Music Biz Features

Spotify‘s not having a great time. The streaming service faced a punishing reaction on Wall Street following its second-quarter results last month: Daniel Ek’s firm’s share price fell 5.7 percent in a day, wiping around $2.5 billion off the market cap of the company in a few short hours. On …

This story appears in Rolling Stone‘s 2021 Future of Music issue, a special project delving into the next era of the multibillion-dollar hitmaking business. Read the other stories here. At 24 years old, Canadian producer Ebony Oshunrinde — better known as WondaGurl — has built a career most music-business veterans …

When Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998, his sons Jonah and Justyn became heirs to their father’s estate. That meant joining with surviving Beach Boys founders Mike Love, Brian Wilson, and Al Jardine to vote on key business decisions, from archival releases to commercials. It wasn’t easy. “The dynamic …

“Submit your music.”I’m convinced this is the key factor behind Sony Music’s $430 million decision to acquire indie record company AWAL and its sister firm Kobalt Neighbouring Rights on Monday. “Submit your music” is a simple button on AWAL’s homepage — but it’s also an invitation for DIY artists to …

When Nicolle Galyon saw singer-songwriter Madison Kozak perform for the first time, she introduced herself with an offhand joke that turned out to be prophetic. “I said, ‘Hey, I just started a record label in my car on the way over here,’” Galyon recalls. “I was looking around the room …

Working behind the scenes on music tours often means long hours and lots of stress — but no official resource to turn to for help. “There’s no HR anywhere,” Courtney Klimson, founder and president of concert company Theory One Productions, tells Rolling Stone. “If something happens to you, who do …

A Marshmello helmet — a white, identity-concealing bucket hat that’s become the DJ’s signature style — was the best-selling Halloween costume at Spirit Halloween Stores last year. On Marshmello’s YouTube, 40% of the audience is under the age of 13. The DJ owes much of his wild popularity with children …

With the live music business shuttered for an indefinite period due to the COVID-19 pandemic, industry figures are increasingly wondering if small live promoters can weather the storm. Gregg Perloff, CEO of Another Planet Entertainment — which puts on festivals like Outside Lands, presents shows at the Chase Center, and …

As Olivia Harrison remembers, her future husband, George, drove himself to work on the first day on his new job. It was October 1974, and George Harrison had flown to Los Angeles to visit the offices of the record label he’d just launched. The only problem was that no one …

Eighteen months ago, Noah Assad, who manages the Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny, was driving in L.A. when he heard his client’s music blasting from a car in the next lane. “I look to the right, and it’s a lady not understanding what Bunny’s saying, but she’s rapping, murmuring the …