Indies

1. United Record Pressing's Jay Millar Looks Back on Nine Years at the Center of the Vinyl Explosion

   July 01, 2015 9:52 AM EDT Jay Millar is a 20-year veteran of the music industry, spending past 8 years as the Marketing Director for Nashville, Tennessee's United Record Pressing. The previous 12 years were split between PolyGram, BMG, SonyBMG, and Universal. July m ...

2. VP Records' Patricia Chin, Run the Jewels, Sturgill Simpson, Ghostly Among 2015 Libera Awards Winners

   June 26, 2015 10:49 AM EDT There may be no sweeter spot in all the music business than the American Association of Independent Music’s (A2IM’s) Libera awards, the fourth of which took place last night in New York, celebrating the independent music sector’s vast accomplishme ...

3. Beggars Slams Apple Music's Free Trial as 'Taking the Mium Out of Freemium'

   June 17, 2015 1:30 PM EDT The mounting concern over the free three-month trial period that Apple Music will offer to subscribers for its interactive streaming service may soon be evolving into an outcry from independent labels and publishers. Today, the Beggars Group ques ...

4. Indiependence: Is Anyone Really Free in This New Digital World? Should They Be?

   June 17, 2015 11:06 AM EDT The traditional record label or music publisher might be dying, but many rights holders, artists and songwriters are far from independent. They are members of coalitions and societies that negotiate on their behalf. They are also subject to rules ...

5. SoundCloud Signs Deal with Indie Giant Merlin

   June 04, 2015 10:24 AM EDT Independent label organization Merlin, which represents over 20,000 independent labels, has signed a contract with SoundCloud to join the company's On SoundCloud program, the London-based organization announced today. The deal will allow Me ...

6. Merlin Partners With Asian Streaming Service KKBOX

   May 27, 2015 1:34 PM EDT Global independent rights group Merlin has signed a licensing deal with Asia's leading music streaming service, KKBOX. The partnership represents Merlin's first ever pan-Asian specific deal and covers the territories of Taiwan, Hong Kong ...

7. New Sun Ra Recordings To Be Released This Fall: Exclusive

   May 22, 2015 2:33 PM EDT A new series of remastered, reissued and unreleased recordings by Sun Ra (1914-1993), the late-great jazz musician, bandleader and cosmic philosopher, are coming out this fall, according to the Manimal Group, which will press and distribute the n ...

8. A2IM Elects Martin Mills, Amy Dietz and Darius Van Arman to Board of Directors

   May 19, 2015 12:52 PM EDT The American Association of Independent Music ( A2IM ) has announced the election of three new members to its board of directors. The board, which was chosen by A2IM members, includes Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills , INgrooves evp Amy Dietz a ...

9. FKA Twigs, Run the Jewels, Beggars Group Lead Libera Awards Nominations

   May 05, 2015 8:00 AM EDT FKA Twigs , Run the Jewels and Aphex Twin are among the leading nominees for this year's 4th Annual Libera Awards, nicknamed the LIBBYs, a celebration of the independent music scene that caps A2IM's Indie Week conference held next month ...

10. Record Store Day Sets Twelve-Year Sales High for Indies, 'Certainly One for the Books'

    April 23, 2015 9:53 AM EDT Record Store Day 2015 was once again a triumph, according to merchants who participated in the event and data supplied by Nielsen Music. For the week ended April 19 -- Record Store Day was held on April 18 -- the independent sector counted for 532 ...

11. Alcopop! Releases Blank Song Filled With 'Wit and Wisdom' of UK Politician Nigel Farage

    April 09, 2015 10:47 AM EDT Indie label Alcopop! Records is taking a cue from Stiff Records' 1980 ode to Ronald Reagan and releasing a completely blank 7" single ahead of the May 7 general election in the UK. Titled The Wit and Wisdom of Nigel Farage , the single t ...

12. Indiana Indie Labels Call Boycott 'Well-Intended' But 'Misguided'

    March 31, 2015 6:38 PM EDT After Gov. Mike Pence signed the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, countless people decried it as a thinly veiled means to legalize discrimination based on sexual identity in the state. Many argued that Indiana should be boycotte ...

13. AIM Independent Music Awards Announce Return

    March 26, 2015 8:00 AM EDT The AIM Independent Music Awards, an annual celebration of indie artists and industry figures, will take place Sept. 8 at The Brewery in London. Returning as hosts will be XFM's John Kennedy and Radio 1's Alice Levine . "Independent ...

14. Can's Irmin Schmidt to Receive French Knighthood

    February 03, 2015 2:55 PM EST German musician Irmin Schmidt , the founder of legendary experimental band Can , has been knighted by the French Ministry of Culture for his contribution to the arts, indie labels Mute and Spoon Records announced this week . Schmidt's knighth ...

15. Paul Williams to Deliver Keynote Interview at Midem in Cannes

    November 05, 2014 8:50 AM EST Award-winning songwriter and composer Paul Williams has been selected to deliver the keynote interview at next year's Midem, the international music industry festival, being held June 5-8 2015 in Cannes, France. Williams' global hits i ...

16. Merlin to Open U.S. Office, Taps A2IM's Jim Mahoney to Lead

    October 16, 2014 8:00 AM EDT Merlin, the indie label global rights agency, has hired Jim Mahoney to open and head its U.S. office as gm. “Merlin prides itself on being a truly global operation, so to open a permanent office in the world’s largest music market was a logical ...

17. Dan Nevin Appointed CEO of Australia's Indies Trade Body AIR

    October 12, 2014 10:00 PM EDT Dan Nevin is the new CEO of Australia's independent music companies trade body AIR.  With effect from November, Nevin joins the Melbourne-based association from JB Hi-Fi, the country's runaway market-leader in CD sales, where he's s ...

18. How Thom Yorke Kept His New Album a Surprise

    October 05, 2014 11:02 PM EDT Thom Yorke jolted fans Sept. 26 with a new album. Even more startling, however, was how the Radiohead frontman chose to release Tomorrow's Modern Boxes : via peer-to-peer file-sharing service BitTorrent. Once the preferred vessel of Interne ...

19. Americana Awards: Jason Isbell Sweeps, Sturgill Simpson Wins New Artist Honors

    September 18, 2014 11:52 AM EDT Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell swept the major awards Wednesday night at the Americana Honors & Awards, creating another special moment with his wife, Amanda Shires . Isbell won artist, album and song of the year during the 13th annual award ...

20. Violent Soho, Sia Lead Australia’s Independent Music Awards Nominations

    September 09, 2014 5:45 AM EDT Violent Soho , Sia Furler , Chet Faker and RÜFÜS lead the nominations for Australia's ninth annual Independent Music Awards. Violent Soho is out front with chances in four categories. The Brisbane alternative rock outfit is up for best indepe ...

21. Audiam Names Euvin Weeber General Manager

    September 07, 2014 3:55 PM EDT Audiam, a company that collects money from YouTube on behalf of independent music publishers and rights holders, has named Euvin Weeber general manager. Over the past six months, Weeber has consulted for Audiam and played a key role in creating re ...

22. Merlin Hires a Director of Legal & Business Affairs

    August 28, 2014 9:14 AM EDT Merlin has hired Ryan McWhinnie as director of legal and business affairs, a newly-created position at the indie-centric global rights agency. The appointment follows the early-August announcement of Merlin's partnership with Pandora, giving ...

23. New Signings: DJ Mustard Joins AM Only, Eardruma/Interscope Signs Two-9

    August 15, 2014 11:40 AM EDT Here's a look at the latest artist signings across the music industry, including record labels, artist management firms, publishing companies, booking agencies and more.   RECORD LABELS  -- Rap collective Two-9 joins producer Mike WiLL Made-I ...

24. AIM Independent Awards: London Grammar Leads Nominees, Martin Mills to Be Honored

    August 13, 2014 9:28 AM EDT Electro-pop band London Grammar leads the pack with four nominations at the 4th annual AIM Independent Awards. The list of indie music's brightest artists and advocates was revealed at Red Bull Studios London on Wednesday with winners to be a ...

25. AIM's Labelled With Love Fest Unveils Lineup

    August 07, 2014 11:47 AM EDT AIM, the independent music trade body in the UK, has announced the lineup for its Labelled With Love festival. Over 20 indie labels have collaborated to curate the shows, which run from Aug. 3 through Oct. 4 at venues in Bath, Derby, London, Manch ...

