Introducing YouTube Trends (Feat. The Gregory Brothers)

Video: YouTube Explains New Trends Feature

image from s.ytimg.com With 35 hours of video being uploaded to YouTube every minute, keeping up is impossible. Last week, YouTube officially unveiled YouTube Trends, a new set of tools designed to help uesers stay on top of the latest popular videos and trends. What this video for an explanation of how YouTube Trends works:

Best of 2010: The Most Interesting And Innovative Music Start-ups

This post was written by Chris Bracco, and originally appeared on his blog, Tight Mix. You can follow Chris on Twitter or subscribe to his blog's RSS feed.
The end of the year is approaching rapidly, and a lot has happened in the music industry over the past twelve months! There have been many incredible albums released this year, some of which surprised the public and even became nominated for Grammy awards.
You see all of these "best of/worst of" lists pop up around this time every year, but personally I'm bored of the formula. This year, I'd like to compile a list of the most unique, interesting, and innovative music technology companies, regardless of whether they managed to generate any revenues for the year.

So without further ado, I present to you what I believe are the most unique music technology companies of 2010 (in no particular order):

Pledgemusic (Fan-funding)

Pledgemusic has been around for less than two years, but has made significant strides in the fan-funding space. In my opinion, Benji Rogers and his gang have created one of the best platforms out there for musicians to use to help raise money for their recording projects.
Lately, Pledgemusic has been receiving a lot of press in the music industry blogosphere, and a couple of incredible interviews have surfaced with CEO Benji Rogers. Many fan-funding companies (like Sellaband) have had trouble getting off the ground and becoming a useful tool for artists to leverage. With a 77% project success rate, Pledgemusic seems to be having no trouble staying afloat.
There are several things that make Pledgemusic different than all the other fan-funding platforms out there. First of all, the company is run by smart people who are passionate about music:

Between the team at Pledge HQ, we have written and released 11 records, played a frightening number of shows, managed bands, signed hundreds of acts who sold millions of records, marketed and developed big bands who had big hits and little bands who should have had big hits. - Pledgemusic FAQ Page

Also, Pledgemusic allows and encourages artists to set aside some of their raised funds as a donation to a charitable organization that they care about. They are firm believers that music is as much about giving as it is about making, taking, listening, and sharing.
Another great thing about Pledgemusic is that their revenue model is simple and straightforward - they charge artists a flat 15% administration fee for every successful pledge made once the pledge target is reached. They absorb all the credit card processing fees and overheads, and there are no hidden nightmare fees to find out about later.
Fans don't have to worry on their end, either. If the pledge target amount isn't reached, then fans aren't charged a dime. Also, you can cancel your pledge at any time before the pledge target is reached, so if you change your mine halfway through and suddenly don't want to support a project, you can easily get a refund.
Recently, Pledgemusic decided to "sign" their first band, allowing them to keep all of their rights, and instead giving them help and advice in other areas like marketing and promotion. To my knowledge, they are the first fan-funding company to step out of its shell and pursue additional aspects of the music business.

Live Music Machine (Online Booking)

Full disclosure: I have been helping Live Music Machine a bit with their online presence.
Live Music Machine is another company that has a relatively short lifespan, but it has had a difficult getting off the ground in 2010. The reason I included this company on the list is because there is currently no other company doing exactly what Live Music Machine is trying to do for artists. They are the only company in the music business right now with a platform that helps artists book gigs directly with their fans.
The entire booking process happens within an embeddable booking widget that they have developed to try and make the booking process easier and more efficient. With this widget, bands can display their upcoming tour dates and dates of availability, provide their fans with driving directions powered by Google Maps, and accept bids from fans interested in booking them for a gig.
When a gig is booked successfully, each party (band and fan/venue promoter/etc) is charged a flat $10 fee, and that's it. Bands keep 100% of what they make during the performance.
After a successful gig, an "after party" page specific to the event that just happened is created, where fans can talk about the show and share pictures and videos with each other. I have yet to come across another company that does anything similar, and I'm interested to see if things pick up for them in 2011.

