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middleeyt · 4 years

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Racism In The Music Industry

It's been close to two months since the death of George Floyd. We’ve lived through two months of one of the largest movements in U.S. history. However, these events have been lived, and protested against over and over again for hundreds of years. Black folks in this country have endured centuries of fear and pain refuting against a government that has disregarded their existence and importance. In light of the Black Lives Matter movement, many injustices have surfaced to the exchange of mass media, including the policies, structures, and cultural impacts nested in the racism that follows the music industry. I am by all means not an expert or nearly as educated as I wish to be on the matter, but I wanted to share what I’ve learned so far about the inequality that exists in an industry we claim to be so diverse.

Music Education:

As with many things, the racial imbalance in the music industry starts in school. Higher education lacks a diversified thinking and representation for art, literature and of course music. Current educational programs teach Western music as being defined mainly by European traces. Music culture should be taught as being part of a global system as opposed to just isolating it to the European musicians and composers that people get in most classes. Not many institutions prioritize works by people of color in their curriculum, and as a result students are being taught an inaccurate depiction for how the history of genres, music styles, and lyricism came to be. Music programs across the country are discrediting the massive cultural impact that Black artists and composers have had in defining music over the years.

Major Labels:

Besides gender inequality being one of the most noticeable issues in the music business, for years the industry has also had a very poor record of hiring minorities for top positions. “The Power 100” is an annual list created by Billboard, which hosts the names of the most influential people in the American music industry. It is incredibly evident to see the disproportion of Black executives on that list, and just how much more obvious can it be, that when there is a lack of Black leadership, the industry begins to hurt. How can labels expect to support and advocate for diverse artistry if there are no people in power who have lived through and know of the nuances and storylines that minorities carry? Since the start of the BLM movement record and label companies have been getting away with donating money without pledging to make systemic changes.

Projected in the media, award shows continue to fail in crediting and honoring Black artists in annual celebrations that are intended to commemorate the contributions of culture to the art of music. Year after year, Black artists are nominated mainly under R&B and Hip-Hop categories, as so many other artists continue to borrow artistic styles from those so called “urban” artists and are labeled/nominated under “pop” categories. The term “urban” has segregated Black artists because of the color of their skin, and while much of the industry has already parted ways with the term, many charts and award programs still use categories like “Latin Pop” and “Urban Album”. As the industry goes on to define music genres, it is obviously still also defining who can partake in them (remember “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X?).

The Black Artist:

The music business is booming, but rarely do artists get to see much of that return. “Royalties” is the way that music rights-holders get paid through the sale of their creations when distributed, performed or embedded in other media/monetized. As of today those rights-holders can earn anywhere between between $0.006 to $0.0084 per song listen on a streaming service. All of this is to say that through streaming, artists are not making living. Most artists make the majority of their income through merch sales and touring. The benefit of being under A&R, publishing, and label management is the budgets that can be set out to help artists create and market their work. Minority artists are most often given disproportionately lower budgets to work with than many of their white counterparts. When under a label, artists are also paid in ”advances” for a body of work, and it is a sad common that like the budgets that are set out, many Black artists are underpaid in comparison to their white counterparts under the same label. We can’t deny the fact that the respect and support for an artist is being clearly defined by the color of their skin.

For an industry whose backbone is supposedly created on the premise of diversity and multiculturalism, the music industry still lacks the systemic change it needs to see that. However, there are some ways that we can all continue to protest the racial injustice in music. How about purchasing directly from Black artists and Black-owned labels? Maybe attending concerts for independent Black artists? Or how about reading up and sharing the work of Black artists and music journalists? The music industry is powered by music listeners, and when we begin making a more conscious effort to support and listen to Black creators, we can help dismantle the inequality that has plagued the industry for many years.

#blm #blacklivesmatter #music #middleeyt #musicindustry #musicbusiness

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middleeyt · 4 years

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The Impact of COVID-19 on the Music Industry

The financial security and safety of those individuals working in the music industry, are being left in complete mystery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the past couple of months we have all seen at varying levels the effects this health crisis has had on concerts, streaming, and on the artists themselves. Here's a brief look at the level of impact the Coronavirus has had on music.

Canceled Tours and Festivals:

The most visible effects of the pandemic on the music industry, have been the postponement and cancelation of concerts and major music events. Industry experts and financial analysts are projecting the live entertainment industry will lose billions as a result of this pandemic. Some of the most notable festivals being postponed or canceled amidst the chaos around the world include Coachella, SXSW, and Glastonbury. Tickets for these music events are either being fully refunded or deferred to a later year’s event.

Besides major music events, concerts and tours by many artists are also being postponed or canceled. A large chunk of income for musicians comes from touring. While album sales continue to dwindle and streams continue to only pay out fractions of a cent at a time, live shows command the majority of an artists earnings. Unlike many jobs, musicians and touring crew members cannot work from home whilst in quarantine to make up for a loss of earnings.

Derailing Album and Music Releases:

For many of us, releasing an album seems like a simple task in the digital era. We think that all that has to be done is 1. Record music, 2. Upload it to streaming services… and you're done! But in reality for many artists who make a living out of making music, releasing a song themselves is just one small part of a much larger push.

Because thousands of tracks appear on streaming services daily, it takes much more to create buzz and recognition for a track. Many artists rely on heavy PR and marketing efforts to disseminate a song among the masses. Artists count on TV appearances, video shoots, interviews, and radio station visits, all which have either been put at a halt, or made increasingly difficult to pursue due to the pandemic.

The Effect on Streaming:

We’d think that due to the spread of the Coronavirus, we are sitting at home listening to more music right? Not exactly.

Worldwide streams of the top 200 songs on Spotify are down about 12% from pre-COVID-19 levels. Today, we are having to make a more conscious effort to listen to music, while before most lockdowns and SIP occurred, we habitually filled our daily commutes and work hours with music streaming. During the week that most restaurants and bars closed streams dropped 7.6 percent, to under 20.1 billion. We may not realize it but programmed streams at public and commercial places, accounts for a large amount of music streaming.

The future of the music industry is uncertain, artists must continue to adapt to the changing scene. Many festivals have taken to online streams, artists are asking big record labels and streaming services to increase their stream pay and help small artists find means of income during these times. As we continue to maneuver our way through this new norm, as listeners we can't forget to also find ways to support independent artists. Whether it be by streaming music, buying merch, or tuning in and donating to livestreams, as consumers we have the most direct avenue to be able to support the changes happening in music.

#covid #covid19 #pandemic #musicindustry #musicbusiness #streaming #Musicstreaming #tours #canceled #musicfestival #festivals

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middleeyt · 4 years

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Coachella: 20 Years In The Desert

Coachella is home, literally. I was born in the city of Indio and grew up in the Coachella Valley. For the 18 years that I lived in the desert, the only thing that was ever special about this place was Coachella fest.

I grew up watching the festival become what it is today. I grew up heading to school in the mornings during the month of April passing the Empire Polo Club, grabbing a glimpse of the festival being built year after year from the ground up. I grew up dreaming that I could experience what thousands of people came to experience at the venue.

I never had the money to go to the festival, I would see all the rich kids from school show up to class with their wristbands in their hand bragging about being 15 and on their 3 year going. When I finally got my first job at the La Quinta Kohl’s, I saved every paycheck so I could go to the festival during my senior year of high school. $375 dollars to be exact. 2013 came around and I finally had my chance to go, and let me tell you...I was hooked. I realized after that year, that I would come back again and again just to feel what I felt during those three days. For having grown up in the desert, Coachella felt like a whole different world, a world where everyone shared one common interest and that was to listen to and enjoy music.

There is something nostalgic that I feel every year as I pass the windmills by Cabazon and make the exit on Jefferson. Coming home and coming to the festival are synonymous not only because I grew up here, but because over the past 7 years the festival has felt more and more like my thing. Every year I learn new ways to navigate the venue, and I start noticing where the least crowded beer gardens are. I have also learned that getting to the venue early is key, that the crowd you go with makes the for the entire experience, and to never step foot in the Ralphs at the corner of 50th and Jefferson during Coachella weekend.

