If you really think I knew what the f*** I was doing, you're out of your mind. | | | | Future music mogul hard at work at his desk, New York, January 1996.
(Al Pereira/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images) | | | | | |  | "If you really think I knew what the f*** I was doing, you're out of your mind."
| | | | | | rantnrave:// The bulls were running in the music biz in 2018. Record companies reporting record revenues, tech companies going public, rappers winning PULITZER PRIZES. (OK, one rapper. But still.) Music showed its clout in Washington, shepherding the first major copyright reform in years into law, and in Hollywood, where music movies wernt head-to-head at the box office with action franchises. There were blockbuster deals for companies and for artists. There were streams and streams of streams. And, lest we lose our perspective, there were also bankruptcies, shaky stock prices, strange decisions and men who should know better telling women who do know better that they need to step up. Below is a look back at some of the year's biggest business stories. And here's a toast to 2019, when men start stepping down, women cheer them on and artificial intelligence learns to write and record pop hits, sign sync deals, hire promo teams, ring the bell at the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE and curate killer INSTAGRAM feeds. | | | - Matty Karas, curator | | | |  | Billboard | | Spotify is inspiring a handful of other music tech companies to consider launching their own IPOs. But is this nudge grounded in substantial evidence of the music industry's newfound financial strength -- or just another instance of unfounded hype? | | | |  | The New York Times | | Neil Portnow, the president of the Recording Academy, said his comments were taken out of context, but Pink, Katy Perry and Sheryl Crow had already responded. | | | |  | The Tennessean | | President Donald Trump signed the Music Modernization Act on Thursday, passing into law landmark copyright reform that songwriters have battled to pass for many years. | | | |  | The Baffler | | The emergence of a total Spotify genre. | | | |  | Stereogum | | For musical taxonomists, it's anarchy out there. | | | |  | Toronto Star | | Posing as small-time scalpers, Star and CBC reporters talked to representatives of Ticketmaster's resale division who said the company wants to share in ticket resale profits by facilitating mass scalping - in direct violation of its own terms of use. | | | |  | Los Angeles Times | | With the ever-increasing consolidation of urban radio, program directors appear increasingly wary to break below-the-radar local phenomena. Regional tastemakers have capitalized on the void, and they speak in memes. | | | |  | Music Business Worldwide | | What does the death of innovative (and beneficial) digital music platforms mean for the future of the business? | | | |  | Rolling Stone | | Scores of women looking for radio play and professional opportunities say they've been subjected to harassment during station visits, conventions. | | | |  | WOMAN Nashville | | Time's up on #Tomatogate. | | | |  | Vulture | | A new method of music discovery and new paths to widespread fame for young artists feels like it's happening in some sort of parallel universe from how the typical music consumer over, say, 25, has found new music throughout their lifetime. | | | |  | Fast Company | | An intimate look inside the mind of the CEO bending the music industry into his vision for it. | | | | | The New York Times | | The streaming service announced it would no longer promote artists it finds to be out of line with its values. | | | |  | British GQ | | He was ambitious, stubborn, unaware how much his body could take... and it was in no one's interest to make him stop. | | | |  | Slate | | Time and again, she's stood up for labor in her industry. | | | | | Rolling Stone | | YouTube says that Article 13, a controversial clause in a new European law, will destroy its platform. The music industry says this is a smokescreen. Who's right? | | | |  | Pitchfork | | With everyone from Amazon to will.i.am trying to get us to talk to their speakers, should listeners be excited, or worried? | | | |  | Wired | | Sonos chief product officer Nick Millington charts the company's history and hints at where it could go in the future--like outside your house. | | | |  | The Guardian | | Once derided, the successors to muzak have grown more sophisticated -- and influential -- than any of us realise. | | | | | The Tennessean | | Experts say the bankruptcy foreshadows the departure of CEO Henry Juskiewicz, who, along with partner Dave Berryman, rescued Gibson from the brink of collapse 32 years ago and returned the company to prominence. | | | | | Rolling Stone | | How did Pandora go from music's shining star to the cusp of bankruptcy - and then climb its way back up again? | | | | | Los Angeles Times | | "A Star Is Born," "Vox Lux" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" all offer up transcendent performances this awards season. | | | | | Pitchfork | | The list of firsts attached to DAMN.'s Pulitzer win is staggering, but what they add up to is what's most exciting. | | | | | British GQ | | We profile the men who inherited an industry in fade-out - thanks to iTunes, Spotify, piracy and scandal - and ask how the battle for our ears will be fought and won in 2019. | | | |  | REDEF | | Sixteen years after the music industry's peak, revenues have returned to growth. But the core problems of streaming service profitability and minuscule artist royalties persist. There is cause for optimism, but transformation is needed. Enter, Spotify Records and Apple Music Groups? | | | | |  | | YouTube | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | © Copyright 2018, The REDEF Group | | |
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