Association News

Below, you’ll find the latest Association press releases, updates on our upcoming events, introductions to our newest member companies, links to the latest content from Music Biz and our partners, and more.

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June 15, 2020 – Billboard Releases 2020 Indie Power Players List

Billboard this week has published its 2020 Indie Power Players list, recognizing those executives  from the indie community who have helped the business segment rise above the challenges its artists and labels have faced in the past year. Congratulations to all those Music Biz members and past Conference speakers featured on this edition of the Indie Power Player list, with special recognition for Music Biz board members Ghazi of Empire and Glenn Dicker of Redeye. Click here to read the full list.... Read More

July 7, 2020 – [Keeping Tempo With Music Biz] — Staying Safe, Sane and Productive: A Conversation with Symphonic Distribution’s Jorge Brea

Established as a forward-thinking distribution company, Symphonic has in many ways helped give a sneak peak into a future music industry guided by an “artist-first” strategy that bolsters everything from personal brand to release schedules. This tendency to look and plan ahead for the challenges of tomorrow has helped the company respond to the challenges that 2020 have presented our entire industry with in a major way. In this Keeping Tempo interview, we discuss with Symphonic Distribution CEO Jorge Brea how the company has managed to stay productive in the time of COVID-19,... Read More

June 8, 2020 – The Future of What Episode #191 – Music Biz LIVE with The MLC

One of the more important pieces of the Music Modernization Act passed in 2018 was the establishment of the Mechanical Licensing Collective. Similar to SoundExchange, the MLC (as it’s commonly referred to) is a third party organization that exists for the purpose of collecting the royalties (mechanical) that are generated from plays on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. In addition to collecting said royalties, the MLC (like SoundExchange) is also responsible for dispersing those royalties to self-publishing artists and publishers alike,... Listen

June 3, 2020 – The Future of What Episode #190 – Music Biz LIVE with Live Music Venues

With states opening up more and more spaces to the public, the question on some minds is “When will live music return, and what will it look like once it does?” Can venues enforce social distancing responsibly? Will half capacity be enough to sustain artists, venues and crew financially? What can venues do now to assure that they will survive long enough to re-open down the road? We get answers to these questions and more from the audio taken from a recent Music Biz LIVE session.... Listen

May 26, 2020 – The Future of What Episode #189 – Music Biz LIVE re: Music Consumption Metrics

While the long term effects of the COVID-19 quarantine on the music business are yet to be known, there are lots of real-time metrics to be analyzed in the interim. With the postponement of Record Store Day, and most record shops being closed to the public, the effect on physical sales during this time should be obvious to most. The less obvious changes to global music consumption are the ones that are happening in the digital space,... Listen

May 21, 2020 – Music Business Association and Record Store Day to Host Virtual Couch Camp Event June 2-5

May 21, 2020 — As part of their efforts to bring educational content to the industry at large as it practices social distancing, the Music Business Association (Music Biz) and Record Store Day today announce that they will co-host the Couch Camp educational conference, set for Tuesday, June 2 through Friday, June 5 via Zoom. This virtual event will take the place of Record Store Day’s annual Summer Camp program. Each day will consist of three hours of programming starting at 3 pm ET,... Read More

May 20, 2020 – Music Business Association Cancels Music Biz 2020 Conference, Announces Strategic Plans for Rest of 2020

May 20, 2020 — Due to the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, the Music Business Association (Music Biz) today announced that it has cancelled its Music Biz 2020 Conference, which was set to take place August 16-19, 2020 at the JW Marriott Nashville.  “The COVID-19 crisis has created conditions that we feel will not safely allow us to offer the in-person experience Music Biz Conference attendees are used to, thus we sadly announce the cancellation of our 2020 physical event,” commented Music Biz President Portia Sabin.... Read More

May 18, 2020 – NY:LON Connect 2020 Startup Showcase Award Winner TRASH Launches AI Video Creation for Artists

AI-generated video app TRASH officially launched today along with a new slate of featured including TRASH for Artists, a tool suite designed allowing independent musicians to add their songs to the TRASH catalog and easily create original video content ranging from promo clips to full-length music videos with just one tap. The app was the audience favorite at this year’s NY:LON Connect Startup Showcase and Awards program. “Video is a critical component of dropping a track,... Read More

May 18, 2020 – The Future of What Episode 188: Music Biz LIVE, Mental Health Focus

While many have speculated about what the long term economic impacts of the COVID-19 quarantine might be, fewer have openly discussed what the long term psychological impacts on society might be. In this episode, Portia speaks with several mental health experts who were actively working with musicians before the quarantine began, and gets their take on what was working for their clients pre-quarantine and what should happen next, if those mental health gains are to be maintained.... Listen

May 8, 2020 – The Future of What Episode #187 – Music Biz LIVE with EU & UK Music Organizations

Over the past several episodes, Portia has had countless discussions with the heads of music business organizations who represent various facets of the industry within the United States. This week, she’s speaking with their peers and equivalents in the U.K. and E.U. about how they’re weathering the pandemic, and what efforts their various governing bodies are making to aid musicians and other cultural workers in this time of crisis. The six person panel also speculates on what happens next within the industry,... Listen