This year marks the 20th anniversary for the festival, this year the festival was also postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and is now scheduled to take place in October. To all my Coachella friends reading this… it is April 10th, which means today would have been the first day of Coachella, and it is gloomy and raining (maybe things do happen for a reason)

This year, in response to the postponement of the festival and as a way to commemorate the 20 years that the festival has been in the valley, YouTube and Goldenvoice gave us a 1 hour 43 minute documentary showcasing how the festival came to be and highlighting some of its most iconic moments.

Here’s a little recap of the documentary and story of Coachella:

Back in the late 90’s Southern California was starting to become the hub for all new music. LA became the birthplace for young and upcoming artists. At the time Paul Tollett, the President and CEO of Goldenvoice, was a promoter and a relatively minor player in the national concert scene until he and his team decided to create a festival in my hometown.

The set up was as follows, during that time the ticketing giant ticketmaster held the majority of contracts with SoCal venues. Meaning they also held the power to dictate ticket pricing for events at those venues. Pearl Jam was on a tour and had planned a stop in LA at one of the venues held by ticketmaster, however prices for that concert were so high that the demand was very low. Pearl Jam as a result decided to look for another venue that wasn’t managed by ticketmaster, a place where they could sell their tickets at the price they wanted. After some talks with Paul Tollett the Polo Empire Club became the spot for a 25 thousand people concert, a concert that would soon give Paul the idea to start the now famous festival.

Paul couldn't afford to maintain the scene of bands like Pearl Jam, so he started looking at a different music genre, Electronic music. Like Punk Rock, the rave scene had its own world, Paul began to ideate a festival that looked like Organic, a 1996 festival that would become Southern California's first legitimate dance fest. Drawing inspiration from this festival and the European rave scene, Paul came to Goldenvoice with the idea of a 3 day event he would call Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. In 1999 the festival was born.

Coachella became a cultural and musical hub for people of all walks of life to come together. A festival that would blend the sounds of Rock, Electronic, and Hip Hop for 35 thousand people in its first year. Nevertheless, financially the festival did not work out, with a 850 thousand dollar loss during its first run.

Paul and the team who put the festival together wanted to see the festival succeed, 2001 was the first year the festival saw some financial gain but not enough. A year later as Paul put it, was the year they “got it right”, and in 2004 the festival began to turn a profit.

Here's a brief rundown of some of the milestones for the festival:

In 2004 the festival brought The Pixies, an American alternative rock band, back together for a performance. This performance marked the benchmark for the years to follow, and established Coachella's notoriety with bringing legendary bands back together.

In 2006 Madonna became the first mainstream hitter to perform, not only did she perform at the festival, but she performed at the dance tent, a billing that gave way to the festival being able to garner popularity for all its stages. 2006 also saw Daft Punk’s iconic performance and visual setup. A setup that would make Coachella the birthplace for new visuals and audio concepts for many DJ’s.

In 2007 Rage Against The Machine reunited at the festival. A performance no one believed would ever take place. From this performance, Coachella began to gain its respect and place in the festival scene.

In 2010 Tiësto became the first EDM performer to make it to the main stage. That same year, we saw a breakthrough in the Hip Hop scene at the festival, with Jay Z headlining one of the nights.

2011 became the first year the festival began to livestream on YouTube, it also became the year that the festival sold out for the first time in less than a week. From this high demand, Paul saw the opportunity at a second weekend, and therefore in 2012, Coachella introduced its 2 weekend set up.

Near the end of his headlining set at the 2012 festival, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre brought what is arguably one of the most iconic performances of the festival. They both performed next to a hologram of the legendary Tupac Shakur, a culturally defining moment for Coachella.

Years later in 2018, Beyonce would become the first black woman to headline Coachella. A billing that allowed the festival to represent a more fuller picture of culture, gender, and race.

And in 2019, Kanye West got introduced to the billing months after the lineup was published, when he decided to bring his iconic Sunday Service to weekend 2 of the festival.

Year after year the festival continues to be a gold-standard for music festivals across the world, and it continues to define what it means to experience music. This documentary did well in briefing us on how the festival came to be and the milestones that made of the festival a cultural phenomena. Every year Goldenvoice continues to show us what diversity, acceptance, and great music look like under one venue. For me, the festival helps introduce new artists to my music palette, it gives my favorite acts a proper platform, and it lets many of us forget about the worries of the outside world for one weekend. I grew up with the festival and I continue to grow my music interests through it. Coachella is such a shared experience – every aspect of the festival is an impact on your heart, body, and soul. As I sit here in this shelter-in-place watching the documentary, I can't help but reminisce on the past 7 years and the experiences I’ve gained. I look forward to another year of Coachella bringing people together under the unifying sound of music, even if its a little later in the year.

#20yearsinthedesert #coachella2020 #coachella festival #coachellafest #coachella fest #festival #musicfestival

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middleeyt · 4 years

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Live Stream Concerts & DJ Sets

In the face of isolation there is nothing better to help us get through the day than watching some of our favorite artists throw down a set over live stream. Below is a running list of virtual concerts and DJ sets to make #socialdistancing a little less lonely.

Know of an upcoming live stream concert/ DJ set? Send it in and I’ll add it to the list: Live Stream Concert/DJ Set

Recurring Live Streams

Beyond Wonderland Virtual Rave-A-Thon

Charli XCX’s “Self-Isolation IG Livestream”

Daily at 12:00 p.m. EST

Link: Instagram

Diplo’s “Corona World Tour”

Five days weekly – Sunday at 4:00 p.m. EST; Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. EST; Thursday at 10:00 p.m. EST; Friday at 10:00 p.m. EST; and Saturday at 11:00 p.m. EST

Link: Twitch and YouTube

Big Freedia’s “Friday Night Shakedown”

Every Friday night at 9pm EST

Link: Facebook, Instagram Live, YouTube, Twitch, and Instagram

Questlove (DJ)

#DniceHomeSchool presents Quest Lovers Rock: Sloppy Seconds. After turning in a killer DJ set Sunday night, he was back at it again on Monday spinning killer R&B tunes and deep cuts. Let's hope he keeps this going every night!

When: 7 p.m. PT

Link: Instagram and YouTube

Replay Live Streams from Monday, March 23

The Black Crowes: NPR Tiny Desk Concert (Rock)

Monday March 23rd 2 a.m. PT

Link: NPR

Armin Van Buuren (DJ)

Armin Van Buuren Ultra Music Festival 2020 (Virtual Audio Festival)

Monday March 23rd 4 a.m. PT

Link: YouTube

Conan Gray

Monday March 23rd 10 a.m. PT

Link: Reddit

James Blake (Singer/Songwriter)

When: 12 p.m. PT

Where: Instagram

Years & Years

Monday March 23rd 12 p.m. PT

Link: Instagram

Madison Beer (Singer/Songwriter)

Monday March 23rd 12 p.m. PT

Link: Facebook

March 24th

Kiana Ledé

When: 10 a.m. PT

Link: Facebook

Lauv

When: 3 p.m. PT

Link: Instagram

Chloe x Halle

When: 4 p.m.

Link: Instagram

March 25th

James Bay

Guitar lessons for some of his songs

When: 1 p.m. PT

Link: Instagram

Kevin Garret

When: 1 p.m. PT

Link: Instagram

Anne-Marie

When: 2 p.m. ET

Link: Instagram

JoJo

When: 3 p.m. ET

Link: Instagram

H.E.R

When: 2:00 p.m PT

Link: Instagram

Benny Benassi (DJ)

When: 10 a.m. PT

Link: Facebook

SOFI TUKKER (DJ)

When: 10 a.m. PT

Link: Facebook

Lauren Jauregui

When: 2 p.m. PT

Link: Facebook

#livestream #livestreamconcert #facebooklive #instagramlive #facebookliveconcert #fbliveconcert #instagramliveconcert #igliveconcert

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middleeyt · 4 years

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The new (old) way for artists to reach you

As a digital marketer, it’s important that I get the maximum ROI from every marketing campaign that we run. But with so many different avenues available, and with some of these avenues becoming overly saturated with brands pushing their agendas, it’s difficult to identify the right channel to use.

