With this new gig, Lawson will report into Spotify’s global head of markets, Cecilia Qvist. Among her duties, Lawson will be expected to grow the A$24.9 million in revenue which Spotify Aus/NZ generated from ads on its “freemium” tier in 2018, up slightly from $24.3 million in 2017, according to the Australian Financial Review, based on documents lodged with the corporate regulator. A spokesperson declined to comment on the new appointment, which is said to take effect from June 24. In a world first, Spotify last year began testing its Active Media feature, which allowed millions of users of its free service in Australia to skip ads as a part targeted marketing initiative.I am thrilled to be joining Spotify as MD for Australia and New Zealand. It’s wonderful to be part of a business which is so loved by millions of people around the world.
— karen lawson (@karenlawson2025) May 23, 2019
Karen Lawson Joins Spotify as Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand
Karen Lawson is the new managing director of Spotify’s operations in Australia & New Zealand.
Based in Sydney, Lawson previously served as CEO of start-up accelerator Slingshot, a post she exited in July of last year.
Prior to that, she was chief of recruitment platform careerone.com.au and her CV includes eight years in various roles with Yahoo7, rising to GM of business developments and partnership in 2013.
Lawson is the third executive to lead Spotify in Australasia since the streaming service launched in these parts in 2012. Kate Vale, the founding managing director, left in June 2017 and was succeeded by Jane Huxley, the former head and founder of Pandora’s now-shuttered Australian affiliate.
Huxley left in February for a new role as Spotify’s managing director for EMEA (Europe / Middle East / Africa), based in London.
“I am thrilled to be joining Spotify as MD for Australia and New Zealand. It’s wonderful to be part of a business which is so loved by millions of people around the world,” Lawson tweeted.
The Ticketing of Tomorrow: How the Marketplace is Changing
The past year has demonstrated that the live event industry is as vital and popular as ever. According to Billboard, Ed Sheeran’s 2018 Divide Tour grossed more than $429 million, breaking an all-time record for the highest-grossing solo tour and highest year-end gross ever. His North American promoter, Louis Messina, was also responsible for big touring numbers for Taylor Swift, Kenny Chensey, Blake Shelton, Eric Church, George Strait and Shawn Mendes, among others, that totaled $670 million across 268 shows and 5.2 million tickets.
With such large metrics, the concert industry has shown that consumers are still hungry to spend money on live event experiences. Findings from a recent Nielsen report also support this sentiment: 52% of Americans attend some form of live music event each year. While live event attendees spend an average of $247 per year on tickets—in addition to spending on merchandise, music, and alcohol—the reality is that it likely means two events a year as primary ticket prices have soared.
What all these numbers reflect is the push and pull of primary and secondary markets on pricing, with fans’ access to tickets teetering in the middle. The potential solutions to these issues aren’t black or white, but grey.
Stephen Glicken
from Project Admission
Take Swift’s global Reputation stadium tour. She grossed $315 million dollars on a tour that, for the first time, attempted a “slow ticketing” onsale which saw dynamically priced tickets rolled out at sticker-shock prices. Though it was Swift’s most financially rewarding tour to date, thanks to the aggressive pricing that stymied secondary sales, some dates had thousands of unsold tickets. That’s a less-than-ideal experience for an artist and their fans when the expectation is a sold-out show. The balance of revenue versus volume is off kilter.
Then look at Garth Brooks’ approach to combating the secondary while keeping ticket prices affordable: readily acknowledge that you’ll keep adding shows in any given market to meet demand. What this translated into was a three-year tour in the U.S. where Brooks performed 390 shows, sometimes two in a day, to sell more than 6.5 million tickets at an average price of around $60. Doing this on an arena-level scale was unheard of but it was highly effective in nullifying the secondary market and making sure his fans got tickets at the price he wanted to charge.
Clearly, Swift and Brooks are outliers when it comes to pricing and ticket distribution. So how does the rest of the industry balance demand and pricing in 2019?
The answer is both technical and philosophical.
Despite advancements in ticketing over the last several decades, it is only now that solutions exist to solve for some of its most difficult problems.
Specifically, for years, ticketing platforms have issued tickets as PDFs—easily duplicated, non-trackable files. As physical commodities, they are significantly more susceptible to fraud than traditional tickets as a broker can resell the same ticket multiple times and only the first one scanned at the venue is admitted. Moreover, the understanding of the customer begins and ends with the initial purchase as there’s no way to tie their identity to the ticket.
Intertwined with this reality is that fact that primary ticketing companies are economically incentivized to keep tickets within their own ecosystem not only to capture resale revenue but to get a more comprehensive understanding of end-users who actually attend the event.
