

Music Ally Focus
Music Ally
Analysing vital music business topics in detail, as they emerge: Joe Sparrow breaks down important stories with expert guests in about 25 minutes. It'll keep you on the cutting edge, and it'll take about the same time as making and eating a good sandwich! (We recommend doing both simultaneously for maximum deliciousness.)
🌍 Music Ally provides analysis and context for the global music business: musically.com
Ⓜ️ Music Ally's industry-leading subscription service: https://musically.com/subscribe
👋 Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge: https://musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🌍 Music Ally provides analysis and context for the global music business: musically.com
Ⓜ️ Music Ally's industry-leading subscription service: https://musically.com/subscribe
👋 Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter, The Knowledge: https://musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 27, 2022 • 24min
The international future of Latin music, with Jesús Triviño Alarcón, Tidal's senior director for Latin Global
Music Ally Focus Ep. 81: In this episode we’re discussing the past, present and future of Latin music on a global scale with Jesús Triviño Alarcón, senior director for Latin Global for streaming platform Tidal. Jesús has a deep connection with Latin music and culture: he is a Webby-nominated content creator who has covered music, TV, film and more for over 17 years as a reporter, editor, producer and curator.
Latin music has firmly solidified its status as a global superpower, and we spoke to Jesús about his observations of Latin music’s recent successes, which music and cultures will spring to international prominence next, the possibility of innovative international collaborations – and we also got some insight on how audiences engage with Latin music.
Here are a few of the genres and artists Jesús mentioned:
Rising: Latin
Tmrw / R&B en Español
Tmrw / Cumbia
Reggaeton del Sur (Venezuela)
FEID Esenciales (one of the artists Jesús mentioned as an artist on the brink of global superstardom)
And here's an album by his music choice: A Tribe Called Quest's "Low End Theory"
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
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Oct 5, 2022 • 45min
Equitable Remuneration: will it really boost artist streaming payments – or leave them worse off? Economist Will Page and legal expert Dr Hayleigh Bosher explain.
Music Ally Focus Ep. #80: In this episode, we’re going to talk about Equitable Remuneration (ER) and how it works out in practice, IRL, with two people who truly understand the economics and legality of it. What is ER? In the UK and some other countries, it’s the practice of dividing certain radio play royalties 50-50 between artist and label - and in the UK’s long-running parliamentary inquiry into music streaming economics, ER became a widely-requested solution to many artists’ claims that they were not being paid enough.
So, we’ve got two people who really know their stuff to talk about whether applying ER to music streaming is a good idea. Spoiler: it might actually leave artists worse off. Dr Hayleigh Bosher, Senior Lecturer in Intellectual Property Law and Associate Dean at Brunel University London, and Will Page, former Chief Economist at Spotify and PRS for Music. They explore from a legal and economic perspective which are of the three real-world ER options available the most likely to happen – and reveal that ER might actually leave artists worse off. So… what does the future hold for artist royalties in an environment where many artists still want to be paid differently? And will streaming platforms be able to increase monthly subscription costs in the middle of economic hardship? Hayleigh and Will look ahead and try to navigate the likely path forward.
Dr Hayleigh Bosher: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/people/hayleigh-bosher
Will Page: https://tarzaneconomics.com
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Sep 22, 2022 • 31min
TikTok, influencer marketing, and how artists can go viral on TikTok, even on a small budget
Sam Saideman, Co-founder of Innovo Music Management, discusses TikTok and influencer marketing. He highlights mistakes made by major labels on TikTok and offers tips for success. He compares managing artists to influencers and emphasizes the value of low budget videos. The podcast explores methods for going viral on TikTok, including influencer marketing and building personal brands. It also delves into the risks and failures of TikTok marketing campaigns, stressing the importance of authentic content and trying different strategies.