Research shows that SMS (Short Message Service) open rates are as high as 98%, compared to just 20% on email, which I like to think as one of the most widely used marketing channels. So it is without a doubt that labels, PR, and artists are taking note of the effectiveness that a text message could have in helping bring awareness to music, merch, and concerts.

You may have recently noticed your favorite artists sharing what seems to be their phone number on social media, asking you to text them. Hate to break it to ya, but that isn’t their actual phone number. Artists are using SMS platforms that allow them to use a phone number to communicate individually or at scale. As artists and celebs become more and more digitally savvy, they are beginning to realize that SMS communication is becoming the best way to make their businesses platform agnostic.

With social media platforms, you are letting an algorithm dictate the reach and level to which your communication circulates, making it difficult to ensure that your messages reach your intended audience. SMS has allowed artists to control where their communication ends, because put it simply texting as direct of a communications channel as direct can be (except for calling, but we in 2020... no one does that). Texting is a private medium, that is making fans feel exclusive and kinda cool...because who doesn’t want to say that they have a celebrities number in their contacts.

SMS has become one of the most meaningful forms of interaction with fans aside from broadcast social media, creating a more personal and certainly less public space for communicating with an artists fan base. Your favorite artists now get to learn more about their audience and do everything from one-on-one texting (which to be honest is rare), to targeting specific groups by metrics like age and geographic location, all very useful data. Put it simply, the very thing that makes SMS based communication attractive to both stars and fans is the intimacy at scale.

So next time to see an artists on social media asking you to send them a text, be sure you set yourself up for knowing that you are opting in to receiving promotional information... and probably only that.

#sms marketing #sms #text #musicblog #middleeyt

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middleeyt · 4 years

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Coachella 2020 Top Artists To Watch

It’s that time of year again fam, Coachella is rolling around in about 4 months and it’s time to get the total lowdown on what artists to keep a close eye on.

Anyone who knows the trend with Coachella, knows that you can almost guarantee the artists in the lineup to become heavy hitters in the months to come. As soon as Coachella 2019 was over, Golden Voice got to contacting booking agencies, probing for what talent will be available, agencies began to submit lists of artists on their rosters that will be interested, and the contracts began to roll out. Now in January 2020, we have the full list of artists:

This year marks the (technical) 20th anniversary for the festival since it’s emergence in 1999. Every year the festival aims to highlight a solid pool of artists in different genres, and give stage to an older rock band/ performer in homage to how the festival started. I have to say that this year, I am quite pleased with lineup as a good set of R&B and Hip Hop artists take center stage on the list. But besides the popular headliners on the billing, there are a number of (tiny name) performers that I think you absolutely have to see. Here are my picks for top artists to watch at this years Coachella fest:

Doja Cat- Amalaratna Zandile Dlamini, known professionally as Doja Cat is a 24 year old rapper unlocks a sweetly coated rap sound with a mix of R&B and Pop. Favorite song: Juicy

Princess Nokia- American rapper of Puerto Rican descent Destiny Nicole Frasqueri, better known by her stage name Princess Nokia, brings an educated blend of activism and authenticity to her sound. Favorite song: Sugar Honey Iced Tea (S.H.I.T)

Joji- Japanese singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, one-time author…oh and former internet personality and comedian George Kusunoki Miller, better known by his stage name Joji, is what I consider a total Coachella artist. His blend of Indie Pop, Hip-Hop, and Alternative R&B have garnered some major hype. Favorite song: YEAH RIGHT

Lost Kings- American DJ duo (one of the few) consisting of Robert Abisi and Nick Shanholtz gives us a dope mix of catchy lyricism, EDM, and pop. They got a ton of fun bops, making them a definite act to watch this year. Favorite song: First Love

NIKI- Indonesian R&B artist Nicole Zefanya, better known as NIKI gained popularity with her covers and original songs on YouTube, gaining more than 40,000 subscribers. Her mission is simple: create dope music and empower Asian artists through representation. Favorite song: Indigo

Matoma- Norwegian DJ and record producer Tom Stræte Lagergren, known by his stage name Matoma, gives us a solid dance formulated tropical house sound and even has a dedicated song to the Coachella scene “Girl At Coachella”... which is pretty much about a rave bae. Favorite song: False Alarm

Masego- Micah Davis, known professionally as Masego, is a Jamaican born, international musician who gives us R&B vibes at their finest. Having grown up with both parents as pastors, while simultaneously having friends giving him hard hitting drums and trap music influences, Masego has referred to his own musical style as "TrapHouseJazz". Favorite song: Tadow

Jessie Reyez- Jessie Reyez is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and co-writer of the absolute bop “One Kiss” by Calvin Harris. Her unique voice and permeable blend of Urban Contemporary and R&B has gotten her nominated for a number of awards. Her debut album is set to come out this year! Favorite song: FIGURES (I also fuck with Broken by THEY in which she is featured)

Ari Lenox- Courtney Shanade Salter, known professionally as Ari Lennox, is the first woman to be signed to J. Cole's record label, Dreamville Records. I got the chance to see her at Lights On Fest this past year, her incredibly unique voice and clever lyrics made her one of my favorite performers. Favorite song: Shea Butter Baby

Summer Walker- By now if you haven’t hopped on the Summer Walker hype you’re definitely missing out. Her raw and soulful energy combined with some nostalgic R&B production have made her an absolute heavy hitter. On November 17, 2019 Summer won her first BET Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist. Favorite song: Come Thru (Potential is also a favorite)

Omar Apollo- The Mexican psychedelically soulful singer-songwriter Omar Velasco better known as Omar Apollo, combines his airy and soulful vocals with a solid R&B and soft Rock sound. Favorite song: Erase

Pink Sweat$- David Bowden, known professionally as Pink Sweats, is an American singer and songwriter best known for his song "Honesty", which reached #23 on Spotify's Global Viral Chart and #10 on Spotify's US Viral Chart. Pink Sweat$ strips everything down with his songs, preferring R&B ballads left to only his voice and guitar. Favorite song: Coke & Henny Pt. 2

Aya Nakamura- Aya Danioko, known by her stage name Aya Nakamura, is a French-Malian pop singer who uses a dope blend of R&B and Afrobeats guaranteed to have you moving. Favorite song: Djadja

Emotional Oranges- Oddly enough the American R&B–pop group name perfectly describes their music. The funky bass and jazzy guitar used in most of their songs complement the male and female vocals that narrate their music. Favorite song: Built That Way

Hands down my favorite part about Coachella is getting to watch a ton of amazing artistry and witness their rise in the industry. Whether you fuck with one or all these artists, take some time this Coachella to catch their acts, I can almost guarantee that you’ll see these names pop up more often as the year progresses.

Take a listen to these songs and a ton more bops by other Coachella 2020 artists with my Coachella 2020 Collaborative Playlist!

#Coachella music festival #coachella2020 #coachellavalley #Coachella #music playlist #musicfestival #Spotify #coachella music and arts festival

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middleeyt · 4 years

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A Decade In Music

The 2010’s… what a fucking decade. I had just turned 15 and started going through some teenager shit (sorry mom), music started consuming my life, and Columbia House was nearing its end as streaming began to take over.

Don’t tell me you didn’t cop “B Day” by Beyonce, Chris Brown’s self titled debut album, and Ne-Yo’s “In My Own Words” for a good penny (best scam of the 90’s)

Within these past 10 years some monumental changes, milestones, and crazes have happened in the music industry. Here are just a few of them:

The Globalization of Pop

The reach of American music has always been global. This time around it was not about the reach of American artist, but rather the influence of other artists, languages and genres on American pop music. The biggest reason for pop globalization in this particular decade has been due to the garnered adaptation of sounds and genres from outside the U.S.

“Despacito” has been one of the biggest bops of this decade. Justin Bieber’s collaboration with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee gave way to the incremental rise of latin music in American pop culture. Crossovers from Latin producers who have harnessed their sounds into mainstream hits have made Latin music the 5th most popular genre in America. Among Latin music, other genres and languages have started to slowly make strides in hitting our mainstream radios and Spotify playlists, these sounds have now become common adopters in developing smash hits.