The industry is increasingly moving toward identity-based tickets that act as a license to enter an event. Similar to airline tickets, these tickets are not just a barcode that anyone could duplicate and resell at will but rather come with flexible rules and restrictions that determine how, where and for what price they can be resold or transferred. This protects the ticket and enables content owners to know exactly who uses the ticket. This powerful data can be leveraged for better marketing, more relevant sponsorships, and increased safety and security within the venue.
This new ability to effectively track and control the journey of a ticket from sale to redemption, regardless of how many times it’s resold or transferred, gives artists the ability to manage their tickets in ways that allow them to anchor themselves at the axis between fans and ticket pricing.
Primary and secondary markets for live events have been around for a long time—even Charles Dickens’ live readings faced outrage over “ticket speculators.” Online ticketing, developed in the 1990s, has effectively catalyzed the merging of the two.
For years, a vast amount of consumers have checked secondary sites such as StubHub and SeatGeek for ticket availability before ever visiting primary ticketing websites. Secondary sites such as these have succeeded due to their effective marketing, ease of use and readily available inventory.
The excessive stigmatization of the secondary market misses the reality that a vast amount of tickets go unsold—about 40 percent in total. Without the secondary market, which is often selling tickets at below face value, that number would soar even higher. To date, a large part of secondary markets’ success has been due to the fact that they can adjust ticket prices in any direction at any time.
Unrestricted in where and how tickets can be sold, secondary companies have become massive distribution hubs, drawing eyeballs from smaller secondary websites as well as media and other ecommerce companies looking to offer their visitors access to tickets.
At the behest of artists, promoters and venues, this has, in turn, forced primary ticketing companies to become more amenable as to where and how tickets are sold outside of their websites whether that’s API development or allowing tickets to be sold off-platform.
With the development of better technology, any and all distribution channels can be used to sell those tickets and all involved can know who’s purchasing them and ultimately using them.
The practical shift in how to effectively sell more tickets has led to a broader philosophical one. It’s not about the primary market versus the secondary market anymore—it’s simply about the market.
To learn more about Stephen or follow him on social:
Twitter: @PAExchangeHQ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-glicken
Crimson Apple Drops New Hit Single & Official Video “Somebody” – Watch
Crimson Apple have released their new hit single and official video “Somebody” and it has caught the attention of Music Industry Weekly. It was co-written and produced with the esteemed Japanese producer, Satoru Hiraide. The track can be purchased here. It will also be featured on Crimson Apple’s upcoming EP to be released later this year! For more information on this sister group, visit their website: https://crimsonappleband.com/.
Stream the song on Spotify and watch the official video below:
Hailing from Hawaii, Crimson Apple is Colby Benson (lead vocals/keyboards), Shelby Benson (guitar/vocals), Carthi Benson (bass/vocals) and Faith Benson (drums). Since the band’s inception in 2012, the four sisters have shared stages with such venerated artists as All Time Low, Plain White T’s, One Republic, Switchfoot, and Hawaiian music legends, HAPA. The group’s 2015 self-released debut album, Hello, garnered commercial success in Hawaii and across the internet, earning spins on iHeartMedia and Star 101.9, as well as nominations for Alternative Album of the Year, Most Promising Artist of the Year, and Group of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards–Hawaii’s equivalent of the Grammy Awards.
Since relocating to Los Angeles, Crimson Apple have performed in numerous venues across America, signed a management and recording deal with Amuse Group (Perfume, BABYMETAL, ONE OK ROCK) and landed spots on the High School Nation Tour. For their upcoming EP, the Benson sisters are collaborating with producers from the US, Japan and UK. Prior to “Somebody,” Crimson Apple released their single “Can’t Get Out of Bed,” which was written in collaboration with female writer/production team LYRE (Alina Smith & Elli Moore) and praised by Refinery 29, who noted, “The four sisters [of Crimson Apple] are seemingly inseparable, and their vision for the band is strikingly clear.” With undeniable chemistry on and off stage, and a musical bond only sisters could share, Crimson Apple seem to have all the makings to be pop music’s next big thing.
Visit Crimson Apple:
https://www.facebook.com/crimsonappleband
https://www.instagram.com/crimsonapple/
http://www.crimsonappleband.com https://www.facebook.com/crimsonappleband Tweets by CrimsonAppleXO https://www.instagram.com/crimsonapple/ https://www.youtube.com/user/CrimsonAppleBand
Martin Jensen’s Recent Music Video ‘Nobody’ Is On The Rise: Watch Now
Multi-platinum selling DJ and producer Martin Jensen and global superstar James Arthur have released the official video to summer anthem, ‘Nobody’.
