The onus is on white people to change things for those of us working behind the scenes, but Black creators also hold swayIn the eight years I’ve worked in the music industry, career highs have been offset by instances of racism. I’ve often been confuse…
20 years of the iPod: how it shuffled music and tech forever
In October 2001, the music industry was riven by piracy and had no idea how to solve it. Enter Steve Jobs, whose new device created a digital music market – and made Apple into a titanIn 2001, the record business was in freefall due to digital piracy, …
Tina Turner sells rights to her music catalogue spanning 60 years
Publisher BMG takes on shares of recordings and image management of ‘queen of rock’n’roll’ in its biggest single artist dealTina Turner has sold the rights to her music catalogue spanning six decades, including hits such as What’s Love Got to Do With I…
‘I’m angry, I’m raging’: how Raye took on her record label – and won
After Polydor refused to release her album, the rising pop star spoke out. Now, newly independent, she’s ready for a fresh startTowards the end of June, while waiting to be interviewed on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, Raye found herself desperately trying…
Indie pop star Connie Constance: ‘People play with your career as if it’s not your entire life’
She was on a major label, hanging out with Dua Lipa – but being sidelined behind the scenes. Now independent and thriving, the UK musician has a cautionary tale for women in the music industryThe pandemic temporarily spelled game over for emerging pop …
Apple Music is using Shazam to solve the streaming industry’s problem with DJ mixes
Apple Music announced today that it’s created a process to properly identify and compensate all of the individual creators involved in making a DJ mix. Using technology from the audio-recognition app Shazam, which Apple acquired in 2018 for $400 million, Apple Music is working with major and independent labels to devise a fair way to […]
‘I’m a one in a billion’ – how Diane Warren penned windswept power ballads for Cher, Gaga and Dion
She’s the queen of the power ballad mega hit – and has even written songs for Biden, Harris and Ringo Starr. Now the world’s most successful female songwriter is finally releasing her own albumAt the end of the 1990s, when Diane Warren was the unrivall…
Ticket resale sites could face closure threat in crackdown on touts
Fines are another option on the back of regulator’s proposals to stop ‘unscrupulous’ touts ripping off fansTicket resale websites such as Viagogo and StubHub could be shut down or hit with large fines if they are found to break consumer protection rule…
Kris Wu arrest raises hopes for China’s #MeToo movement
Analysis: public opinion shifting, but reaction from authorities may have related more to crackdown on fame cultureIt felt like a turning point. The arrest of one of China’s biggest pop stars on rape allegations had raised hopes that authorities were f…
The MSG Sphere: will Stratford’s giant orb venue really go ahead?
The MSG Sphere, Madison Square Garden’s proposed stadium will beam adverts into locals’ faces all day – but it is apparently being fast-tracked by London plannersAs planning applications go, it’s certainly got balls. Or, to be precise, one massive ball…