Muzooka - The One Stop Submission Engine

It's always been difficult to get new music in front of industry professionals and maybe that's the way it should be in order to keep the quality bar high. That being said, most managers, agents, producers, label execs and producers are daily faced with a heap of email and physical press releases, CDs, videos, links, bios, and anything else trying to get their attention by up and coming artists.

Muzooka, a startup submission engine aiming to make the discovery process easier for both artists and industry pros, wants to change all that.

The beauty is that artists upload their music to the intended pro's account, and then highlight any 10 second clip that they feel will garner attention. The music pro can then sift through numerous submissions quickly without having to go outside to YouTube or Soundcloud, or even listen to a CD.

The platform is gaining some traction with a wide variety of industry pros, such as Epic Records A&R EVP Sha Money, producers Rodney Jerkins and Tony Maserati, and venues like The Basement in Nashville. Radio is also on board with Nashville radio station Lightning 100, and long-time music editor and KCRW radio host Chris Douridas.

The best part of Muzooka is that it's free for both artists and industry pros, unlike other services like Reverbnation and Sonic Bids that offer similar features.

This can definitely be a very cool and helpful service if it catches on industry wide.

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A Look At Facebook's Big Video Problems

At over 4 billion video views a day, Facebook now claims that more people watch videos on the platform than on YouTube.

That figure may be deceiving however, as it's come to light that the social network has a much less stringent method of valuing a view than YouTube does.

For instance, Facebook counts almost anything as a view, regardless of how long a person watches, or even if they watch with the sound off.

YouTube doesn't count a view as a "view" until around the 30 second mark, or a sufficient amount of time has past to signal real engagement.

As you can imagine, this has lead both creators and advertisers to look at Facebook video views as far less valuable than on YouTube.

Another major problem for the network is that it has no way of monetizing a video, so a content creator with millions of views won't earn a penny. Even worse, there's no Content ID-like system akin to YouTube where you can monitor if anyone else is using your copyrighted material.

The one thing Facebook Video does have going for it is that it currently favors videos over all other content, and therefore pushes it out to 100% of your following, as compared to posts, which currently are seen by 2 to 3% if you don't pay to promote it.

Facebook is too large and too smart to let these problems stand for long, so look for either workarounds or true fixes soon. In the meantime, don't take the view count too seriously.

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Here's Where To Put Your Social Media Promotion Energy

I'm frequently asked the question of which social networks to concentrate on, and the answer is a moving target. Social networks tend to trend and wane, and we're see that right now with two of them.

Take a look at the following infographic by WebpageFX. It shows that Twitter is stagnant at best while Snapchat is quickly on the rise, as is Instagram. Of course, Facebook is still the 800 gorilla of social media but you have to pay for most of your exposure these days.

If I were just starting fresh with my social media promotion, Snapchat would be high on the list of networks to concentrate on, followed closely by Instagram.

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What The Launch Of Amazon Acoustics Could Mean

While Apple, Spotify and Google/YouTube get all the hype when it comes to streaming music these days, Amazon Prime is keeping a surprisingly low profile. Everyone who's an Amazon Prime user also gets Prime Music as an added benefit, which is frequently overlooked.

While it seems that the online retail giant isn't all that interested in the streaming music business, there are signs that it's not ignoring it either.

For instance, it just introduced the Amazon Acoustics collection as an exclusive feature for its Prime members. There are 30 recordings available from artists like Joshua Radin, Surfer Blood, Jessie Baylin and Tokyo Police Club that are available via the Amazon Music app on iOS and Android devices, Amazon's connected Echo speaker, or online at the Prime Music website.

The company also recently released the Grammy-nominated Transparent soundtrack album as well as it's own Christmas album featuring artists like Liz Phair, The Flaming Lips, and Yoko Ono.

Plus it's new Amazon Studios arm just beat out Netflix to put together a show with the Top Gear team to the tune of $250 million.

So watch out for Amazon Prime. It's overlooked by many, but it has some muscle to change the dynamics of the streaming music business if it ever chooses to do so.

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Film And Television Composer Rich Walters On My Latest Inner Circle Podcast

On this episode of my Inner Circle podcast, I'm pleased to have television and film composer Rich Walters as my guest.