The Echo Nest (Music Intelligence)

Founded by MIT graduates Tristan Jehan and Brian Whitman, The Echo Nest is a music intelligence company that has designed API platforms for developers to create search, personalization, and interactive music applications. The company is a four-time National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant winner, and is powered by what they like to call a "musical brain."
Based on 12 years of R&D at MIT, Columbia and Berkeley, the Echo Nest’s music intelligence platform combines large-scale data mining, natural language processing, acoustic analysis, and machine learning to automatically listen to music, read about music, learn about music trends, and provide in-depth analyses in these areas.
Several big music companies are leveraging The Echo Nest's platform to provide better musical experiences for their users. For example, MOG is currently using the "artist similarity" functionality to help build interesting playlists from a variety of artists, and SXSW's "Artist Discovery Guide" uses The Echo Nest's API to get detailed artist data such as familiarity, popularity, artist bios, links, images, tags, and audio.
If interested, you can check out more interesting companies currently using The Echo Nest's incredibly innovative technology.

Tubeify (YouTube+Last.fm+Billboard)

Tubeify is a brand new company that has been described by some as "a historic mashup of Last.fm, Billboard, and YouTube." This cool web app started as the research project of Tomas Isdal, a University of Washington PhD student.
A lot of my friends use YouTube as both a video source and a quick way to listen to music for free on demand. Tubeify aims to turn YouTube into a better music player by combining the information and technology provided by the Last.fm, Billboard, and YouTube APIs. Tubeify’s searching is handled by the Last.fm API, and unlike on YouTube, the current track plays continuously while you search for more songs.
Users can also create "lazy" playlists from their search results and share links to them over their social networks, which is something that hasn't been integrated very well in other online streaming services. What makes Tubeify stand out from the pack is the ability for users to browse the Billboard charts to see if, where, and when the song they are listening to has made a chart appearance.
Tubeify is currently invite-only, but you snag an invite code by going here.

Jelli (User-Controlled Radio)

Jelli is a company that helps make old-school radio fun and interactive. Using the "Jelli Tuner," you can see what songs are playing across each of the Jelli stations, and tune in to the station of your choice. Once you click "Listen," that's when the fun begins. You can label songs as "Rocks" or "Sucks", and vote for particular songs to help shape what music gets played on each Jelli station. You can also do things like award tracks hearts and rockets, or toss it a bomb to send it tumbling down the charts.
Jelli integrates directly with terrestrial radio station’s broadcast and digital infrastructure, enabling real-time engagement when the show is on the air. Jelli is highly extensible, with full API support and flexible catalog, clock, scheduling, imaging, and relay parameters. Some radio stations already "spreading some Jelli" on their programming are KITS-FM (San Francisco, CA), KXTE-FM (Las Vegas, NV), WPST-FM (Philadephia, PA), WBOS-FM (Boston, MA), and WKRL-FM (Syracuse, NY).

Songkick (Concert Tracking & Discovery)

Songkick is one of my new favorite websites to frequent. With Songkick, you can track all of your favorite bands to find out where and when they'll be playing next, so you never have to miss another concert again. They take all the hassle out of finding out when your favorite bands are coming to town.
Songkick works by indexing 128 different ticket vendors, venue websites, and local newspapers to create the most comprehensive database of upcoming concerts happening around the world. It’s Songkick's mission to be able to list every show happening anywhere, right down to the small bands playing at your local dive bars.
In addition, they provide an API that developers can use to display comprehensive information about live music. Yahoo! Search, YouTube, and The Hype Machine are a couple examples of companies currently utilizing the Songkick API.

Viinyl (One-Song Websites)

This company sprung up out of thin air over the past couple of days, and definitely falls under the category of "interesting." Viinyl is a website that lets artists create a one page website to showcase a single song. The music industry is driven by singles these days, and not many people have the time, attention span, or desire to download and listen to full albums anymore.
Viinyl makes it super-easy for an artist to create an entire website experience around one song, which is great for singles and other tracks you want to promote and showcase individually. Each site can include lyrics, artwork, videos, notes, various download options, promotional tools, analytics, and more.
Right now, Viinyl is in the beta phase of development, and are giving out invites via the signup form on their website.

Rdio (Music Streaming & Discovery)

Rdio (pronounced "arr-dee-oh") is a social music service where you can stream music online from computer and/or mobile device, and discover music through friends and tastemakers in the community. Its free to try (without a credit card), and premium service plans start from $4.99/month. Rdio is a direct competitor to other music streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and MOG.
Rdio takes the work out of the deciding what to play next, and connects the music in your Web browser with your mobile phone. You can play as many songs you want, anytime, anywhere. Recently, Jesse Cannon, the founder of music industry blog Musformation posted an article that talks about how Rdio has turn his music listening habits upside down, and decreased the amount of music he downloads illegally by a whopping 40%.

