Reader Poll Results - Back At Work Blues
Soundcloud Stumbles, Patreon Pathos and the Decline of Hits.
Last week, we asked our readers if anyone is back in the office, and if so, if was it by choice. Not surprisingly, most folks who read the Cadence are still working from home (63%). What did surprise us is the fact that of the folks commuting somewhere each day, all of you are doing so by mandate. Zero percent by choice.
Granted, folks who work in and around entertainment, tech, marketing, etc. were far more likely to work from home even before the pandemic began. If this newsletter covered, say, the insurance industry, we suspect there would be a lot more people back in their cubicles. But we are amazed that none of our readers wanted back to work just to get out of the house.
Are we missing something? Tell us in the comments.
TAKEAWAYS
Salient statements from this week’s music news.
1. SoundCloud Mulls ‘Different Strategy’ After Layoffs
Five years after being saved from bankruptcy, SoundCloud is still on shakey ground.
Takeaway: Employees expressed concern about the "relatively flat" creator business and "the product not working super great" in recent all-hands meetings.
2. Patreon Lays Off 80 People, Closes Berlin, Dublin Offices
The fever seems to be spiking on the post-pandemic creator comedown.
Takeaway: Patreon’s downsizing comes amid a worrying time for the creator economy. So far in 2022, companies like MasterClass (20 percent), Jellysmack (8 percent), Picsart (8 percent) Lightricks (12 percent) and StreamElements (20 percent) have all let staff go.
3. Warner Music is Becoming Less Financially Dependent on Superstar Artists
Departing CEO Steve Cooper told Goldman Sachs that the company is taking a “portfolio” strategy that relies less on hits as global streaming growth dillutes the biggest names in music.
Takeaway: This changing picture affects the A&R and marketing strategy of the major music companies – namely, how much budget allocation they concentrate on established ‘superstar’ artists versus spreading that budget amongst a wider pool of performers.
