I look to bring you informative and resourceful posts every Thursday (hey, one day out of the week is better than none!) on a variety of topics from the music industry, technology, the law and everything in between. This week the focus is on music industry news resources that are important to know about if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest news and inside information. If you are looking to break into the business, already established within it, or just curious, then I highly recommend checking out and subscribing to the following resources.
Billboard Magazine (Print)
Subscriptions are cheap to the physical copy, especially around the holidays! I prefer the physical edition because I’m more likely to read something that comes to my desk in print. The charts are insightful and will keep you knowledgable on the hits side. However, knowing about the biggest acts, whether at the superstar level or still up and coming, is important if you want to seem remotely educated about the industry. The articles dive into the stories behind the success and are valuable takeaways. When you’re a subscriber to the magazine, you also get the Billboard Bulletin e-mails which contain a 4-6 page PDF of news updates acting as a daily supplement to the weekly print edition.
Get a subscription in physical and you can likely also get full access to the digital and website versions, too.
Billboard.biz, Billboard.com, & the Pop Shop Podcast
If you don’t want to splurge and subscribe to the print edition, then you should at least bookmark and check out Billboard.biz on a daily basis. Billboard.biz is a different beast than Billboard.com. I prefer the business side to the more fluffy work on the main site. However, both are powerful in gaining well-rounded insights in particular areas.
The Billboard newsletters are also an easy way to have daily updates delivered to your e-mail box. Check out the many topics they offer to choose from here.
If you listen to podcasts in the car or on the go, then I can’t recommend The Pop Shop Podcast enough! It’s a weekly program hosted by Associate Editor Jason Lipshutz and Associate Charts Director Keith Caulfield covering the latest album and track releases in pop music. The guys have some great banter back in forth on the music business decisions made by the teams surrounding the artists and often get some exclusive interviews. Check ’em out!
Digital Music News
Everyone knows DigitalMusicNews.com is extremely biased and heavy with click-bate links… but it’s still a necessity to have breaking news and other hot topics within the music industry delivered straight to your inbox each morning. Subscribe to the newsletter, called The Daily Snapshot, on the home page and read the headlines – that’s about all I do.
Bob Lefsetz’s ‘LefsetzLetter’
A music industry veteran sending out daily and weekly op-ed pieces on all the hot button topics in the music industry, technology, and more. Although I don’t read every e-mail, I still think it’s worth subscribing because it’s hard to find someone in the music field that doesn’t know the name Lefsetz and what he’s talking about. Subscribe to the newsletter here.
THR, Esq.
An affiliated company to Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter is another great resource for industry news. On the legal side, the best and almost always the first publication to break stories is THR, Esq., the legal insights blog run by Eriq Gardner and his team of writers. I’m sure TMZ claims more breaking news, but you can expect at least some editorial discretion from Gardner and co.
Mark Mulligan’s ‘Music Industry Blog’
If you’re looking for in-depth analysis into the business side of things, complete with charts, graphs and other data visuals, then Mark Milligan is a great person to follow. His blog aims to provide a look into the changing business the industry is facing as new technologies emerge. You can subscribe for email updates.
Have any additional recommendations? Share them in the comments!