Streaming
Hip-Hop, Latin & Vinyl’s Popularity Grew in 2020 (Rock, Pop & CDs’ Did Not)
Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” (via Atlantic) was the top streaming song in 2020 with 1.3 billion on-demand streams, beating out Future’s “Life Is Good” featuring Drake (via Epic), which had 1 billion on-demand streams. Lil Baby’s My Turn (via Quality Control) was the No. 1 album for the year, generating 2.6 million consumption units, with Taylor Swift’s folklore (via Republic) coming in second at 2.2 million album consumption units — of which 1.3 million were from sales (including 796,000 from downloads), making it the year’s best-selling album. In fact, Swift placed four albums in the year’s top 200 albums, as her Lover album ranked No. 33 with 878,000 album consumption units; evermore was No. 70 with 569,000 units and 1989 was No. 116 with 428,000 units. For the 21st year in a...
Roku Purchases Quibi’s Library
It’s about nine months too late, but you’ll soon finally be able to watch Quibi shows on your television. Via Deadline, Roku has acquired 75 titles from the Quibi library that will stream for free with commercials on the Roku Channel. Quibi launched last April with a billion dollars in funding and a dream: to reinvent streaming with “quick bites” of content beamed straight to your mobile phone. The platform’s hopes of gripping an on-the-go populace with ten-minute stories quickly came up against the pandemic; suddenly with too much time on their hands, the target audience was craving binge-watching marathons, not short chapters. Worse, Quibi wasn’t compatible with streaming hardware like Rokus or Amazon Fire TV, which meant people trapped on the couch couldn’t watch it on their TVs. Quibi ...
Recoup, There It Is: An Artist’s Guide to Royalty Hunting (Guest Column)
The good news is that, thanks in large part to a growing coalition of artist advocates, led by SoundExchange, many countries are beginning to pay American performers. In the coming years, we expect most countries to accept the notion of “National Treatment,” which means that if you pay your citizens, you pay American citizens, too. So, now’s the time to register with a collection agent for your works. If you are a producer or musician, make sure you are properly credited for all the parts you play. That helps significantly in some countries, like Germany. This revenue can range from a few bucks to a few hundred thousand dollars. It matters, so get it straight. 2. The Desk Audit: If you are signed to a record label or music publisher, it’s a good idea to investigate ...
Alibaba Group To Shutter China’s Xiami Music Service
Xiami is one of the smaller digital music services in China. While user numbers are not publicly available, Xiami’s music penetration was less than 2% in 2019, with about five million Monthly Active Users in mainland China, according to local Chinese reports. The country’s biggest streaming platforms are QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing, all owned by tech giant Tencent Music Entertainment Group. Collectively those four services have more than 800 million users, says Tencent. Tencent’s biggest competitor is NetEase Cloud Music, operated by Chinese internet company NetEase, which claims to have more than 600 million registered users. Xiami and NetEase Cloud Music cut a deal in 2018 for the streaming services to share libraries and grow their respective repertoires — a move seen a...
David Guetta Previews New Year’s Eve Virtual Concert from Paris’ Legendary Louvre Museum
When it comes to the best DJ performances of 2020, electronic music artists have been quite creative in their choice of locations throughout the COVID-19 age. Charlotte de Witte DJed at a medieval Belgian castle. RÜFÜS DU SOL performed live at the fabled Joshua Tree National Park. Kaskade spun at the Grand Canyon. However, David Guetta just dunked on them all. The Grammy Award-winning dance music producer recently announced the third edition of his “United At Home” concert series, a string of virtual shows that raise funds for COVID-10 relief. However, when he shared the news of the momentous New Year’s Eve show in Paris, he refrained from revealing its location until now. Many of Guetta’s fans speculated that an Eiffel Tower performanc...
Steve Aoki, Halsey, and Lauv to Join BTS for New Year’s Eve Streaming Event
South Korean entertainment juggernaut Big Hit Entertainment is gearing up for a New Year’s Eve livestream celebration. Powered by their Weverse platform, the ticketed event will feature performances and virtual meet-and-greets from some of the biggest stars in the world. BTS, Lee Hyun, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, and more are slated to send off 2020 with the app’s multi-camera technology, which will allow fans to watch each set from a variety of immersive angles. Over the weekend, it was announced that a trio of American performers would be taking the digital stage for the end-of-the-year party. Joining the Big Hit Entertainment mainstays are Steve Aoki, Halsey, and Lauv. As you may know, each of the three artists have collaborated with BTS in the past. In the...
