Water & Music

By Cherie Hu

The fine print of big ideas in music and technology. This has moved to Mailchimp: https://mailchi.mp/9ab07d2b7dc4/waterandmusic

Previous issues

The three types of scarcity tactics in music streaming—and why so few of them actually work

#52 May 20, 2019

Why are none of the top 10 music-video debuts in YouTube history from hip-hop artists?

#51 May 2, 2019

The music + media micropayment map.

#50 Apr 16, 2019

#49

Mar 25, 2019

Slave to the 'rithm? Not so fast: Everything you need to know about the deal between Endel and Warner Music – Happy Monday!Today's issue is a special, longform edition inspired by recent news that you may have s
#48

Mar 12, 2019

Artist education is the new competition [PART TWO]. – Happy Tuesday! I'm sending this from Austin, where I'm just kicking off my week at SXSW.Thanks so muc
#47

Mar 9, 2019

Artist education is the new competition [PART ONE]. – Happy weekend everyone! Hope you’re all excited for spring, SXSW and/or whatever else is coming your
#46

Feb 15, 2019

Five music startup trends you should follow in 2019. – Happy Friday! Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day, regardless of how you define love and wit
#45

Feb 1, 2019

Every podcaster is the next Chance the Rapper. (+ Support this newsletter on Patreon!) – Happy February (already?)! I can already feel that this year is going to fly by more quickly than the
#44

Jan 15, 2019

Music and lifestyle companies are jockeying for each other's audiences. Who will win? – Happy belated New Year!! Whether or not you made any resolutions, hope you're still feeling refreshed
#43

Dec 22, 2018

The music industry's inconvenient truths. – Happy holidays! Hope you are all excited for the winter break and for the new year ahead.Writing high
#42

Dec 7, 2018

Lessons for 2019, from 20+ music and tech conferences. – Happy Friday! Hope you are all excited for the winter holiday, and are taking some time to reflect on
#41

Nov 16, 2018

Our new "post-playlist" reality. – Happy Friday!As a celebratory aside, I turn 23 years old today. I will mainly spend the day freaking
#40

Oct 31, 2018

Is AI-generated music worth anything? – Happy Wednesday, and Happy Halloween! 🎃I'm headed to my last conference of 2018 next week: the Web Su
#39

Oct 12, 2018

When fans cut up your music, what happens to your brand? – Happy Friday!I spent last week at A3C, one of the biggest hip-hop festivals and conferences in the U.
#38

Sep 25, 2018

"Today's hit is tomorrow's niche." – Happy Tuesday—and for those who celebrated, happy belated Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节)! :)I spent most o
#37

Sep 7, 2018

Trends, and hiccups, in music's globalization. – Happy Friday!Since this week's theme is about globalization, I'm going to take a brief moment first t
#36

Aug 22, 2018

Where does "data-driven storytelling" in music go wrong? – Happy Wednesday! This week, the U.S. celebrated National Radio Day, which is dedicated to celebrating
#35

Aug 6, 2018

If artists are startups, what are the songs? – Happy August!I'm super excited that the Water & Music community has now surpassed 1,500 subscribe
#34

Jul 20, 2018

Can Spotify become "Spotify for X"? – Happy Friday!I'm sending this newsletter right before I head off to moderate a panel for Sound Thinki
#33

Jul 9, 2018

Which artists benefit from Amazon Music? – Happy Monday!I'm back in the States after spending the last week in Melbourne, where I gave a TED-sty

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