Shuffler.fm (Music Blog Radio)

Shuffler.fm aggregates music by genre from all over the web. On their home page, you will find a list of channels (genres) to pick from. When you select a channel you get immediately sent off to the newest blog post within that genre, and the music in the blog post plays automatically. The listening experience is a seamless and continuous stream of new songs directly from music blogs. I tried it out a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed the music that was selected. However, I wish it were possible to also select a channel by location, in addition to genre, because I like to know where the music is coming from sometimes. Not sure if that's possible, but it would definitely add value to the user experience.
Also, it just dawned on me that Shuffler.fm can be a fun and easy way for artists to find new blogs that might be interested in featuring their music. I'm definitely going to give Shuffler.fm a whirl again, and see how long it takes me to fill a spreadsheet with 50 new blogger contacts... :)
And that wraps up the most interesting music companies of 2010. Each of these companies provide something that is valuable, compelling, cool, and different from the rest of the zillion music companies out there in the world today.
A bunch of my blogger friends are compiling similar "end of year" lists, which I will be writing about over the coming weeks, so keep your eyes peeled for more of LISZTOMANIA 2010!

The Astronomical Kid - Stop Looking at my Moms

MATTY B (7yr rapper)Rihanna - What's My Name? ft. Drake (MattyBRaps Remix)

Video: Shuffle MP3s With Your Bare Hands

With the shift from physical to digital music formats, many have opined for the days when they could touch their music and hold it in their hands. The folks behind C60 Redux are looking to make that possible again.

The way it works is that they've embedded RFID tags within pieces of paper. Once placed on the C60 platter, they correspond with music on your computer and play it through the speakers. Due to the way that the platform is designed, laying several cards on the surface will cause each song to be played in a counter-clockwise motion. This means that you can shuffle your MP3s with your hands. This is an only a prototype for now, but one day, something like this could make its way to the market. Take a look:

c60 Redux from IDEO on Vimeo.

Check This Out

I was looking thru the intenet sites and i came across this article. Me being an artist i thought i would join him on this tough task.
here goes.....

What's Your #1 Strategy For Converting Music Pirates Into Paying Fans?

Please leave your answer in the comments.

I'm writing a short article that highlights the strategy that artists and marketers alike use to convert music pirates into paying fans. This is an important subject that we're all equally curious about. Leave a comment below to be included in my upcoming post. Please also leave how you'd like to be credited, as in where you work or the group that you're apart of.

Buy Your Digital Music From A Vending Machine ( The Future is here )

The The future of the music industry has arrived: the MP3 vending machine. MOD Systems has released its Download2Go digital music kiosks in Quick Chek convenience stores. Shoppers can now grab a quick bite to eat and a new album while they're browsing around. With these machines, all the user has to do is tap the screen, find a song, insert their memory stick, and swipe their credit card. Then the tunes download instantly.


At first it's easy to scoff at this idea, but not everyone can afford those expensive data plans. The kiosks are going live in 10 locations across its New York and New Jersey convenience stores to start. Imaginably, they'll be rolled out to airports and subways soon too. Places where users get stuck or have less than desirable web connections. Flight cancelled? Buy some music. Take a look:

Music Industry News: Beatles Beat Bluebeat, Net Radio, MyYouTube, Stinger, Napster, Mute & More

• Judge: Music website Blubeat.com violated Beatles copyrights. (AP)
• Study says 48% of internet radio listeners skip terrestrial signal. (FMQB)
• 50 top music artists participate in MyYouTube Contest (YouTube)
• Rob Stringer, Rick Rubin and the Real Story at Columbia Records (Wayne Russo)

More Music Industry News & Commentary:

