Hey, Reader, it's Jerome -↓Giants Set to Lead the Music Industry into the Next DecadeAs the year began, Warner Music Group's CEO unveiled their blueprint not only for 2024 but for the next ten years! In short, they are setting a course on deeper audience engagement, enhancing the value of music, and revolutionizing teamwork. This aligns perfectly with the trends we discussed last year - and this time, we're not just observers, we can also be the architects! Our key focus areas are clear:
Pretty straightforward, right? But there's a twist: it's all about the experience. How we engage people with our journey, our music, and our content, and how we evolve alongside these changes. As I mentioned last week, there's a growing trend towards long-form content. I wouldn't be surprised to see artists investing more in creating extensive, detailed narratives, offering deeper glimpses into their lives. For example, an artist I've been talking with has already scheduled all his releases for the year. But he's taking it a step further, finalizing a documentary film about his creative process and the production of his first singles and EP. He’s also planning a series of music videos to complement the documentary release later this year. |
Streaming & AI - The Revolutions?In a similar vein, UMG CEO Lucian G is advocating a new approach to streaming, with recent developments in partnership with Deezer. What this artist-centric model entails is a topic for a deeper dive in a future issue. For now, let's just note that even Spotify is slowly adopting elements of this new model, despite their controversial moves like cutting royalties and reducing their team. Is Spotify really on the right track? Back to Lucian’s vision of developing this new model for artists across more platforms. The basic? Fortifying the artist-fan connection and transforming fans into superfans through unique products and experiences. So, are these industry shifts merely for appearances, or are they genuinely steering us toward a groundbreaking future? Are we laying innovative foundations for future labels, or just building upon the overhyped existing ones? Another noteworthy trend is UMG’s strategic embrace of AI. They're heavily investing in AI tools to aid their artists and ventures, championing responsible AI development through collaborative partnerships. They're not just experimenting — they're implementing. This leads to my question for independent artists and partners: Are you leveraging AI to push your music or career forward? Let's come together to explore and innovate. Let's see what's possible and what's beneficial. Let's Exchange NotesGot insights or cool finds in music, innovation, or entrepreneurship? |
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Hey, Reader, it's Jerome - ↓ Language & Mixing We don't often think about it, but the language of the lyrics influences how I mix a song.Let me explain.The lead vocal is one of the most important elements in a song.But, our perception of different languages changes --Each has unique characteristics. I learned early on that different languages have different intelligibility criteria.Let's take a cliché: the French are loud.What's behind this is that the French language needs a higher volume to...
Hey, Reader, it's Jerome - ↓ Blake's Vault The conversation around artists’ revenue has been going on for over a decade. The last few weeks were not left apart. James Blake took the hot seat, believing he has the solution. Introducing Vault, a subscription-based app to access the artist’s unreleased music. But wait. Haven’t platforms like Patreon been offering a similar model for years? Yet, this is not going to save music. Behind the curtain, Vault is another initiative of Sound.XYZ, mainly...
Hey, Reader, it's Jerome - ↓ AI on the front wall of UMG Deep fakes threaten artists' successes, and AI stands prominently at UMG's forefront. Seems like we've been warned about a lot of what’s been happening lately. And of course, we're only starting to measure against growing AIs. To cite a few: The Taylor Deep Fake saga raging on X UMG's new marketing strategy heavily involves AI tools Majors & Governments passing laws against AI-generated music We could continue with these examples, but I...