What Is Music Publishing?

Music publishing deals with the ownership and exploitation of copyrighted music. Through music publishing, copyrighted work is sold for use in areas such as radio, performances, movies, TV, record sales, and streaming. Publishing provides a variety of avenues for an artist to earn a living while working in the music industry. “Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.” – John Lennon Live performances, club appearances, autograph sessions, and speaking engagements can get you a one-time check, but publishing your music can result in continuous payment for years—based on the popularity of your music. Ever wondered how

Upcoming Album Drops from Rap Greats

Nothing seems to excite music fans more than rumors of new music from an artist who has already secured their legacy. Eminem and 50 Cent were at the height of their music careers over a decade ago. Time changes nothing according to their fans, who always look forward to new music by them. Eminem, who hasn’t released a project since his 2013 Marshall Mathers LP 2, has new music coming soon—according to a tweet he posted after he released Campaign Speech in 2016. Don't worry I'm working on an album! Here's something meanwhile. https://t.co/QX3cdpqFD2 — Marshall Mathers (@Eminem) October 19, 2016 More recently, 2 Chainz has talked about working with Eminem on the new alb

Amid Social Unrest, MTV Gives Their Response: Tolerance

The MTV VMA’s, held August 27th, took place during a storm of political and social unrest. In an effort to make a bold statement, MTV introduced their previously-named “Best Video with a Social Message” category under a new name. Now called “Best Fight Against the System”, the category’s name lives up to the exemplary artists that were rightfully nominated. Shailene Woodley takes a selfie with two Indegenous ladies to fight DAPL. credit: Instagram / Shailene Woodley 2017 is desperate for breakthrough artists willing to become pioneers. We’re in the midst of a radical movement and using music to promote tolerance has, historically, resulted in success. Nominees in this newly nam

MTV’s TRL Making a Comeback This Fall

  MTV reach a new level of success in 1998 when TRL (Total Request Live) was created and aired for ten strong years. TRL focused primarily on mainstream pop and was known for hosting some of the most iconic names in the early 2000’s music industry. The show emphasized music videos as an art form and is responsible for launching more than a few careers.  Now it has been confirmed that MTV is reviving the beloved video request show and music buffs are feeling equally thrilled and nostalgic. TRL. IS. BACK. 💥 A post shared by TRL (@trl) on Aug 23, 2017 at 12:06pm PDT NPR credits TRL as the “rebirth of video”. MTV’s ratings skyrocketed and fans flocked from across the U

Artists Around the Music Industry React to #Charlottesville

“Unite the Right” rally brings bloodshed to Charlottesville, VA As of late, Charlottesville, Virginia is synonymous with rebellion. The political uprising has reached every news room in America and is taking social media by storm. The riot began when white supremacists banned together on Saturday for a “Unite the Right” protest. They were met by advocates of the opposing side. What started out as careless name-calling turned into physical altercations, and then quickly escalated to a car intentionally plowing into a group of counterprotestors. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and 34 others were injured, 19 of them being in critical condition. The driver, James Alex Fiel

Snapchat’s Artist Pass Gives Behind-the-Scenes View of Industry’s Biggest Acts

Snapchat has been the social media platform to beat recently, and with Billboard’s help, the competition is only getting fiercer. “Artist’s Pass” is a new feature created with music enthusiasts in mind. Billboard has created a music documentary series that follows artists and allows an exclusive look at how they prepare for their live performances. Each series is said to last about four to five minutes and highlights musicians as prominent as Demi Lovato, Rae Sremmurd and Luke Bryan–with more to be announced soon. Rather than typical snaps only lasting a mere 24 hours, Artist’s Pass will be available for 48 hours on Snapchat Discover and will air biweekly. Snapchat Discover p

Are We in the Middle of a Second British Invasion?

Adele has set records in receiving awards. Forbes declared One Direction the fourth highest-earning celebrities in the world recently. And Calvin Harris became the first British artist to surpass a billion streams on Spotify. The immense success of so many artists from across the pond begs the question: Are we in the middle of a Second British Invasion? I can make your girlfriend scream louder than you ever could just by pressing her follow button. -Harry Styles The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming! The first British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon that took America completely by surprise. However, the recent surge of adoration for Brits and their music seems less like a secon

Artists React to Recent SoundCloud Drama

Many aspiring artists and music fans panicked when they heard SoundCloud was in danger of shutting down, until Chance the Rapper came to the rescue. As of July 13, 2017, SoundCloud was rumored to be shutting down due to only having enough funding to last 50 more days (the number was later reported as 80 days), and even had to lay off 40% of its staff in order to save money. CEO Alex Ljung stated that the decision to do so was good for the future of SoundCloud and would help it stay independent. Meanwhile, up-and-coming artists everywhere panicked because they all know how important SoundCloud is in the music industry for independent artists. Yet the rest of the internet seemed to have a fiel

The 2017 VMA’s Get a Much-Needed Reboot

MTV’s 2017 Video Music Awards are undergoing a whirlwind of change, starting with the coveted award itself. In an attempt to be more politically correct, MTV President, Chris McCarthy stated, “It could be a man, it could be a woman, it could be a transgender, it could be a nonconformist.” Starting this year, the award will no longer be called a “Moonman” but rather be referred to as a “Moonperson.” This change comes after MTV discarded gender-specific categories altogether, replacing Best Male Video and Best Female Video with Artist of the Year. Apparently, 2017 is the year of change as the modified award comes with a surprising change in venue as well. credit: The Forum. The o