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Photo: Chesnot/Getty Images

News
How Musicians Use Instagram As A Music Platform how-young-musicians-are-using-instagram-music-platform

How Young Musicians Are Using Instagram As A Music Platform

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A new generation of artists is taking to social media to show the world their art and perhaps changing the confines of the platform as a picture-focused service
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Nov 8, 2018 - 6:29 pm

The way music fans consume music has radically changed over the past decade or so, and as younger artists enter the music world, they continue to shift the playing field, finding new and innovative ways to spread their sound and reach new fans. Recently we've seen a new generation of musicians, like young hip-hop artists Jaden Smith and Tierra Whack, turn to Instagram as a new way to expose more people to their music.

Black Nails

A post shared by Tierra Whack (@tierrawhack) on May 30, 2018 at 7:14am PDT

Indie music distributor AWAL, or as they call themselves, a "unique alternative to the traditional music label," recently wrote blogged about this new phenomena of the new generation of musicians releasing music on Instagram. They point to 23-year-old Whack who released her entire debut album Whack World on her Instagram earlier this year. She made a video for each song, all of which were just one-minute-long, and uploaded all of them to the social platform the day the album dropped.

She also released the album on music streaming services, including Spotify and SoundCloud, and while views and listens of her music on her social don't provide a direct revenue stream as they would on Spotify and Apple Music, social media (and SoundCloud) allows artists like her to take distribution into their own hands. Her approach makes a lot of sense when you take into consideration the fact that Spotify's algorithms tend to favor male artists and its popular hip-hop centric playlists primarily feature male rappers.

It is vital for younger and emerging artists to find exposure in creative ways to reach new fans. As AWAL points out; "The opportunity cost of a 'free' project, sans ad revenue, on Instagram is somewhat marginal, because if a would-be fan enjoys the sample they spent 15 to 60 seconds with enough, they'll likely generate the bulk of their repeat spins somewhere else."

B ELECTRIC

A post shared by Jaden Smith (@c.syresmith) on Jul 8, 2018 at 4:24pm PDT

Smith also used his Instagram to release music this year, a remix version of 2017's Syre. Unlike Whack's Whack World, his Syre: The Electric Album, is not available on Spotify, but can be streamed on SoundCloud, although only with a premium listener account. Visiting either artists' Instagram page and seeing the video thumbnails form the album cover is intriguing enough to click to listen—in this day and age, with more content from more sources and quicker scrolling from consumers, it feels important to find new ways to catch the attention of peoples' eyes and ears.

As AWAL quotes MusicAlly; "The existing subscription streaming giants are primarily platforms for distribution, after all, not interaction – and from an artist's perspective, distribution by third-party corporations is not neatly aligned with the control afforded by social media."

You can catch both Smith and Whack performing at Camp Flog Gnaw in Los Angeles this weekend, which will be livestreamed.

How Music Streaming Algorithms Hinder Female Artists

Beyoncé

Beyoncé

Photo: Ian West/PA Images/Getty Images

News
Beyonce's Lion King Album: JAY-Z, Mr. Eazi, More beyonce-shares-epic-track-list-lion-king-gift-jay-z-kendrick-lamar-mr-eazi-shatta-wale

Beyonce Shares Epic Track List For 'The Lion King: The Gift:' JAY-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Mr. Eazi, Shatta Wale & Many More

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The GRAMMY-winning star of the Disney remake will share more details about her curated album in an exclusive interview on ABC
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jul 16, 2019 - 3:07 pm

Today, GRAMMY-winning multi-hyphenate Beyoncé offered the world yet another gift, the stacked track list of the forthcoming The Lion King-inspired album she executive produced. The 14-song LP features some of the hottest talent from the States and Africa, including her co-star Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino, her husband JAY-Z and past-collaborator Kendrick Lamar. Rising American artists Tierra Whack, 070 Shake and Jessie Reyez also contribute to tracks, as well as Nigerian powerhouses Mr Eazi, Burna Boy, WizKid, Tiwa Savage, Tekno and Yemi Alade, plus Ghanaian dancehall artist Shatta Wale, Cameroonian artist Salatiel and South Africa's Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly.

Both the The Lion King: The Gift album and the new CGI-animated film will be released this Fri., July 19. The Lion King Soundtrack, along with Beyoncé's powerful new track "Spirit," which finds a home on both albums, was released digitally last week. The film's soundtrack and score were composed by GRAMMY-winner Hans Zimmer, with "Spirit" coming from Zimmer, Lebo M. and Beyoncé.

