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Jesse Flores Joins INgrooves

INgrooves Music Group's artist services division INresidence has named industry veteran Jesse Flores to the position of Senior Director of Product Management at the company. In his new role, Mr. Flores will oversee the urban and pop projects on the INresidence roster.

AM NEWS BRIEF: 5th Harmony's Shazam Debut, Deezer Downgrades Canada, Thicke Tanks, Monstercat & More

WEDNESDAY 7.9.2014

Music Business News & Views From Around The Web

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Updated Continuously @ Hypebot's More News Tab 

How Musicians Should NOT Use Social Media [VIDEO]

This YouTube video takes a comical, but all too true look at how musicians, in this case local ones, use and OVERuse social media. Spewing a steady stream of useless information interspersed with begging for a few more Facebook Likes is more much likely to drive fans away than it is to attract them, but it does make for amusing viewing. WATCH:

Wolfgang's Vault Bringing 12,000 More Concert Videos To YouTube Channel

Wolfgang's Vault is a memorabilia and merch store that has long included streaming audio of live shows via its Concert Vault. In the spring they added Music Vault, a YouTube channel that features both full concerts and single live songs from the late 70s to today. While their website tends to focus on the late 60s through the 70s, Music Vault reveals what appears to be a larger range of related music. Now Music Vault is adding 12,000 more live videos to YouTube.

Sub Pop Launches Web Radio Station On TuneIn

Sub Pop's been making bold moves of late from opening a record store at Sea-Tac Airport to launching a Drip.fm-powered digital music subscription service. Last week they debuted a web radio station on TuneIn, a massive platform for web radio including both pure plays and terrestrial streams. It's hard to say how the station will do but it's another strong forward move by Sub Pop.

SXSW 2015 Now Accepting Showcase Submissions

South By Southwest (SXSW) 2015 is now accepting artists showcase applications. This edition runs Tuesday, March 17 through Sunday, March 22, 2015 in Austin, Texas. All applications must be submitted no later than October 10th. Fes are $33 for early submissions, $45 after Sept. 12, 2014.

Small Change Turns Songkick Into A D.I.Y. Ticket Sales Powerhouse

Sometimes the smallest changes have the greatest impact. Songkick made just such a shift with the addition of custom ticket sale links. Previously, when you added a show to Songkick, the app pointed you pre-chosen ticket sources. Now users can add a custom link that sends fans wherever they want. That could, for example, include a custom landing page with additional info or a special offer on BandPage Experiences. 

To add direct Songkick ticket links:

How Streaming Effects Digital Music Sales [CHART]

click on image to enlarge

Why Spraying Pigs' Blood Onstage and Shutting Down Great Venues Is Not Cool

A band of idiots that I'm sure are very proud of themselves recently splattered blood on the interior of an Asheville, NC venue long supportive of unique, independent acts in all genres. Their artistic effort temporarily forced the shutdown of the venue and associated restaurant. This action caused over 40 people to lose shifts and much needed pay. The band is called Young and in the Way. If you know any venue owners or anybody that books metal acts or bills on which a metal act might appear, please make sure they see this blog post.

Four Different Songs Turn The Same Footage Into Unique Videos

(UPDATED) From the Shutterstock blog.

One of the most critical parts of any film or video production is finding the music that helps tell the story most effectively. Whether it's for a television commercial, feature film, corporate video, or simply a vacation highlight reel, the music we select has a profound impact on how a video feels to its audience.

Microsoft Opens xBox Music API With Strong Incentives For Developers

In an unexpected move that could broaden the appeal of the platform Microsoft has opened the XBox Music API to developers. There's little earth shattering here for developers - just the usual lookups, content and 30 second song previews for all. But this is Micorsoft and it is XBox, and that should spark interest. To further entice developers,Microsoft is also launching a generous affiliation offer.

Live Nation Acquires, Launches EDM Platform Boomrat [Take That, SFX!]

Concert giant Live Nation has no intention of ceding EDM to the aggressive team over at SFX. They've created festivals, invested in promoters and now are reaching out directly to fans of the genre. Founded in July of 2012 with the help of a $310,000 convertable note, EDM discovery platform Boomrat had not yet gone live when Live Nation quietly acquired the startup last August. Co-founders Ariel Lee and Andrew Silberstein then woodshedded in Live Nation Labs Hollywood HQ.

Mark Mulligan Launches Music Technology Research Firm MIDiA

Long time music industry consultant and analyst Mark Mulligan has launched music and technology research firm MIDiA. In addition to the usual consulting and research services, Mulligan hopes to also appeal to indie labels, startups and smaller music firms with monthly research, analyst reports, forecasts, consumer data and market insight for a single annual fee.

AM NEWS BRIEF: TubeMogul IPO, xBox Music App Dev, Music Vault + YouTube, Boomrat & More

TUESDAY 7.8.2014

Music Business News & Views From Around The Web

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Updated Continuously @ Hypebot's More News Tab 

MTV Launches Global Top 20 Video Chart with Echo Nest Integration

MTV has launched Your MTV Top 20, a weekly chart that tracks the hottest videos across all MTV channels and websites globally.  Added to MTV's own data with be The Echo Nest’s artist and song hotness data which tracks popularity and trending metrics.

Wired For Sound Brings Mobile Recording Studio To Southern African Artists

Wired For Sound is a mobile recording studio "working with community radio and musicians throughout Southern Africa." Though much is documentary, the project is also meant to help young artists and to ultimately lead to the development of recording studios in community radio stations. Wired For sound has an album out as well that's part of a larger multimedia project.

