some work done by AI experts.β
www.technologyreview.com β’ Share
McKinsey sees blockchain technology reaching full potential in 5 years
Focuses on financial markets, but since the music industry also deals with transactions and complicated legal frameworks across many territories, weβll be impacted by blockchain technology in a large variety of ways.
Fun
Book: Song Stories, by Kyle Bylin (pre-order giveaway)
Iβm in a book. Along with many others about songs that for some reason affected our lives. Comes out on Feb 2, but you can pre-order here until Jan 31 and receive some free giveaways. Last chance.
songstories.org β’ Share
How Jack Your Body began house music's squelching electronic revolution
Steve βSilkβ Hurley only made his 1986 track to amuse his friends β then it burst out of Chicagoβs clubs and became a No 1 hit
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π°: click here for last weekβs edition about innovation in live music, being an early adopter, and Snapchat changing the music biz
Regular insights about the future of music, media & tech. Written & composed by @basgras.
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