The video follows a young man’s night out with friends in a pub where both Martin Jensen and James Arthur are working behind the bar. After sharing a moment with a woman across the room, the man moves to meet her only to be found caught in a time loop, repeating the same night over and over. Eventually, after breaking a series of bad decisions, the time loop is broken with the protagonist leaving the bar arm-in-arm with the mystery woman.
Watch official video below:
Danish producer Martin Jensen is best known for his 2016 breakthrough hit ‘Solo Dance’ (over 500 million Spotify streams), which earned multi-platinum certification in over 14 countries. Since then, the producer’s range of pop-focused singles have seen the him rack up collaborations with acts like The Vamps and amass over one billion Spotify streams in his career to date.
Securing a spot in DJ Mag’s ‘Top 100’ list for the past three consecutive years, Martin has performed across various stages including Tomorrowland and Lollapalooza, as well as London’s iconic Ministry of Sound club for his sold-out headline performance in February.
No stranger to dance music collaborations, James Arthur previously teamed up with US superstar Marshmello on his 2018 hit ‘You Can Cry’. Selling over 25 million records globally, James also recently became one of only 10 artists to have ever achieved over one billion Spotify streams on a single record – joining an elite club which includes Drake and Justin Bieber – thanks to his No.1 global hit ‘Say You Won’t Let Go’.
A stunning fusion between the vibrant melodic style of Martin Jensen, and powerful vocal delivery of James Arthur, ‘Nobody’ looks sure to secure a spot as one of 2019’s biggest hits.
For more information on Martin Jensen, please visit:
Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud | Instagram
Ways For Musicians To Utilize Their EPK
An electronic press kit is a traditional promo package for the artist or band. It is in digital form, and you can find it on any music artist’s website. It is basically an online resume full of everything you need to know about the musician(s), and it is essential to making a strong first impression for any music industry professional you may be showing.
You can easily utilize your EPK to help you get more press and overall more work. When a blogger, journalist or publisher sees that you have an EPK handy, they will automatically pay more attention to you. Why? Because having your current bio, your latest music, career highlights, social media pages, and complete contact info just a click away, it makes their jobs so much easier. They don’t have to go digging for all of that info. EPK’s are just easier and more efficient all around.
This goes for radio stations and booking gigs as well. Having an EPK will significantly increase your chances of getting your music played and getting booked. Music venues, festivals, showcases, private or corporate gigs all love to see your EPK because it’s good way to pick and choose who they want in their lineup. It all comes down to professionalism and conveying an accurate, organized, and enticing snapshot of who you are as an artist.
Even if there’s not a ton of buzz about your music just yet and you’re still in the early stages of your career, it’s important to start building now so that you will be prepared when that opportunity arises! Any manager, booking agent, record label executive, publicist etc. would be very impressed to see a well put together EPK on your website.
Keller Williams Releases New Track “The Big One” & New LP ‘Add’
Keller Williams has announced a new album called Add. It will be released this summer May 31, 2019. He has also released a new single called “The Big One.”
Check it out below:
Keller Williams 2019 Tour Dates & Tickets
05/16 Rams Head on Stage | Annapolis, MD | Keller Solo 05/17 River City Bluegrass Festival | Chesterfield, MO | Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass 05/18 Bluegrass in the Bottoms | Kansas City, MO | Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass 05/24 Summer Camp Music Festival | Chillicothe, IL | Keller Williams’ PettyGrass ft. The HillBenders and Keller Solo 05/25 DelFest | Cumberland, MD | Keller Williams’ PettyGrass ft. The HillBenders 05/26 Revival Music Festival | Harmony Park, Ellendale, MN | Keller Solo 05/30-31 Garcia’s | Port Chester, NY | Keller Solo 06/01 Ardmore Music Hall | Ardmore, PA | “Gravy All-Stars” Keller Williams, Bill Nershi, Amy Helm, JP Biondo, Pappy Biondo 06/02 Backwoods Festival at Mulberry Mountain | Ozark, AR | Keller Solo 06/07 McCoy Studio Theater | Kahului, Maui | Keller Solo 06/08 Porter Pavilion | Kilauea, Kauai | Keller Solo 06/09 Blue Note Hawaii | Honolulu, O’ahu | Keller Solo 06/21-23 Keller in the Cavern | Pelham, TN | Keller Williams’ PettyGrass ft. The HillBenders, More Than A Little, Grateful Gospel 06/28 Terrapin Crossroads | San Rafael, CA | Keller Solo 