Music licenses can be a complex matter and there are a lot of different types available that are worth understanding to ensure your music is protected correctly and that all artists earn their royalties fairly….
Mark Hill from the Artful Dodger will join RouteNote next month to discuss the opportunities that have come with the adoption of digital technology in the music industry. Next month we will be taking part…
Research suggests that there is a biological reason that some of us get shivers when we listen to a powerful piece of music as some of us are more predisposed to emotionally respond to songs….
There are millions and millions of tracks on Spotify, we should know! But for every track that finds listeners new and old and gets it’s spins there are another hundred that don’t get played at…
Spotify does allow Spotify Premium customers to use their accounts on many devices. There are limitations, but its possible to use as many devices as you wish.
Limitations: Can only listen to music in one location at any time. Additionally, you can only use offline sync on up to 3 locations at a time.
MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA) and AMEI (the Japanese MIDI association) have announced plans for MIDI 2.0, the next major update to the ubiquitous Musical Instrument Digital Interface standard.
Here is the statement about MIDI 2.0:
A members-only plugfest to test compatibility between some early MIDI 2.0 prototypes is planned for Winter NAMM 2019. Participating companies include Ableton/Cycling ’74, Art+Logic, Bome Software, Google, imitone, Native Instruments, Roland, ROLI, Steinberg, TouchKeys, and Yamaha.
As with MIDI 1.0, AMEI and the MMA are working closely together and sharing code to streamline the prototype development process. Prototyping is planned to continue during 2019 as the associations work together on MIDI 2.0 launch plans, including exploring the development of a MIDI 2.0 logo and self-certification program for MMA and AMEI member companies.
During the prototyping phase, the proposed MIDI 2.0 specification is available only to MMA and AMEI members, because the prototyping process may trigger minor enhancements to the specification. Once a final specification is adopted, it will join the current MIDI specifications as a free download on www.midi.org.
The MIDI 2.0 initiative updates MIDI with auto-configuration, new DAW/web integrations, extended resolution, increased expressiveness, and tighter timing — all while maintaining a high priority on backward compatibility. This major update of MIDI paves the way for a new generation of advanced interconnected MIDI devices, while still preserving interoperability with the millions of existing MIDI 1.0 devices. One of the core goals of the MIDI 2.0 initiative is to also enhance the MIDI 1.0 feature set whenever possible.
All companies that develop MIDI products are encouraged to join the MMA to participate in the future development of the specification, and to keep abreast of other developments in MIDI technology.
Spotify is planning to compete with Apple (with CarPlay), Google (Assistant and Android Auto), and Amazon (Alexa) with a new in-car music player with voice controls later this year.
The Spotify in-car player will sync with car stereos through Bluetooth — much like a smartphone — and include buttons you can preset to correspond with your favourite playlists. The device will support voice commands like those currently offered in the Spotify mobile app.
Hardware is a very difficult market to enter, but this product (if at a low price point) could speed up further adoption in the car, while also speeding up the decreases in radio listeners.
1. Record Of The Year
Award to the Artist and to the Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s) and/or Mixer(s) and mastering engineer(s), if other than the artist.
2. Album Of The Year
Award to Artist(s) and to Featured Artist(s), Songwriter(s) of new material, Producer(s), Recording Engineer(s), Mixer(s) and Mastering Engineer(s) credited with at least 33% playing time of the album, if other than Artist.
3. Song Of The Year
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
4. Best New Artist
An artist will be considered for Best New Artist if their eligibility year release/s achieved a breakthrough into the public consciousness and notably impacted the musical landscape.
5. Best Pop Solo Performance
For new vocal or instrumental pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
6. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative pop recordings. Singles or Tracks only.
7. Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new traditional pop recordings.
8. Best Pop Vocal Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal pop recordings.
9. Best Dance Recording
For solo, duo, group or collaborative performances. Vocal or Instrumental. Singles or tracks only.
10. Best Dance/Electronic Album
For vocal or instrumental albums. Albums only.
11. Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
For albums containing approximately 51% or more playing time of instrumental material. For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings.
12. Best Rock Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative rock recordings.
13. Best Metal Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo, duo/group or collaborative metal recordings.
14. Best Rock Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Rock, Hard Rock and Metal songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
15. Best Rock Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new rock, hard rock or metal recordings.
16. Best Alternative Music Album
Vocal or Instrumental.
17. Best R&B Performance
For new vocal or instrumental R&B recordings.
18. Best Traditional R&B Performance
For new vocal or instrumental traditional R&B recordings.
19. Best R&B Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
20. Best Urban Contemporary Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded contemporary vocal tracks derivative of R&B.
