25/04/2021
Alanis Morissette and the Jagged Little Pill cast perform during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' EveNew Year Celebrations, New York, USA - 31 Dec 2019
Andrew Walker/Shutterstock
Judging by the fact that the last decade in the music industry was characterized by tumult and revolution in every sector, the year ahead will be no different — and we already have plenty of clues as to where and how that will play out. As tech companies, record labels, artists, songwriters, and the industry’s other players brace themselves for highly anticipated government decisions on copyright infringement and radio royalties, they’re also holding a number of other slow-burning matters in the backs of their heads.
Below are Rolling Stone‘s predictions for what some of the biggest headlines of 2020 will look like.
The frenzy for data will be lucrative — for some
If there’s been one favorite industry buzzword of late, it’s “data” — in all its broad, often-wrongly-employed glory. Last year, music-streaming services like Spotify, Pandora, and Apple took their artist-facing data analytics platforms up a notch, boasting about how such platforms can offer an unprecedented degree of understanding about one’s own audience. But they are not the only ones in the space; a number of third-party data companies offer viable alternatives for artists to glean insights into touring, marketing, and demographic data
