Media

On this International Women’s Day, I’d like to celebrate the achievement of the most inspiring woman I know.  The first time I saw Annabel Lee perform was at an intimate songwriter night in Los Angeles. The room was in disbelief...

Shirley Halperin is an Executive Editor at Variety, where she spearheads music coverage for the print magazine and Variety.com.

Do you want to know who the most powerful gatekeeper in the music industry is right now?  No, it’s not a Spotify playlist editor. It’s not a major label A&R. It’s not even a person. It’s the TikTok algorithm.  TikTok is currently the most powerful free promotional tool that musicians have at their disposal.

A decade ago it was nearly impossible for independent musicians and artist managers to find free resources to help them navigate the music business and develop a healthy music career. Now, the internet is flooded with self-proclaimed “gurus,” talking heads, marketers, former managers, musicians and everyone else who knows how to post a blog or distribute a podcast. The modern music industry is anything but a straight line. It can be challenging to weed through all the nonsense to get through to the Gold.

The truth is: there are so many black innovators in the music industry. Black music has influenced trends, fashion, sound, culture and the list continues. Here are 18 influential black artists that dominate the music industry through their voice,...

I have a new album coming out April 9th. No, I'm not about to pimp another album NFT (more on this in a bit). This is only for reference to say I'm A) a working musician and B) I...

If you’ve ever played on a recording as a hired gun, you are entitled to more than just the check you got for the session. You are guaranteed (up to) 5% of all the performance royalties that recording ever makes....

Because of my digital distribution comparison piece, I act as de facto customer service rep for all 16 companies I reviewed (yay me).I lovingly try to let these artists and managers know that each company has their own customer service department at their disposal. But if they do...

The headlines this past week read something like: LA Band Faked Social Media Numbers to Book a European Tour That No One Attended. Nearly every music outlet in existence has written about this incredibly peculiar saga. MetalSucks, in particular, has devoted wall to wall coverage...

For the past few years the industry has been obsessed with Spotify. And rightfully so. It has proven to be one of the most powerful tools at, wait for it, making money in the digital age. I know I know, this is totally counter-intuitive based on all the headlines you’ve read si...