Music Biz Features

In Rolling Stone‘s series At Work, we go behind the curtain with decision-makers across the fast-changing music business — exploring a range of responsibilities, burgeoning ideas, advice for industry newcomers, and more. Read earlier interviews here. Tony Bracy started his music industry career at an amusement park. He helped out …

In the months since George Floyd was killed at the hands of police in Minneapolis, protests over systemic racism and police brutality have continued unabated in cities around America. Initially, a protest movement unfolded in parallel in the music industry, starting on June 2nd, when the major labels decided to …

On June 30th, Couch Guitar Straps received a warning from a potential customer. The man wanted to buy a new guitar strap, but he was upset that Couch was running Facebook ads at a time when a growing number of companies — including Eddie Bauer, Magnolia Pictures, Patagonia, and Ben …

Professional songwriters are currently locked in a legal battle with the likes of Spotify and Amazon over how much they get paid in the United States. By next year, it could become an all-out war. The current battle is taking place because streaming services have appealed against a rise in …

This is the sixth installment of Rolling Stone’s series At Work, in which we explore the fast-changing music business from the perspective of a different industry leader each week. Read earlier pieces in the series here. Dina LaPolt’s law firm was born because Tupac’s mother Afeni Shakur, in 2001, started …

Leo Fender, father of the Stratocaster, did not play the guitar. “But he was one of the world’s best listeners,” says Andy Mooney, the chief executive of Fender Musical Instruments — a company that, true to its founder’s legacy, is more adept at hearing and understanding its audience than anything …

In 1989, Bruce Pavitt, the founder of the Seattle label Sup Pop, hatched a plan to boost the profile of several of his bands, including a pre-fame Nirvana. “During the pre-internet 1980s, it was difficult for struggling regional bands in the United States to achieve any national media attention,” he …