21. Best R&B Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new R&B recordings.
22. Best Rap Performance
For a Rap performance. Singles or Tracks only.
23. Best Rap/Sung Performance
For a solo or collaborative performance containing both elements of R&B melodies and Rap.
24. Best Rap Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
25. Best Rap Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new rap recordings.
26. Best Country Solo Performance
For new vocal or instrumental solo country recordings.
27. Best Country Duo/Group Performance
For new vocal or instrumental duo/group or collaborative country recordings.
28. Best Country Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
29. Best Country Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new country recordings.
30. Best New Age Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental new age recordings.
31. Best Improvised Jazz Solo
For an instrumental jazz solo performance. Two equal performers on one recording may be eligible as one entry. If the soloist listed appears on a recording billed to another artist, the latter’s name is in parenthesis for identification. Singles or Tracks only.
32. Best Jazz Vocal Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal jazz recordings.
33. Best Jazz Instrumental Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new instrumental jazz recordings.
34. Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new ensemble jazz recordings.
35. Best Latin Jazz Album
For vocal or instrumental albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded material. The intent of this category is to recognize recordings that represent the blending of jazz with Latin, Iberian-American, Brazilian, and Argentinian tango music.
36. Best Gospel Performance/Song
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best traditional Christian, roots gospel or contemporary gospel single or track.
37. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
This award is given to the artist(s) and songwriter(s) (for new compositions) for the best contemporary Christian pop, Christian rap/hip-hop, or Christian rock single or track.
38. Best Gospel Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional or contemporary/R&B gospel music recordings.
39. Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, contemporary Christian music, including pop, rap/hip hop, or rock recordings.
40. Best Roots Gospel Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of newly recorded, vocal, traditional/roots gospel music, including country, Southern gospel, bluegrass, and Americana recordings.
41. Best Latin Pop Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new Latin pop recordings.
42. Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new Latin rock, urban or alternative recordings.
43. Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new regional Mexican (banda, norteño, corridos, gruperos, mariachi, ranchera and Tejano) recordings.
44. Best Tropical Latin Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new tropical Latin recordings.
45. Best American Roots Performance
For new vocal or instrumental American Roots recordings. This is for performances in the style of any of the subgenres encompassed in the American Roots Music field including Americana, bluegrass, blues, folk or regional roots. Award to the artist(s).
46. Best American Roots Song
A Songwriter(s) Award. Includes Americana, bluegrass, traditional blues, contemporary blues, folk or regional roots songs. A song is eligible if it was first released or if it first achieved prominence during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
47. Best Americana Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental Americana recordings.
48. Best Bluegrass Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental bluegrass recordings.
49. Best Traditional Blues Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental traditional blues recordings.
50. Best Contemporary Blues Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental contemporary blues recordings.
51. Best Folk Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental folk recordings.
52. Best Regional Roots Music Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental regional roots music recordings.
53. Best Reggae Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new reggae recordings.
54. Best World Music Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new vocal or instrumental World Music recordings.
55. Best Children’s Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new musical or spoken word recordings that are created and intended specifically for children.
56. Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling)
57. Best Comedy Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings.
58. Best Musical Theater Album
For albums containing at least 51% playing time of new recordings. Award to the principle vocalist(s) and the album producer(s) of 51% or more playing time of the album. The lyricist(s) and composer(s) of a new score are eligible for an Award if they have written and/or composed a new score which comprises 51% or more playing time of the album.
59. Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Award to the artist(s) and/or ‘in studio’ producer(s) of a majority of the tracks on the album. In the absence of both, award to the one or two individuals proactively responsible for the concept and musical direction of the album and for the selection of artists, songs and producers, as applicable. Award also goes to appropriately credited music supervisor(s).
60. Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
Award to Composer(s) for an original score created specifically for, or as a companion to, a current legitimate motion picture, television show or series, video games or other visual media.
61. Best Song Written For Visual Media
A Songwriter(s) award. For a song (melody & lyrics) written specifically for a motion picture, television, video games or other visual media, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
62. Best Instrumental Composition
A Composer’s Award for an original composition (not an adaptation) first released during the Eligibility Year. Singles or Tracks only.
63. Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
64. Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
An Arranger’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.
65. Best Recording Package
66. Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
67. Best Album Notes
68. Best Historical Album
69. Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
70. Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
A Producer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses.)