.@Beyonce on “Spirit”: “The soundtrack is a love letter to Africa…it becomes visual in your mind. It's a soundscape.”

See more TONIGHT on '#TheLionKing Can You Feel the Love Tonight? with @RobinRoberts' special at 8pmET on @ABCNetwork! https://t.co/mfhnDwDPg8 pic.twitter.com/mADrEkn1Gy

— Good Morning America (@GMA) July 16, 2019

Beyoncé offers vocals on 10 of the tracks on The Gift, including on "The Nile" with Lamar, "Mood 4 Eva" with JAY and Gambino and on "Brown Skin Girl" with her daughter Blue Ivy Carter, WizKid and St. Jhn.

"This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa and I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa, and not just use some of the sounds and did my interpretation of it. I wanted it to be authentic to what is beautiful about the music in Africa," Beyoncé told ABC News in a segment aired on Good Morning America earlier today.

This clip is from her interview with GMA Anchor Robin Roberts; the full Q&A will air on ABC tonight, along with a premiere of the music video for "Spirit."

"We've kind of created our own genre and I feel like the soundtrack is the first soundtrack where it becomes visual in your in your mind. The soundscape is more than just the music because each song tells the story of the film," Queen Bey added.

More: Beyonce Gives A Moving Speech At The 2019 GLAAD Media Awards: "LGBTQI Rights Are Human Rights"

The original Lion King movie was released in 1994 and featured music written by Elton John and Tim Rice, including "Circle Of Life" and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight." Those now-classic songs earned the pair four nominations at the 37th GRAMMY Awards. John earned a fifth nod and a win; "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" earned him a GRAMMY for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The dynamic duo also offered the creative genius to a majority of new soundtrack.

Today has been a big day for Beyoncé; her moving Homecoming documentary received six Emmy nominations. Along with the star-studded new album, you can finally watch the Beyoncé and Glover-starring film this Fri., July 19. If you can't wait, you can also tune into her interview with Robin Roberts airing tonight, July 16, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Carlos Santana On Woodstock & The Power Of Music: "These People Wanted The Same Things We Want Today"

Mozzy_122718

Mozzy

Photo: Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Interview
Watch: One Take With Mozzy one-take-mozzy-his-dream-collab-first-music-video-he-ever-watched-more

One Take: Mozzy On His Dream Collab, First Music Video He Ever Watched & More

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The West Coast rapper shares who he'd love to work with, what city he'd like to perform in next, some of his favorites, and more
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Jan 1, 2019 - 9:54 am

West Coast rapper Mozzy has been perfecting his craft over the years and released his latest LP, Gangland Landlord, on Oct. 5. The album has been receiving buzz, especially for "Thugz Mansion," a tribute to his biggest influence, Tupac Shakur. He stopped by our headquarters to play a round of One Take, GRAMMY.com's rapid-fire game that challenges your favorite artists to see how many questions about life, music and everything in between they can answer in 60 seconds.

One Take With Mozzy

In the episode Mozzy tells us what his favorite Tupac song is, the first album he ever bought and his favorite part about his hometown of Sacramento. He also reveals his favorite movie, the city he'd like to perform in next and who his dream collaborator is.

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JPEGMAFIA

JPEGMAFIA

Photo: Dave Pedly/Getty Images for SXSW

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Bandsintown's Fastest Growing New Artists bhad-bhabie-jpegmafia-lil-skies-named-bandsintowns-fastest-growing-new-artists

Bhad Bhabie, JPEGMAFIA & Lil Skies Named Bandsintown's Fastest Growing New Artists

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The platform released its year-end report, revealing the most popular artists among their users
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 19, 2018 - 1:10 pm

Bandsintown, the concert discovery platform, released their 2018 Year in Live Music report, revealing trending artists from their over 50 million global users, featuring the artists who were RSVP'd (GRAMMY winners Twenty One Pilots top the list), as well as their top five "fastest growing new artists," led by Bhad Bhabie and JPEGMAFIA.

To close out a banner year for live music, Bandsintown reflects on the milestones and trends that defined 2018. https://t.co/C7F5Rj6PtZ pic.twitter.com/XLyQ4HqYOX

— Bandsintown (@Bandsintown) December 19, 2018

In addition to the more than 50 million fans who use Bandsintown, the company reports that over 500,000 artists are registered on the platform. The "Artist With The Most RSVP's" list comes from the numbers of users who said they planned on going to an artist's show (regardless of if they actually bought tickets).

