Your Morning Coffee :: Weekly Music News for the New Music Business

He was a celebrated singer-songwriter with famous fans. Then he started posting about the vaccine [LA Times] FULL STORY
This year his longtime music manager dropped him as a client, followed by his booking agent. Joseph Arthur’s newly formed band quit en masse and he says he lost his record deal.

As Delta Variant Spreads, Artists and Venues Scramble to Keep Concerts Safe [Rolling Stone] FULL STORY

AEG Presents will require proof of vaccination for concertgoers, staff at all U.S. venues [NBC] FULL STORY

Live Nation leaves vaccine mandates to artists as Limp Bizkit, Counting Crows join COVID concert cancellation cavalcade [Hypebot] FULL STORY

How We Discover Music In 2021 [Garrett Levin] FULL STORY
The old methods of listening were fine enough, but there were limitations — shelf space, limited air play time, fewer routes to success outside the “establishment.” Streaming shattered that paradigm

Tyler, The Creator's "Call Me If You Get Lost" campaign teardown [Amber Horsburgh and Dan Runcie] FULL STORY
As soon as the billboards popped up and everybody lost their mind about it online, I was like, okay, I am going to have to do a campaign teardown of this record. I couldn't think of a better person to do that with than Dan Runcie of Trapital.

Live Music Is Back! (Live Music Is Back?) [NY Times] FULL STORY
As the concert business amped up again, our critic booked six weeks seeing shows in honky-tonks, clubs and arenas. But concerns about Covid-19 became the unannounced guest on nearly every lineup.

Spotify Needs to Fix Its Stalling User Growth [Rolling Stone] FULL STORY

Spotify Applauds New Bill in Congress That Would Oust Apple's App Store Tax [Billboard] FULL STORY

The record labels are weaning themselves off their Spotify dependency [MIB] FULL STORY

All the Ways Spotify Tracks You—and How to Stop It [Wired] FULL STORY

'No evidence' Lollapalooza was a super spreader event, Chicago official says [The Hill] FULL STORY
Allison Arwady, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said in a news conference that there have been no “unexpected findings” two weeks since the four-day festival began on July 29.

The Major Music Companies Now Turn Over $2.5m Every Hour – and Will Generate More Than $20bn Between Them This Year [MBW] FULL STORY
MBW has crunched the reported calendar Q2 financials of each of the three major music companies for this analysis.

Did Streaming Wipe Out the Radio Star? Our Report Says: Not Exactly [Viberate] FULL STORY
No matter what those 1980s lyrics told you, video did not kill radio, and neither did streaming. In fact, the three co-exist to thrive in the long term.

No More Non-Apologies [Rolling Stone] FULL STORY
The celebrity mea culpa remains a standard practice in the Great Age of Cancellation — but it’s not enough. DaBaby should just give the queer community his damn money.

Duran Duran’s Simon LeBon warns of “hole in next generation” of artists if streaming services don’t reform [NME] FULL STORY
Duran Duran frontman Simon LeBon has called for streaming services to reform their payment models so that emerging artists receive a larger share.

Bridging the social music gap [Hypebot] FULL STORY
With more than half of the world’s population actively involved on social media, now more than ever, the music industry has one of the largest opportunities to go where consumers are.

Your Morning Coffee Podcast - Artist Spotlight: Nancy Wilson LISTEN HERE
To commemorate the first anniversary of our podcast, we had a very special "coffee talk" with the co-founder, guitarist and songwriter from Heart, Nancy Wilson! We talked about her upbringing, the early days of Heart, and most importantly a track by track walkthrough of her very first solo album "You and Me". We hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Your Morning Coffee Podcast Episode #52 LISTEN HERE
On our first year anniversary, we discuss:
• Venues Are Adding Vaccine, Mask Mandates. Will They Hurt Or Help The Return Of Live Music?
• Spotify Is Testing A Less Restrictive Ad-Supported Tier Costing $0.99 A Month
• The Programming Strategies That Shape The World’s Biggest YouTube Channels
• Warner Boss Steve Cooper Talks TikTok And Peloton Revenues, The Rise Of Virtual Artists, And The Value Of Record Labels

ADA EVP John Franck on great music marketing plans [Hypebot] WATCH HERE
The music business has a 92% failure rate, so how do you cut through the clutter? John Franck, the EVP of Commerce + Marketing / Label Services at indie distributor ADA sits down with Michael and Jay for an amazing conversation on music marketing plans.

YouTube Shorts Launches Global Ad Campaign Starring BTS, The Weeknd, Camila Cabello, Doja Cat [Tubefilter] FULL STORY
The campaign, a mix of 15- and 30-second spots encouraging users to make and watch content on YouTube’s TikTok competitor, Shorts, will run across YouTube, YouTube TV, and other social media platforms, including Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Twitter, and Reddit.

Cover Music Service Soundrop Lowers Price to .99 [Billboard] FULL STORY
Soundrop, a distribution company specializing in tools for social video creators, will allow creators to upload fully licensed cover songs to sites like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, as well as other major music services, worldwide.

• ‘I had no confidence, no money’: the pop stars kept in limbo by major labels [Guardian] FULL STORY
• 5 Things Warner Music Group's Earnings Say About the Industry's Future [Billboard] FULL STORY
• The 2021 VMA Nominations Are Here: Justin Bieber, Megan Thee Stallion, And More [Mtv News] FULL STORY
• Across L.A., music venues hurriedly enforce new policies in face of Delta variant [LA Times] FULL STORY
• Jason Isbell Won’t Back Down on Vaccine Mandates [Rolling Stone] FULL STORY
• Music Venues Are Now on the Frontline of America’s Vaccination Effort [WNE] FULL STORY
• Universal Music Publishing Disputes Hipgnosis’ Statements About Acquiring Songs by Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie [Variety] FULL STORY
• Behind the Playlist: Frequency's Ripple Effect [Spotify] FULL STORY
• Why do companies continue to fold under copyright pressure, even if they shouldn’t? [Hypebot] FULL STORY
• “People do not trust that Facebook is a healthy ecosystem” [Vox] FULL STORY
• Facebook debuts ‘share to Stories’ for music videos [Hypebot] FULL STORY
• How to use Facebook, Instagram ad tools to do free audience research [Hypebot] FULL STORY
• Red Rocks: Nature's perfect music stage [CBS] FULL STORY
• Pros and Cons of Label Deals [Bobby Borg] FULL STORY
• SXSW PanelPicker 2022 voting is live now! [Hypebot] FULL STORY
• Jack White and Third Man Records launch London store [MusicWeek] FULL STORY
• Pershing Square Acquires 7.1% of Universal Music Group at Possible Bargain Valuation [Billboard] FULL STORY
• KCRW/L.A.'s Chris Douridas Teams With CCS Rights Management's Daytripper Music Publishing to Build Talent Roster and Expand in US [AllAccess] FULL STORY

Your Morning Coffee is brewed fresh for you every Friday morning by Jay Gilbert at Label Logic. What's on your mind? jay@label-logic.net