The Return of Boy (and Girl) Groups

This decade saw the emergence of One Direction, 5th Harmony, CNCO, Little Mix, Why Don’t We, the Jonas Brothers and then years later… the comeback of the Jonas Brothers. One of the most successful boy bands of all time, One Direction, owns a chart history that at times outdid The Beatles… the fucking Beatles....

Maybe it’s their adorable personalities, or the roles their vocal abilities seem to play in helping touch a series of genres? Over the past several years boy and girl bands have made of fandoms a modern cult-like following. Merch and content gets multiplied by the number of members in a group and soon enough labels and publishing groups are raking in the dough.

However, the real defining element of this decades boy and girl bands didn’t come from the U.S., but rather from Korea. K-pop boy and girl bands have truly gone global, and the biggest names (which obviously right now means BTS) have got the world on a craze. BoA and Wonder Girls were the first to bring K-pop to U.S. charts, and slowly after other K-pop groups began transcending their way into mainstream U.S. media through collaborations, appearances, and sold out U.S. tour debuts.

The (continued) Rise of Streaming

Spotify has more than 100 million subscribers, and Apple Music is at 56 million paid subscribers. Today, streaming services make up 80% of the music industry's revenue...yup 80. Over the past decade since the emergence of Napster, formerly known as Rhapsody, music streaming has become one of the primary ways for people to consume music. The number of songs streamed over the internet increased more than eightfold between 2013 and 2018, and it shows no signs of stopping. As the years have progressed in music streaming, artists have paid closer attention to the streaming game, maneuvering their way through regulations, trends, algorithms, and playlists, hoping to reach the right audiences and assert their place in the industry.

The Global Release Date

In 2013 Beyonce surprised the world when she released a self titled LP and accompanied visuals with no promotion… the music industry was shook. Because of her, and because of the slow rise of streaming sites and increased number of illegal downloads (shoutout to my Limewire gang), the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (some London homies with a big say) decided to unify the date of music release for all 1,300 of its member labels. On July 10th 2015, Friday became the world wide recognized music release day.

Democratized Discovery & The DIY Artist

With the increased use of music services and social media, the consumer regained the power and allowed themselves the portals to find and discover new artistry. SoundCloud democratized the music-making process in the 2010’s, making worldwide audiences available to anyone with some sort of recording device. Today, Tik Tok is becoming one of the strongest platforms for new artists to get their music discovered and gain a wide reach.

From Soundcloud, came the DIY artist. There was no longer the need for a label or publication, to have your music be hosted in a platform and heard by many. Soundcloud lead artists to become increasingly independent on their music journey, controlling their career and the distribution of their music. Nowadays, big labels are both trying to sign a lot of these independent artists, but also provide smaller opportunities for them to collaborate and retain their independence. Services made specifically for independent artists are starting to appear on major streaming platforms and label partners. These services are allowing artists to find ways to connect with audiences, measure their streaming success, register tracks and collect royalties.

All in all, the music industry has been hella dramatic this decade. Its continuous evolution, along with consumption behavior changes, and the rise of new platforms, has made artists search for the most effective ways to tap into their niche market. This decade has seen the rise and fall of certain genres, the disbanding of our favorite boy groups, and Beyonce being Beyonce. Looking at how the decade began, it is easy to pinpoint where the big shifts have occurred, giving me enough hype to see what the next decade holds.

#adecadeinmusic #music #musicdecade #decademusic #2010music #spotify #applemusic #youtube #beyonce #latinmusic #musicblog #popmusic

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middleeyt · 4 years

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We can all thank Drake for that one...

What in the hell is "Pop Rap" and where did it come from?

December is here and that means It’s time for Spotify Wrapped to let you know just how embarrassing your music listening behavior really is.

Spotify 2019 Wrapped, shows the songs and artists you’ve listened to the most throughout the year, along with other awesome statistics about your interactions with the music platform. For a few years now, Spotify has been delivering to its listeners a yearly rundown of their favorite listens. This year in particular, Spotify users can access their top artists from the past decade, seasonal favorites, top podcasts, yearly listening minutes, and the highly talked about…top genre stats.

For many of us music junkies, the genre spectrum is much much more expensive than the popularly noted Pop, Hip-Hop, R&B, EDM, Country, and Jazz. Each one of these genres has its own level of sub-genres and even those sub-genres can be classified by different monikers (I can go days on out about this) So seeing sub-genres represented in the 2019 Spotify Wrapped might have been a great way to help you define your true music interest, but to others it might have caused some confusion. In this year's Spotify Wrapped, one particular genre seemed to have caught people off guard... and that was “Pop Rap”

To be honest this sub-genre is not that hard to define, looking at the pattern of artists who you might have seen contribute to your Spotify yearly roundup stats, it's basically just Drake sounding shit…Drake fundamentally re-wrote the rules for what it means to be a rapper in this decade. Before Drake’s “So Far Gone” mixtape, the rap formula was as follows: Rapper brings a narrative, a singer brings a melodic chorus, and boom you got a rap song. But on Feb 2009 rappers became singers, singers became rappers and shit just got blurry. Now in 2019, almost every new rap artist has been a true hybrid of melodic rapping…there you have it folks Pop Rap = melodic rapping. Artists like Lil Uzi Vert, XXXTentacion, Juice WRLD, Travis Scott, Lil Baby and a fuck ton more, have shown that the lines between pop music and rap have lowkey been eradicated.

Pop Rap serves everyone some good, it attracts a solid blend of two of the most popular genres we know to date (and we all know that a winder pool of listeners = more streams and more streams = more placements and more placements = even more streams and more streams = a little more money)...and no, having “Pop Rap” as one of your top genres doesn’t mean you’re basic as shit, it just means more and more artists today have dabbled in bringing rap and singing into a holistic blend, in fact this kinda means you’re part of the rise of a new sub-genre...and that's pretty cool if you ask me, so thanks Drake!

#poprap #Spotify #spotify wrapped #middleeyt #music #Musicstreaming #2019 #2019 spotify wrapped

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middleeyt · 5 years

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Does Being Your Holistic Self Harm You In The Music Industry?

It’s 2019, mass media has put a coat on the wounds of real societal change that needs to be made, through the talk they convince us will lead us to that change. Today, we live in a bubble that tends to justify the mobility towards a better world through likes, and shares, and a company’s change of their logo during Pride Month to the one with a rainbow filter on it (you know the one...hella woke bro). Industries are using the voice that they mold in publications, social media, and news outlets ways to keep the thought of action entertained, an action that often times proves to limit the extent to which an artists works can transcend. No one industry does that better than the music industry.

Music Is A Business

We often times fail to account for the fact that the music industry is a business at its core. That the people, and most obviously the music involved, is open to the scrutiny of marketability, and profitability at the end of the day. We fail to account for the fact that music has a dollar sign value attached.

Personally, I continue to believe that music is the center way for people to connect and for emotions to unveil, but when you attach a label, management, and money behind what you do, it often times becomes a business that rests in the crevices of artistic expression and marketability (there is a reason why a lot of artists don’t want to be signed to a label, it limits them). Songs today are produced and written to favor the streaming game, partnerships are made with companies for exclusive releases, the term “drop off rate” is beginning to become a consideration in the studio. It is no wonder as to why music today is sounding the same, it lacks creativity in order to gain momentum in the charts. But much like music itself has begun to adapt to the concept of marketability, the people who perform this music have also begun to understand what it means to become a valuable commodity in today's industry.

Ava Max for example, has a look...a very recognizable look. Cardi B has a personality... a very recognizable personality. People know what “personal brands” are and what they do in helping move the needle of where their music goes. The Industry... they like that shit, what they don’t like is when you unveil aspects of political, religious, ethnic, or personal matter, because to the music industry those are opportunities for you to be labeled. Labels are not a good thing in the industry, they serve as reasons for why you don’t belong in certain music scenes, festivals, playlists, or charts.