26. Hyperdub's Steve Goodman to Receive AIM Innovator Award

    July 31, 2014 10:05 AM EDT Steve Goodman , the founder of dubstep label Hyperdub, will receive the new Innovator Award at the upcoming AIM Independent Music Awards. AIM, the not-for-profit trade body representing the U.K. indie music industry, created the new award to honor ...

27. Michelle Shocked Releases Silent Album of Songs Named After Digital Music Execs

    July 28, 2014 10:17 PM EDT Taking a page from the Vulfpeck playbook , folk singer-songwriter Michelle Shocked has released an album consisting of silent songs that are named mostly after executives in the digital music world. Rambling Michelle Shocked Tells Piers Morgan ...

28. Vulfpeck's 'Silent Album' Half-Joke Made Some Substantial Cash

    July 22, 2014 10:10 AM EDT Los Angeles groove band Vulfpeck’s silent album ‘Sleepify’ may have been a mere prank intended to rack up play counts and royalties, or perhaps it was a more sophisticated act of digital performance art. It's definitely been a rocky road -- b ...

29. Global Indie Sector Unites To Launch ‘Fair Digital Deals Declaration’

    July 15, 2014 4:00 PM EDT Over 700 indie labels have given their backing to a major new initiative promoting fair and transparent accounting to artists and music companies in respect of digital revenues.   Representatives of Domino, Cooking Vinyl, Epitaph, Because Mus ...

30. Pop Art By Robert Christgau: In It For The Art

    July 15, 2014 10:00 AM EDT Anyone wondering how that guy who grades albums like a damn college professor got a column in the bible of the music business should consider one factoid. At 72, that guy has been covering what we'll call rock and roll longer than anyone in A ...

31. SiriusXM Cancels Top 40 Channel ’20 On 20,’ Replaces With Rhythmic Pop Hits Station

    July 11, 2014 2:03 PM EDT Among the changes taking place as part of satcaster SiriusXM’s latest channel realignment is the cancellation of longtime mainstream top 40 address "20 on 20.” As of July 17 the channel will be replaced by “Venus,” which will focus on rhythmi ...

32. Billboard Artist 100 Chart Launches; Trey Songz Leads First List

    July 10, 2014 10:03 AM EDT Sam Smith, Ariana Grande, MAGIC! and Luke Bryan among others in the top 10 of Billboard's exclusive new ranking of each week's top acts Today (June 10), Billboard proudly unveils the Artist 100 , the first-ever weekly ranking dedicated t ...

33. What Taylor Swift Failed to Mention In Her Poptimist Op-Ed

    July 09, 2014 1:47 PM EDT It's not every day a music superstar pens an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal and covers a variety of topics in nearly 1,200 words. At a time many artists fret the industry is crumbling, Swift's piece brims with optimism. Taylor Swift ...

34. Merge Records Shares 25th Anniversary Documentary on Google Play (Watch)

    July 09, 2014 11:14 AM EDT Chapel Hill, N.C.-based independent label Merge Records — which has released music by Arcade Fire, the Magnetic Fields and Neutral Milk Hotel — has shared a documentary through Google Play to help celebrate its 25th anniversary. Superchunk, Merge ...

35. Executive Playlist: Red Bull Records’ Greg Hammer Shares ‘New Classics’ and ‘Palate-Cleansing’ Tunes

    July 08, 2014 10:04 AM EDT Greg Hammer is the managing director of Red Bull Records, an independent label formed in 2007 by Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Hammer spent six years as director of A&R at Universal Records, then some time as an independent producer be ...

36. Ted Joseph To Manage Relaunched Kalimba Music

    July 07, 2014 10:22 PM EDT EWF founder Maurice White created indie label in late ‘90s Ted Joseph has been appointed label manager for Kalimba Music, relaunched last year by Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White. In his new role, Joseph will also be working with Kalim ...

37. Taylor Swift Shares Optimistic View of the Music Industry In Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

    July 07, 2014 10:14 PM EDT Taylor Swift believes there’s still hope for the music industry. In fact, she’s “one of the few living souls in the music industry who still believes that the music industry is not dying…it's just coming alive,” the superstar wrote in an op-e ...

38. After a Year of Experimentation, BitTorrent Bundle Wants to Make Artists (and Itself) Money

    June 29, 2014 9:49 AM EDT After hitting the '100 million' milestone, BitTorrent, the data transfer protocol long associated with piracy, continues to try and clear its name. One year and 100 million legal downloads later, the BitTorrent Bundle platform — an ...

