Musonomics

In this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller looks at the lack of information transparency in the music industry. Why do artists still get indecipherable paper reports from labels and music services in the digital age, and how do we know those reports are accurate? Why is it so hard to get easy answers to simple questions about royalty rates and royalty payments? Grammy Award-winning composer and big band leader Maria Schneider shares how the lack of transparency drove her to take her music off the internet and Jeff Price of Audiam and Revelator's Bruno Guez outline the byzantine complexity of the music industry's royalty payment systems.

Bonnaroo and EDM are the focus of the second half of our two-part series on the state of the summer music festival. In this episode, Larry Miller talks with Jonathan Mayers of Superfly Productions and Jonathan Azu of Red Light Management about the inception and astounding growth of Bonnaroo. Billboard's Ray Waddell gives us some analysis on opportunities for growth in the saturated festival space, and EDM expert Robby Towns tells us what sets EDM festivals apart.

In part one of our two-part series on the business evolution of summer music festivals, Larry Miller interviews George Wein, founder of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals. On the 50th anniversary of when Bob Dylan "went electric" and the 60th anniversary of Miles Davis' debut, 90-year old impresario George Wein shares vivid memories and important insights on the people, musical moments and the business influence of his summer music festivals.

In preparation and celebration of the launch of Apple Music, we take a look back at Apple's prosperous relationship with music from the first iPod ad through to last month's WWDC keynote and launch announcement. We've got a ton of great guests. Josh Friedlander of the RIAA chats with us about the emergence of the streaming industry, and artist manager Emily White gives us insight into Apple's relationship with artists. Dick Huey of the Toolshed marketing agency sheds light on what stats to watch, and David Pakman, a partner at Venrock, sits down for a chat about what success will look like for Apple Music.

What even is a mixtape anymore? To figure it out, we take a look back at how the mixtape was born and what it has evolved into. Then, Alyse Howard of The Urban Coin brings us a special report about Nipsey Hussle, the Wu-Tang Clan and artificial scarcity. And Billboard Senior Editor Gail Mitchell, chats with Larry Miller about what it means to make and distribute a mixtape in the current hip-hop landscape and the mixtape's economic role in the music industry.

In our second episode we take a look at Tidal, Jay-Z's newest headline grabber, and the state of the industry segment that Tidal is trying to conquer. Tom Silverman of Tommy Boy talks about how we'll get to a $100 billion music business. Larry Rosin of Edison Research explains how music streaming consumption is actually evolving. And we learn about the music licensing value gap with YouTube from Alex Jacobs of the IFPI.

This week we will take a close look at the vinyl resurgence and music's newest quasi-holiday, Record Store Day, which falls this year on Saturday, April 18. You'll hear from James Donio of the Music Business Association about how the vinyl resurgence came about. Michael Kurtz, the founder of Record Store Day, will talk with us about how Record Store Day got started, how it affects the vinyl pressing industry, and how Record Store Day became an international phenomenon. Finally, you will hear from entertainment industry analyst Russ Crupnick of MusicWatch about the future of vinyl, its role in the music ecosystem and the willingness of consumers to pay for music.