Rich has been nominated for 2 Emmys and and 2 Canadian Screen awards, and his most recent credits include the Sci-Fi Network show Olympus, and the feature film Chappie (with Hans Zimmer).

He'll tell us what it's like to be a composer on major projects yet live outside of Los Angeles, as well as what a music editor does, a job that many not in the post business find completely mysterious.

In the intro I'll take a look at how music sales are up all over the world, the new Soundcloud subscription service, Rode's purchase of Aphex and Guitar Center being sued by the National Labor Relations Board.

Remember that you can find the podcast at BobbyOInnerCircle.com, or either on iTunes or Stitcher.

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Smartphones And Concerts Are Tied At The Hip

If you’re like me you’re probably wondering why everyone is looking down at their phones during a concert instead of at the action on stage, but it’s something that’s becoming more the norm and will probably be increasing in the future. And that, it turns out, is going to be a good thing for artists, bands and brands everywhere.

According to an article in Billboard by Donnie Dinch, Ticketfly (the online ticket source where Donnie is General Manager of Consumer) tasked Harris Interactive to conduct a poll asking how people used their phones during a concert or event. What they discovered is beyond interesting.

First of all, 31% of Millennials (18 to 34 year olds) use their phones for half the concert or longer, while only 15% say they never touch it while there. That’s a lot of time to be looking at a small display while the main event is happening in real life, so what are they doing exactly?

It turns out that most of those phones are being used for recording the show, but not so much as a historical document as stoking the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) fires of their friends. This applies to 40% of the females (as compared to 24% of males), who also share their posts on social media 59% of the time.

All interesting, and maybe a little sad, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a large number of attendees glued to their phone, yet hardly anyone is actively taken advantage of it.

This could come soon thanks to the new Bluetooth beacon technology that companies like Apple and Marriott are employing which automatically send push notifications to smartphones in the vicinity, providing the users with product information, flash sales or deals. With a few well-placed beacons around a venue, there could be an opportunity to sell some merch in a fast and easy way. Read more on Forbes.

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I'm Appearing On The Waves Everything Audio Show

Check out the very cool Waves Everything Audio Webshow with host Dave Hampton. I'm appearing along with Barak Moffitt (Head of Strategic Operations - Universal Music Group) and producers, songwriters and artists The Avila Brothers (Usher, J Lo, Janet Jackson).

We'll be talking about the new business of music (or the new music business, depending upon how you look at it), and you'll get some great insights as well as some answers to some Twitter questions.

Go to waves.com/everything-audio

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On A Positive Note - Music Sales Up Around The World

While we're used to hearing about the gloom and doom in the recorded music industry, it appears that the first half of 2015 has actually been a bright spot in sales.

At the halfway mark in the year, many countries that had previously seen their total sales slip recently have actually recorded increases, and all of it has come from digital music.

Germany, Italy, Sweden and Norway have all seen their CD sales drop by varying amounts, yet their total sales have risen, with streaming revenues rising to the forefront, according to Nielsen. The US and Canada also saw sales increase, although total revenue figures haven't been released.

One of the trends that mostly continues downward is what's known in the industry as Overall Album Consumption (OAC). It's increasingly turning into a single song world as more and more people abandon not only album purchases, but listening via streaming as well.

Interestingly enough, OAC is down in most countries, but actually increased by 14% in the first half of the year in the United States. No definitive reason has been sited, but the feeling is that the figure will even out by the end of the year, yet still stay in the positive range.

What do these figures mean? It means that more and more people are paying for music. Where many consumers previously got their music for free either through piracy or via a free streaming tier, an increasing number are turning to streaming subscriptions.

Now with Apple Music finally launched, and with YouTube's Music Key around the corner, we should see additional increases by the end of the year. My prediction - we'll be surprised at how much the industry has grown at this time next year.

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A Soundcloud Subscription Tier Is Coming

It's been rumored for months, but it looks like a subscription tier for Soundcloud will soon be a reality, as the company CTO recently confirmed.

While the exact details haven't been revealed yet, it's believed that the service will offer a free tier with a capped number of streams and downloads per month, and a paid tier where both are unlimited.

One of the challenges is changing current users into paid subscribers, since the service has long touted itself as a free service. In fact, Soundcloud has used that as a selling point from the beginning.

The company is currently under pressure both from investors to make money, and from the major labels pay royalties, however, so it looks like this will be changing soon.