39. Industry Argues Its Worth to Congress (and Itself) In Second Round of Testimony

    June 25, 2014 4:38 PM EDT A Congressional hearing on music licensing Wednesday turned up mostly the same themes, frustrations and proposed solutions as the hearing two weeks earlier. Representatives of artists, record labels, songwriters, music publishers and broadcasters ...

40. Aphex Twin's $46k Record, Minecraft and a Benevolent Internet Community

    June 25, 2014 3:05 PM EDT Minecraft is as much a cultural phenomenon as it is a video game, drawing millions of children and parents into its strangely addictive, retro-stylized open world since its release in 2011. The game has made its creator, Swedish programmer and des ...

41. 'We Want to Compete,' Says Secretly's Van Arman, Ahead of His Congressional Testimony Tomorrow (Guest Post)

    June 24, 2014 12:46 PM EDT Darius Van Arman is co-founder and co-owner of Secretly Group, an independent label group that is based in Indiana. He currently serves on the boards of A2IM, SoundExchange and Merlin. Tomorrow (June 25), he is providing testimony on behalf of ...

42. Disgust, In Digest: The Top Five Reasons Indies Are Mad at YouTube

    June 23, 2014 4:12 PM EDT Last week, Billboard obtained a typical contract being offered by YouTube to its indie label partners for its new subscription service. Here's a breakdown of the five things that are really upsetting your favorite indie label. 1. YouTube i ...

43. Bruce Iglauer's A2IM Lifetime Achievement Award Speech and Wisdom of Mr. Wizard the Lizard

    June 23, 2014 11:15 AM EDT The highlight of last week's American Association of Independent Music's Libera Awards   was Bruce Iglauer of Alligator Records' acceptance speech upon winning the A2IM Lifetime Achievement Award.  Here Iglauer, discusses the histor ...

44. Kevin Liles on Mariah and Jay-Z's Beverages, Lyor's 300 & D'Angelo’s New Record (Q&A)

    June 22, 2014 3:24 PM EDT Kevin Liles calls himself an entrepreneur, and it's hard to imagine a more accurate catch-all term for the items in his overstuffed portfolio. My Day: Kevin Liles, Founder of KWL Enterprises Lyor Cohen Unveils 300, New 'Content Company ...

45. Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Daptone, Bruce Iglauer Honored at A2IM's Libby Awards

    June 20, 2014 5:25 PM EDT The American Association of Independent Music’s third annual Libera Awards (a.k.a. The Libbys) hit NYC's Highline Ballroom last night, recognizing achievements throughout the independent music sector, which now constitutes some 34.6% of the ...

46. Inside YouTube's Controversial Contract with Indies

    June 20, 2014 1:42 PM EDT Billboard has obtained a typical contract being offered by YouTube to its indie label partners for its new subscription service. The devil is in the numbers, but also in the overall strategy. Even though YouTube is said to be offering lower r ...

47. A2IM Head Bengloff Strikes Out at Majors, RIAA, Amazon and YouTube in Keynote

    June 20, 2014 8:47 AM EDT In his keynote address, A2IM president Rich Bengloff said that the trade group's board members cited the main issue their business is facing is how music licensing transactions were evolving and the concept of digital breakage. "Breakage ...

48. Merlin Doubles Earnings, Digital Accounts for Half of Members' Revenue

    June 19, 2014 5:05 PM EDT Merlin, the global rights agency for the independent music sector, says it collected $89 million from digital music services for its members in the year ended April 30, 2014. The figure is double the amount that it had collected in the prior year ...

49. How YouTube's Subscription Terms Will Hurt Indies – No Content Removal Required

    June 18, 2014 1:25 PM EDT 16 1.009 k 149 0 YouTube might not, in fact, take down music from indies it doesn’t have an agreement with... but it won’t pay them either. Right after Amazon appeared to take independent labels for granted with a take-it-or-leave-it payment scheme for it ...

50. Rich Bengloff on A2IM Indie Week, YouTube Licensing; Alleges Majors' Shady Streaming Terms

    June 17, 2014 3:45 PM EDT “We’re kicking their ass,” says a fiery Rich Bengloff, the president of the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), about the state of the indie labels in comparison to the majors. The trade group's seventh annual Indie Week kicks ...

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