It should be pretty obvious how we feel about the DJ Mag Top 100. We’ve said it many times before. But it is that time of year again, and the list is dropping. This year, it’s dropping in a new fashion: slowly, painfully releasing the artists one-by-one on Twitter. Possibly sensing the irrelevance of this poll to anyone not in EDM advertising, DJ Mag decided to go where the kids are in an effort to discover new ways to make EDM a round-robin of money and influence.
“Non-mover,” every artist’s dream description.
Thankfully, the music industry is a large and very diverse place. Since our Twitter feed is being held hostage by an incessant trickle of money (and a tiny bit of real human opinion), we thought we’d surface some of the more important things happening in music today…because “everything” wasn’t long enough for an article.
[divider]Grooveshark.com Is Now a Discount Concert Ticketing Site[/divider]That’s right, the once-powerful rogue music streaming service has found new life. As a me-too discount ticketing platform. According to the Grooveshark.com ICANN registration report, their domain is still owned by Universal Music Group (you might know them as the company that sued the crap out of them and won). It would appear at the moment that UMG is leasing them the domain for the new use. Kind of like getting your toy gun back from Dad but being forced to play “tea party” with your little sister to get it.
Read more on Digital Music News
[divider]SFXE CEO Sillerman Offers to Buy All Stock at 3X Current Value as New Lawsuit Looms[/divider]This one should matter to all EDM fans. SFX Entertainment, the company that owns Beatport and festivals like TomorrowWorld, has had a bit of a rough year. From a failed private acquisition to a plummeting stock price to a dangerous fiasco at their latest festival, there’s a lot to be worried about right now. Never fear, CEO Robert Sillerman (you may know him as the dude who failed to acquire them the first time and started this whole thing) is trying to buy out the company again. Yep…we’ll see.
Read More: Read more on Hypebot
[divider]”Popcorn Time for Music” Aurous Suspends Operations After Court Grants RIAA Restraining Order[/divider]Bet you didn’t know about this one. Aurous launched in alpha about a week ago, looking like Spotify and operating like Popcorn Time. As you might imagine, the RIAA (you may know them as the people who used to sue Napster users out of house and home) isn’t too pleased with this, and today the courts agreed to slap an injunction on the fledgling music service. “Our legal team is actively working to secure our place in the music ecosystem,” Aurous founder Andrew Sampson responded on Twitter. “Rest assured we want to be around a long time.”
[divider]Warner/Chappell Begins Happy Birthday Fightback After Losing Exclusive Rights[/divider]This one is fun. Last week, Warner/Chappel (a huge music publishing house with ownership of millions of songs) lost a landmark court case in which it was determined they do not own the composition we all know as “Happy Birthday.” While our favorite EDM producers surely began preparing festival trap remixes without the need for licensing, W/C decided to fight back. They, in part, want the court to explicitly state the “Happy Birthday” is part of the public domain. And many more…
Read more on Complete Music Update
So that’s that. 4 things more important than a popularity contest underwritten by every ad agency in the business. As of this publishing, DJ Mag has made it to #17 on Twitter. It’s Axwell & Ingrosso. Who are awesome.
Update: The results are in. Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike took the #1 spot. Without further adieu, their live victory mix on YouTube.
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