The Industry Likes Popular “Labels”

Bruno Mars was born Peter Gene Hernandez, in several interviews back in 2012, he would talk about the reasons for changing his name, saying that he would often times garner comments like: “Your last name’s Hernandez, maybe you should do this Latin music...” It wasn’t until I saw how often Bruno would get asked about his ethnicity and name, that I began to realize how much the media craves to know who you are, just to label you as something that should be.

The music industry is dominated by the charts, there is a sense and a need for curators and chart makers to classify your music as one thing or another so that it may live within a genre, feel, or audience appeal. Manipulating these forces have had an effect on consumers listening behaviors, so there is an obvious reason as to why a lot of new artists work really hard to get themselves on the charts, or even land themselves in a mention on one of Spotify’s popular playlists. We listen to what we are given, and rarely do we find the time to search for it. Labels help algorithms curate more of what we want to hear. However, at the forefront of what we are given is always the concept of “mass appeal”, media and music publishers work hard to find the next person and the next sound that will appeal to a large number of people...and this is ultimately where being your holistic self harms your opportunities to be found and recognized.

You Can’t Be “You” In The Music Industry

Recently, Sam Smith came out as gender non-binary, in his coming out story he mentioned how for so long he felt the need to keep that to himself because of the harm it would have on his career. It is a fair assumption to say that this industry uses peoples sexual orientation, gender, and ethnicity as “classifiers”, and that they mold the conversations and publications they make about an artist to accentuate those aspects of their lives, more often times than not, hurting the artist. Indirectly so, the music industry limits the span of where music can go the more they know about an artist. If you are hispanic, you are going to be labeled as the “hispanic artist” if you are gay, you are going to be labeled as the “gay artist”. The industry has an infatuation with knowing who you are, but will limit where your music goes because of it.

You can’t be your complete self in the music industry or the conversations that surround your name will be catered and filtered to suit certain audiences, which is not the way things should be.

This might be more of a general mindset and change in societal perceptions, but never should someone's vulnerability to be their complete selves, limit how far their personal brand goes... rather it should be the complete opposite.

Never have I realized just how important representation really was until this year. For some reason, I've noticed how much artists tend to harm the footprint of their music the more the industry knows about them. The music industry needs to realize that things like gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity are the gateways that help tap into audiences and listeners who have not been able to find the person and the music that resonates with them in its complete. Tell me how many times do you hear a song by a gay artist that makes reference to same sex pronouns? Or how many times do music videos involve love stories of non-heterosexual people? Or how often do you see latin music being played in mainstream radio? When you give people the opportunity to see and reflect themselves and their emotions through others, connections are made stronger and wider. Giving artists the opportunity to use their diversity in the craft that they make, gives diverse people the opportunity to see themselves in their craft.

It’s true, in more recent years we’ve seen some change, and artists are becoming more and more comfortable with sharing who they are knowing that people are becoming more accepting of it. But if you ask me, I’d much rather live my complete truth in front of the mass media then wait until my music speaks enough for me to do so. Representation, even as filtered and limited in accessibility as it might be in the media, still offers up the opportunity for people to realize that they don’t need to fall into anyone's ideology of what they can be… that to me is far more important than the dent it might have in any music career. At the end of the day, the social impact an artist can make by being their holistic self, is far greater than how long an artist is listed in the Billboard Hot 100. In the years to come I hope that the industry begins to value diversity if not by the mere opportunity for representation that it provides, maybe by the opportunity to that it gives artists to tap into audiences and markets societal norms have failed to account for.

#diversity #musicindustry #spotify #musicpublishing #recordlabels

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middleeyt · 5 years

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Lights On Festival

Vallejo R&B singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gabrielle Wilson, more commonly known by her stage name H.E.R, headlined the inaugural Lights On Festival on September 14th, and let me tell you all...it was lit (no pun intended)

Lights On Festival is yet another festival curated by an artist in this modern day festival frenzy. The festival announcement came this past June after the high rising success of H.E.R’s self titled debut album. Minutes after the event went on sale tickets were sold out and it’s no wonder as to why. The festival was stacked with amazing R&B artistry. The lineup was personally curated by H.E.R and included artists like Jhené Aiko, Daniel Caesar, Summer Walker, Ari Lennox, Kiana Lede, Marc E. Bassy and a ton more. For me, this festival was the highlight festival of the year, as someone who enjoys the rhythm, soul, and vocal foreground that R&B as a genre provides, Lights On sure had me all up in my feels.

The Set Up

The festival had two stages, for the early part of the day a number of artists performed at the Illumination Stage, and later in the day the handful of headliners performed in the main Fluorescent Stage. Food trucks were set in the back side of the Illumination Stage, and the isle way between that stage stage and the main pavilion stage was set with drink vendors and sponsor company set ups.

Quite frankly the only problems I had with the set up were:

1. There was not much space provided for shade, and let me tell you all... it was hella hot.

2. Having two stages and no overlapping artists meant that you had 2 choices, either miss the artists in the Illumination Stage in order to reserve some space in the lawn area (for those of us who had GA lawn tickets) or watch the artists in the Illumination Stage and risk the space for later in the night.

Although heat was blazing and the set up seemed a little awkward, none the less people made it work.

The Artists

I mean come on... what else do I have to say about this line up besides that it was pure greatness...

We were able to catch the last few minutes of Tone Stith and ended our time at the Illumination Stage with the amazing Kiana Lede. Technical difficulties here and there gave out to some botchy performances and due to some timing issues some artists were only on stage for 20 minutes (this one goes out to you Marc E. Bassy... come on man, didn’t even perform “Plot Twist”) But even for such short performance times at the Illumination Stage, it was still great to grasp a glimpse of some the talent that I can guarantee will be making moves in the years to come.

The night proceeded with Ari Lennox kicking off the performances at the main Fluorescent Stage, and let me tell you all... the vibe was loud and clear. Sitting by the lawn with close friends and listening to the amazing vocals of Daniel Caesar, the dope stage presence of the one and only Jhene Aiko, and simping out mad hard to H.E.R at the end, left me all kinds of fucked up (in a good way) There is something so moving about how well R&B is able to blend the magic of vocal performance and live instrumentals, and in reality there genre as effective and capable of evoking emotional responses out of it’s listeners as R&B is.

Lights On Festival was notably the first female owned and curated festival in decades and I have no doubt that it will become a staple in the years to come. With the theme “R&B Is Not Dead” the festival sure did provide a platform for the artistry of modern day rhythm and blues to come alive and showcase to thousands of spectators an amazing group of R&B’s current and emerging talents. So definitely count me in for Lights On Fest 2020!

Missed the festival or just have complete fomo? Peep my Lights On Fest playlist.

#r&b #lightsonfest #h.e.r #musicfestival

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middleeyt · 5 years

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The Reason I Don’t Share My Music

I had been drafting out a few more blog posts for the month on music and social media, and one or two album reviews, but something didn’t feel right.

There has never really been any purpose for Middleeyt other than for it to help cultivate some ideas on the various facets and the wonder that music holds. There have never been any real intentions for people to read these posts (although I do love sharing my thoughts in the hopes that it can spark conversations with others) I’ve found a ton of enjoyment in just being able to capture my thoughts through this blog, it’s served as a way for me to encapsulate the rants that oftentimes go on in my head regarding the very thing that has always kept me sane...music. But more often than not, the conversations I have with myself are all about why it’s become increasingly difficult for me to share the music that I create with the people around me. There is a level of fear, vulnerability, and complacency that lately have chained the ideas of where my music could go...so I thought I would share.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a singing firefighter, dreams were crushed at the age of 7 when I found out that was not a career. However, as I grew older the idea of being able to share my music for a living never really left. I went to school to study business, graduated with a B.S. in Managerial Economics and a minor in Psychology and decided that Digital Marketing was my calling (or so I led myself to believe). I always knew that I wanted to pursue music as a career, but I have always set a series of self-imposed obstacles that have never really let me do that:

1. I continue to think I have a level of responsibility to my parents to have a “successful” career and make loads of money.