The highest number of users wanted to catch Twenty One Pilots on their 2018 Bandito Tour, followed by GRAMMY nominees Panic! At The Disco and Shawn Mendes. Number four on the list is The 1975, with GRAMMY nominee Ariana Grande the No. 5 most RSVP'd artist, with fans preparing for her 2019 Sweetener World Tour.

Bandsintown’s "Fastest Growing New Artists" list is led by Bhad Bhabie, the rap moniker of 15-year-old internet personality Danielle Bregolli, followed by L.A.-based socially conscious rapper JPEGMAFIA, who was recently announced as support for Vince Staples' 2019 tour. No. 3 on the list is hip-hop/spoken-word artist Hobo Johnson, followed by rapper Lil Skies and psych rock group Blac Rabbit.

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Twenty One Pilots Wins Best Pop Duo / Group Performance | Acceptance Speech | 59th GRAMMYs

Report: Ticket Sales For Tours Thrived In 2018's Digital Music Environment

Kid Cudi

Kid Cudi

Photo: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

News
Kid Cudi Opens Up About Mental Health kid-cudi-opens-about-mental-health-jada-pinkett-smith-willow-smith

Kid Cudi Opens Up About Mental Health With Jada Pinkett Smith & Willow Smith

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The GRAMMY winner details his past struggles with substance abuse: "I was very good at keeping my troubles hidden"
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Dec 18, 2018 - 3:35 pm

Rapper Kid Cudi rose swiftly into the spotlight with his GRAMMY-nominated debut single "Day 'N' Nite" in 2008, along with a budding friendship with Kanye West, who signed him to his G.O.O.D. Music label that year. Fast-forward to 2018, with plenty more successes under his belt, Cudi has revealed that at one point he was silently—yet deeply­—struggling through it.

"I was very good at keeping my troubles hidden. Even from my friends, I was really good at that," Cudi shares in a recent conversation on "Red Table Talk," a Facebook Watch show hosted by Jada Pinkett Smith, along with her daughter, Willow Smith, and mother, Adrienne Banfield-Norris. The topic of discussion was mental health, with Cudi sharing his personal struggles with stress, depression and substance abuse, and how he was finally able to heal.

The episode, titled "Confronting Mental Illness," opened with a discussion with the three generations of women, who brought in Cudi as their special guest. As he sat down, Jada shared how special it was to see one of the artists her children looked up to (including Willow, who has put out two albums of her own) live up to his name.

In turn, Cudi revealed how he felt pressure to be someone people could look up to, which caused him to feel he didn't have space for how he really felt.

"It's like my life was like this show and I was always supposed to be on, but when the show was over I was completely miserable. For a long time I was not happy when I woke up in the morning," the rapper said. "It took me a minute to realize there was something going wrong with me."

He shared that he had struggled with drug use when he first was in the public eye, and quit after getting arrested in 2010. When the spotlight came for him in 2008, he felt new stresses and had no outlet for his emotions, nor did he feel like he had anyone to really help him through this new lifestyle in a healthy way.

"Being famous…was weird for me early on. It happened really fast for me, and nobody coached me, no mentorship, I was just kinda in it. I was a kid. 23, 24 is still a kid…it was like, 'Oh, maybe if I try drugs I can be okay,'" Cudi explained.

He also shared that he always hid his drug use from everyone in his life, and in addition to feeling pressure to keep up his image as "everybody's hero," he also kept his struggles to himself "because I was ashamed." This led to a rollercoaster of bottled emotions, secret on-and-off drug use and deep levels of unhappiness. He said that by 2016 "when I wasn't at work it was a nightmare. So I used drugs again."

Jada asked if he thought he had been using drugs to try to manage the depression, to which Cudi agreed, and revealed he eventually reached a breaking point which led him to find help where he could face his pain head-on. "[Rehab] finally helped me talk through it…I don't think I ever really did that in my life. I never really thought about 'Well, why am I depressed?'"

Towards the end of the conversation Willow tearfully brought up young people dying, like the late rapper Mac Miller: "So many young people are just dying because of trying to satiate those emotions with drugs."

Cudi's story is triumphant and points to the struggle so many young people in the public eye and the music industry face. It also demonstrates how artists’ honesty about their pain can not only help them process, but it can help others struggling with depression and addiction relate as well.

Logic Opens Up About His Truth & "Hardest Years Of My Life, Mentally"

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy.