Vol 129: Welcome Home (Substacktarium)
Royalties, Box Office Stats, Nirvana, Nepobabies & More!
First…
Apologies for no newsletter last week; I was besieged by projects, out-of-town guests, and migrating over to Substack. I loved many things about Ghost, especially their scrappy underdog approach, but there were a lot of restrictions and limitations in how I could scale Heavy Mental. I still believe it’s superior as a standalone publishing platform, but isn’t the best for newsletters.
Next…
Friendly Tip:
Halloween Merch Should be Sold in August
From the music world to MLB, I received at least 10 emails on Halloween announcing new Halloween merchandise. Do you know when I want to see those product launches? Much earlier! I’m not going to buy something today for something that’s a year away.
Music Streaming Royalty Calculator
Manatt, the professional services firm, has launched their Music Streaming Royalty Calculator. It’s useful as a guideline, although not applicable to the top tier who often negotiate their own deals.
Go check it out here.
You Should Look At This Chart About Music Genres
I love this site. It’s a summarized overview of genres on Spotify and their respective popularity from 2016 to 2023. Go to the site and just click or tap to see things evolve.
What a Drag it is Getting Old:
15 Artists Who Released Albums in 1973 & 2023
“I’d rather be dead than sing Satisfaction when I’m 45.”
—Mick Jagger, June 9, 1975
In UterNO
My suspicions were unfortunately correct: the material on this boxset is a craptacular dumpster fire.
It’s frustrating that all of the stakeholders are asleep at the wheel when it comes to quality control on practically every Nirvana reissue/remaster. I’m no fan of Steve Albini, but his 2013 mix was great. There was no need for Bob Weston to touch it, but touch it he did, and we’re left with what is always feared on a remaster: intense loudness, super bright, super fatiguing tracks.
But it’s the live tracks that are really done a disservice. As I mentioned before, every show on the In Utero tour was recorded. But instead of using those soundboards, Universal chose to use terrible digital source material that is inferior to material widely circulated amongst fans.
Forget about the press release nonsense about the use of AI here. It’s not at all like what Peter Jackson accomplished with the Beatles. This is more akin to someone using a free or nearly free AI tool to upscale the tracks. What you’re left with are these odd digital artifacts that technically fill in the gaps, but it’s mostly noise. It’s especially annoying because superior versions of everything in this boxset exist elsewhere.
The same holds true for previous live releases. You can find vastly better versions of Reading ‘92 and especially Paramount ‘91. The latter of which is perplexing because Andy Wallace mixed that show in ‘91! Anyone who has enjoyed the Paramount show should seek out Andy’s mix if you really want to be impressed.
INTERMISSION
JOBS!
Tour Marketing Associate - Ground Control Touring - Hybrid (NYC or Los Angeles) - Applicants with 2-3 years music industry experience are preferred, and prior office/administration experience is required. Interested applicants can apply here or submit a cover letter, resume and social media handles to jobs@groundconsulting.com.
Coordinator, Commercial Partnerships - Sony Music Entertainment - Los Angeles - Must have at least 1 year experience with working knowledge in the music industry, preferably in physical and digital music sales/distribution. Apply here.
Booking Producer, The Megyn Kelly Show - Red Seat Ventures - Remote - Ideal applicant will have 3-4 years of booking experience; familiarity with broadcast and sound editing equipment is a plus. Apply here.
Event Specialist, Youtube Theater - Hollywood Park - Inglewood, CA - This position requires a minimum of one (1) year of related work experience in event coordination, with overall knowledge of the production process. Apply here.
Principle Content & Editorial Manager - Sonos Inc. - New York City - Interested applicants should have a deep understanding of the music industry and the dynamics of streaming platforms, artists, and the industry, be creative, and possess strong editorial judgment and experience. Applicants with experience in content programming, development and/or production in the audio or music space are preferred. Apply here.
PR & Marketing Coordinator - SEQUEL - New York City - Candidates must have 1+ years of PR and marketing experience in the music or lifestyle field. Apply here.
Logistics Manager, Brooklyn Bowl Philly - Live Nation Concerts - Philadelphia, PA - Live Nation is looking for a Special Events Logistics Manager that will be responsible for coordination and execution of all events contracted by the Sales Department. Having a minimum of two years management experience in sales / marketing / catering; public speaking experience is a plus. Apply here.
