With its newly launched concert series Soundwave, Fortnite is taking its virtual concert stage global, announcing a slate of upcoming events for five regional superstars from around the world on Tuesday. Soundwave will start this week with Egyptian singer Mohamed Hamaki, whose show launches at 2 p.m. EST on Friday …
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To those looking to debut new music during a concert set, Travis Scott has a solution: QR codes, delivered by a legion of gigantic overhead drones. Scott, the music industry’s unofficial king of brand deals and promotional stunts, debuted upcoming single “Escape Plan” during his set at the Rolling Loud …
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This story appears in Rolling Stone‘s 2021 Future of Music issue, a special project delving into the next era of the multibillion-dollar hitmaking business. Read the other stories here. “Executive songwriter” isn’t a title. But Madison Love — who’s penned smash hits like Selena Gomez’s “Rare,” Lady Gaga’s “Sour Candy,” …
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“Who is it that’s going to take the chance to go back on tour?” The question, voiced by a prominent music booking agent in the U.S., captures the sentiment of roiling uncertainty across the music industry right now. When President Joe Biden said this week that America will have enough …
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It’s early on Friday morning. You roll over, rub the sleep out of your eyes, and open your phone to see R&B star Ne-Yo and Venezuelan singer Carmen DeLeon dancing through a cotton-candy-colored world with a mysterious new DJ who appears to be part llama. But no, you’re not still …
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In October, Johnny Cloherty, co-founder of the digital marketing company Songfluencer, dashed off an email to several labels: Christmas was nearly three months away, but Cloherty advised his partners to act like the holiday was imminent. Christmas music owns the chartsevery December, and if labels wanted to enjoy a piece …
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Update (12/14): Blake Shelton, the Who’s Roger Daltrey, and Dave Matthews will headline the Live Events Lift Up Festival, a benefit for the live music industry. Other performers include Jimmie Allen, Jason Mraz, Michael Ray, Shy Carter, The War And Treaty, Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik, Dispatch, Keala Settle, Mt. …
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Despite never showing his face publicly or signing a proper record deal, Marshmello is one of the biggest stars in the world, with a YouTube subscriber count exceeding that of Taylor Swift, Drake, or Beyoncé. The DJ would likely not be where he is today without the guidance of Moe …
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Early in 2019, Sub Urban’s “Cradles” — a pinging, defiantly introverted single — helped establish a path that has now become commonplace in the music industry: A deluge of TikTok users picked “Cradles” to soundtrack their 15-second videos, leading to a surge in streams, and the wave of interest helped …
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Music publishing has never been more commercially vibrant — from some perspectives, at least. Institutional investors are increasingly viewing evergreen music copyrights as hot property. Merck Mercuriadis’ Hipgnosis Songs Fund is paying notoriously high multiples to acquire songwriter and publishing catalogs, and it hit an all-time share price high in …
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