People will continue to bitch about Spotify payments, but they won’t change as a result. Believing that Spotify is ripping musicians off is the equivalent of believing in QAnon and other conspiracies. There are only a hundred cents in the dollar and Spotify is paying nearly seventy percent to rightsholders. But somehow Danile Ek is the enemy. As for running ICE ads…that bothers me too, but look what happened to the Hilton hotel that refused to admit ICE agents. Be very afraid of going against Trump and the government.

Meanwhile, Spotify is investing in a video podcast studio: 

“Spotify digs in on podcasts with new Hollywood studios”

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2026-01-07/spotify-opens-new-podcasting-studio-in-hollywood

When was the last time one of the three major labels invested in anything? They’re giant banking concerns at this point, trying to leverage their assets for AI the same way they leverage their assets to extract a fee from online companies that want to use music. The question always arises…are these funds trickling down to the artists?

Ticketing fees won’t decline. They’re part of the business. Bitching about ticketing fees is like complaining about the transportation fee on your new car…it ain’t going away. But just like prices of cars fluctuate, so do ticket prices. For all the ink about the high price of tickets, the truth is prices will fall for mid-market/less desirable acts playing in buildings a bit too big for them. The inventory has got to move. And no one likes playing to a half-full house. No one gives money back to Live Nation, and Live Nation must make its nut.

Acts will continue to sell their publishing…continuing to demonstrate they are ignorant when it comes to finances and their handlers want a percentage of a big check. Maybe if you’re an oldsters and you’re doing it for estate planning… Watch this video for edification on royalties and how they go up over time:

“Stephen Bishop: Top Five Songs by Income (1975-2000)

@lizthemusicmanager

@Stephen Bishop songs by income, 1975 to 2000. Includes publishing, record sales, writer share, and radio performance royalties. Does not include streaming, SoundExchange, touring, or sync. . . #fyp #musicindustry #musicbusiness #musicindustrytips #musicpublishing

? original sound – Liz The Music Manager

The best and the brightest will continue to not enter the music industry, which is a closed club that doesn’t want new members and doesn’t pay enough anyway. The big checks working for the man have evaporated, the money Lucian Grainge got for Universal going public is the last big payday. Sure, top execs are well-compensated, but they’ve paid their dues over years. The only big money available to newcomers is in management, where the odds of success are long. In the old days, with music generating as much of an income, if not more, than any occupation in America, the renegades who didn’t fit in all entered the music business. Today the business is calcified and like I said, you can make much more money elsewhere, in finance and tech. So we’ve got the lowest common denominator people becoming acts…those with no options because they’ve got little education, and as for working at companies…you can’t make money without paying your dues for a long time, and therefore if you want to be closer to music it’s easier to just buy a ticket than work behind the scenes.

Demand will continue to exceed supply for superstar concert tickets.

Rather than figure out ways to break new acts, the majors will continue to cut back on expenditures to add to the bottom line.

Television will continue to decline as an exposure opportunity for music, did you see that Kimmel is cutting back?

“‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ to Decrease Music Performances to a ‘Variable’ Number Per Week”

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/jimmy-kimmel-live-to-decrease-music-performances-1236624638/

KPop numbers will continue to grow, however other than HUNTR/X and other beneficiaries of “KPop Demon Hunters,” they all will be the equivalent of a walled garden, i.e. a silo, i.e. either you’re interested or you’re not, and most people are not. This is the story of music today, there’s tons of bluster how big acts are, but their reach/popularity is very narrow. The majors could make music that appeals to a broader spectrum of listeners, but that’s too heavy a lift/too big an investment of time and in many cases too unhip for the majors to do.

You will continue to be exposed to buzz on acts that you will check out and scratch your head over, wondering why you should be interested.

There will be continued efforts on brand extension/merchandising. The music is just a jumping off point.

The channel will continue to be flooded with mediocre acts spamming the marketplace to try and get attention that they do not deserve.

Short term thinking will continue to rule. KPop didn’t happen overnight, for over a decade those involved were organizing/scheming/creating until there was finally a breakthrough. No one in the U.S. working for the establishment is willing to think outside the box and do this. Innovation always comes from the outside, the inside is moribund.

The basics will continue to be ignored. The audience is looking for someone who can sing and write…well. Too many acts feature substandard vocals and when the song is written by committee it is less believable, less identified with the singer. People need to believe the song is the singer’s life.

Country will continue to gobble up market share.

Pop will get all the attention, but never has pop had less impact on the market, most people don’t care. It’s like the days of Fabian and Bobby Rydell except even those two-dimensional acts had a greater footprint than today’s so-called hitmakers.

Will this be the year that acoustic music finally breaks through big? The vaunted singer-songwriter? Unfortunately, there are too many people playing in this space who do not deserve attention, which makes it harder for the focus to be on someone who does.

Classic rockers will continue to die. This probably is the last time. If you want to see them, go now!

Stadium tours will continue to do boffo at the b.o. That’s how much of a desire there is to see superstars.

Acts will continue to be unable to say no. Other than those with no traction with no offers anyway. In other words, everybody will sell out for a buck.

The Kardashians will continue to have more purchase on the marketplace than musical acts, because the penumbra is easier to manufacture and maintain than the essence, the soul. The Kardashians are all penumbra, i.e. the external, the look, the products… In music the essence is key. The penumbra comes later, and if you can say no to the penumbra, the essence grows.

The Spotify Top 50, the only chart that matters, will continue to be populated with acts that sound manufactured, that have no reach.

Acts will continue to boast about setting records that are manipulated and ultimately not meaningful, aided by the weighted Luminate chart. The only thing that matters is streaming, how many streams did a song have… Furthermore, when it comes to streams, a free one is as valuable as a paid one. There should be a separate chart for sales only, a sideshow…then, of course, vinyl sales will crater, because vinyl is sold in many iterations to falsely boost overall chart numbers.