Rave Responsibly: EDM.com’s 2020 New Year’s Streaming Guide
We’ve finally reached the time of the year when we can say—with a sigh of relief—these four words: “2020 is almost over.” New Year’s 2020 will look and feel much different thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns that seem to become more strict by the minute. Staying at home on New Year’s Eve isn’t the worst thing, though. You can spend quality time with family, party in your sweatpants, save hundreds of dollars on a one-time outfit, and avoid the inevitable vomit-inducing jäger bombs. Here is a list of virtual dance music events to stream on New Year’s Eve and Day—because being stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t rave. Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 will begin before midnight local time in Melbourne, Australia w...
Rave Responsibly: EDM.com’s 2020 New Year’s Streaming Guide
We’ve finally reached the time of the year when we can say—with a sigh of relief—these four words: “2020 is almost over.” New Year’s 2020 will look and feel much different thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns that seem to become more strict by the minute. Staying at home on New Year’s Eve isn’t the worst thing, though. You can spend quality time with family, party in your sweatpants, save hundreds of dollars on a one-time outfit, and avoid the inevitable vomit-inducing jäger bombs. Here is a list of virtual dance music events to stream on New Year’s Eve and Day—because being stuck at home doesn’t mean you can’t rave. Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 Beatport x Absolut NYE 2020 will begin before midnight local time in Melbourne, Australia w...
The COVID-19 Stimulus Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony
Congress looks to provide relief to U.S. citizens and small businesses, but the omnibus bill includes some legislative priorities for the entertainment industry as well. Providing relief via direct assistance and loans to struggling individuals and businesses hit hard by COVID-19 has been a priority for federal lawmakers this past month. But a gigantic spending bill has also become the opportunity to smuggle in some other line items, including those of special interest to the entertainment community. Perhaps most surprising, according to the text of the bill being circulated, illegal streaming for commercial profit could become a felony. It’s been less than two weeks since Sen. Thom Tillis released his proposal to increase the penalties for those who would dare stream unlicensed work...
David Guetta Announces NYE “United At Home” Charity Stream Live from Paris
Third time’s the charm for David Guetta, who has announced a massive “United At Home” charity stream on New Year’s Eve 2020 in Paris. The barnstorming dance music superstar raised a whopping $1.5 million with his first two “United At Home” streams, which went down in Miami and New York, respectively. 50 million global viewers tuned in to watch him break the Guinness World Record for the most-watched DJ set on Facebook. Guetta has not revealed where exactly he will be broadcasting from, but a press release asserts that the performance will take place at “one of the most magical spots in Paris.” Could an Eiffel Tower stream be on the horizon? The Paris edition of the event series will benefit UNICEF and Restos du Cœur, a major French ...
Melvins Announce “New Year’s Evil” Livestream Event
The Melvins have announced “Melvins TV: Volume 1, New Year’s Evil”, a livestream event to ring in 2021. The virtual show will feature a five-song performance by the Melvins, interviews, extras, and an opening set by Void Manes. The stream goes live on December 31st at 3:00 p.m. ET / noon PT, and tickets cost $5 each. “‘Melvins TV, New Year’s Evil’ is as close to a live show as we can get during this hideous pandemic,” Buzz Osborne said in a press announcement. “We’ll be doing more of these so tune in and enjoy! Happy New Year!” The Melvins lineup for the stream will consist of the band’s core trio of Osborne, Dale Crover, and Steven McDonald (of Redd Kross fame). A commemorative limited-edition poster and T-shirt designed by Junko Mizuno and Mackie Osborne will be available exclusively to ...
Bandcamp Fridays Raised $40 Million (!) for Musicians in 2020
Earlier this year, as the pandemic strangled the live events economy, the artist-oriented platform Bandcamp decided to waive its own cut on sales of music and merch on Friday, March 20th. The one-off sale was such a success that the website soon extended it to the first Friday of every month in 2020. With the year almost over, the results are in: artists earned more than $40 million on Bandcamp Fridays in 2020. And since the vaccine isn’t widely available yet, and live music unlikely to return for several months, the platform has announced four more Bandcamp Fridays extending into 2021. While competitors like YouTube and Spotify have long been criticized for their miniscule streaming payout rates, Bandcamp has helped normalize consumers paying for music again. On those special Fridays, the...