Children of immigrant parents have been given a luxury that for a while, I couldn’t wrap my head around. Our parents struggled to survive in order to give us the ability to live. My parents worked hard everyday of their lives to make sure my siblings and I had room to garner the levels of self actualization and self reflection that they couldn’t. However, It was that tenacity, hard work, and struggle that has made me feel the need to make them “proud” and provide a living for them that otherwise they might not be able to afford. To this day the idea stands true, but lately I have also been able to realize that I have the luxury to explore how I get to make that happen while fulfilling my own ambitions and goals.

2. I am afraid of not being “good enough”, although I don’t even know what “good enough” is.

I have expectations for myself that are way too unrealistic. I think quite a lot about how every part of how a song is written, and spend an even bigger time thinking about how it’s sung. When I record music there is always something that doesn't sound right, maybe I missed a riff in one of the verses, or maybe I didn't hit a note in it’s complete, and so the more and more I hear what I record, the more I get caught up in my head about how it’s not “good enough”. I tend to compare myself to a number of artists who have already established not only a sound, but a profession out of singing. I am nowhere near that, but it often times becomes difficult to realize that my head is far too ahead of where I currently stand. I feel like I am too young to rush things, but too old to wait around.

3. There is a level of vulnerability with the music I write that I tend to think people won’t appreciate or understand.

I spend countless hours every day writing music, and It’s become really cool to see how much this has become an outlet for helping unravel the story lines of my own thoughts and the thoughts of others. Whenever something is bothering me, is of excitement, or has prompted a level of thought and emotion, I take to writing as a way to document it all. I want to say I have a good 70ish fully written out songs, but ask me how many of those other people have heard…

Some of those songs share stories of past relationships, self-reflective ideas, people in my life, and a whole bunch more. So much of myself is in those songs that sharing them means a level of me is out there in the world, open for judgement and scrutiny.

The upside of that though is that the plot-lines and scenarios could potentially connect with someone else, and it is that mere connection that has always been the most valuable thing for me to hold. So, it is always a question of whether giving up some of myself will help gain something for someone else, and I never know if the risk is worth it.

4. Having a professional career in Marketing has added a level of complacency to my life.

Ever since I graduated I started working a 9 to 5, don’t get me wrong there is a level of interest that I have in being in the business world and doing marketing, otherwise I would not be doing it. With being able to grow professionally, with having a source of income, and with being able to sustain a living for myself and at times those around me, having a 9 to 5 has made me a little complacent about giving some further thought to the idea that there might be something else made for me. I have gotten comfortable at thinking that I can grow and climb the corporate ladder, but that isn’t giving me the fulfillment that I want. I go to bed and I wake up thinking about the possibilities in music and look forward to heading home and being able to write more, but it’s all going to waste if its not being used to the capabilities that I know it can.

So I ask myself, “What’s next?” self reflection is great but it means nothing if I do nothing about it right?. At the moment I just feel stuck... I feel like I am not moving, and it's all been increasingly annoying knowing what I know about who I want to become. So I leave myself with documenting this quote by William Jennings Bryan: “Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” Let’s hope soon I forget that the idea of chance exists, and choose to make some change about this thing I talk so much about but do very little for.

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middleeyt · 5 years

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The Type Beat Industry

In 2016 the world got introduced to the smash hit that was Designers “Panda”. The song skyrocketed to the number one spot on the Billboard charts. Designer became the youngest artist to reign the charts since Lorde back in 2013, and the first male rapper to reach number one since Wiz did it back in 2011....and to think that all this was achieved from a type beat he bought for $200 dollars back in 2014…yup $200 bucks. The connection between a beatmaker, the singer/songwriter/rapper and the consumer has never been this easy. Type beat platforms have surfaced allowing producers and artists to collaborate and have given way to a much easier and faster mode of creating music.

What Is A “Type Beat”?

A “type beat” is an instrumental that is close in structure and sound to the music of another artist. Pause for a minute and do a quick search on YouTube for an artist of your choosing followed by the words “type beat”, and you’ll get a heavy pool of instrumentals that sound similar to the artist for which the type beat is assigned. (if you want to read up on the many other forms of song compositions and remix types out there check out my past post right HERE) The creation of these “type beats” has not only made way for genre and mood listening to expand but it has opened ways for producers to take on a new business model as well.

The Rise Of A New Business Venture:

Software like FL Studio has made it easy to create a type beat and upload it on the interwebz. With prices ranging from $20 dollars for an MP3 download and $1000 for the lease of a song, artists can get their hands on 1 of thousands of beats uploaded to the site. Producers in these platforms can earn a solid amount from beats that usually take no more than 2 hours to make. Artists alike, have taken the ease of convenience and availability that type beats provide, to cut down on the high costs that are involved in hiring a producer and acquiring studio time. Beatmakers no longer have to depend on rappers, labels, and publishing deals to make a steady income.

The Drawback:

YouTube, SoundClick, BeatStars, FL Studio and other type beat platforms have helped democratize the song production landscape. However, one major issue that many people in the industry have seen, is the lack of creativity that such type beats have provided the listener. Spotify’s “Daily Mix”, “Discover Weekly” and “Release Radar” playlist, which are curated to our taste, have become such popular sources of our music listening because they serve us what we want to hear. With that in mind, it's easy to see why we’ve become accustomed to hearing similar sounds across artists nowadays…it’s just what we want to hear. But the question many have asked is: what’s the fun in music discovery when artists, producers, and consumers are all mingling with the same sounds over and over again? Viral hits have become commonplace, but to be a producer and artist who’s more than just a viral sensation, you need to be (as cliche as it sounds) innovative with your sound, and in 2019...we ain't seeing much of that.

So What’s Next:

The type beat industry continues to gain momentum, the latest most popular type beat you all might be familiar with is the now 19th week charting hit: “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X. There is a level of appreciation that I have for how this new business sector has decreased the barriers of entry to many artists trying to put some music out, Lil Nas X being a perfect example. Type beats have also provided a sense of stable income for producers. As the industry continues to put out this type of music, and producers continue to battle royalty and copyright disputes regarding what it means to steal vs model a song after a previous one, the listener on the end of things will continue to be given modified versions of viral sounds...because like I said...that’s what we want to hear. Business is business and creating hits has become the music industry's most valued commodity, if type beats help create a pool for such sounds to be identified then I sure don’t see them disappearing any time soon.

#typebeat #lil nas x #musicindustry #Spotify #middeeyt #business #music #producer #songwriter #rapper #hiphop #musicprograms #musicproducer #youtube #soundclick #beatstars #flstudio

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middleeyt · 5 years

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Why Releasing A Song More Than Once Has Its Payoff

This week marks the 16th consecutive week that Lil Nas X has maintained the number 1 title on the Billboard Hot 100 for his absolute banger: “Old Town Road”. See, the song at its core was meant to be a short lived fad, but careful crafting and a strategic industry play has gained the song over 1.3 billion audio and video streams (which includes the 30 million versions of the song...I might be exaggerating, but who knows I hear Dolly Parton is working on the next one). “Old Town Road” currently holds the title of 2019′s highest-selling digital song, selling close to a million units. This song is just one example of why releasing series of versions for popular songs has paid off for a number of artists.

We all know by know that we have fully moved into the digital age of music streaming. The way we consume music, and more importantly the way it has been categorized under a number of charting platforms, has drastically shifted over the past several years (peep my previous post on how music charts are created) “Old Town Road” is currently on its 5th (I think...) remake, but on the charts, you'll only find the song's name once. That is because Billboard counts remixes under certain parameters as an entity of the original song. If a song is similar in structure and lyrics it will most often be categorized as one and accounted for once in the streaming play. So when Lil Nas X asked RM from BTS to go in on yet another remix of “Old Town Road”, you best bet the structure, general lyrics, and production remained the same, the only thing that changed was the thousands of BTS fans who are now playing the song over and over and over again because of RM’s added vocals (you know who you are).

