Penny Lane Trustream

This Week’s Guest
Born in Memphis, TN, to a classically trained pianist, Derek took to music naturally, as both a musician and a songwriter. After taking a single guitar lesson, he was self-taught, and by his sophomore year in high school was on the road as a touring musician. Derek joined his first band, Caedmon’s Call, in 1993. They were signed to Warner Alliance three years later. Two years following, in 1998, the band’s self-titled release won Gospel Music Awards Modern Rock Album of the Year. Following numerous other, critically acclaimed releases with Caedmon’s Call, Derek struck out on a solo career in 2001. He would go on to release four studio albums with label INO, before going independent to self-release five additional records. His latest, Targets, is slated for 2019.
In addition to Derek’s songwriting, recording, and touring career, in 2008, he founded NoiseTrade, a pioneering direct-to-fan platform, which was acquired by Pledge Music in 2016.
Highlights

The power of singular focus in an artist’s career
Knowing how and when to jump – to seize opportunities when they arise
Becoming a “middle class musician”
The seasons of investment and return in an artist’s career
Why the debate about streaming as good or bad is irrelevant
Streaming’s place in an artist’s overall revenue equation
The differences and shifts in power and money between content creators and content owners
Using streaming to cultivate super fans
Taking the pressure of revenue off a young artist’s music
The story behind the appeals on against the Copyright Royalty Board’s rate increase
How emerging technologies like VR can foster or hinder connection and empathy between artists and fans

Resources

Derek on Twitter
Derek on Wikipedia
derekwebb.com
NoiseTrade
Middle Class Musician

About Our Guest
Glenn Peoples is an independent communications consultant in the music industry. Until 2018, he led Music Analytics & Insights for Pandora. Previously, Glenn was Senior Editorial Analyst at Billboard, where for seven years, he covered digital music business, legislation, and copyright. Earlier in his career, Glenn worked in music distribution at Caroline, a division of EMI, as well as Valley Media.

Highlights

How the music business is adapting to a data-driven future
Key takeaways from the Infinite Dial 2019 report
Key takeaways from the RIAA 2018 annual report
Spotify in India and their scuffle with Warner
How the next billion streaming subscribers get acquired and what it means
What the rise of podcasting says about streaming’s evolution

Resources

Infinite Dial 2019 report
Best Coast, Sigur Rós & Ziggy Marley Launching New Podcasts With Signal Co. No1
The Inaugural “Power 10" List
This is How We Should be Measuring Global Streaming Subscribers
Glenn on Twitter
Glenn’s Curio Dojo email list

Penny Lane is a show about the business, economics, and technology of music streaming, hosted by Matt Squire and Shawn Yeager, and presented by Trustream.

This Week’s Guest
Charles Alexander is an independent singer/songwriter, digital strategist and artist manager. He recently launched Systemic, an artist & label services company specializing in streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube and Pandora. He also owns Outside The Box Music, an artist management & marketing company where he helps artists, musicians & songwriters create and extend their online presence. He has run digital campaigns for such diverse clients as Ryan Cabrera, Curb Records, Keb’ Mo’ and Lacy Cavalier, amongst others.

We asked Charles to join us to discuss streaming’s evolving role in artists’ careers, from the ways they create, to how they market and promote their music, to the ways in which they earn a living.

Highlights
In this episode, we cover topics including:


How to value stream counts
Why playlists are not a marketing plan
The importance of knowing by whose rules you’re playing
The measurements Spotify uses to determine how audiences respond to a song
Paid vs ad-supported, and the cost of free
How streaming factors into a holistic marketing plan
What and who artists should trust in the age of streaming

Resources

Is Spotify making songs shorter?
Systemic Music
Tastemaker Music

Penny Lane is a show about the business, economics, and technology of music streaming, hosted by Matt Squire and Shawn Yeager, and presented by Trustream.

This Week’s Guest
Erik Mendelson is co-founder of Cre8tor and Tune Token. Erik got his start in the music business working in promotions for Elektra Records. He continued to hone his skills in marketing and promotions for Jive Records, and then notably as SVP of Marketing and Promotion at Digiwaxx Media. At Digiwaxx, Erik drove national marketing campaigns and partnerships with clients including SonyBMG, Cingular Wireless, Sony Erickson, Puma, Columbia Records, and the beloved Microsoft Zune. RIP.

We asked Erik join us to share his insights on the impact of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology on the present and future of music streaming. We got that, and a whole lot more.

Highlights
In this episode, we cover topics including:


The challenges of record deals and royalties collection
How do we solve the music industry’s “data problem?”
Raising money in music tech
The continuing importance of radio
Why brand-building beats chasing hits
The importance of authenticity — on being a rockstar
How streaming deals and the fundamental economics must change to make real money for artists
How blockchain and cryptocurrency’s future bridges to the traditional music industry
On getting back to record labels as peddlers of cool

Resources

Erik’s Blockchain Music Company Comparison
Cre8tor
Tune Token

In this conversation with Mike Fabio of New West Records, we explore the numerous ways in which digital and streaming, in particular, intersect and drive the strategies and operations of a modern, independent record label. We also discuss what may come next after streaming.

Mike Fabio is Vice President, Digital Strategy for New West Records, home to artists including John Hiatt, Ben Folds, and All Them Witches. Mike’s prior roles include the first executive at Warner Bros Records responsible for social media and community, where he worked with and built pioneering digital campaigns with artists like DEVO, Eric Clapton, and The Black Keys, community manager for Google’s Lunar X Prize Foundation, and research assistant at the world-renowned MIT Media Lab.

You can find Mike Fabio on all the socials at @revrev, and learn more about New West Records at http://newwestrecords.com.

We'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at @trustreamco on Twitter, or podcast@trustream.co. If you're listening in the Anchor app, send us questions or feedback in a voice message.

In this informative interview with Chris Castle, we dive deep into what we can expect over the next two years and beyond as the Music Modernization Act, now law, moves to appointments, regulations, and into the implementation phase. Grab paper and pen. You're going to want to take notes.

Chris Castle is a prominent music industry attorney working at the nexus of the music industry, digital media, and public policy. Before starting his independent law practice, career highlights include serving as SVP and General Counsel to SNOCAP (Napster), SVP Business Affairs at Sony Music, and VP Business Affairs at A&M Records.

You can learn more about Chris and his work at www.christiancastle.com.

We'd love to hear from you. Get in touch at @trustreamco on Twitter, or podcast@trustream.co. If you're listening in the Anchor app, send us questions or feedback in a voice message.