Margaret Sullivan
Hanroro and the K-Pop Streaming Charts: Why the Obvious Winner Lost
The received wisdom about the K-pop streaming charts in South Korea goes like this: whoever has the biggest fandom, the largest label machine, and the most coordinated release strategy wins.
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How AI Music Policy Is Rewriting the Path From Upload to Payout
Picture a release you scheduled for a Friday. Distributor confirmed it weeks ago, the artwork's clean, you told your list.
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AI Music Generation vs Human Musicians: Where the "Just Use It as a Tool" Advice Holds and Where It Snaps
A gamelan teacher in Kuala Lumpur said the sentence to me like it was a seatbelt: "AI is just a tool. Use it, keep your soul." He'd read it in a dozen op-eds.
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The "Buy Catalogs, Win the Market" Rule of Music Publishing — Where It Breaks Down
The advice you hear at every conference panel and in every investor deck goes like this: if you want to grow in an emerging market, buy the catalog.
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Physics-Toy vs. Patch-Cable: Two Virtual Synthesizer Approaches for People Who Hate Synth Menus
Last Tuesday I had a bass idea — a detuned, slightly seasick sub around 55 Hz, the kind that wobbles a quarter-tone flat and back like it's deciding whether to commit.
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The Licensing Question Nobody at the Label Wants to Answer About AI Music Generation
A sync deal I watched fall apart last year didn't die over money or taste. The placement was approved, the spot was cut, the music supervisor loved the track.
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The Bot Math: Why 50% Engagement Drop-Off Is the Only Artist Promotion Number That Matters
You open SoundCloud on a Tuesday and the track you posted Sunday night has 4,000 plays. You did nothing. No DSP placement, no blog, no post that took off. Just 4,000 plays, sitting there.
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