06/29 Epic Rides Pro Mtn. Bike Series | Carson City, NV | Keller Williams’ PettyGrass ft. The HillBenders 07/12 Paradise Music Festival | Covington, KY | Keller Solo 07/13 Civic Music Hall | Toledo, OH | Keller Solo 07/20 Red Rocks Amphitheatre | Morrison, CO | Keller Williams performing Breathe with The String Cheese Incident 07/21 Blues Brews & BBQ at Snow Basin Resort | Huntsville, UT | Keller Solo [FREE] 07/24-28 Floyd Fest | Floyd, VA | Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass ft. Love Canon and Keller Solo 08/01 The Triple Door | Seattle, WA | Keller Solo 08/02 Salmonfest | Ninilchik, AK | Keller Solo 08/10-11 Tap Shack | Duck, NC | Keller Solo 08/16 1st Annual Sol Dance | Kimberly WI | Keller Solo 08/17 Hoxeyville Music Festival | Wellston, MI | Keller & The Keels 08/25 Lockn’ | Arrington, VA | Grateful Gospel 8/30 – 31 Charleston Pour House, Charleston, SC | Keller Solo 09/13 Sounds of Summer | Charlotte, NC | Keller & The Keels 09/14 Lime Kiln | Lexington, VA | Keller & The Keels 09/19 Resonance Music & Arts Festival | Slippery Rock, PA | Keller Solo + TBA 09/22 Borderland Festival | Knox Farm State Park, NY | Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass ft. Oteil Burbridge & The Infamous Stringdusters 09/26 Waterville Opera House | Waterville, ME | Keller Solo 09/27 Stone Mountain Arts Center | Brownfield, ME | Keller Solo 09/28 Tupelo Music Hall | Derry, NH | Keller Solo 10/11 Hillberry Music Festival | Eureka Springs, AR | Keller & The Keels 11/07 Edmonds Center for the Arts | Edmonds, WA | Keller Williams’ PettyGass ft. The HillBenders 11/08 Admiral Theatre | Bremerton, WA | Keller Williams’ PettyGass ft. The HillBenders 11/09 Wonder Ballroom | Portland, OR | Keller Williams’ PettyGass ft. The HillBendersTips To Creating A Great Homepage For Your Band Website
If you want to make a great first impression, you must create a solid Homepage for your site. You will want to pull the main content from your other pages onto your homepage to give yourself a quick introduction; music, photos, bio, etc.
You will want to find the perfect header image for your Homepage. Be sure to choose something that will represent your band and your style of music well.
Which brings us to another important tip, add your best music to your Homepage. Pick your best songs, and make them easily accessible. You can do this by placing a music player in your page’s content, or add a video of a recent song to stream on your Homepage. The easier it is to access your music on-site, the more plays it will get. So highlight your best track or two on your Homepage, and save your other songs for your Music page.
As soon as someone clicks on your website, it should be clear to them who you are and what you do. The Bio is key to portraying this, so add a few sentences that briefly describes your genre of music, and what it sounds like. Imagine a blogger or venue owner is coming to your website to grab a short paragraph of text about you. Write out something short, intriguing, and to the point.
Another helpful tip is using the call-to-action method. By doing this, you can place your latest track, event, album, etc. front and center of your Homepage, so you’re not only giving your viewers something to look at and listen to, but also to buy!
A mailing list is key for not only building your fanbase, but keeping your fans as well. This is how you stay in contact with them and to keep them up to date on the latest and greatest. You must embed a sign-up form as your call-to-action, or add it into your content. You can also throw in something free like music or merch to entice people to sign up!
Don’t forget to add your social media icons! With so many social media sites out there, it’s hard to choose which ones to have on your Homepage. Here’s the standard: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SoundCloud. It’s important to show your viewers that you are active on the socials. Having these direct links on your Homepage will be helpful to keep them up to date on what you are up to musically and personally.
Now that your content is in place, make sure that everything is nice and organized. Remember that most website visitors will spend only a few seconds glancing over your Homepage before deciding where to click next. You’ll want to do a few things to be sure that your Homepage is easy to navigate! Make sure your layout is in columns, sections, and/or blocks. It’s important that everything is spaced out evenly. Make sure your titles, fonts, colors/images are all in order and easy to read. Keep it simple, sharp and organized for the viewer.
If you follow these simple and easy tips, you will be well on your way to creating an awesome website for your band!
Tycho Shares New Track “Easy” & Teases New LP
Tycho is finishing up his new LP and follow up to the album, Epoch. The first track from that new collection is called “Easy” which has been released.
