Zack O'Malley Greenburg's Blog, page 66

What U2′s Apple Album Launch Means For U2

Yesterday, I wrote aboutApple and U2′s decision to team up for the launch ofSongs of Innocence and what itmeans for Apple. As promised, today I’ll explore the other side: what it means for U2.

For the Irish rockers, there’s little left to accomplish. Already hailed as one of the top pop-rock acts of all-time, U2′s financial success has matched its outsized popularity. The group has sold tens of millions of records, and its last tour grossed $736 million, the highest total in history.

That sort...

What Apple’s U2 Album Launch Means For Apple

Love Apple or hate it, there’s no denying it’s a unique company. Additional proof came at yesterday’s product launch event in Cupertino, where Apple unveiled the iPhone 6 and a new smart watch–and managed to secure U2 as a featured act.

The Irish rockers debuted their a new single, “The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)” at the end of the proceedings, part of a deal to release their new album,Songs of Innocence, for free to all iTunes customers. The LP will also be available for Beats Music subscribers...

Under 30 Summit: Next Big Sound’s Alex White

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Click for full photo gallery: 2013 30 under 30: Music

For the first time, Forbes is bringing together 1,000+ members of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list with some of the globe’s top leaders and mentors to create partnerships that will change the world over the next 50 years. The Under 30 Summit will take place in Philadelphia from Oct. 19 – 22.

Last year, FORBES ran a story on Next Big Sound, a startup changing the way the music industry discovers, launches and promotes new acts. The piece...

Writing About Writing About Michael Jackson: What Some Critics Still Get Wrong

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Click for full photo gallery: Michael Jackson’s Career Earnings, Year-By-Year

If Michael Jackson were still alive, tomorrow would be his 56th birthday. And though he passed away more than five years ago, fans across the country–from his onetime home of Las Vegas to his birthplace of Gary, Indiana–and around the globe will be celebrating the King of Pop as though he never left.

In many ways, he hasn’t. Songs from his latest posthumous album,Xscape, have been soaring across the summer a...

Electronic Cash Kings 2014: Aftermath & Analysis

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Click for full photo gallery: The World’s Highest-Paid DJs 2014

The 2014 edition of the FORBESElectronic Cash Kingslist–the world’s highest-paid DJs–made its debut a week ago.Scotland-born Calvin Harris topped the list with $66 million, followed by French DJ David Guetta in second ($30 million) and a third-place tie between Sweden’s Avicii and the Netherlands’ Tiësto (both at $28 million).

As usual, the reactions varied as widely as the international backg...

The Strange Symbiosis Of Taylor Swift And Kanye West

The 2014 VMAs are in the books, but perhaps overlooked amid all the hoopla is an incident that occurred five years ago at the very same ceremony–and may have had a bigger impact on the popular culture of the past half decade than anything that occurred last night.

Taylor Swift and Kanye West’s controversial moment at the 2009 VMAs has been replayed, rehashed and parodied more than many of both artists’ songs.The words “I’mma let you finish” still conjure images of the scene: West storming the...

Why The NFL’s Super Bowl Halftime Pay-To-Play Gambit Won’t Work

Bruno Mars rocketed his career to another planet last winter, using the Super Bowl XLVIII halftime show as a launching pad. The Hawaii native lit up the chilly northeastern night with a sizzling drum solo, blazing dance moves and a duet with the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Like U2, Madonna, Michael Jackson and many other superstars before him, Mars wasn’t paid for his efforts; compensation came in the form of increased exposure. A record 115 million people tuned in to watch the 12-minute performanc...

Witness Protection: Steve Angello’s Life After Swedish House Mafia

Swedish House Mafia’s run as an electronic supergroup was lucrative enough to make a Corleone jealous. The Scandinavian trio pulled in $39 million in its last two years before disbanding in 2013, more than any EDM act besides Calvin Harris, Tiësto and David Guetta over that span.

So one might think that, in the aftermath of the split, the annual incomes of the individual group members would take a hit. Fortunately for Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso and Axwell, it seems that quite the opposi...

The World’s Highest-Paid DJs: Electronic Cash Kings 2014

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Click for full photo gallery: The World’s Highest-Paid DJs 2014

When Calvin Harris topped last year’s Electronic Cash Kings list with a stunning $46 million in annual earnings, it seemed symptomatic of a bubble in the burgeoning EDM scene. But since then, the only thing that has popped is the income of the world’s highest-paid DJs.

Harris, whose total surged to $66 million for the past 12 months, is once again EDM’s Cash King. The top ten earners on our li...

How Open Format DJs Are Making Millions On The EDM Boom

It seemed fitting that, while hosting a recent rooftop DJ set, FORBES received a noise complaint from an angry neighbor. That happened after the publication’s musical guest, DJ Ruckus, lived up to his name with an energetic 20-minute set, cycling from Jay Z to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and back to his own kinetic brand of electronic music.

Most audiences have been quite receptive to the volume: Ruckus, 30, played about 200 gigs last year. His earnings aren’t yet high enough to challenge for a...