Sandbox Issue 256: PRIMAL STREAM 📱🎧 Making lockdown concerts work
Lead: Livestreams have moved to try and fill the massive hole left by the total cancellation of tours and festivals around the world. As more acts do them, however, it becomes incrementally harder to stand out and draw in big enough audiences to make them worthwhile. We speak to those building a whole new gig economy here […]
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Source: Music ally
After India ban, TikTok could face further sanctions in US
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been hit by a ban in India as part of a wider crackdown on apps of Chinese origin.
But there may be trouble brewing for the companies in the US, too, due both to the political jockeying around hardball trade negotiations between the US and China, and specific regulatory issues with TikTok in the US.
Speaking to Fox News this week, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked if the US might ban TikTok and other social media apps from China.
“We are taking this very seriously. We are certainly looking at it,” he said. “We have worked on this very issue for a long time.”
Pompeo went on to bracket the issue with previous measures taken against Chinese technology companies Huawei and ZTE: “With respect to Chinese apps on peoples’ cellphones, the United States will get this one right too.”
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Source: Music ally
International Indie Music Season conference set for China
Happy International Indie Music Season! Well, it’s not quite started yet: the three-month project (IIMS for short) starts on 17 July with a three-day conference and performances series, which has been designed as “a platform for the global music industry and China to meet”.
Music Ally China is an official partner of the event: our CEO Paul Brindley will be speaking, while journalist Jay Kogami will be chairing a panel on behalf of Music Ally Japan, which also features adviser Takuya Yamazaki.
Hi-res audio firm MQA is also a strategic partner for IIMS, with CEO Mike Jbara hosting a panel on tech and lifestyle trends driving music innovation.
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Source: Music ally
China now has 904m internet users – 75m more than last year
A report published by the research division of the South China Morning Post puts some new figures on the growth of internet access in China – a key driver for the streaming music market there.
The report claims that there are now 904 million internet users in China – 63% of the population – with 75 million having been added in the last year.
Of the total, 897 million people are using the mobile internet, and 765 million are using mobile payments – the latter figure is 185 million more than last year.
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Source: Music ally
MelodyVR and Live Nation set for Brixton Academy livestreams
We reported last week on VR music startup MelodyVR’s financial performance in 2019 – £195k of revenues but a net loss of nearly £15m.
The company is continuing to explore new partnerships to grow its business, though, with the latest being a deal with Live Nation in the UK.
The pair will launch a series of live concerts from the O2 Academy Brixton venue in London, with fans able to buy tickets to watch online – in 360 degrees and/or virtual reality via MelodyVR’s app on smartphones and Oculus VR headsets.
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Source: Music ally
Wiz Khalifa to play Genius Live interactive livestream
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about livestreamed concerts during the Covid-19 lockdown, it’s that fans relish interactivity: at its simplest level seeing an artist read and respond to comments in between songs.
Genius is going further though: it’s launching a new “performance-oriented livestreaming and experiential platform” called Genius Live, with lots of interactivity.
Wiz Khalifa will be first to play a Genius Live concert this Thursday (9 July). It’ll be free to watch, and fans will be able to vote on the setlist, leave tips, chat to one another, and spend money on “special purchases” including getting a shoutout from Khalifa, or even going virtually ‘on stage’ with him.
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Source: Music ally
Recording Academy teams with racial justice org Color of Change
US industry body the Recording Academy has announced a partnership with racial justice organisation Color of Change, including making a $1m donation to it.
The pair will be working together on initiatives including creating a Black music advisory group for the Academy; a membership campaign to sign up more Black voting members; and an industry-wide diversity and inclusion summit.
Color of Change will also be advising the Academy on its plans to launch an industry ‘Inclusion Rider and Toolkit’ later this year.
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Source: Music ally
Covid-19: US music industry ‘missed out on nearly 900m streams’
Research firm Nielsen Music/MRC Data has published the ‘fifth wave’ of its ongoing study of Covid-19’s impact on the music and entertainment industries, based on surveys in the US up to the week of 10-14 June.
Among the findings: audio and video music streams have recovered from their initial decline in the early weeks of the US locking down, and a second dip in early June coinciding with protests across the country.
The net impact of those declines, though: “Given how streaming was trending, we can approximate the industry missed out on nearly 900 million streams,” suggests the report.
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Source: Music ally
UK musician bodies criticise Epidemic Sound / Adobe deal
In June, creative-software company Adobe announced the launch of a library of royalty-free music and audio with partners Epidemic Sound and Jamendo. Now two bodies representing musicians in the UK have attacked one of those deals.
The Ivors Academy and the Musicians’ Union aren’t happy about Epidemic Sound’s business model of paying composers upfront in ‘full buyout deals’ which do not earn them royalties in the future.
“Epidemic Sound CEO Oscar Hoglund claims that musicians will benefit from being discovered on Adobe through Shazam. This exposure narrative forms part of a widespread exploitative model that the music industry has difficulty shaking. Exposure without royalties doesn’t pay the bills,” said the MU’s Naomi Pohl.
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Source: Music ally