That said, Soundcloud hasn't been entirely free for some time, as it offers both Pro ($6 per month) and Pro Unlimited ($15 per month) tiers for creators that want increased storage and analytics.

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A List Of Every City's Favorite Song

Spotify recently did an analysis of its users to find out which songs were being played the most in each city. The results are pretty surprising to say the least.

Needless to say, tastes are very different in just about every region of the United States, which when it comes down to it, is really a good thing.

Here's what Spotify found:

Atlanta: Lil Donald, "Juice"

Austin: Bob Schneider, "Honeypot"​​​

Baltimore: Young Moose, "Dumb Dumb"

Boston: Thundercat with Flying Lotus, "Them Changes"

Chicago: King Louie, "B.o.n."

Houston: Slim Thug with Joel Osteen, "Chuuch"

Los Angeles: Grupo Maximo Grado, "Unas Heladas"

Miami: Chocolate, "Guachineo"

Nashville: Elliot Root, "Punks and Poets"

New Orleans: Showboy Cj with Sissy Nobby, "Josephine Beat"

New York City: ​Thundercat with Flying Lotus, "Them Changes"

Philadelphia: PnB Rock, "Fleek"

Portland, Oregon: Sylvan Esso, "Wolf"

San Francisco: Nef the Pharaoh, "Big Tymin'"

Seattle: Sam Lachow, "Banana Goo Pie"

St. Louis: Vega Sills with La4ss, "Momma"

Agree or disagree?

Agree or disagree?

Check out the map for yourself.

Thanks to Jesse Jaye for the heads up.

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Labels Considering Removing Artist Videos From YouTube

In a dispute that's reminiscent of what happened with MTV in the 1980s, the 3 major labels are considering removing videos of their most prominent artists from YouTube, according to various reports.

Out of all streaming sources, YouTube pays the lowest royalty rate and the labels are looking for what they consider a more fair split (it's currently 55% labels/45% YouTube).

The platform has long been a source of frustration for the majors, since YouTube has a firm grip on the ad policy, sales channel and monetization and the labels have very little say.

Perhaps throwing fuel on the fire, YouTube recently announced that the number of advertisers increased by 40% last year, with the average spend up more than 100% over a year ago. What's more, YouTube's revenue was over $6.6 billion last year, but the music industry only saw about $150 million of that, according to the RIAA. YouTube disputes that figure and states that it's really "in the billions," although no hard figures are given.

While the majors are quietly increasing their support of other platforms like Vessel and Snapchat, they're being careful about removing support from YouTube just yet. The platform is still where most people consume music (especially new music), and it still provides a significant source of income.

Plus, with YouTube's Music Key subscription service around the corner, that income could possibly increase even more, although most top level label execs are skeptical.

However it shakes out, this bears watching.

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Have Apple And Spotify Already Lost The Chinese Music Market?

Most Western music streaming companies look at China as sort of a golden goose. It’s not laying any eggs at the moment, but you think that one might come at any time. That goose may be stolen even before it makes its first deposit though, as the Chinese mega-company Alibaba recently announced that it will combine two of its music properties, Tiantian and Xiami, into a new as-of-yet unnamed music service.

The Chinese music market is potentially huge, with an estimated 471 million people currently listening to music online already. That said, the revenue is relatively minuscule at only $91 million last year compared to $3.5 billion in the U.S, according to the IFPI.

The reason is that Chinese consumers are used to getting their music for free, thanks to over a hundred pirate sites in the territory. Yet in a country of nearly 1.4 billion people, it wouldn’t take a significant portion to really make a difference in the music industry’s bottom line if they indeed did pay for their music.

Western companies know that, of course, and eye China as the final frontier of music distribution. That’s easier said than done though.

For instance, Spotify is available in over 50 countries, but it’s still not officially available on the Chinese mainland (it is in Hong Kong). Some premium tier users who have subscribed to the service elsewhere say that coverage around the country is spotty at best, with speculation that it may be due to government censorship. Even the recently launched Apple Music is available just about everywhere in the world except China at the moment. 

Although you can almost hear the corporate wheels turning in board rooms of streaming countries everywhere in the West, China remains a tough market to crack, and with Alibaba entering the picture, it just got tougher. Read more on Forbes.

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