Written by Julia Gomberg
It’s hard to believe another month in 2020 is behind us. Things are moving fast– be sure to catch up on the highlights of the past month’s news headlines aimed at keeping independent artists aware of what’s happening in the music industry every month.
TuneCore has Paid Indie Artists Over $2 Billion to Date
TuneCore, the world’s leading independent digital music company for independent artists, announced the record-breaking achievement of $2 billion earned by its artists, proving the power of independence. The company pays its roster of independent artists an average of $1.2 million per day, totalling an average of $100 million per quarter and that number is growing. TuneCore and parent company Believe distribute approximately one third of the world’s digital music. Read more here.
Spotify Now Lets You Add Music Tracks to Podcast Shows
Ever since the rise of podcasts, there has been a high demand from creators and artists for a way to incorporate music as part of a talk show. Earlier this month, Spotify has announced an innovative solution that benefits artists: allowing for commentary and context while also reaping the benefits of music streaming. This new tool allows creators to legally incorporate licensed music in talk shows, leveraging Spotify’s library of more than 60 million tracks. Simply put, it’s “an enhanced music playlist that lets the creator add interstitial commentary between the songs.” Read more here.
SoundCloud Rolls Out Snapchat Integration, With Facebook Stores Coming Soon
SoundCloud has rolled out a new integration with Snapchat, which builds on last week’s launch of Sounds, a new feature that lets the social media platform’s users add music to their Snaps. SoundCloud users can share any track, playlist, album or artist profile from SoundCloud’s 200 million-track catalog to Snapchat. This integration was previously announced in June. Soon, SoundCloud users will also be able share any track, playlist, album or artist profile from SoundCloud’s catalog directly to Facebook Stories for even more integration capabilities. Read more here.
Rock the Vote: How the Music Industry Built a Youth Voting Movement
Rock the Vote has continued to reach voters across genres and generations by putting the music industry to work for the greater good. Over the last 30 years, the nonprofit has registered 12 million voters (and counting) via its platform and played a significant role in the election of two presidents. In spite of the staggeringly high stakes of this year’s election, the celebrities, PSAs, and successful social media campaigns have all done their part, but the message has always been more important than the medium. Read more here.
Ticketing and Livestream Platform Dice Launches in India
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the repercussions of limited live events, the music industry is forced to find new ways to keep live music events. India’s platform, DICE, allows its users to stream exclusive shows, festivals, and workshops from around the world, conveniently on mobile, desktop, or TV. Founded in 2014, DICE introduced live streaming to its offering this April and has showcased over 4,000 live streams, sold tickets in 145 countries. The rolled-out platform also offers personalized event recommendations under the app’s ‘Discover’ feature. Read more here.