Cash, Money, Records Forever Blog
Blog 8 – Lickd, A Revolution to Online Content Creation
The music licensing marketplace Lickd has secured £5.1 million in funding. Lickd was founded as the world’s leading service for accessing claims-free commercial music. The Nick Mason Group led the latest fundraising round, and strategic investments came from Warner Music Group and Epic Games, creator of the popular battle royale game Fortnite. In addition to investments, Lickd also gained access to some of the best talents in the entertainment world with this fundraising round. This investment round will allow Lickd to amplify its commercial song library and provide greater value to its content creators and enable the company to continue building its technology offering, international footprint, and customer base. Aa Paul Sampson, CEO of Lickd, puts it, “The ongoing support of the Nick Mason Group, combined with Epic and Warner coming on board, delivers a win-win for all – for Lickd as we continue to expand, for the creators who want commercial music to better monetize their content, for the artists who want to be paid fairly for their work and the broader ecosystem as we create new ways to grow.” The ability to let online video creators use licensed music without losing their ad venue to copyright claims is revolutionizing the possibilities for online creators.
London-based music licensing marketplace Lickd secures £5.1M funding
Blog 7 – Grace Davies’ Journey from the X Factor
In 2017, Grace Davies sang her original song at an X factor audition. The track, Roots, got her noticed by the judges, and she became one of the stars to make it to the final, where she placed as a runner-up. However, it wasn’t until four years later that the artist would release her song. The four-year journey Davies has taken is a prime example of the rollercoaster ride some new artists experience when they start in the music industry. After the X Factor, Davies was signed to Simon Cowell’s music label Syco, where she had a deal to release an album. However, they never actually said when it would come out, and Davies feels she was held back for many years. Her official single, Invisible, was released in January 2020, but coronavirus and the national lockdown delayed subsequent career plans. After releasing her first EP in June 2020, Syco effectively shut down, leaving her with an uncertain future. In the end of Davies moved back home with her parents. After a long three-year wait with trouble finding work, she knew she needed to go home for the sake of her mental health. At home, she set up a studio, and she states, “It’s only been up since then.” Finally, releasing her album is bittersweet because she “wrote it about leaving home, moving to London to do music full time and suddenly I’m back in my hometown.” However, Grace has no regrets about her experience, and all her frustration has made the result for her even better.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-58871889
Blog 6 – Drake YolanDa Award
The Drake YolanDa award is a music prize presented to emerging artists between 16 and 30. Yolanda Brown, an award-winning saxophonist and broadcaster, teamed up with James JP Drake, an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Their goal is to provide a platform for young artists to showcase their talents and assist those artists in taking their careers to the next level. The award launched in 2019 and is back in 2021 after a Covid hiatus. Ten promising artists receive an award of £3,000 each, with an additional ten runner-ups receiving £500 each. The winnings are intended to support the winners’ artistic development in touring, creative development, recording new music, music videos, marketing, branding, and equipment purchases. The award, launched in 2019, celebrates the rich and diverse nature of the UK music scene. Applicants from all genres are welcome to apply. However, the award is specifically for independent artists who need support and do not currently have backing from a record label or publisher. The winners will be presented their awards at a celebration concert in London attended by music professionals and media.
Dont miss out on Drake YolanDa award for emerging artists
Blog 5 – Covid Passes in a Post-Covid Industry
The New NHS Covid Passes are now compulsory for nightclubs in Wales. People must now show their NHS Covid Passes or demonstrate their vaccination status to enter nightclubs and attend large events in Wales. This means that all people over 18 year olds need this information to enter indoor non-seated events for more than 500 people, outdoor non-seated events for more than 4,000 people, and any event with more than 10,000 people in attendance. It is also an option to show a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours before the event. However, those who fake a coronavirus test result or vaccination status commit a criminal offense and face a fixed penalty notice. While cases remain high across Whales, the Covid Passes are just one of a series of measures in place to help prevent the spread of covid while keeping the economy open. Workplaces are now required by law to undertake Covid risk assessment and put reasonable measures in place to ensure the safety of the staff and patrons. Premises that do not follow these guidelines can be issued an improvement or closure notice, and a maximum fine of £10,000 can be issued. However, there is still much disagreement between the Welsh political parties on the best ways to go about regulating and enforcing Covid restrictions.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/covid-pass-nightclubs-wales-rules-b959756.html
Blog 4 – Tinie Tempah on Racism in the Industry
Tinie Tempah, the chart-topping rapper, says that the sector needs further improvement with racism in the music industry. Tempah feels black artists still face racism and even receive lower budgets from record companies than their white counterparts. There are many “nuances” black artists have to navigate, including their commercial power being undervalued. While the internet has made becoming an artist more accessible, many still face discrimination. While Tempah feels it may be easier to find success as a black artist than it was 10, 20, maybe 30 years ago, he still notes that the industry is far from equal. As Tempah puts it, “the world is still a racist place, and people are still racist.” Many of the issues Tempah faces are related to the “working class, black element of it all.” Tempah is set to present a new property program called Outrageous Extensions, allowing him to expand his brand beyond just the music industry and into television and film.
Blog 3 – Covid’s Impact on the Music Industry
The U.K. music industry was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. While 2019 was a robust and enjoyable year for the music industry, 2020 was a very different story. Up to 85% of live revenue was lost in 2020 and as of march, revenues were close to zero. These sobering statistics come in on the tails of the stellar 2019 numbers. In 2019 the U.K. music industry contributed £5.8 billion to the U.K. economy, an 11% increase from 2018’s £5.2 billion. While the losses from Covid were extreme, U.K. Music chief executive Jamie Njoku-Goodwin remains optimistic. He stated, “Music By Numbers 2020’ shows just how successful our industry was before the catastrophic blow of COVID-19 knocked it down, and how important it is that we get it back on its feet.”
Moreover, he noted with the proper support, he believes the industry can make a full recovery. The government stepped in and gave an unprecedented £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund to help the sector weather the impact of coronavirus. As a result, Njoku-Goodwin strongly believes that the industry can once more become a key part of the country’s post-covid-19 economy and culture.
Cash, Money, Records Forever – Blog Post 2
A new ticketing app, Dice, launched in 2014 by Phil Hutcheon, a music industry legend, has gained interest from SoftBank and Tony Fadell, former Apple and Nest executive. The app partners with thousands of different artists, festivals, and venues to offer upfront pricing, which counteracts reselling and price gouging on tickets. Dice has earned a total of $122 million in investments. This movement indicates that the music industry may recover from Covid and benefit and see noticeable “rethinking” due to the pandemic. At the same time, Dice has made a strong recovery in ticket sales this summer. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were forced to make lay-offs due to the live entertainment industry shut down. With such a large portion of artist’s income coming from touring and merchandise, the need for a new and more open market ticket app has become more and more necessary. Last year’s lockdown ended up helping Dice as it opened the door for many in the music industry to consider a new model. The company is now valued at around $400 million.
https://www.ft.com/content/356c73fd-ed5f-4c9e-b671-7e418cc38ddf
Cash, Money, Records Forever – Blog 1 Reid Dahill
The music industry is a complex and constantly evolving field where artists and record labels constantly battle for creative control and revenue. Record labels take on a large amount of risk when they sign with an artist. This leads to a significant upfront investment from the record label, giving the record label more control and…
Living Portraits
For this video I was tasked with taking video portraits of people and combining them over a poem and song. I took a variety of shots of my subjects doing different and interesting actions. I even used my dog! I then picked a poem about faces, which I thought was fitting, and recorded myself reading…
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