Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 11

Alice In Chains Sells Catalog For $50 Million

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Alice in Chains members Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney, William DuVall and Mike Inez have sold their catalog with the band to Round Hill Music, the company has confirmed. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but I hear the price tag was $50 million.

Round Hill will receive a 100% interest in those members’ copyrights to Alice In Chains’ masters and publishing, along with neighboring rights. The catalog includes such rock-r...

Old Music Isn’t Killing New Music

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Earlier this month, observers began to notice something odd: catalog hits outperformed recent music in 2021, occupying nearly 75% of the overall market. Reactions ranged from concerned (“Old music is endangering new music”) to panicked (“That endangered species known as the working musician should look at these figures with fear and trembling”).

And indeed, the new data seemed to echo some of the biggest music stories of 2021...

Why Neil Young Won’t Sink Spotify

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Note: I published the following as an op-ed in yesterday’s print edition of the Los Angeles Times. I figured most of you don’t have a subscription to the paper—but wanted to make sure you could still read my piece. Enjoy!

Last week, Neil Young issued an ultimatum to Spotify after growing frustrated with podcast king Joe Rogan spreading COVID misinformation on the platform. “They can have Rogan or Young,” he declared. “Not bo...

The Curious Case Of Willrow Hood [WAAMN Chapt. 3.9]

This is your weekly installment of my new book,  We Are All Musicians Now . To make sure you don’t miss future serializations, subscribe here. Below you’ll find Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan (Part 8). Enjoy!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER TABLE OF CONTENTS || >> NEXT CHAPTER >>

I opened this “Rise of the Superfan” chapter of We Are All Musicians Now by revealing how realized I wasn’t a true Star Wars fanatic. Back in 2015, I saw a group of conventioneers dressed up as a minor character named Willrow Hood, all r...

The Curious Case Of Willrow Hood

This is your weekly installment of my new book,  We Are All Musicians Now . To make sure you don’t miss future serializations, subscribe here. Below you’ll find Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan (Part 8). Enjoy!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER TABLE OF CONTENTS || >> NEXT CHAPTER >>

I opened this “Rise of the Superfan” chapter of We Are All Musicians Now by revealing how realized I wasn’t a true Star Wars fanatic. Back in 2015, I saw a group of conventioneers dressed up as a minor character named Willrow Hood, all r...

The Best Way To Fix The Grammys

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Last week, the Recording Academy announced the Grammys would be moving to Las Vegas, with the 64th annual ceremony set for April 3rd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Music’s biggest night had originally been scheduled for January 31st in Los Angeles, but Omicron had other plans.

The latest modifications follow a spate of missteps by the Recording Academy in recent years. And while the Grammys have always been accompanied b...

Why Russ Won’t Sell His Catalog, Even For $100 Million [WAAMN Chapter 3.8]

This is your weekly installment of my new book,  We Are All Musicians Now . To make sure you don’t miss future serializations, subscribe here. Below you’ll find Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan (Part 7). Enjoy!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER TABLE OF CONTENTS || >> NEXT CHAPTER >>

Russell “Russ” Vitale is one of the most successful independent hip-hop acts on the planet. Since the beginning of his career a decade ago, he’s made a point of writing, rapping, singing, producing, mixing and mastering his material by h...

Why Russ Won’t Sell His Catalog, Even For $100 Million

This is your weekly installment of my new book,  We Are All Musicians Now . To make sure you don’t miss future serializations, subscribe here. Below you’ll find Chapter 3: Rise of the Superfan (Part 7). Enjoy!

PREVIOUS CHAPTER TABLE OF CONTENTS || >> NEXT CHAPTER >>

Russell “Russ” Vitale is one of the most successful independent hip-hop acts on the planet. Since the beginning of his career a decade ago, he’s made a point of writing, rapping, singing, producing, mixing and mastering his material by h...

Sting Now Seeks $400M For His Catalog

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“Fields Of Gold” may be Sting’s best-known song, at least as a solo artist. It’s also a fitting metaphor for his exceedingly valuable music copyright collection.

According to my industry sources, the English rocker is now seeking at least $300 million—and possibly as much as $400 million—for his publishing catalog. That’s up from the $250 million he reportedly wanted back in November.

The flurry of recent megadeals has tr...

The World's Highest-Paid Musicians Of 2021

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Neil Young has accumulated all sorts of accolades throughout his illustrious career, from 30 Grammy nominations to something akin to knighthood in his native Canada. And though he’s been a steady earner, he never made it onto any of the music wealth lists I released in the decade-plus I spent at Forbes. 

It took him 76 years, but now Young is finally among music’s highest-paid acts. The “Heart of Gold” singer tallied $78...