Teddy Swims (@teddyswims) has hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his single "Lose Control." This achievement is not solely about celebrating a charting position but instead celebrating patience and artist development. A thread... 🧵 Teddy's story begins in earnest when he uploads a cover of Michael Jackson's "Rock with You" to his YouTube channel in June 2019. Little did he know — perhaps he did? — that this would be the spark igniting his blazing musical journey.

Whether a recording artist should focus on releasing albums vs. songs is a PERSONAL DECISION and depends on individual goals and priorities.

Here are 4 simple considerations before approaching the creative and sharing your music with the world: 1. Do I have an audience for an album? Does that audience expect albums?

2. Money, resources, and time — all are required to create and market an album. Do I have what is necessary before creating?

We’re proud to announce @audiomack is partnering with the Black Music Action Coalition for Black Music Executives Are The Future, a paid internship and mentorship program committed to developing the next generation of Black executives. businessinsider.com/audiomack-blac… As part of the program, we will select five Black undergraduates—or graduates who earned degrees as recently as April 2021—to participate in 3-month internships at Audiomack in marketing, creative design, editorial and content strategy, content operations, or tech development.

In 2015, the music industry moved the global release day from Tuesday to Friday. At the time, the decision was made to a) combat piracy and b) align with the traditional consumer payday, among other smaller reasons. Six years later, it's time to go back. Thread... Thanks to the proliferation of streaming, piracy has declined sharply over the past half-decade. Why? Accessing music through DSPs is incredibly easy and leaks are limited because music isn’t distributed in physical form ahead of its wide release.

In 2020, DIY artists (unsigned, even to an indie label) released 8.5x more songs globally (9.5M) than major label artists (1.2M). To combat this uncontrollable bleed in market share, I think we’re going to see majors: 1) sign even more acts, 2) release even more music. Consequently, it’s highly unlikely this behavioral reaction will result in a better product (music), as artists will feel the pressure to release more songs more quickly without development time. This will lead to even more churn.

This afternoon, I spoke with a veteran legal expert ON THE LABEL SIDE who has anonymously shared their thoughts with me on the #KanyeWest recording contract(s) with UMG and his decision to share those contract(s) with the world on Twitter. More analysis tomorrow, but for now... Record labels have been moving more toward “distribution” style deals with established stars where the label royalty rate is low in the US because they can earn good revenues from deductions and ex-US sales. Outside the US the artist royalty rate is lower.

Over the past few months, a company named DaBlock365 has been working with several notable rap artists — including Fat Joe, Benny The Butcher, Jadakiss, and Dave East, among others — offering indie rappers "mixtape placements" for between $500 and $650 per slot. A thread... These notable rap artists will post to social media, asking their followers to tag artists who they should be on the look for. Below, you'll see @FatJoe asking his fans to tag an artist who "spits crack." Well played, Joe.

I was recently asked if I could share best practices for conducting an artist interview. I could write a book on this subject, but here are 5 simple tips:

1. The best interviews are conversations. Make your subject feel comfortable, not like they’re being interrogated. 2. Prepare questions. Then, once you ask the first question, be prepared to throw them all out.

3. Be an active listener. Never focus on the next question. Listen for the opportunity to ask a better question you didn’t expect to ask before the interview began.

Just read over Megan @TheeStallion’s full recording contract with 1501. It's a 360 deal. Megan receives...

• 40% of her royalties (“net”)
• 70% of her merchandising (“net”)
• 70% of her performance revenue > $1,000 (“net”)
• 100% of her performance revenue < $1,000 (“net”) Megan’s deal calls for the delivery of one "full LP record," with two options (two additional albums). Of note, for an album delivery to count toward the deal, it must clock-in at no less than 45 min. Here are her runtimes:

Tina Snow – 30:00
Fever – 40:09
Suga – 24:33

Artists, if you’re presented with an offer that sounds too good to be true… that’s because it’s BULLSHIT. This past weekend, it came to our attention that an individual(s) used the @Audiomack name — and the name of one of our employees — to SCAM an artist. THREAD: Last November, Eric Isom (@GODSAVETHEREBEL), a former writer at Pigeons & Planes, told @281neek, an independent rap artist from Houston, that he “knew a guy,” who, for $500, could get Neek booked at @RollingLoud 2020 in Miami this May on the @Audiomack Stage.