• Be Careful (Cardi B) (T)
• Diplomatic Immunity (Drake) (S)
• Friends (The Carters) (T)
• God’s Plan (Drake) (S)
• Heard About Us (The Carters) (T)
• Lucky You (Eminem Featuring Joyner Lucas) (T)
• Mob Ties (Drake) (T)
• No Limit (G-Eazy Featuring A$AP Rocky & Cardi B) (S)
• All These Things (Thomas Dybdahl) (S)
• Anthem (Madeleine Peyroux) (A)
• The Book Of Longing (Luciana Souza) (A)
• Can I Have It All (Thomas Dybdahl) (S)
• Junk (Hailey Tuck) (A)
• Look At What We’ve Done (Thomas Dybdahl) (S)
• Meaning To Tell Ya (Molly Johnson) (A)
• Harder Better Faster Stronger (Willa Amai) (S)
• Served Like A Girl (Music From And Inspired By The Documentary Film) (Various Artists) (A)
• 28 Days In The Valley (Dorothy) (A)
• Daytona (Pusha T) (A)
• Kids See Ghosts (Kids See Ghosts) (A)
• K.T.S.E. (Teyana Taylor) (A)
• Nasir (Nas) (A)
• Ye (Kanye West) (A)
• Apes*** (The Carters) (T)
• Man Of The Woods (Justin Timberlake) (A)
• No One Ever Really Dies (N.E.R.D) (A)
• Stir Fry (Migos) (T)
• Sweetener (Ariana Grande) (A)
71. Best Remixed Recording
A Remixer’s Award. (Artists names appear in parentheses for identification.) Singles or Tracks only.
72. Best Immersive Audio Album
For vocal or instrumental albums in any genre. Must be commercially released on DVD-Audio, DVD-Video, SACD, Blu-Ray, or burned download-only/streaming-only copies and must provide a new surround mix of four or more channels. Award to the surround mix engineer, surround producer (if any) and surround mastering engineer (if any).
73. Best Engineered Album, Classical
An Engineer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
74. Producer Of The Year, Classical
A Producer’s Award. (Artist names appear in parentheses.)
• Arnesen: Infinity – Choral Works (Joel Rinsema & Kantorei)
• Aspects Of America (Carlos Kalmar & Oregon Symphony)
• Chesnokov: Teach Me Thy Statutes (Vladimir Gorbik & PaTRAM Institute Male Choir)
• Gordon, R.: The House Without A Christmas Tree (Bradley Moore, Elisabeth Leone, Maximillian Macias, Megan Mikailovna Samarin, Patricia Schuman, Lauren Snouffer, Heidi Stober, Daniel Belcher, Houston Gran Opera Juvenile Chorus & Houston Grand Opera Orchestra)
• Haydn: The Creation (Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Betsy Cook Weber, Houston Symphony & Houston Symphony Chorus)
• Heggie: Great Scott (Patrick Summers, Manuel Palazzo, Mark Hancock, Michael Mayes, Rodell Rosel, Kevin Burdette, Anthony Roth Costanzo, Nathan Gunn, Frederica von Stade, Ailyn Pérez, Joyce DiDonato, Dallas Opera Chorus & Orchestra)
• Music Of Fauré, Buide & Zemlinsky (Trio Séléné)
• Paterson: Three Way – A Trio Of One-Act Operas (Dean Williamson, Daniele Pastin, Courtney Ruckman, Eliza Bonet, Melisa Bonetti, Jordan Rutter, Samuel Levine, Wes Mason, Matthew Treviño & Nashville Opera Orchestra)
• Vaughan Williams: Piano Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Serenade To Music; Flos Campi (Peter Oundjian & Toronto Symphony Orchestra)
• Beethoven: Piano Sonatas, Volume 7 (Jonathan Biss)
• Mirror In Mirror (Anne Akiko Meyers, Kristjan Järvi & Philharmonia Orchestra)
• Mozart: Idomeneo (James Levine, Alan Opie, Matthew Polenzani, Alice Coote, Nadine Sierra, Elza van den Heever, The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)
• Presentiment (Orion Weiss)
• Strauss, R.: Der Rosenkavalier (Sebastian Weigle, Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Erin Morley, Günther Groissböck, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra & Chorus)
• Bates: The (R)evolution Of Steve Jobs (Michael Christie, Garrett Sorenson, Wei Wu, Sasha Cooke, Edward Parks, Jessica E. Jones & Santa Fe Opera Orchestra)
• The Road Home (Joshua Habermann & Santa Fe Desert Chorale)
• Beethoven Unbound (Llŷr Williams)
• Black Manhattan Volume 3 (Rick Benjamin & Paragon Ragtime Orchestra)
• Bolcom: Piano Music (Various Artists)
• Del Tredici: March To Tonality (Mark Peskanov & Various Artists)
• Love Comes In At The Eye (Timothy Jones, Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio, Jeffrey Sykes, Anthony Ross, Carol Cook, Beth Rapier & Stephanie Jutt)
• Meltzer: Variations On A Summer Day & Piano Quartet (Abigail Fischer, Jayce Ogren & Sequitur)
• Mendelssohn: Complete Works For Cello And Piano (Marcy Rosen & Lydia Artymiw)
• New Music For Violin And Piano (Julie Rosenfeld & Peter Miyamoto)
• Reich: Pulse/Quartet (Colin Currie Group & International Contemporary Ensemble)
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 3; Strauss: Horn Concerto No. 1 (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
• Lippencott: Frontier Symphony (Jeff Lippencott & Ligonier Festival Orchestra)
• Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Thierry Fischer, Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Utah Symphony)
• Music Of The Americas (Andrés Orozco-Estrada & Houston Symphony)
75. Best Orchestral Performance
Award to the Conductor and to the Orchestra.
