Music Tech / Future of Music

If Apple wanted to offer exclusive music, they would cut a deal with Taylor Swift. They have the cash to do it. They wouldn’t waste time on locking up Kalevi Aho. That’s so obvious I shouldn’t even have to say it, but (given all the smoke and mirrors here), I really do.

So we’re clearly dealing with the bad Apple here. And the fact that the company... See more

Music Industry Moves: Concord Strikes $468 Million Deal for Round Hill Fund; Exceleration Acquires Redeye Distribution

In other words, streaming is a lot more profitable for all the actual value creators after we bypass these technopolies.

Spotify has already learned that there’s no money to be made with exclusive rights to superstar offerings. “After pouring billions into podcasts and audiobooks to little effect,” explains tech journalist David Pierce, “it seems to have largely given up on the idea that exclusive content is the path to riches.”

The more profitable move is to... See more

The music industry is deceiving you. They aren’t doing it on purpose, though. Statistics are just deceptive. And I’m not talking about any fancy statistical techniques. I’m talking about simple things, like means and medians. I’ll illustrate how with Spotify’s album charts.

The simplest way a music streaming service calculates the top album on their... See more