Music Biz Monday // 2.25

Every Monday, we’re sharing the latest news and information for the music industry and technology worldwide.

Get your learn on and stay in the know with Symphonic’s Music Biz Monday!

YouTube Launches New Mini-Series for Emerging Artists — Starting with Billie Eilish

What does Billie Eilish’s deal with YouTube mean for up-and-coming artists?

YouTube Music has launched a new mini-series.

The new series will promote emerging artists. Featured artists will express themselves creatively, engage with their fans, and promote their upcoming works. The mini-series will be between three and five installments. Selected artists can also connect with content creators and develop different video types – reaction, conversations, track-by-track commentaries, etc.

\\ Read more on Digital Music News //

TIDAL Launches $1M Emerging Artist Program, Funded by Two VC Financiers

TIDAL has teamed up with VC financiers Mark Lampert and Robert Nelsen to launch TIDAL Unplugged, ‘a million dollar’ artist grant program.

Funded by a donation from Lampert and Nelsen, TIDAL Unplugged will kick off on March 1 in Detroit, where local artists will have the chance to submit their music through TIDAL to receive part of the $1m dollar grant.

Following a pilot run in Detroit, TIDAL aims to expand the program into other markets.

\\ Read more on Music Business Worldwide //

YouTube revises strike system w/ initial warning, consistent strikes, better explanations

YouTube is the biggest place on the web to share videos you’ve created, and millions of people do so every single day. To prevent abuse, though, YouTube has a strikes system in place that takes down content that violates the Community Guidelines. In some cases, though, that system has been taken advantage of or misunderstood, and today YouTube is revising its strikes system in a huge way to benefit creators.

Explained in a post on YouTube’s blog this morning, the strike system is getting a huge redo. This is in an effort to be more clear, consistent, and more importantly transparent with those affected by the YouTube strike system. The first big change here is that YouTube will no longer immediately issue a strike to first-time offenders.

\\ Read more on 9to5Google //

Local Radio Freedom Act Now Has Bipartisan Support in Congress, But Can It Survive Fierce Opposition?

Will musicFIRST once again manage to shut down a new broadcast radio bill?

Lawmakers from both sides are backing a new bill aiming to limit the royalties U.S. radio stations have to pay. This comes after years of legislative failure to ensure the bill’s approval.

Dubbed the Local Radio Freedom Act, a bipartisan coalition of 124 members of Congress have signed resolutions in the House of Representatives as well as the Senate to oppose “any new performance fee, tax, royalty, or other charge” on traditional broadcast radio stations. The coalition is composed mainly of Republicans with about a quarter of the support coming from Democrats.

\\ Read more on Digital Music News //

Tencent Music Confirms ‘Strategic Investment’ in Rival Douban FM

Tencent Music’s strategic investment may finally help Douban FM compete in the Chinese streaming music market.

As of late, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME) has enjoyed a good ride.

Two months ago, the music division of Chinese conglomerate Tencent Holdings launched its IPO. It didn’t go as well as executives had hoped. The company unveiled the stock at its lowest expected price range – just over a billion dollars.

\\ Read more on Digital Music News //