Follow Friday | Billboard Senior Editorial Analyst Glenn Peoples
By Andy Kahn Apr 3, 2015 • 3:15 pm PDT
One of the best sources for key analysis and evaluation of the music industry is the Twitter account of Billboard Magazine Senior Editorial Analyst Glenn Peoples @billboardglenn. Based out of Nashville, Peoples uses his feed to feed his followers not just articles from the storied magazine but well-informed opinions on a variety of issues facing music makers today.
One example in particular of what makes @billboardglenn a smart follow occurred earlier this week when in a series of Tweets he explained his takeaway from JAY Z’s newly launch hi-fi streaming service TIDAL.
Some thoughts on Tidal….
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 1. Tidal will be the *streaming* home of the shareholder artists. But fans can presumably still buy downloads and CDs elsewhere.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 2. I seriously doubt “fairness” will be an effective marketing message. Consumers don’t get involved in industry power struggles.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 3. If consumers really cared about fairness, they would have revolted against the major label system a long time ago.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 4. Jay Z says Tidal wants to be transparent. The ability to see the location of individual streams would be a step forward.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 5. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tidal puts exclusives, and possibly new releases, in a high-priced tier. Expect this strategy elsewhere too
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 6. Technology companies live and die by the quality of products, and that means they need to attract the best talent. Can Tidal do this?
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 7. The achievement of a higher per-stream royalty could be a Pyrrhic victory. What good is a higher royalty if you can’t get subscribers?
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 8. What will consumers think of a plea for justice from wealthy, successful musicians? Reaction not too favorable thus far, right?
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 9. If nothing else, Tidal represents artists taking control over their digital future. I’d wager this will have ripples thru industry.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 10. Interesting dynamic now exists: Jay Z vs. Iovine. Tidal vs. Apple. Transparency vs. opacity. Scrappy upstart vs. proven juggernaut.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 11. Ironic that Tidal gives equity to artists after many artists complained about labels taking equity in companies like Spotify.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 12. Unlike most big Spotify news, Tidal relaunch didn’t seem to dent Pandora’s share price. $P 1.1% decline in line with market trends.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 @keskowitz agreed. any sub service without great social features, and a strong social nature, will have difficulties, IMO.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 @mlasz I’ve seen the numbers. A high per-stream royalty is not an indicator of popularity. An inverse relationship, in fact.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 31, 2015 USA Today article is a good example of the lazy, misleading reporting on Taylor Swift and Tidal so common yesterday. http://t.co/Yc3qEtbWGH
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 25, 2015 Peoples was also at SXSW last month contributing to the Indie Revenue Streams Breaking Through: Real Data panel. He shared some thoughts while in and around Austin as well.
Inside the YouTube house at SXSW. The YouTube For Artists installation. pic.twitter.com/a3Hy1N0xJO
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 18, 2015 @AppMeerkat is like an Academy Award-winning movie. Everybody’s talking about it. Hardly anybody’s actually seen it. #SXSW
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 19, 2015 Puns, and good food, abound in Austin. #SXSW pic.twitter.com/hY8s0DD5Qq
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 19, 2015 Best show I saw at @SXSW was Songhoy Blues, from Mali. Signed to @AtlanticRecords in the U.S. http://t.co/g7xeamzsll via @billboard
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 23, 2015 @Mark_Mulligan that means new subs from spotify’s 99-cent sale at the end of the year are underrepresented in that 7.7mil number.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 24, 2015 @billboardglenn right, but Daniel Ek went on record to state that that was only a small part of the end ’14 growth surge
— Mark_Mulligan (@Mark_Mulligan) March 24, 2015 @Mark_Mulligan but you believe the 99-cent sale had a big impact, right? https://t.co/cBySe6UaDh
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 24, 2015 @billboardglenn I do yes, but Daniel called me out on Twitter that it wasn’t the main driver of growth
— Mark_Mulligan (@Mark_Mulligan) March 24, 2015 @Mark_Mulligan i missed that
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 24, 2015 Peoples also had plenty to say (and tweet) about the recent court decision that found Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke liable for copyright infringement in a lawsuit brought by Marvin Gaye’s family.
Much Blurred Lines analysis is wrong. Won’t fundamentally change how musicians work. Lawsuits are too expensive. Potential winners too few.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 11, 2015 Not mentioned in Blurred Line coverage: attorney Richard Busch was #93 in Billboard’s Power 100 in 2012 http://t.co/u9h4EqpiNI
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 11, 2015 Busch was the attorney that won digital royalties for Eminem in 2011. Lawsuits followed by Peter Framptom and Bruce Gary of the Knack.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 11, 2015 @billboardglenn …it’s the musicologists to testify as expert witnesses that are expensive. So not many could get to a jury.
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 11, 2015 @YinkaWrites If I had to wager, I’d say slightly more lawsuits and some settlements. But I wouldn’t wager more than a few bucks!
— Glenn Peoples (@billboardglenn) March 11, 2015
