Is The Music Biz Back In The Office?
Reader's Survey, Bowie Blockchain, Hipgnosis' Rocky Road
With Labor Day done with, media attention has turned once again to its now annual “are we returning to the office yet?" reporting. Of course, this line of inquiry only applies to the laptop warrior portion of the workforce [of which we are admittedly a part of]. No one is asking the touring musicians, road crews, stage managers, merch vendors and other essential workers in the record-breaking live music industry if they’re working from home.
Lizzo’s dancers didn’t have a hybrid option when Google booked a private concert back in April to celebrate the company’s 3-day return to office plan. But the agents who booked the gig over at United Talent have had an optional office to return to for well over a year.
It’s unclear how many staffers are taking them up on the offer. But it’s being reported that Spotify is seeing an unexpectedly high 60% majority office work, despite the company’s heavily-promoted Work From Anywhere policy. So maybe we really are back at the office.
So we’re Cadence readers, are you back at the office? Let us know by answering this survey and we’ll share the results with everyone next week.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. David Bowie Estate Links Up With Nine Artists for New NFT Project
The collectible NFT market has crashed. So are new collections the final fulfillment of long-lead projects, or is there still active interest from artists and estates?
Takeaway: Bowie, of course, was an avid collector and admirer of art throughout his life, and Andrew Keller, co-founder of We Love the Arts, credits the musician’s estate for reaching out to get Bowie on the Blockchain.
2. Muse Become First Act to Top UK Charts With NFT Album
NFT chart eligibility is moving the needle, but only slightly.
Takeaway: Will of the People sold 51,500 copies in its first week, outselling the rest of the top 10 combined, although only a fraction of those were NFTs: the digital pressing of the record was limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, meaning that even if every copy of the NFT was sold in the UK, they accounted for at most 1.96% of the UK sales.
3. Financial Times Explores the Growing Pains of Hipgnosis
Have higher interest rates and lower stock prices stymied the new school of music investors?
Takeaway: Hipgnosis and Mercuriadis have ruffled some feathers in the music industry since he founded the company, which may lead to some chuckling of the ‘told-you-so’ variety in boardrooms of traditional rightsholders who’ve taken potshots (both publicly and privately) at the business models and capabilities of the new breed of music-rights investors.
