IC Digest: This Song Plants Trees (at Artists' Expense) Edition
Plus, lending Topshelf Records a hand, *officially* announcing our Bandcamp integration, upcoming industry events + more
Hey there,
Notice anything different? We've moved this newsletter + blog to Substack, and we couldn't be happier about it. There's something magical about using a purpose-built tool that does exactly what you need, which is literally why we build IC the way that we do. Do one thing well, and you'll be fine (he says, fingers crossed).
— Hunter, IC co-founder & recent Reeperbahn attendee 😅
🌳 This Song Plants Trees (at Artists’ Expense)
Do you know how Spotify and other streaming services actually calculate that infamous monthly royalty rate? Seems most folks don't! If they did, they might have thought twice about sharing "This Song Plants Trees," a well-meaning bit of viral media which nevertheless pits trees vs. artists. Read all about it below and give it a like/share/comment if you fancy.
Quick Hits
Ireland’s experimenting with paying musicians a UBI, sláinte
Hipgnosis hits a wall but Blackstone’s gonna profit either way, sigh
MIDiA’s got a new “entertainment manifesto” we’d all be foolish to ignore
Concord explains how and why they turned down $5b
📢 FRIENDS IN NEED
The good folks at Topshelf Records are in a perilous situation after the mail order fulfillment company they partnered with went bankrupt, owing them tens of thousands of dollars in revenue and forcing them to relocate 17 years of inventory with no advance notice. They could be forced to shut down without urgent help, and have launched a Kickstarter campaign, which we absolutely encourage you to contribute to if you have the means.
🚀 PRODUCT UPDATES
We soft-announced this before, but let’s make it official…
📆 IC EVENTS
🖥 On Oct 20th at 2pm ET we’ll be hosting a webinar called “Royalty Accounting for Everyone!” with our friends from Music Biz. Find out more and register for the free event here.
📆 UPCOMING INDUSTRY EVENTS
Oct 4th - 7th ‣ Ireland Music Week (Dublin, Ireland)
Oct 11th - 14th ‣ Mondo.NYC (NY, USA)
Oct 12th - 14th ‣ MaMa Convention (Paris, France)
Oct 13th ‣ Ditto X: Meet The Music Industry (London, UK)
Oct 19th - 23rd ‣ Amsterdam Dance Event (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)
Oct 19th - 23rd ‣ WOMEX ( Lisbon, Portugal)
Oct 25th - 27th - Redeye Label Hang (NC, USA)*
*we’ll be there!
🧐 WHAT YOU'RE UP TO
🎧 Catapult Recordings’ Cooper Anderson did an interview on the Other Record Labels podcast about starting a label when he was 14 years old!
🎤 Applications opened for the annual nonclassical Battle of the Bands competition, “championing the unusual, unorthodox and unheard”. Want the chance to perform at their annual showcase event in front of a friendly crowd and panel of industry experts? Apply here!
🎧 I N N I released Sounds of Fischer Vol. 1, ft Jónsi, Sin Fang, Kjartan Holm & Alex Somers
🎧 Hand in Hive released Wyldest's second album Feed the Flowers Nightmares
🎧 Father/Daughter released the new S. Raekwon EP, including a limited edition cassette
🎧 Double Double Whammy announced they'll be releasing Babehoven's first full length LP, Light Moving Time, on October 28th, and dropped its lead single, I'm On Your Team
🎧 Songwriter Paisley Fields, pianist for queer country pioneers Lavender Country, released his new album Limp Wrist on Don Giovanni
🗓️ After a hiatus Bandcamp started Bancamp Fridays back up, with the next event taking place October 7th
Elene: Cate Le Bon - Pompeii
Ari: Lô Borges - O Vento Não Me Levou
Hunter: Little Simz - Sometimes I Might Be Introvert
Christopher: Rema - Calm Down
Austin: Vic Bang - Burung
Adam: Rachika Nayar - Heaven Come Crashing
Till next time, Adam, Hunter & the IC Crew