Takeaway Takeover
Long Reads Ed. - Surviving Soberchella, SunoAI's See-Thru Scam, Expanding Expanded-Rights, Monopoly Nation
We love to pontificate over the state of all things music x tech x brands. But we’re not the only ones out there with takes. In fact, we stand on the shoulders of many terrific writers, editors and publishers who do their own deep dives and share pearls of wisdom with (which we polish up for you).
So this week, while we take a break from our own essays, we’re recommending a choice selection of articles and op-eds that entertain and educate.
1. What Does Private Equity Mean for the Music Business Long-Term?
PE could push the entire music IP market up by using its proven playbook of regulatory influence.
Takeaway: Any move that raises the value of the song catalogs that they own will also raise the value of the song catalogs that they do not, and this could be very good for songwriters.
2. Expanded Rights Are Worth $3.5 Billion, Now What?
A breakdown of what “monetizing fandom” really means moving forward.
Takeaway: Streaming is not going away. Indeed, it will be part of this future, but the consumption-focused approach of the 2010s is going to be shunted to the side as fandom takes centre stage.
3. The Angst, the Sensitivity… and the Songs: How Gen Z Got Hooked on Nirvana
Takeaway: Just as the Beatles defined the construct of a rock band, Nirvana redefined what a band was – both in the public consciousness and to other musicians: unpretentious, tough and sensitive, embraced by the system while threatening it.
4. Explosive New Documents Unearthed On Live Nation/Ticketmaster
A congressional inquiry is uncovering dirt on the concert giant, including accusations of kickbacks from a 13-year-old lawsuit.
Takeaway: As monopoly scholar Kate Judge noted, such dominant middlemen use fees and kickbacks, hidden via a complex maze of subsidiaries and overlapping lines of business, to extract in ways that are hard to see.
5. Suno AI Is Aiming to Generate $120 Billion Per Year. But is It Trained on Copyrighted Recordings?
Turns out it’s not very hard to get the new AI it girl to start copying well-known music.
Takeaway: When an AI company doesn’t reveal its training data sources, the best chance we have of working out those sources is to use the model and see whether we can find output that resembles copyrighted material.
6. Stagecoach Joins Soberchella as Music Fests Amp Up Their Booze-Free Options
Spiritless mocktails are making major inroads at mainstream events. And might even make up for some lost alcohol revenue.
Takeaway: In the past six months, 54% of legal-drinking-age Gen Zers have abstained from alcohol. In the meantime, millennials are also shifting their drinking habits, with 49% aiming to imbibe less in 2024 compared to 26% last year.
7. How Pirates and Factory Workers Changed Music Forever
A new documentary revisits the golden age of the album leak.
Takeaway: How Music Got Free is filled with fascinating tensions: between artists, fans, and corporate interests; music and technology; those who put in the labor of all kinds to make music possible and those who see the largest profits.
8. Inside the ‘Evolution’ of Record Label Radio Staffs, as Layoffs Hit Departments Hard
Consolidation in traditional broadcasting is forcing layoffs in old-school radio promo as well.
Takeaway: You don’t need six regionals, three nationals, two VPs and an SVP [at a label] when 20 to 45 people are making the decisions that 200 people used to make at radio.”