Fall Music Biz Conferences: REVOLT Music Conference, Dancefair Ibiza, Music Tech Fest

A variety of shifts are happening in the music conference scene from new events to the continued rise of EDM-related gatherings. Music cable network REVOLT is planning a new music conference called the REVOLT Music Conference for October in Miami. The first Dancefair Ibiza is set to take place in September. And the next installment of Music Tech Fest happens in London in September.

Universal Expands DIY Digital Music Distro and A&R Platform Spinnup

Spinnup is a hybrid digital music distribution service for DIY artists with an A&R component for Universal Music that launched last year in Sweden working with X5 Music Group. They're now bringing their efforts to England in partnership with Island Records who are also instrumental in the Fan Republic crowdfunding promo platform. I missed the bigger picture till now but this is an interesting move for a number of reasons.

New On Music Industry Jobs Board: Co-founder @ House Cult, MySpace, MTheory, MTV & More

New on the Hypebot Jobs Board is more of a partnership than a 'job'.  Electronic music community and discovery platform House Cult is looking for one or more co-founders including a designer/front-end developer. There are also job openings at mtheory, MySpace and MTV Artists. Details on these opportunities and more are on Hypebot's Music Industry Jobs Board.

HIRING?  How To Post Your Job:

Don't Let Your Music Get Blocked By Digital Outlets Due To Formatting Errors

By Jacqueline Rosokoff, Editor of the TuneCore Blog.

The best part about distributing your music is seeing it go live in the digital stores, right? So there’s nothing worse than completing distribution, only to find that the stores didn’t accept your music because of some text formatting issues.

To make this process go smoothly and avoid distribution hiccups, we’ve put together some requirements to follow when it comes to formatting your artist name, release title, and track titles. Though some may seem like a drag, these requirements exist to help your music get to the stores as quickly as possible. Smooth and easy distribution? NOT such a drag.

Indie Labels Force YouTube U-Turn

Reports continue to surface that the global indie music community's public outcry over YouTube's 'take it or leave it' contract negotiations has had effect.  Several sources say that the parties are back at the negotiating table and that YouTube has delayed plans to delete or stop monetizing videos by labels that have refused to sign on to their soon to launch streaming music service.

6 Artists Who Are Amazing At Twitter – And What You Can Learn From Them

Tweeting is easy, but creating content that your audience will engage with isn't always so simple. It's difficult to find the right niche but with a little good advice and a fair share of homework, you'll own your own Twittersphere in no time. Keeping it real but not too personal can mean walking a fine line, but if auto-generated content is your current status quo, it might be time to change your game. 

Complete Nielsen Soundscan Mid-Year Music Report [FREE]

(UPDATED) We wrote about the new Nielsen Music Report last week which showed music sales continuing to slide as streaming use soared. Several readers asked to see the full report, so we've posted it here.  We encourage you to download it and share.

MON. NEWS BRIEF: Playlist.net Sale Rumors, RapGenius Inks WMG, ROK, HMV, NARM Passes & More

MONDAY 7.7.2014

Music Business News & Views From Around The Web

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Updated Continuously @ Hypebot's More News Tab 

REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

• SoundCloud WTF? Universal Has Direct Access To Pull Tracks Leading To Account Cancellations
• Apple Removes Music Download Apps From iTunes
• How To Write A Hit Pop Song: Comedian Offers Funny, Sadly Accurate Formula
• Arena: Can A Free Streaming Music Service With A Unique Business Model Succeed?
• Curation Is King: Google Acquires Songza For $39M

MORE:

Getting It Done: The Week In D.I.Y. & Indie Music

• Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson On Frugal Touring And Why Tour Managers Are Pointless
• You Need These 6 Qualities To Be A Successful Musician
• Music Monetization: BitTorrent Bundle Pay Gates, YouTube Wants You To Play For Tips
• Denver's BandSwap Creatively Boosts Bands and Builds Community
• Indie Duo The Presets Uses Google Cube To Create Unique Interactive Experience

MORE:

Last Week's Most Read Posts On Hypebot

• Soundcloud Give Universal Power To Pull Any Track
• New SoundClound App: Musicians Feel Screwed
• iTunes Removes Music Download Apps
• How To Write A Hit Song [Parody Video]
• How 12-24 Year Olds Discover & Consume Music
• Jethro Tull On Frugal Tours, Useless Road Managers
• Arena: Can This Free Streaming Music Succeed?
• Google Acquires Songza

MusicThinkTank Weekly Recap: Tips From Jack Conte: 6 Keys to Success

•  Dave Kusek | Tips From Jack Conte: 6 Keys to Success 
• Brian Hazard | Can LANDR Replace Your Mastering Engineer?

Festival Wristbands Go Digital: Payments at Lollapalooza, Social Networking at Tomorrowland

RFID wristbands have had a growing presence at music festivals over the last few years for a variety of purposes from ticketing to payments to social networking. So they've been going digital for quite some time. But digital wristbands are still an innovation, one to which concert goers are adjusting. Lollapalooza's introducing a new cashless payment system using wristbands connected to credit cards but it's an opt-in system. Tomorrowland is offering a social option with the ability to connect using wristbands if you've linked your Facebook account.

Spotify Adds Sleep Playlists While Songza Discovers The Power Of Weather

Though Spotify ultimately rejected the "Sleepify" project, Spotify has added both sleep and dinner categories to their Browse options with a variety of available playlists. Back in March Songza began using weather as an additional "signal" for determining listener's activities and moods before recommending music. Since then they've discovered that weather-related recommendations are more likely to lead to streaming a playlist.