Sep 16, 2022 • 35min
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs on record label deals, and life as an indie artist
Music Ally Focus Ep. #78: In the second of two episodes where we speak to artists about pressures they have felt from that industry, and the effect it has had on them as people, we speak to the artist Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, or Orlando Higginbottom as he’s known to his family and friends. He talks about his experiences of working with record labels – and discussing the need for them in 2022, based on a decade of experiences that have not been, let’s say, wholly positive. He has just released his new album “When The Lights Go” as an independent artist, and Orlando has been highly vocal about his position on the current state of the music industry – including saying that “nobody should be signing a bad record deal, and perhaps nobody should be signing record deals at all”. We’re going to be talking about the need for record labels in the current environment, and his experiences in the recorded music industry, in which he has released two studio albums a decade apart, and felt he was let down by an industry that took advantage of him as a young artist.
TEED on your streaming platform: https://lnkfi.re/TEEDinosaurs
TEED: https://www.totallyenormousextinctdinosaurs.com
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Sep 14, 2022 • 26min
How music-tech startups can stand out from the competition – and apply for Music Ally SI:X
Music Ally Focus Ep. #77: In this episode, we discuss Music Ally SI:X – our new annual global showcase, contest and mentorship support program for early-stage music startups. We chat to representatives of two of the sponsors, Emma Cordell, Senior Communications manager of FUGA, and Gregor Pryor, Partner at Reed Smith – along with Music Ally’s CEO Paul Brindley – about what they consider to be the most exciting and innovative areas in music tech, why big, game-changing ideas are still out there (and how to spot them), and offer some advice for SI:X applicants to help them stand out from the competition. Remember, there’s still time left to apply for Music Ally SI:X – but not a lot: the deadline for applications is Monday 19th September.
Find more information and apply to SI:X here: https://musically.com/music-ally-six
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Sep 8, 2022 • 29min
Independent artist Eurielle talks about social media burnout and the pressure from DSPs to create an endless stream of content.
Music Ally Focus Ep. #76: Recently we’ve reported a lot about artists being increasingly outspoken about the pressure on them to create content for social media. If big-name artists like Halsey are voicing their concerns and experiencing pressure, what about indie artists, who don’t have a team around them? This is the first of two episodes where we speak to artists about pressures they have felt from the music industry, and the effect it has had on them as people. We chat to independent artist Lauren Walker (who performs as Eurielle) about social media burnout: Lauren talks about her experiences of pressure from the social media platforms and DSPs. She voices her concerns around the “race to the bottom” of creating a buzz on social media in order to get onto playlists, and the crushing personal impact as a result of the expectation to be on all the social media platforms, all the time.
Eurielle: eurielle.com
Eurielle on (yes) social media: instagram.com/eurielle_music
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Aug 31, 2022 • 32min
Two of the UK's up-and-coming managers talk about modern management, and using direct to fan strategies, NFTs, and TikTok
Music Ally Focus Ep. #75: In this episode we’re joined by two up-and-coming managers who are part of the UK’s MMF Accelerator programme. We want to know what opportunities talented young managers are seeing, and how they are going to use them to take their nascent stars onto success. Cecile Dreyer and Pascal Balletti talk to us about the fresh approaches they are using - specifically with regards to Direct to fan, NFT and web3 tech, and TikTok: all areas of interest that any managers, labels, artist team members listening can take advantage of.
The MMF’s accelerator programme is a grants and training initiative which runs each year and aims to boost the careers of young mangers in the UK, though expert professional development, of which MusicAlly is a partner.
MMF's Accellerator 2022: https://themmf.net/accelerator-2022
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Aug 23, 2022 • 33min
How streaming fraud works and how to detect it – and how your streaming numbers may have been boosted by scammers
Music Ally Focus Ep. #74: "We confidently say that at least 10% of all streaming activity is fraud," – that's the opinion of Andrew Batey and Morgan Hayduk of Beatdapp, the streaming analysis platform that aims to uncover streaming fraud. We find out what the fraud looks like, how big it is, who’s doing it and why, how it works … and how much it would cost if we wanted to be the fraudsters. The answers will probably surprise you, and – if you’re an artist – you may be shocked to find that your streaming numbers have been inflated by scammers too.
Streaming fraud is complex: it’s clear that there is an incentive for people to game the system - siphoning money away from real artists. You might think that it’s simply a case of artists juicing their numbers to look more impressive. But there’s also a bigger, more complex picture and Andrew and Morgan explain how they find patterns of use that are indications of streaming fraud.
Beatdapp's blog post on the "whac-a-mole" nature of stopping streaming fraud: blog.beatdapp.com/2022/05/whac-a-mole-part-2-return-of-the-whac
Beatdapp: beatdapp.com
Superman 3’s fraction-of-a-penny scheme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7JBXGkBoFc
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Aug 18, 2022 • 46min
BPI boss Geoff Taylor talks Broken Record, new DSPs and AI music
Music Ally Focus Ep. #73: Geoff Taylor, CEO of the BPI – the British recorded music industry's trade association – joins us for his first interview since announcing he will step down from his role in 2023.
Geoff has led the BPI for 15 years, a period which has seen significant technological, economic and structural change. We speak to him about the changes he has seen, the work he and the BPI has done in the music tech sector, and where it’s all going next in the UK’s recorded music industry.
We also dig into two of the biggest issues he’s faced: the recent UK parliamentary inquiry into the economics of music streaming, and the decision by the UK’s CMA - the Competition and Markets Authority - not to conduct a full market investigation into music streaming and the UK’s music industry.
This episode is the first in a new ongoing series, celebrating Music Ally’s upcoming 20th anniversary, which will feature interviews with people who have had a signifiant impact on the music industry during the last two decades.
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
🎉 You may be eligible for a FREE Music Ally subscription, worth £399/year, via our corporate and sponsored subscriptions. If you work for a DSP, a major label, an indie label, or if you’re an artist manager, an employee of a CMO or a publisher, check here to see if you’re eligible: musically.com/subscription-options
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicallybiz
Twitter: https://twitter.com/musically
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/musicallyfb

Aug 3, 2022 • 29min
Country music, underrepresentation, and discrimination – and how to change it
Music Ally Focus Ep. #72: We’re looking at Country music, and how, as a genre, there are a number of communities that are underrepresented in it. We talk to people who are trying to change this. CMT and the Nashville-based management services company mtheory announced its Equal Access Development Program, designed to provide access and training for underrepresented demographics in the country music industry.
We invited the two of the originators of the programme, Cameo Carlson, President of mtheory and Tiffany Provenzano, Director, Equal Access at mtheory to talk about how the programme works and why it is needed. And we are also happy to welcome two of the participants in the programme – the Country artist Miko Marks, and artist manager Kadeem Phillips – who talk about the inequality and discrimination they have experienced in Country music, and how they felt the Equal Access programme was making a difference.
Here's Miko's new song, One More Night: youtube.com/watch?v=FsAwial3Hyw
The Equal Access programme: https://mtheory.com/equal-access/
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👋 The Knowledge, Music Ally’s free weekly newsletter: musically.lnk.to/knowledgepo
Ⓜ️ Subscribe to Music Ally's industry-leading analysis, reporting and news: musically.com/subscribe
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