We’ve seen this methodology play out before. "Despacito," currently holds the record for the most consecutive weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but before it was remixed with Justin Bieber as a feature, it wasn’t completely the top charter smash it remains today. Billie Eilish is another savvy newcomer that has used the power of Bieber (and this theory of re-releasing a song) to bring new attention to her already popular song “bad guy”. Her current remix is competing with “Old Town Road” for the spot as number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Many artists are catching the wave that is remaking and re-releasing. Each remix tapping into a pool of fans, an artists popularity, or simply the new set of streams that curiosity on a remake brings consumers. To say that I myself have not listened to the current 5 remixes of “Old Town Road” would be a total lie, to say that they aren’t any special or different is the total truth. Only a very small portion of a song is changed in order to help a song remain under the qualified parameters that enable it to be categorized under one name in the charts. But it is this continued surge of listens that remixes bring, that continue to help propel songs right back up to the top. This has become a total smart, cost effective, and relatively easy move for all parties involved.

#oldtownroad #lil nas x #billie eilish #middleeyt #Spotify #streaming #billboard #billboardchart #billboard hot 100

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middleeyt · 5 years

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10 Queer Artists You Need To Listen To In 2019

2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising and half a century of working towards a future without discrimination. While politics, ethics, and religious beliefs all come into play (whether we like it or not) when shaping a path for the LGBTQ community, the art that is music and the musicians behind it help drive the discussion and awareness of issues and topics that need the world's attention. The more conscious effort we make as listeners to give these artists the platform for both their activism and artistry to shine, the bigger impact we help make in leading us to where we need to be as a community. So this pride month especially, take some time to give these artists a listen, not just because they are queer, but because they are making some dope music and fronting a much needed representation in the industry

Ben Platt: Most commonly known to us all as the Tony award winner for his lead role in Dear Evan Hansen, Platt has proved with his most recent debut album that theatre like vocals and confessionist lyrics can coexist in a soulful blend to tell the story of a cathartic relationship.

Carlie Hanson: Her cool-toned tunes are perfect for everything from a summer day out to a night in. Her song “Only One” has been a personal favorite for a good while now. A rise to fame as quick as hers is unheard of, she is currently traveling with Troy Sivan as an opener and her debut EP Junk has already gained some buzz with several songs being featured on the popular New Music Friday playlist over the past few weeks.

FHAT: With just the right blend of R&B, Pop and Electronic, the duo Aaron and Sedric serve the right summer feel with their 2018 singles “Pleasure” and “Onatd” and have teased 2019 to be the release of their much anticipated EP.

Hayley Kioko: Her break came in the world of children’s telly when she appeared in Lemonade Mouth and produced the absolute slap that is “Determinate” (You know every word of that fucking song, don’t lie to yourself) Most known for her collaboration with Kehlani and her song “Curious”, Kioko continues to be unapologetically outspoken about her sexuality.

Saro: His debut album, Die Alone, combines his Morrissey-esque lyricism with moody, and electronic productions. The previously described “pop noir” artist creates a well versed blend of soft vocals and wholehearted lyricism.

Rob.b: Mexican American rapper Robby Antonio Zumaya, better known as Rob.B, is carving his own path in the hip-hop scene with his take on normative hip-hop topics through a filtered queer lens.

Sophie: Sophie Xeon, known as Sophie, is a Scottish record producer, singer, songwriter, and DJ. Most commonly known for having produced Kim Petras banger “1, 2, 3 dayz up”. Sophie is becoming well known for her lurid dance pop sound and is rumored to be working with artists like Lady Gaga and Madonna.

KAYTRANADA: Louis Kevin Celestin, known as Kaytranada, is a Haitian-Canadian DJ and record producer. His 2016 album 99.9% was a huge success with its dope blend of joyful house and disco music. Taking a break from the scene to get back into it, his 2019 single “DYSFUCTIONAL” is proving to be another successful drop.

VINCINT: If you watched The Four you probably recognise him from his amazing rendition of “Creep”. Now signed to a label, VINCINT is creating an energetic blend of pop and house music with his distinctively soulful vocals.

Tash Sultana: This girls voice got me fucked up. With an amazingly raspy yet soothing sound, she makes the right connection between the 15 instruments she's learned to master and the amazing vocal control she brings to every song. She showed up to Coachella last year and is probably one of the few people I am really sad I didn’t get to see.

If it wasn’t for the LGBTQ Community we would not have the creative landscape, and sheer compassion in the music industry that we do today. There is big discrepancy in the paths for the right to equality that everyone deserves throughout every industry, but the music industry has always been one intended to be about love, expression, and freedom. We have come a long way, but Pride is both intended to celebrate the accomplishments that have been made, and also intended to create a space of visibility for those who are helping make the right moves in the right direction. So give these artists some time and space, it means more than you think!

#queer #pride #pridemonth #gay #Spotify #queerartist #queermusic #middleeyt

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middleeyt · 5 years

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Andrey Azizov

If you were following me on social media about a year ago, you know I was plastering Andrey Azizov’s debut single “Feel Like (Feat. Chloe Gendrow)” like crazy. “Feel Like” gained over 4.5 million streams within five months, charted on the Spotify US Viral 50, and gained an additional 1 million streams on YouTube.

So you already know that when last month I stumbled upon “Bad Timing (Feat. Lauren North)” (another absolute banger of his), I had to ask Andrey if he would be down to answer a few questions.

First of all, if you have yet to follow Andrey on Spotify/ Soundcloud, be sure to do so, as he is working on releasing some more singles this summer.

Second, big thank you to Andrey himself for taking some time out of his busy schedule to answer these questions!

Carlos: What is your musical past and present in one rambling run-on sentence?

Andrey: I was listening to a lot of hip hop in high school and really wanted to start making sample based beats, that eventually turned to me making remixes when I couldn't find anyone to rap over them. As I started posting my music online I started to develop my sound and hone my production skills which I am still doing to this day, all part of the journey!

Carlos: You’re a new addition to the crayon box. What color would you be and why?

Andrey: White because I would never get used and I could just chill in the box with my other crayon friends.

Carlos: For those who haven’t heard your music, how would you describe it in 5 words or less?

Andrey: Chill melancholic bangers. (and beyond)

Carlos: What is your favorite thing to do when you aren’t producing music?

Andrey: Play soccer, or watch soccer, or play FIFA which is simulated soccer.

Carlos: Can you briefly describe what the the music making process looks like for you?

Andrey: Usually I find inspiration in one element from something I'm listening to (like a chord progression, instrument, or even just an emotion) and try to bring in my unique perspective to and build a song around it, and from there just experiment till I have something I don't hate lol.

Carlos: Who are some of your musical muses from the past and present?

Andrey: My biggest muses when I started out producing my current style of music were definitely Hudson Mohawke and Jamie XX, though there are countless others throughout the last few years that I've discovered and have brought new aspects to how I make music. Currently finding Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend very inspiring in the way he writes and his whole outlook on music and songwriting.

Carlos: What’s the most money you’ve ever drunkenly spent on a food delivery service?

Andrey: I will make a point to somehow drunkenly walk to a restaurant for food, I don't have the patience or finger dexterity to order from an app or anything in that condition.

Carlos: How do you balance your music with other life obligations?

Andrey: It's very hard and I'm still trying to figure it out, but at the same time it drives me to try to become as successful as I can so that I don't have to worry about much else besides the music ;)

Carlos: What is your motto and goal as an artist? What advice would you give artist who are aiming to pursue their own career in music?

Andrey: I think being open minded, that's how the best art is made in my opinion; and I think the best advice I can give is to find your niche, and put the hours in to get really good at it. If you have that combination of doing something really niche/interesting and doing it really well I really believe everything else will fall into place if you're smart about it.

Carlos: What's your take on the current state of the music industry? What’s your take on music streaming services (how have they helped/or hurt your musical journey)?

Andrey: I think like a lot of things in the world it's definitely in a transitional period; technology has completely upended everything from creating music to releasing and marketing it. Seems like at this point labels, music services, and artists are throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks but the positive side of that is that anyone has the ability to break into the game. Also Soundcloud and Spotify are the only reason people know my music at all so definitely helped me, though pressure to get streams has probably factored into my creative process, which I don't really think is great but it's the reality.

Carlos: What is next for Andrey? Where do you hope to be in your music career 5 years from now?

Andrey: Working to release a few singles this Summer with some exciting vocalists, and then from there I really want to start putting out cohesive works of music like EPs and Albums and eventually touring, in no particular order!

