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If it seems like a remarkable number of larger-than-life legacy artists have sold the rights to their catalogs lately for astonishing price tags, it's very likely the work of Merck Mercuriadis, CEO of Hipgnosis Songs Fund. Hipgnosis is disrupting the music industry by dropping big bucks on artists' songs and transforming them into an investable asset class. In this episode of Musonomics, host Larry Miller analyzes how the valuations of artists' catalogs are calculated through historical and economic factors and then speaks to Merck Mercuriadis about the present and future state of his company, and pop songwriter/producer Tricky Stewart -- along with his brother and business partner Mark Stewart -- about Tricky's sale to Hipgnosis.

The evolution of video games has been entwined with the music industry since the 1970s; dependent on related tech developments and targeting a similar consumer audience. Video games have become a significant revenue stream for music artists from e-sports, rhythm games, and titles like Grand Theft Auto. Now Fortnite, Minecraft, Twitch, and Roblox have changed the context for how music interacts with the gaming experience, and with the pandemic keeping people at home, have become a primary channel for many artists to reach their fans. In this episode of Musonomics, host Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt explores the history of music, sound and games, and speaks to Jon Vlassopulos, the Global Head of Music at gaming platform Roblox, about the platform's music events, and what's coming in the future.

Why is licensing music for a podcast like sailing in uncharted seas? In this episode of Musonomics, host Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt delves into why this format creates so much complexity for music usage even as the audience for podcasts is exploding. In conversations with music clearance expert Deborah Mannis-Gardner, music supervisor Scott Velasquez, and Premier Music founder Josh Deutsch, we explore different approaches, anchored by a review of the key terms that can make music licensing seem so opaque.

Most artists make most of their income from touring. We want and need live music, but even as some states and venues begin to reopen, what will it take for masses of fans to return? We unpack a groundbreaking new study from Music Canada.

In this episode of Musonomics, Rob Stringer talks with Larry Miller about his journey from London to the NYC punk scene to the corner office of one of the world's largest music companies; his primary focus on enabling artists and their art, the competitive edge he got from growing up with the BBC and much more.

In this episode of Musonomics: how is it possible that more people are listening to music than ever, but musicians are earning less? Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt talks to musician, indie label owner, and festival producer Miranda Mulholland and Graham Henderson, the president and CEO of Music Canada, about the "value gap" - the growing mismatch between the value that user upload services, such as YouTube, get from the music used on their services, and the revenue that is then returned to songwriters, performers, and record labels -- and what is being done to address this issue, which the international recorded music organization IFPI considers the biggest threat to the future sustainability of the industry.

Stock investors looks to equity analysts for guidance on whether to buy, sell or hold stocks in individual companies. Gabelli equity research analyst John Tinker has covered music and entertainment stocks for over twenty years. In this wide ranging conversation we hunt for value in the stocks of Spotify, Sirius/Pandora, iHeart Media, Live Nation, Vivendi/Universal Music Group, Tencent Music, Liberty Media and more.

BTS just played SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, marking the first-ever appearance by a Korean pop group in SNL's 44 seasons. On this episode, we examine the emergence and explosive growth of K-Pop on the American musical landscape and explore the genre's origins, current state and future with K-Pop expert Hannah Waitt.

Spotify supports music and the people who create it, and recently launched "Secret Geniuses," to recognize often-unheralded songwriters. So why did Spotify join with Amazon and others to challenge how they pay music creators after this matter was decided in federal court over a year ago? In this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller talks with David Israelite, CEO of the National Music Publishers Association.

The most sweeping update of American music copyright in a generation is now law. In this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller talks to three people that shaped or closely followed this bill from draft to signing: Jacqueline Charlesworth, Mitch Glazier, and Robert Levine on why the Music Modernization Act was so urgently needed, how it came to be, and what happens next.

Music is all around us, all the time -- as we shop in a store, eat in a restaurant -- or work off those calories in a spin class. In this episode of Musonomics, Prof. Larry Miller from the NYU Music Business Program explores the evolution and licensing issues of background and foreground music used in businesses, from the birth of Muzak in the wartime factory -- and then we shift into overdrive with Soul Cycle's rawk gawd Sean Linehan on how he sculpts the playlists for each of his sold out spin classes.

For millions of us, artificial Intelligence got real when we added smart speakers to our homes. Our AI assistants are standing by, ready to play music, turn on the news, start the oven, or see who's at the front door. But as they make life easier, they're also creating new challenges for the music and entertainment industries. And then there's the matter of security...just how smart do we want our AI devices to be? In this episode of Musonomics, we'll hear from industry reporter Cherie Hue and Larry Rosin of Edison Research.

