Music Biz Features

This story appears in Rolling Stone‘s 2021 Future of Music issue, a special project delving into the next era of the multibillion-dollar hitmaking business. Read the other stories here. Two decades after digital downloads replaced physical CDs, and 10 years into streaming’s dominance of music consumption, music’s tech boom still …

Jack Johnson can thank an anonymous shoplifter for a sudden boost in streams for his 2009 hit “Upside Down.” Two weeks ago, TikToker H1T1 bought a flat-screen television for a bargain on a secondhand marketplace, only to discover that it was seemingly stolen from an Arby’s and could only display …

It’s taken a few years, but Adam Arrigo finally has his dream team. The co-founder and CEO of animated-concert company Wave is one of the forerunners of the livestreaming industry — which exploded in earnest after Covid-19 shut down in-person concerts. Arrigo, armed with a powerhouse roster of new investors …

They don’t make ’em like Jac Holzman anymore. Maybe they never did. While music executives are keen to brand their firms “technology companies” these days, Holzman, 89, is already several laps ahead. After co-founding Elektra Records in his dorm room in 1950 then bringing the label into Kinney National (now …

In Rolling Stone‘s series At Work, we go behind the curtain with decision-makers across the fast-changing music business — exploring a range of responsibilities, burgeoning ideas, advice for industry newcomers, and more. Read earlier interviews here. If it weren’t for the unusual events of 2020, Stephanie LaFera would be spending …

Jody Gerson knew she had a knack for identifying future stars even when she was just “Xeroxing sheet music and lead sheets” for a publisher in her first post-college job. She went on to prove it at major publishing companies like Warner/Chappell and Sony/ATV, signing 14-year-old Alicia Keys in 1996 …

Think of the biggest-earning artists on music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, and the usual megastars might come to mind. Drake, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran and Billie Eilish and Khalid, for example, have all featured at the top of the biggest global charts on the biggest global services …

In just under two weeks, the people making the biggest decisions in the modern music business will, inevitably, feel their blood pressure rise. At a Los Angeles location, a few days before Grammy night, Billboard will reveal its annual Power 100 — a countdown of “the most influential individuals in …