Spotify jumped to $354.60 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, up 7% from Thursday. Spotify’s value rose to roughly $66.1 billion. Why has the stock prices increased? Mainly because of podcasts and the launch of the controversial Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Spotify might raise prices, expanding its profitability.

Rising artist WRENN found herself on the US Spotify Viral Charts this week after Blake Shelton tweeted her song.

The Los Angeles based artist grew a rapid following on TikTok after writing a song about her ex. In fact, she had audio of her ex admitting he was cheating on her.
Blake shouted her out over on Twitter. “So the band leader at @NBCTheVoice is a guy named @paulmirk. He’s really talented blah blah blah… you get it. Anyway, his daughter just released a song that is EXPLODING!!! Get in the train y’all! Listen!!” he wrote.

The Grammys scheduled to air on January 31st in Lost Angeles have been postponed over covid concerns. A new possible date is 3/14.

Harvey Mason Jr., CBS Jack Sussman and Executive Producer Ben Winston released the following statement.

After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our network partner, CBS, our host, and artists scheduled to appear, we have made the decision to postpone the 63rd GRAMMY Awards to March 14, 2021. The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, where hospital services have been overwhelmed and ICUs have reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.
We want to thank all of the talented artists, the staff, our vendors, and especially this year’s nominees for their understanding, patience, and willingness to work with us as we navigate these unprecedented times. The show will go on and we will unite and heal through music by celebrating excellence and saluting this year’s outstanding nominees.

In publishing news, Lindsey Buckingham sold his song catalog to Merck Mercuriadis’s Hipgnosis Songs for an unknown amount.

‘Go Your Own Way’ is the kingpin track of the song collection and Fleetwood Mac’s biggest hit. “Go Your Own Way” has been licensed in several commercials and is a timeless track that we will hear for the rest of our lives on earth. I’m sure Lindsey made a lot of money from the deal.
Selling your songs is like selling your soul, so why did Lindsey sell?
He was fired from Fleetwood Mac and could not make money from touring. Moreover, he’s 71, and looking out for his family. Instead of his family managing the affairs, many artists choose to take the cash.

What does music look like in 2021? Live streaming will be a dominant force as live rooms are still closed. The pandemic will wind down in the spring and the talks between bookers, promoters, and artists will become serious again. How do we get the artists back in the venues in the fall of 2021? And what are the regulations? That’s the big unknown.

TikTok made an impact on the music business. Everybody from agents, artists and managers want in on the game hoping they have the next viral TikTok track, but the platform may have peaked. Most of the streaming platforms now have short video versions and the competition is at an all time high. Also, TikTok was built on 13 and 15 year olds, the most fickle demographic that could be move on.
As far as songwriting, there will be less writers on a song. It got to the point that a song consisted of 20 songwriters and the guy who was cleaning the windows got credit too for adding extra vibe to the room.
Will podcasting explode as predicted? I don’t think so. There are too many voices and it’s tough to come up with interesting topics that interest people. If it’s not political or biblical, then it’s not listenable.
I think artists will take more risks in 2021. People tend to take more risks in times of unpredictability. Plus, competition is fierce. The music and the story – everything needs to stand out.

The question we all need to ask it what’s next and how do we become part of it?