76. Best Opera Recording
Award to the Conductor, Album Producer(s) and Principal Soloists.
77. Best Choral Performance
Award to the Conductor, and to the Choral Director and/or Chorus Master where applicable and to the Choral Organization/Ensemble.
78. Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
For new recordings of works with chamber or small ensemble (twenty-four or fewer members, not including the conductor). One Award to the ensemble and one Award to the conductor, if applicable.
79. Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Award to the Instrumental Soloist(s) and to the Conductor when applicable.
80. Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Award to: Vocalist(s), Collaborative Artist(s) (Ex: pianists, conductors, chamber groups) Producer(s), Recording Engineers/Mixers with 51% or more playing time of new material.
81. Best Classical Compendium
Award to the Artist(s) and to the Album Producer(s) and Engineer(s) of over 51% playing time of the album, if other than the artist.
82. Best Contemporary Classical Composition
A Composer’s Award. (For a contemporary classical composition composed within the last 25 years, and released for the first time during the Eligibility Year.) Award to the librettist, if applicable.
83. Best Music Video
Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
84. Best Music Film
For concert/performance films or music documentaries. Award to the artist, video director, and video producer.
Radio by Deezer is a new mobile app from the French music streamer that sit’s standalone to their music service. The app is free to download and features 30,000 radio stations that listeners can tune in to with no sign-up or subscriptions required. Just open the app and start streaming from any of their giant collection of stations all in one place.
The app identifies any songs that are playing on the station you’re tuned in to and lets you save them into a ‘Favourite’ tracks library. Radio by Deezer can link up to the full Deezer music streaming app so that you can listen to any and all of your favourite tracks on-demand if you’re a registered Deezer user.
The vast collection of radio stations available on the app include everything from the top chart music stations, talk radio, sports channels, and many more. As it’s free and doesn’t require you to be a Deezer user you can simply download the app, browse and listen to your heart’s content.
The app’s layout features 3 main sections:
The app is available in beta on Android in the UK and you can download it here.
Tinder and Spotify have made a great match since the music streaming service integrated into the dating app 2 years ago in 2016, allowing people to give a spotlight of their music tastes to any potential suitors. The swipey dating app are now testing even further Spotify integration by letting users share Spotify songs directly as a message in chats with any of their matches.
Currently you can add Spotify to your Tinder profile so that it shows the artists you listen to most based on your recent listening and allows you to select a featured track that represents you in some way. This is great for musos who want to find someone with similar tastes as them, particularly with music’s ability to connect with people on a personal level and create a unique bond.
Tinder’s integration of music has also allowed them to analyse who would be better matches based on their tastes and matches. When listening to Spotify tracks on someone’s profile or sharing them with someone in a chat the other person will be able to listen to a 30 second snippet of the track or use it to go to the Spotify app and listen to the track in full.
Currently the feature is strangely only available in the web app version of Tinder and the company haven’t announced whether they plan to bring it to their popular mobile app or when they might.
Tinder Tests Sharing Spotify Clips With Matches https://t.co/eCHBbPYUpl pic.twitter.com/IPU0j6uWKj
— Tech@WorldSiteNews (@TechWSN) January 17, 2019
A master recording license allows the license holder to use music from an artist or label that they don’t own. Master licenses must be obtained from the rights-holder of the recording which is usually the artist themselves or their record label.
This applies to all elements of a recording so whether you’re sampling a single part of a track or if you’re using the entire song for a compilation release you will need a master license.
Sync licenses are granted to use the music in a video format. For example if you want to use a song in a scene in a movie then you will have to obtain a sync license from the rights-holder that allows you to literally ‘sync’ the song with your media.
Synchronisation licenses apply whenever you want to use music in a TV show, movie, video, commercial or any other form of video media that you want to use music with.