Carlos: Finally, and this one is important…. Where would you rather have attended high school? Howards or East High?

Andrey: Definitely East High

#andreyazizov #music #musicblog #interview #spotify #soundcloud #middleeyt #artist #artistinterview

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middleeyt · 5 years

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The Power of Streaming

Part 2 of the discussion on the way artists are maneuvering their way around the digital music world.

The digitization of music has had its share of pros and cons. On the positive side, it has given rise to the DIY artist, helped make the music industry profitable, and made it easier for many musicians to gain some traction without the help of big record labels. But on the negative side, streaming services have never served in favor of the artist, many seeing very little compensation for their music. This has often times left many artists, writers in particular, with the need to finesse the system in a way that best helps drive attention. Even if that means losing some of the integrity that goes into the artistry that is music making. The digital landscape has made of the industry a competition, where the winners are the songs and artists who successfully reverse engineer streaming and crack the code to more plays.

The Money

As mentioned in a previous post, while 75 cents of every dollar Spotify generates goes to music royalties, a very...very small portion of this actually goes to the songwriters themselves. To put things into perspective, song writers are only receiving $90 for every 1 million streams on Spotify. It’s practically impossible for artists to make a living from songwriting alone. Therefore, when the streaming world begins to impose a set of guidelines that work in the favor of their algorithmic curations, it is no wonder why many songwriters and producers must cave to this system in order to make ends meet.

The Juice

Streaming services have not only underpaid songwriters, but they have suppressed the creativity that is involved in music writing and production as a whole. Streaming has set forth an unspoken set of “rules for success” that has led many artists to water-down their artistic vision, in order to drive listens to their music. Spotify playlists, which are maintained by by users, Spotify staff, and mainly algorithms, account for the majority of music listening on the app, and in due time might account for the majority of music listening in general (peep my previous post on The Power of Playlists).

Because of the importance these playlists have, a song needs to make it onto multiple influential playlists in order to achieve virality (which I talk about in my last post...so go read that now!), songwriters are creating songs differently. A difference that in my opinion has lead to bland compositions and productions.

Songs are getting shorter for a reason:

Musicians are creating songs that are less than 3 min 30 seconds, this is due to the fact that over the past couple years, the amount of time listeners spend on a song has decreased by almost 1 min 15 seconds. The digital world has drastically decreased our attention span and that has carried over to how much attention we choose to give music.

Along with that, artists are making songs that are structurally composed to evoke some urge in their listeners to give a song a complete listen. Because artists only get paid for “Complete Listens”, which are classified as any song that is played for 30 seconds or longer, catchy bits and a songs chorus are coming in earlier and earlier in a songs composition.

Not only is 30 seconds the magic number for a song to account in an artists pay, but it is also the amount of time that a song must be listed too, in order for a stream to count toward chart tallies. This is why, they way a song starts has become more important since we’ve digitized music (not that it wasn't before...its just really important now).

As songs get smaller so does the importance in making full albums. This has been the case because of the benefit that cherry picking the killer tracks that will drive more plays and more playlist categorizations brings. Over half of consumers aged 16–34 are listening to albums less than they are listening to playlists. The careful and artistic involvement that curating and developing an album once was, is no longer a profitable move.

Songs are being listened to differently:

With the majority of streamed music being listed through phones and speakers, songwriters and more importantly producers, are having to account for the intimacy that songs listened through these devices ask for. Meaning, there is special attention being placed in the tones, frequency, pitch and ranges songs are needed to be sung and composed in (oh trust me we have an unconscious preference on how/what songs are played over speakers at the clurb, versus in the comfort of our headphones (AirPods if them rich folk))

There has also been this urge to reach a sonic centre ground with the composition of music as a whole, that in turn has been driving a hybrid of genres. Pop music especially, is a centre ground for such hybrid, where many songs are missing cultural identity in the hopes that this genre ambiguity and mix can propel singles into a number viral playlists (I'm telling ya playlists are very important)

So what I’m trying to say is...

Streaming services don’t help make an artist, but they have helped make the discovery of their music easier. These services have diminished the music industry’s barriers of entry, and have given rise to the DIY artist, but it all comes at a cost. While artists are getting much smarter at understanding the Spotify playlist portfolio, there is no doubt that music is being written and put out to do well on streaming services. This in turn has placed creativity and ingenuity in the back-burner of music creation, and without those things wtf is even music?

#streaming #music #musicstreaming #Spotify #soundcloud #applemusic #amazonmusic #middeeyt #playlists #music playlist

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middleeyt · 5 years

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The Guide To Doing Coachella Right

Coachella weekend is soon approaching and I am sure the only question you are asking yourself is: “What am I going to wear?”...because same, I am totally screwed with the outfits here. But let’s take some time to remember that Coachella is an escape, it’s a time away from the worries of work, life, and everything in-between. So to help you have the best time this year at Coachella, here are 5 simple things to keep-in-mind once the festival rolls around!

1. Join in on the “tiny name people”

The artistry that performs during the day time is often times the best way to introduce yourself to the next wave of talent heading mainstream media. If you usually tend to head to these festivals in the middle of the day, you are missing out on a ton of amazing and talented performers. Make it a point to get up early and hit the venue early, check out an artist who you’ve never heard of and just vibe, because its all about taking opportunities to introduce your musical palette to new people and new genres.

2. Hype thy neighbor up

Whether it's your friend seeing his/her favorite artist, or that random stranger who can’t seem to stop bumping into you when the beat drops, join in and hype each other up. Coachella is a communal space aimed celebrate common music interests, meaning all those people under the Sahara tent decided to see that artist versus all others. So take some time to just live the feel of the crowd around you, and let that drive how you go about enjoying a performance or a set. When you are enjoying the music and help emulate that feeling to the people around you, you create a space that helps others get a feel for the music as well.

3. Try it sober... or like one day... if you can

I get it it’s hot as fuck in the desert, so a little alcohol here and there does no harm, but try going to venue one day and seeing how your day goes without substances (of any form... yeah I'm talking to you) For anyone who is a fan of music, you probably should see little to no difference on how much you end up enjoying the talent. More so, going about your festival day sober, should help you grasp a better understanding of all the emotions performances are bringing you. Those chills you get when your favorite song comes on, the memories that flood when you sing a song so closely associated with the past, it all just a makes for a more conscious experience.

4. Do you boo

In any friend group there will be artists that some people don’t want to see, and often enough we get to precious about staying together because fuck... reception lowkey non existent, and once they gone... they gone. However, there will be artists that you’ve been dying to see, and if your friend group ain’t down... fuck it go alone. I get it, it’s uncomfortable and weird to be at a tent alone, but if we all follow tip numero dos... it shouldn’t be. At every performance or set, you should feel like you're part of a tent-wide friend group, and just enjoy the presence of those around you and more importantly the fact that you get to see an artist you’ve been dying to see.

5. Fuck the gram

I know it’s hard to stay away from your phone and feel the need to gram a performance, or post something about the art, because Coachella is just an instagramable place as a whole (and because we all have some greater urge to make sure everyone and they mamas knows you’re having fun). However, try to keep your hands off the phone and rather in the air (that came out way too cheesy) Take in the moment and be in the moment, because let’s be honest, how many times have you looked back at that one video you took at that one concert a long ass time ago? Probably zero... so rather than waste battery life (which could be used to find your friends following tip 4), just have fun and be present, because this shit only rolls around once a year.

This year I am making a conscious commitment to instagramming as little as possible while at the venue... and I invite you to do the same!

So whether you find those outfits or not, whether the flight there, or the drive down is a total mess... just follow the above 5 steps and I can guarantee 2019 will be your year... not life wise (because I am sure you already fucked that one up) but Coachella wise.

See you at the Gobi tent!

....Haven’t checked out the collaborative 2019 Coachella playlist...wtf are you doing with your life: https://spoti.fi/2Ie5tkH

#Coachella music festival #coachella2019 #Coachella #coachellavalley #music #middleeyt #musicfestival #festivaltips #MusicFestivals #festivals #festival

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