• All of Billboard's 2010 year end charts here.
• Napster that higher frequencies were being dropped from their iPhone app and fix is now available.
  When will we learn to enjoy our music again? (JB)
• Ditto Music Launch Their 10th Unsigned Artist Into The UK Top 40 Singles chart. (Press)
• After severing ties with EMI, now fully indie label Mute has announced a company wide consolidation.
• Anonymous Appears to Threaten Electronic Frontier Foundation with DDOS Attack. (RWW)
• 64% of Brits think CDs will be obsolete by 2015. (NW)
• Survey: 8% of online Americans use Twitter. (CNET) 
• Delays in longer iTunes song samples cause confusion. (CNET) 
• HMV struggles to survive amid tumbling sales. The last surviving major music chain reports £40m loss as supermarkets, online retailers and downloads hit profits. (Guardian)
• Freelance musicians falling on tough times as jobs dry up. (HT)
• Music Piracy In… The 1950s. (HYHI)
• Musicians, writers and their obsessions. (Guardian)

BandApp: Your Band, In Their Pocket [Launch]

This post is by Ryan Van Etten (@ryanve), Editor/Producer of VirtualMusic.tv.

UK startup BandApp is hell-bent on becoming the indie mobile replacement for MySpace and record labels. Similar in concept to Sound Around (now part of ReverbNation) or MobBase, BandApp’s monthly service gives musicians a platform to create and manage their own iPhone apps. But BandApp is taking a different approach in that they’re sidelining the paralyzing iTunes App Store approval process and delivering their apps via the web, and in 2011 will launch their own retail outlet, a digital storefront, called the BandApp Store.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about BandApp is who’s behind it. Have you ever heard “The Ballad of Chasey Lain” or grinded to “The Bad Touch?” Don’t lie.

Actually BandApp founder Adam Perry (a.k.a. The Yin) was a drummer for the band ‘A’ until circa 2005 when he joined The Bloodhound Gang, who released those two particular sonic treats in 1999.

Pricing: £20 startup plus £7/month with 1-yr contract or £75/year. Free for fans.

I gave quick test run on my iPhone the one of apps, and it worked pretty well, nice features, especially the fan wall, but an issue with going horizontal (no landscape mode yet maybe). The fan wall gives a direct connection between the band and the fans, and has nice Twitter and Facebook shareability.

See Steve Martin's Royalty Checks: Total $.13

Comedian Steve Martin also has a successful career as a bluegrass musician.  After releasing several albums, he's finally started to get royalty checks. @Lefsetz points us to Martin's web site where he's posted actual copies of three checks totalling 13 cents under the headline: "People say the music business is suffering, but it's NOT."

Is Music Moving From Rip & Burn To Watch & Share?

Last week Forrester analyst Mark Mulligan tweeted: "Need some help: if 'Buy & Listen' was 20th cent. music consumption, 'Rip & Burn' the 1st digital generation, what's it for Digital Natives?” The question was part of research Mulligan and his team are doing for an upcming study "Digital Natives, the Generation Music Product Strategy Forgot". Some early conclusions:

While record labels focused their energies on converting CD buyers and file sharers to digital, Digital Natives were left without music services that meet their needs, according to their findings so far. "The Millennials used digital to reinvent analog behaviors (such as replacing the CD with the paid or free download), according to Mulligan. "But Digital Natives are creating their own rules of social context, experience and visuals."

"The result is that YouTube emerges as digital music’s killer app," says Mulligan.  "Which is why I’ve opted for ‘Share and Watch’ as the tag line for the Digital Native’s."   

What do you think?  Does Forrester's slogan capture where Digital Natives stand?

$395 for the dolce gabbana sports sneakers !!! Gilbert Arenas... on Twitpic

$395 for the dolce gabbana sports sneakers !!! Gilbert Arenas... on Twitpic

1 SHOT DOT Performing Live @ Times Square Arts Center

1 SHOT DOT Performing Live @ Times Square Arts Center

Wink Loc ft. H. McCloud, Ra Diggs, Uncle Murda, Push! Montana - All On T...

N.Y.M.I. "Days of My Life" OFFICIAL VIDEO

1 Shot Dot - "Particular Lady"

Natural Health Tips

Health is important factor in our life. Here are nine natural health tips that may help you to make your health good & fit.

• Water is important for healthy life. So drink more water. Drink minimum 8 glasses of water in a day.
• Maintain daily routine such as Get Up early in Morning, Exercise, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Sleep. Routine is important factor in healthy life.
• Use clean Water & soft cloth for cleaning the skin.
• Go for morning walk daily. Do exercise such as walking, running, swimming, cycling for half an hour.
• Sleep at least 8 hours.
• Eat baked or steamed food instead of fried food. Do not take more oily foods.
• Meditation and Yoga is helpful for healthy life. Do Meditation and Yoga.
• Intake well balanced diet, add green vegetables and fruits in your daily diet.