This license applies to the actual composition of a song, unlike a master recording license which applies to the actual audio recording of a song. Mechanical licenses are required to release the re-worked or re-recorded composition of a song.
The most common use of mechanical licenses are for the release of cover songs where the recording is your own but you have used someone else’s composition. For medley’s of multiple songs you would need to acquire a mechanical license for each individual song.
These are normally acquired by clubs, bars and businesses for the use of music in a public space. Performance licenses cover everything from bands playing covers live at a venue to shops playing the radio over speakers for their customers to listen to.
Often performance licenses are acquired in one bulk – known as a Blanket License – for a yearly fee from a performing rights agency like PRS, BMI, or ASCAP. These societies keep track of performances as best as possible and collect royalties from establishments to distribute it between rights-holders.
There are two other main types of licenses for music that you can acquire. A Print License which gives permission for the lyrics or notes to be arranged in print form – such as a music notation less book or a lyrics collection. The final common music license is a Theatrical License which once gained gives the owner permission to use a copyrighted composition in a theatrical performance such as a play, musical, ballet, opera, etc.
Last month Instagram got caught up in a bit of a furore after it leaked out that they were testing a new horizontal approach to their app. Some Instagram users opened up their app to find a single post on their screen that they could swipe left and right to navigate through. It wasn’t supposed to be made public, apparently, and they haven’t implemented it but now YouTube are taking a shine to the swipe approach and adding it to their videos.
YouTube have updated their app on iOS devices so that when you’re watching a video you can swipe right to move on to the next video. According to their developers UX research shows that swiping is easier for users than tapping with a larger area for correct input as tapping your selection requires precision. Additionally 70% of YouTube viewers are now on mobile so YouTube want to increase engagement with their majority users.
The design team say that the feature, referred to internally as ‘swipey watch’ has been 2 years in the making and has has extended testing, but now it’s rolling out to iOS devices this week. Android users will have to wait a bit longer as the team continue to test and refine the feature based on it’s use on iOS.
Google have released their first update of 2019 for their new music service built from YouTube‘s video platform which integrates all of the video site’s music content into one. The app’s under-the-hood update has been analysed by techies and they’ve found some suggestions that YouTube Music may become the default music player for Android devices sometime in the future.
For years now Google Play Music has come as the default music player on Android devices, often offering a free trial subscription to their unlimited streaming service as well. New icons discovered in the YouTube Music 2.65 update suggest that looking forward, Google may replace GPM with YouTube Music as the default app to come on Android devices.
Since launching YouTube Music last year Google have been working to bring the app in-line with their dedicated music streaming service; the latest update introduced side-loading tracks to playlists and deleting them outright. There has been speculation that Google won’t want to run two separate but similar music services side-by-side and that eventually YouTube Music may fully replace Google Play Music.
Recently YouTube’s web player has been redesigned to represent a music player more than a video site and has brought more focus to lyrics than the video, suggesting it’s transformation to be a music service more than an extension of YouTube is underway. They are still yet to introduce certain features that have defined Google Play Music, for example streaming radio stations hasn’t been implemented into YouTube Music yet.
Despite it looking highly likely that eventually GPM will be replaced Google have made no official announcements on the matter. At the very least their latest update makes it look possible that it could be replaced as a default player on Android’s which would mark a large shift away from the dedicated streaming service, but this is all currently speculation.
New York rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie has made it to the number one spot of the US album charts without a physical release at all. Whilst it’s been doing the rounds on streaming services big time the actual sales for the record are phenomenally low, with only 823 people purchasing the album in the week ending January 10th.
This is significant because it shows that music streams, with essentially 0 sales, can still create a number 1 record. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie made it to the top spot after his album Hoodie Szn was streamed 83 million times across streaming services. It shows that whilst people are moving away from traditional physical music formats, music consumption is in no way diminishing. In fact people are listening more than ever now that they have access to all of the world’s music and they have a range of devices for playing music no matter where they are.
Sales may be diminishing, even digital download sales which the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry found dropped by 20% in 2017, but the global digital revenues overall grew by 19% in the same year. In the first half of 2018 Nielsen found that both single song downloads and album downloads dropped in the US, by 27% and 22% respectively. But in the same period music streams grew by 42% to offset the decrease in consumption.
The physical music industry reflects the same abandonment as CD sales in the US have dropped 47% year-on-year whilst in the UK CD sales fell 23% in 2018, selling 32 million. However A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie just goes to show that whilst purchasing music straight up may be slowly forgotten people’s love for music won’t fade and you can still have a number 1 hit.