Music Industry News
A collection of Music latest news, analysis and best practices from top business influencers and the world's most trustworthy sources.
Music Industry Moves: Thomas Rhett Strikes Label Partnership With Hybe's Blue Highway Records
Country star T homas Rhett and Hybe Americas' Nashville-based label Blue Highway Records have announced a new partnership, Fifty-One/Forty-Nine Records. Described as “artist-led,” the partnership offers “an innovative approach…
Music Streaming Fraudster Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison
Mike Smith, the first person to face federal charges tied to music streaming fraud, was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty earlier this year. Smith, a musician and business owner from North Carolina, appeared at federal court in…
The next great music movement won't be found by algorithms | Opinion
Music history has never waited for permission. Jazz grew through New Orleans neighborhoods, clubs, and dance halls. Hip-hop emerged from block parties in the Bronx. Country music found a national audience through regional traditions and the 1927…
Rolling Stones already in studio again working on 26th album with music legend
The Rolling Stones may have ruled out a tour in 2027 but they are working on new music with legendary saxophonist Courtney Pine. The rockers brought out their latest – and 25th album - called Foreign Tongues back in July, and already look to…
The west has a blinkered view of African music - and it's hurting the whole continent's culture
In 2024, South African pop star Tyla won the best Afrobeats award at the MTV VMAs. Beaming in a yellow dress, she began her acceptance speech in a celebratory tone. “This is such a big moment for African music. The global impact of…
America's reading crisis is also a case for music education | Opinion
Across the United States, reading performance has weakened significantly in recent years. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the average eighth-grade reading score in 2024 was two points lower than in 2022, and five…
Celibidache was a musical visionary, an uncompromising perfectionist - and my father
My father, Sergiu Celibidache, loved children more than anything because they are free and true to themselves. And yet, he once made a young boy wet himself when he dared to ask for an autograph, shouting at the poor child as if he had committed a…
Music Impact Coalition (MIC) Brings Leaders to Deploy $3M+ Grant Dollars Across North Carolina for Music and Arts Education Initiatives
Let Music Fill My World, along with more than 20+ of the nation's top music and arts foundations and organizations, have aligned on a shared mission: ensuring every student in America has access to high-quality music and arts education, regardless…
Billboard's 2026 Top Music Business Schools
In the age of AI, who needs a college education? An AI agent's deft reply: “AI makes information cheap; it doesn't replace judgment, deep expertise, mentorship, networks or credentials required in [many] fields. The real question is: What…
Spotify expands its Music Quiz trivia feature
Spotify got on the BTS bandwagon earlier this year, celebrating the band's return to the studio with a trivia game about the K-pop idol group. Now, that Music Quiz feature has been expanded to test fans' knowledge of more than 2,000 artists with…
Fiction: 'Music Against the Night' by Yiyun Li
The Irish composer and pianist John Field (1782-1837), whose career took him throughout Europe and finally to a life of luxury in Russia, was a forerunner of music's Romantic era and is credited with the creation of the nocturne. This may sound…
AI Music Streaming Fraudster Sentenced to 1.5 Years in Prison for $8M Royalties Scam
A man who used AI songs to steal millions in music royalties has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, capping off the first-ever criminal case over streaming fraud. Michael Smith, 54, pleaded guilty in March to using AI to generate thousands of…
'Dirty Dancing: The Musical' Is Coming to Broadway
Dirty Dancing is coming to Broadway. The musical adaptation of the 1987 film will make a stop at the Lena Horne Theatre on Broadway starting this winter, as part of its national tour. The show will play the theater from Feb. 12 through Sept. 5. The…
Where UI students can find EDM music in Iowa City
Between street performers in the Pedestrian Mall, live bands on Linn St., and tunes emanating from bar windows through downtown, finding a place to enjoy live music in Iowa City is rarely a challenge. For fans of house music and EDM, the search can…
Things to Do in October: Music - The Stranger
Want more? Here's everything we recommend this month: Music, Visual Art, Literature, Performance, Film, Food & Drink, This & That. Dälek, Lamarr Family Values America's most uncompromising hip-hop group, New Jersey's Dälek, have been…
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