Read Scott Hansen’s thoughts below:
“My journey as an artist has been defined by an iterative cycle with each album building on and refining an overarching vision,” continues Hansen. “‘Easy’ is about coming to terms with my past and defining a clear vision moving forward. It’s a comforting voice that reminds you not to get so lost in the work, but to take it easy and enjoy the ride. ‘Easy’ is the bridge to the future.”The upcoming LP will be their first release with Mom + Pop Music and Ninja Tune.
“Past is Prologue,” Hansen says. “DIVE, AWAKE, and EPOCH were all released by Ghostly International, the label I have been with since 2006. The past 13 years have seen Tycho evolve from the part-time solo project of a graphic designer into a band that achieved things far beyond any of our wildest expectations. The people at Ghostly have been there every step of the way to support my vision and for that I am forever grateful. I couldn’t be more excited to share that Tycho has signed with Mom + Pop and Ninja Tune as label partners for the next album release. While it is bittersweet to see such a meaningful chapter in this story end, it is just the beginning of another.”Listen to the track below:
Geddy Lee Joins Claypool Lennon Delirium For The Beatles Classic “Tomorrow Never Knows”
The Claypool Lennon Delirium kicked off their tour this week at Danforth Music Hall in Toronto, Ontario. They welcomed Rush bassist Geddy Lee to the stage to play along with the band.
Someone got footage of the jam. Check it out below.
Les Claypool shared a heartfelt note on his social channels about how this moment was a bit of a “pinnacle moment” for him. In all of the years that Primus honored Rush, like teasing “YYZ” on their recordings and playing Rush songs live, it’s incredible to see that L
Last night was a pinnacle moment for this Ol’ Colonel’s career. My dear friend and childhood superhero #GeddyLee decided to join The Delirium onstage in Toronto for our rendition of Sean’s Dad’s, “Tomorrow Never Knows”. As Geddy slinked out of the shadows with my Pachyderm bass in his mighty grips, the crowd slowly swelled to a frenzy of recognition. The energy and excitement was so palatable that it brought a joyful tear to my eye. Like Joe DiMaggio stepping back up to the plate, Geddy proceeded to show us all why he is one of the greatest to ever wield a four string piece of furniture. It was pure magic and I imagine I’ll feel the tingle on the back of my neck for some time. Alas, our recording equipment went on the fritz so it will only live in our minds…and on the handful of cellphones that were fortunate enough to capture the glory. Good times. – Les Claypool
Music Industry Weekly Featured Artist: Rising Star Linards Zarins
Linards Zarins is a Latvian-born, Spanish-based singer and songwriter whose mix of pop and R&B vocals has led him to grow a sizable and engaged fanbase.
He has capitalized off his success through a slew of widely acclaimed covers of international superstars such as Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande, Mabel, Justin Bieber, and more. As he began to organically grow his following on Instagram, his online presence gained the attention of producers, other artists, and A&R executives who wanted to work with him, feature him on their tracks/songs, collaborate with him as a singer, etc. Linards said that it wasn’t something that he was searching for at the time, but then decided to write and release his own music. Now he is on the list of emerging artists to look out for!
Check out one of Linards’ recent posts on his social media platform covering The Chainsmokers, “This Feeling” that accumulated over 6 million views and counting:
Linards consistently uploads videos and content to Instagram, interacting with his fans, and collaborating with artists around the world which led to a massive spike interest in his music on a global scale, gaining 150k in one month alone.
He is currently working with Danish Platinum selling-producer and songwriter Daniel Calvin for his upcoming music whom Linards credits as a huge influence to his musical taste. After years of carving his own musical style, Linards is preparing to release his debut single to the world, ‘Good Thing’, which underlies the growth and maturation that Linards has gone through over recent years. His distinct sound eclectically samples elements of urban, pop, latin, electric, and dance music that carve a chill yet upbeat atmosphere for listeners.
In Linards Zarins’ debut single ‘Good Thing’, the rising singer lays his heart on the table and reflects on the array of emotions that were felt in his past relationships. As with all intimate connections, there are moments of pure happiness and bliss, times of soul-crushing stress and sadness, and all of the passion, pride, and excitement in between. He encouraged his fans by sharing this underlying message, “Despite all the emotional turmoil that comes in relationships, we need to keep going no matter how down we feel because with every low comes a high in the future, that is just how the universe works.” Ultimately, what Zarins shares in ‘Good Thing’ is how the painful lessons learned from past relationships prepares us for the beauty that will blossom from those awaiting us in the near future.
Listen to his new hit single below:
Visit Linards on Social Media: Youtube Twitter Instagram Facebook