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Cherie Hu
Cherie Hu

1.93K Followers

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Nov 26, 2019

What India’s music industry can teach us about paid YouTube views, musical regionalism and the productive uselessness of charts

“[If] they’re paid views, call them paid views … Don’t say that 100 million people have ‘watched’ this video. YouTube is called an ‘on-demand’ streaming platform for a reason.” — Below is a transcript of an interview with Amit Gurbaxani for the Water & Music podcast. Hosted by me, Cherie Hu, the podcast unpacks the fine print behind big ideas at the intersection of music and tech, featuring a curated selection of leaders, artists, thinkers and innovators from across the…

Music

33 min read

What India’s music industry can teach us about paid YouTube views, musical regionalism and the…
What India’s music industry can teach us about paid YouTube views, musical regionalism and the…
Music

33 min read


Oct 4, 2019

Why now is a tough time to start a music marketing agency

“I’d be going to every decent [artist] management company on the planet trying to build them an internal digital, performance and growth team, while I wait for the next medium.” — Below is a transcript of an interview with Garrison Snell (Founder and CEO of Nashville-based digital marketing agency Gyrosity Projects) for the Water & Music podcast. Hosted by me, Cherie Hu, the podcast unpacks the fine print behind big ideas at the intersection of music and tech, featuring a curated…

Music

34 min read

Why now is a challenging time to start a music marketing agency
Why now is a challenging time to start a music marketing agency
Music

34 min read


Sep 24, 2019

The Artist As Technology, Part 2: What Is Your “Whole Product”?

Come for the music, stay for the… music? Think again. — This is part two of a series of posts about what happens when we market musicians like tech products. You can read part one, “Breaking the Adoption Cycle,” by clicking here. “Come for the X, stay for the Y.” The above quote is a common maxim in tech marketing and…

Music

21 min read

The Artist As Technology, Part 2: What Is Your “Whole Product”?
The Artist As Technology, Part 2: What Is Your “Whole Product”?
Music

21 min read


Sep 19, 2019

What does an artist-centric future for music-tech look like?

“If artists were more in control of their own business … we would be in a really different industry.” — Below is a transcript of an interview with Kiran Gandhi (a.k.a. Madame Gandhi) for the Water & Music podcast. Hosted by me, Cherie Hu, the podcast unpacks the fine print behind big ideas at the intersection of music and tech, featuring a curated selection of leaders, artists, thinkers and innovators…

Music

29 min read

What does an artist-centric future for music-tech look like?
What does an artist-centric future for music-tech look like?
Music

29 min read


Aug 15, 2019

Why music isn’t a top-two category on Patreon (yet)

Artists’ revenue streams “look, sound and act really differently from a membership.” — Below is a transcript of an interview with Wyatt Jenkins, SVP of product at Patreon, for the Water & Music podcast. Hosted by me, Cherie Hu, the podcast unpacks the fine print behind big ideas at the intersection of music and tech, featuring a curated selection of leaders, artists, thinkers…

Music

35 min read

Why music isn’t a top-two category on Patreon (yet)
Why music isn’t a top-two category on Patreon (yet)
Music

35 min read


Jul 29, 2019

How artificial intelligence will do to music creation what Instagram did to photography

Rethinking creativity and accessibility for music in a world where “there will be ten million songs a day.” — Below is a transcript of an interview with Alex Mitchell, founder/CEO of Boomy, for the Water & Music podcast. Hosted by me, Cherie Hu, the podcast unpacks the fine print behind big ideas at the intersection of music and tech, featuring a curated selection of leaders, artists, thinkers and innovators…

Music

40 min read

How artificial intelligence will do to music what Instagram did to photography
How artificial intelligence will do to music what Instagram did to photography
Music

40 min read


Jun 13, 2019

What Stem’s upheaval reveals about music distribution’s new “middle tier”

It’s no longer appropriate to talk about the music business simply as a hard binary between the mainstream and the long tail. — [This article was originally published on June 13, 2019, through my biweekly Water & Music email newsletter.] Stem is growing up, and not everyone is happy. On May 31, 2019, the L.A.-based music distribution platform — known for working with the likes of Frank Ocean, Anna Wise and Childish Gambino…

Music

12 min read

What Stem’s upheaval reveals about music distribution’s new “middle tier”
What Stem’s upheaval reveals about music distribution’s new “middle tier”
Music

12 min read


Published in

Bello Collective

·Feb 25, 2019

Why Musicians Are Starting Their Own Podcasts — and Why the Podcast Industry Should Pay Attention

In sidestepping media middlemen, artists are creating their own DIY music-media economy. — Over the past few decades, podcasting has bloomed from a primarily DIY medium at the bottom of the media food chain, to a corporate-approved cash cow at the top — and major music-streaming services have become among the sector’s most aggressive investors today. In the summer of 2017, Tidal launched…

Music

10 min read

Why Musicians Are Starting Their Own Podcasts — and Why the Podcast Industry Should Pay Attention
Why Musicians Are Starting Their Own Podcasts — and Why the Podcast Industry Should Pay Attention
Music

10 min read


Jan 10, 2019

Why Spotify Is Not A Music Company

As investors have predicted, Spotify is betting on becoming the Netflix of audio — for better or for worse. — On October 28, 2018, as I was on Spotify’s mobile app searching for a certain music playlist I had made for myself, I received the following, unsolicited push notification: The notification was for Crimetown, a serial podcast produced by Gimlet Media that dives into the history of organized crime in…

Music

11 min read

Why Spotify Is Not A Music Company
Why Spotify Is Not A Music Company
Music

11 min read


Nov 16, 2018

Music & Esports in 2018: A Comprehensive Timeline

A timestamped play-by-play demonstrates why the intersection of music and esports is one of the biggest entertainment business trends of the year. — Last month, I published an article on Forbes diving into why the intersection of music and esports is one of 2018's fastest-moving business trends in entertainment. tl;dr — Esports leagues and game developers are blooming into full-fledged media brands, and are looking to the music business to solidify their cultural…

Esports

15 min read

Music & Esports in 2018: A Comprehensive Timeline
Music & Esports in 2018: A Comprehensive Timeline
Esports

15 min read

Cherie Hu

Cherie Hu

1.93K Followers

I run Water & Music, a publication about the fine print of innovation in the music business. bit.ly/waterandmusic

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