HOW TO WRITE A Sample Music Business Plan

A Sample Music Business Plan for Your Band
For those of you who haven’t read my previous posts on this topic, I’ll briefly bring you up to speed. I wrote a post on Music Think Tank Open that was transferred to the main page (an honor in my book) called How to Write a Music Business Plan. It was a bit fluffy like this one might end up and one of the MTT readers called me on it. The first comment was, “Would have been stronger with a template or sample.” I got pissed off and created a template. Thanks again Justin.
However, I never provided a sample for two reasons. One, I thought that I might loose business opportunities by providing a sample of a plan that I’ve done. People like to copy plans instead of learning the steps or hiring a business plan writer like myself. Two, because business plans as you will see in the sample below, are confidential. Half of my clients will make me sign a Non Disclosure Agreement and swear me to secrecy for good reason. Luckily for you about a year ago, one rap group from VA gave me the go ahead to publish their plan, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
My Inspiration
Every time I sit down to write another music business plan I think about all of the starving artists out there who have failed to see the value in the business planning process. There are all sorts of books out there telling people not to plan. I personally don’t understand that concept at all.

I’ve read that planning is nothing more that guessing recently. If that’s the case, I’ve been one lucky dude. I plan everything. I plan what body part I’m going to work at the gym tomorrow, what I’ll have for dinner the next day and what I’ll will wear to work on Monday. I honestly feel that I would not be as successful as I am if it weren’t for careful planning.

Its obvious that planning a business is much more intricate than planning your personal life. If running a business was as easy as having an idea and going for it, we’d all be rich. A plan not only provides you with a framework for growth, but also takes a closer look at the details of your business; ones that are typically over looked without a business plan. A CEO has to manage everything from personnel to product development and marketing to distribution and accounting. How is one supposed to conceptualize that process in their head? The answer is clear to me. You can’t.
Elements of a good plan
Whether you are planning to approach a bank or family member for financing or simply look at ways to improve your business, a good plan includes the five sections that follow.
1. Executive Summary
2. Products and Services
3. Marketing Plan
4. Management Plan
5. Financial Plan
Details on each of these plans can be found in previous posts and outlined in depth in my template, You don’t have to take my work for it however, there are tons of resources online that will tell you the same thing about business planning. Over the years I have tailored these plans to mirror the needs of the ever changing music industry. Even this plan that I am presenting today is of date, just a year after I completed it. That should tell you that a business plan should be a living and breathing part of your business and updated as your wants and needs change.
Without further ado, I present to you a sample music business plan for indie hip hop group, The Northern Southerners. Northern Southerners Business Plan Northern Southerners Financial Statements
Kevin Englishis a marketer and student of the arts, who blogs about the skills and strategies necessary to get the most of your musical career at http://eleetmusic.com or on Twitter @eleetmusic.

Indie Artists & Labels Grab 50% Of Grammy Nominations

Independent music labels and artists received 273 of the 542 or just over 50% of the nominations for the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards, according to indie trade group A2IM. Independent releases are nominated in 88 of the 108 Grammy categories including top categories Album of the Year (The Suburbs on Merge) and Best New Artist (Mumford & Sons on Glassnote and Esperanza Spalding on HeadsUp).

Some categories were dominated by indies, including Best Pop Instrumental Album, Best Electronic/Dance Album, Best Latin Rock Album, and all of the Jazz, Classical, Reggae, Americana, Blues, Bluegrass, and Folk categories.

Indie label groups Concord and Naxos recieved 20 nominations each and artist owned indies Skaggs Family Records got 4 nominations. Rising indies also did well including Nacional Records (3 nominations), Mack Avenue (5 nominations), and HighNote/Savant (4 nominations).

Full List Of The 80+ Domains Seized Today By U.S.