Digital music services continue to drive recovery of the music industry after a long period of decline, and the AM/FM music radio business is starting to feel it. Young people born after Millennials don't use radio the same as previous generations. Can commercial AM/FM radio compete with pure play digital music services? Russ Crupnick of MusicWatch and Steve Goldstein of Amplifi Media join us to discuss what's happening to radio listenership, and how radio needs to respond to the threat posed by unlimited, commercial-free music. The way radio pays for music it uses may have acted as a kind of an economic disincentive for radio to invest in its own digital future. AM/FM radio broadcasters in the US pay a tiny amount, about 4% of revenues, to songwriters and music publishers, but American AM/FM stations are exempted from paying anything to the artists who performed the music or their record companies. This exemption doesn't apply to digitally delivered radio streams, like SiriusXM or Pandora, or even the digital streams of AM/FM radio broadcasters. Edison Research's "Share of Ear" report shows that AM/FM radio is responsible for over half of all time spent listening to music in the U.S. among listeners 18 and older. Radio believes the power of its strong, local brands will insulate it from digital competition. However, this may not be the case in the car as the dashboard reconfigures around connectivity with advanced digital services. The car is currently the number one location for listening to radio, and automotive is the number one revenue category for radio. The connected car and its multiple audio offerings may be the greatest threat to AM/FM radio broadcasting, with 75% of new cars expected to be connected by 2020. Listen to this episode of Musonomics as we dive into the uncertain future of radio.

Rock is headed towards a demographic crisis. Fifty percent of last year's top 100 grossing acts are over 50 years old. So what will happen to the live music industry when Mick Jagger is no longer filling stadiums charging hundreds of dollars per ticket? On this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller talks to Neil Shah from The Wall Street Journal and Cherie Hu from Forbes about the future of the live music industry and rock's demographic crisis.

In this episode of Musonomics, Larry Miller looks beyond the borders of the United States and dives deep into the music industry of the world's most populous country: China. To better understand why one of the world's largest economies still has a music market smaller than that of European countries like Austria or Sweden we talk to Ed Peto, music executive and founder of Outdustry, and Billy Koh, the Simon Cowell of China and the founder and former CEO of the record label Ocean Butterflies.

In this episode of Musonomics: how does lyrics licensing work and who benefits from it? Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt talks to Darryl Ballantyne, CEO of LyricFind, about what it was like to try and start a lyrics licensing business before the music publishers understood lyrics licensing was a thing. Songwriter Phil Galdston talks about how the changes in the music industry have affected the songwriters. And we also hear from New Yorkers about how they learn lyrics.

In the first episode of our third season of Musonomics, Larry Miller takes a look at the future of high quality music streaming services. To investigate whether or not there's enough room for a profitable niche market supporting multiple competitors in the high-resolution music market, we talk to MQA CEO Mike Jbara, 7 Digital Deputy CEO Pete Downton, and HDTracks CEO David Chesky.

In this episode of Musonomics: what does it mean to be a Music City? The term "Music City" is becoming widely used in cultural communities and has penetrated the political vernacular in many cities around the world. But just because a city has lots of live music venues, doesn't make it a Music City. There needs to be a formal strategy in place to optimize the music industry present in a city. Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt and producer Carmen Cuesta Roca speak to Shain Shapiro, Manager of the Nighttime Commission; Mirik Milan, the Night Mayor of Amsterdam; music publisher Justin Kalifowitz, the cofounder of New York is Music, which has raised awareness around the cultural and commercial impact of music on the region; and Julie Menin, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment on what New York City is doing to support a robust music economy.

In this episode of Musonomics: why are more and more music industry insiders looking to Blockchain technology as a solution to the metadata problem? What really is the Blockchain? And why is it so important? These are just some of the questions host Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt, and co-host Carmen Cuesta Roca will unpack. The episode features PledgeMusic founder Benji Rogers, who is evangelizing a comprehensive database of music metadata on the Blockchain. Singer-songwriter Imogen Heap sheds light on the potential for accurate and intricate metadata. And Bill Rosenblatt of Giant Steps Media Technology Strategies explains that industry-wide standards are key to the metadata problem, but the complexity of the music industry and its vast number of stakeholders will make those standards difficult to achieve.

In this episode of Musonomics: why are music startups struggling to thrive, or even simply survive? Larry Miller of NYU Steinhardt heeds several perspectives to understand why the space for music startups is so unforgiving, and what music startups can do to be successful. Cortney Harding discusses the recent slowdown in the music startup space. Edward Ginis and his business partner Brady Brim-DeForest, share of their success with their own startup, OpenPlay -- one of the lucky ones able to spin out of a major independent label. David Pakman of Venrock explains why his firm has never invested in a digital media company. Jon Vanhala, formerly of Universal Music and now at Crossfade Partners, offers insight into who can be blamed for the fact that music startups are finding it so hard to make money. Finally, we hear from Michael Dorf, who turned away from the internet business and is now generating more profit than ever through live music experiences at his City Wineries across the country.