Blog: TuneCore

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

‘What’ it means to be a creator is changing dramatically. Why isn’t the ‘who’?

Tatiana Cirisano

9 Nov 2023

TuneCore

Believe

women in music

The year is 2023: Singers are turning their voices into playable instruments, bands are performing as holograms, entirely virtual artists are hitting the market, and one can spin up a finished song with 20 minutes and an iPhone.

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Why the creator tools and services market is bigger than you think (and it is not AI)

Tatiana Cirisano

10 May 2023

Music creators

creator tools

Creator economy

One of the biggest stories of the past few years is the rise of self-releasing artists, who number 6.4 million in 2022, a 16.8% growth from 2021. Everyone wants a piece of that growth, which is part of the reason why distributors like Stem and TuneCore increasingly offer much more than distribution, major record labels are opening (or acquiring) their own label service operations, and there is a growing roster of what Music Business Worldwide has termed “inside-out majors” , like the recently-launched Gamma.

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The music industry (still) has a culture problem

Hanna Kahlert

10 Feb 2022

Media and Marketing

women in music

be the change

2022 is set to be a year of great change (and consolidation of change) in entertainment and beyond . However, some things, it seems, have stayed the same. Last month, Rolling Stone reported that nine out of the 10 highest-paid musicians in 2021 were men.

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Music is no longer about consumption, but participation (and women are leading the charge)

Hanna Kahlert

27 Jul 2021

women in music

creator tools

Music

The mainstream shift to digital-first life in the last year and a half has affected video content production, games sales, and social media habits. It has also (notably) exacerbated the music industry shift to independent artists and music streaming revenue woes – both of which are now raising existential questions as to the future culture of music.

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Women making music

Hanna Kahlert

28 Jan 2021

Music

Women

diversity

Even taking into account the impact of the pandemic, it has never been a better time for independent creators in the music business. The various 2020 lockdowns may have prevented artists from earning vital touring income and disrupted release and promotion cycles, but for many it also pushed new creativity, with nearly 70% of independent artists choosing to use the time to write or make new music.

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PledgeMusic and Not-So-Glorious Failure

Mark Mulligan

10 May 2019

Artists direct

Bandcamp

blackberry

Pioneering fan funding platform PledgeMusic is now officially over, having entered administration (i.e. Chapter 11) in the UK reportedly owing its artists around $1 million and with little expectation of any asset sale generating enough cash to clear those debts.

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How Soundcloud Could Transform Deezer’s Market Narrative

Mark Mulligan

4 Jul 2017

Access Industries

Apple Music

Artist discovery

News has emerged of Deezer being a potential buyer of troubled Soundcloud. This follows on from Spotify’s prolonged but ultimately abortive courting last year . Soundcloud was once a streaming powerhouse, with 175 million Monthly Active Users reported in October 2014.

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