The U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has seized the domains of 80+ web sites that it says are offering unauthorized content.  While many of the sites sold counterfeit goods, also included were three major hip-hop sites: OnSmash.com, DaJaz1.com and RapGodfathers.com and torrent search engine Torrent-Finder.com. The message to the left was posted on each site. (click on image to enlarge).  Here is a list of the seized domains:

2009jerseys.com
51607.com
amoyhy.com
b2corder.com
bishoe.com
borntrade.com
borntrade.net
boxedtvseries.com
boxset4less.com
boxsetseries.com
burberryoutletshop.com
cartoon77.com
cheapscarfshop.com
coachoutletfactory.com
dajaz1.com
discountscarvesonsale.com
dvdcollectionsale.com
dvdcollects.com
dvdorderonline.com
dvdprostore.com
dvdscollection.com
dvdsetcollection.com
dvdsetsonline.com
dvdsuperdeal.com
eluxury-outlet.com
getdvdset.com
gofactoryoutlet.com
golfstaring.com
golfwholesale18.com
handbag9.com
handbagcom.com
handbagspop.com
icqshoes.com
ipodnanouk.com
jersey-china.com
jerseyclubhouse.com
jordansbox.com
lifetimereplicas.com
louis-vuitton-outlet-store.com
lv-outlets.com
lv-outlets.net
lv-outletstore.com
massnike.com
merrytimberland.com
mycollects.com
mydreamwatches.com
mygolfwholesale.com
newstylerolex.com
nfljerseysupply.com
nibdvd.com
odvdo.com
oebags.com
onsmash.com
overbestmall.com
rapgodfathers.com
realtimberland.com
rmx4u.com
scarfonlineshop.com
scarfviponsale.com
shawls-store.com
silkscarf-shop.com
silkscarfonsale.com
skyergolf.com
sohob2b.com
sohob2c.com
storeofeast.com
stuff-trade.com
sunglasses-mall.com
sunogolf.com
tbl-sports.com
throwbackguy.com
tiesonsale.com
timberlandlike.com
topabuy.com
torrent-finder.com
usaburberryscarf.com
usaoutlets.net

Pandora Leading Streaming Brand, But Not Dominant

(UPDATED) According to a new study released by Coleman Insights, one in every six Americans stream audio at least once a week. As the number of houses with broadband access rises and smart phones proliferate, they expect this number to increase. Overall, they indicate that streaming is an underdeveloped brand category. The average consumer has top-of-mind awareness of between six or seven local radio stations. In contrast, they can only name one or two music streaming services.

To the lead researcher, Sam Milkman, this says that the brand category has not yet formed and that the current services in the market aren't developing lasting impressions. Users struggled to name the services that they did and only 28% of streaming consumers were aware of Pandora, compared to the 33% of them that were aware of an AM/FM brand. The startling conclusion is that no companies other than Pandora have gained a significant amount of awareness in this market.
In aggregate, taking all of the streaming companies into consideration, 77% of consumers can call to mind an Internet only brand, whereas only a third of them can are aware of an AM/FM stream. As well, the study said that consumers use Internet only streams more than AM/FM streams. The other question asked is whether or not Pandora is a leading brand, due to its early market entry, or if it has become a dominant brand in the streaming audio category. Milkman argued that, based on the criteria he set forth, Pandora did not qualify for the status of a dominant brand. Since users didn't sufficiently associate their core features with the brand, such as fewer commercials and fast buffering, among other things, Milkman concluded that the company still has more brand building to do.
The other interesting insight from the study is that users preferred the features of Internet only streams to that of AM/FM brands. Meaning that, traditional radio streams are providing consumers with features that they're not interested in getting from the experience. They like Internet only streams due to their lack of personalities, weather reports, traffic updates, and event information. In order to build their brands and establish consumer loyalty, the study suggests that traditional radio needs to more readily embrace the features of Internet only sites, such as fewer commercials, fast buffering, and more music variety on stations.
Behind these stats also lies the reality that we can't expect file-sharers to use services that they don't know about. If labels and trade groups are going to fight music piracy there's no reason why they shouldn't also be collaborating with streaming services and helping raise awareness for their sites. Of course, the possible reason why they don't is because there's no large financial imperative for them to do so. Streaming pays less and why risk bringing iTunes users over to other services. The RIAA should've donated $58M to marketing – not lawsuits.

Is Money Limiting Your Band's Growth?

On  Music Think Tank, Marcus Taylor suggests that money is bad for your band. He explains that focusing on short-term methods of monetising your music career too early can be counterproductive and hurt your career.
In addition, having less money can make you more valuable. “So, in other words, I think your band should try to make money and operate as a business," he writes, "but you shouldn’t let your perception of money get in the way.”