Administrative Assistant, Digital Marketing - Universal Music Group - Santa Monica, CA - The ideal candidate must possess excellent writing and oral skills and demonstrate the ability to manage multiple assignments under tight deadlines. Apply here.
Coordinator (Various Teams) - Insomniac Music Group - Calabasas, CA - Insomniac Music Group (label) is looking to hire coordinators on the following teams: A&R, Operations, Promotions & PR, and Marketing & Content. Ideal applicants will have at least 2 years of music/entertainment experience. Apply here for A&R, here for Operations, here for Promotions & PR, and here for Marketing & Content.
Digital Designer, Concerts - 24 Seven Talent - Remote - Ideal candidates have experience within entertainment, music, concerts, etc (things with movement) and should be skilled in Photoshop, Figma, light Aftereffects, and some Premiere. Apply here.
Beats & Seats
The Eagles
Indianapolis, IN: 23,889/23,889* (100%) $6,595,726
New York, NY: 12,512/12,512 (100%) $3180886
Newark, NJ: 22,529/22,529* (100%) $5,731,750
*Two Shows
Depeche Mode
Washington, D.C.: 14,396/14,396 (100%) $2,084,100
Dallas, TX: 14,142/14,142 (100%) $2,331,628
Guns N Roses
Edmonton, AB: 13,728/13,728 (100%) $1,470,516
San Diego, CA: 26,079/26,079 (100%) $3,857,889
Houston, TX: 32,378/32,378 (100%) $3,700,887
San Antonio, TX: 31,291/31,291 (100%) $3,759,708
Kansas City, MO: 24542/28676 (85.5%) $2,354,837
Lexington, KY: 12,722/12,722 (100%) $1,623,381
Chicago, IL: 36,757/39,888 (92%) $3,201,515
Boston, MA: 30,650/35,186 (87%) $3,393,430
Megadeth
Quebec, QC: 4872/6552 (74%) $223,177
Ottawa, ON: 4188/5638 (74%) $195,256
Winnipeg, MB: 5427/5427 (100%) $288,937
Aerosmith
Philadelphia, PA: 18488/18488 (100%) $4,526,514
Pittsburgh, PA: 18,292/18,292 (100%) $3,869,185
New York, NY: 16,676/16,676 (100%) $3,981,380
And ticket counts from three requested tours
THE NEWS DESK
🤷🏻♂️ Jungkook (BTS) breaks Spotify record for fastest song in history to surpass 1 billion streams, reaching that mark on his track ‘Seven’ in 108 days.
The previous record? Miley Cyrus’ single ‘Flowers’ which hit 1B streams in 112 days.
🎤 Universal Music revenue hits $3B in Q3, driven by releases from Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift.
That Q3 revenue figure was up 9.9% YoY.
💰 Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, just banked $64M selling Spotify shares.
This comes 3 months after selling an additional $100M worth of Spotify shares.
Although he doesn’t take an annual salary from Spotify, he holds 31.93 million shares in the company, or around $5.17B.
🕺🏼 Goldenvoice’s Cali Vibes Festival, February 16 - 18 announces lineup.
Gwen Stefani, Ice Cube, Wiz Khalifa, and The Roots.
🤘🏼 Hellfest announces initial 2024 lineup for already-sold-out festival.
Foo Fighters, Queens Of The Stone Age, Royal Blood, and Megadeth
💰 Spotify has announced a significant change to its royalty payout model, with an intent to pay $1 Billion to Artists over the next 5 years.
This move is to “combat streaming fraud” and “reward legitimate artists” in three ways starting in Q1 of 2024:
1) Introduce a threshold of minimum annual streams before a track can generate royalties on Spotify. Currently, any stream over 30 seconds long triggers a royalty payment. That will no longer be the case.
2) Financially penalize labels and distributors of music when they upload fraudulent tracks.
3) Introduce a minimum length of play-time that each non-music ‘noise’ track must reach in order to generate royalties.
🤑 Spotify also announced they turned a profit for the first time in more than a year.
The music streaming giant reported an 11% spike in revenue following a $1-price hike on U.S. premium solo plans, compounded with layoffs and marketing budget cuts.
🎤 TikTok is expanding into live music events.
The inaugural “TikTok In The Mix” event will be held on December 10 in Mesa, AZ of all places, and feature Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta and Charlie Puth.
It will, of course, also be streamed out globally via TikTok Live.
And Finally…
In which Paul Stanley’s son decided to do a Q&A on IG
