Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 56

Forbes Five Hip-Hop Rich List 2015: Preview & Contest

A lot has happened in the world of hip-hop wealth since last year’s Forbes Five list. Jay Z bought a streaming service and experienced growing pains; Birdman’s Cash Money endured rumors of its biggest artists leaving; 50 Cent got involved in underwear.

Most significantly, Dr. Dre sold his eponymous headphone line to Apple for $3 billion–and though he had to share the proceeds with his partners on the deal, he still managed to have the best single-year payday of any musician in history.

So how...

Jay Z’s Streaming Strategy Shift: Tidal As Underdog

Over the weekend, Jay Z launched into a rare Twitter rant, posting 16 of his lifetime total of 231 missives in rapid succession. His aim was clear: to respond to critics of Tidal, his new streaming service.

Jay Z emphasized his company’s global outlook, highlighted featuresforup-and-coming artists and emphasized that Tidal is still in its early stages. But the one message that stood out above the rest was his attempt to position the serviceas a something of an underdog in the war for streamin...

Demise Of Comcast-Time Warner Cable Deal Has Little To Do With Cable TV

It appearsyesterday’s reports of the Comcast-Time Warner deal’s demise were not greatly exaggerated: the $45 billion mega-merger has officially been abandoned.

“Today, we move on,” said Comcast chief Brian L. Roberts, in a statement. “Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities,but we structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.”

Representatives from both sidesdid not respond to further requests for comment, but after a year of...

For Nielsen, A New Push Amid The Growing Music Data Boom

Last year 7UP was gearing up to deepen its presence in the world of electronic dance music. To make that happen, one of its first steps was looking to a familiar name in the music world playing a somewhat unfamiliar role.

To augment its own research, 7UP purchased Nielsen’s first-ever report on the genre; next, the brand entered a custom research relationship that enabled it to identify and track the purchasing habits of households interested in EDM. Neither 7UP nor Nielsen would comment on t...

Quincy Jones On EDM: “If They Handle It Right, It Won’t Be A Fad”

Quincy Jones isn’t exactly the first person who comes to mind during a conversation about electronic dance music. The legendary superproducer is best known for working with artists like Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra and Michael Jackson, not the likes of Avicii or Afrojack.

Some of Jones’most celebrated work has contained electronic elements, though, and it certainly makes people dance—one need look no further than Thriller. Still, it came as something of a surprise to see himin a one-on-one pane...

Five Things I Learned At The World’s Top Star Wars Convention

Over the past four days, more than 60,000 people descended upon the Anaheim Convention Center in order to take part in Star Wars Celebration, the top gathering of fans of the fictional universe.

Given that Disney—one of the largest companies in the media and entertainment world—shelled out a little over $4 billion in 2012 for Lucasfilm and all the Star Wars intellectual property therein, it seemed a worthy target for coverage.

Of course, adding to the intrigue was the fact that I’ve always co...

Inside The Star Wars-Stoked Business Of Wikia’s Wookieepedia

Yesterday at the beginning of Star Wars Celebration—the convention currently drawing scores of fans of the fictional universe to Anaheim—a cluster of confusion arose over the identity of an obscure desert planet.

Director J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy were on hand to unveil a new trailer that revealed characters storming through a sandy expanse similar tothe home planet of both Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

“People thought it was Tatooine,” said Abrams. “It’s Jakku.”

In the blink of...

The Emperor Strikes Back: How Ian McDiarmid Got His Star Wars Role

You might say Ian McDiarmid has a great eye for acting—or, more accurately—two of them.

George Lucas previously approached another actor to play Emperor Palpatine in the first Star Wars trilogy, but he couldn’t handle the contact lenses necessary to give the character’s eyes their trademark bloodshot look. McDiarmid, however, could.

“The first ones were made of glass,” he explained today at the Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, Calif., where he gave an evening keynote interview. “They were mo...

‘The Force Awakens’ Trailer: Just The Beginning Of A Big Week For Star Wars

A new, extendedtrailer forStar Wars: The Force Awakenswas released today, sending the internet into hysterics–at press time, “Star Wars” was the leading trending item on Twitter.

Expect that momentum to continue, in part due to one of the largest gatherings of superfans of any type of creative content. I’m speaking of Star Wars Celebration, which takes place at the Anaheim convention center starting today.

There will be cosplay contests, speed-dating for Jedis, life-size recreations of Star...

Amanda Palmer Uncut: The Kickstarter Queen On Spotify, Patreon And Taylor Swift

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Amanda Palmerachieved a measure of mainstream success as part of the punk cabaret act Dresden Dolls a decade ago, but leaving the major label world became her goal shortly after she entered it.

“I, like many artists, fundamentally detest being told what to do by others,” she says. “That’s why most of us became musicians to begin with.”

After a messy split with Warner’s Roadrunner Records, she wandered the digital wilderness and stumbled upon Kickstarter, where she raised a then-...