Monthly Digest: October 2024

Events 🪩

• Cheers to Successful A2IM Member Hangs in NYC and San Francisco!
  • We held our “Indies Take NYC” mixer co-hosted by our friends at Too Lost on Tuesday, October 15! We had a great time making connections over some tunes, cocktails and snacks in the heart of NYC! Thanks to all who joined! See pics here.
  • We had the chance to join forces with EMPIRE in bringing together the Bay Area’s independent music community for an evening of connection, conversation, music and drinks on October 29! 

• A2IM Holiday Parties 🎉
  • The holidays are near, and A2IM is ready to celebrate our collective end of the year success with you! We’re planning to host holiday parties in NYC, Los Angeles and Nashville. Be on the lookout for more updates on the location and dates of the NYC party soon. These are member exclusive events.

A2IM Updates 📣

• TikTok/Merlin
  • TikTok has decided to not renew its licensing agreement with Merlin. A2IM has voiced strong support for Merlin, and has also been engaging with legislators and industry stakeholders to raise awareness about the situation. A2IM emphasized the importance of ensuring that independent artists and labels are fairly compensated for the use of their music on platforms like TikTok, which has been a major driver of music discovery and viral trends.
    • See Richard’s guest column on Billboard HERE.

• Submit your music for consideration at the 2025 Libera Awards!
  • The Libera Awards submissions platform opened on October 21. We’re very excited to see all the amazing accomplishments the independent music community has done this past year! If you have an entry you’d like to submit, click HERE! You can also find more information and instructions on our page HERE. Feel free to reach out to Nicolle if you have any other questions! Submissions close on December 12.

• Get Involved: Submit to A2IM Indie Week 2025!
  • Our Indie Week Panel Provider form is open! Submit your ideas to our panel provider HERE and submit a speaker HERE.
• Welcome New Members! 👏
  • Mostro.xyz (Associate Member)
  • Hellbender Vinyl (Associate Member)
  • Midtopia (Dual Member)
  • Boost Collective (Associate Member)
  • PlusMedia (Associate Member)

• ICYMI: A2IM Partners with Luminate to Offer Members Exclusive Discount!
  • Luminate, the analytics engine behind the Billboard Charts for more than 30 years, has a special 60% discounted offer for A2IM members! Get streaming and physical sales data compiled from over 500 providers to measure campaign effectiveness, conduct competitive analysis, plan for market expansion, forecast revenue and so much more. This offer has been extended to the end of the year. Email Chirag at [email protected] if you’re interested.
• ICYMI: A2IM Has Partnered with beatBread on a Member-exclusive Funding Program!
  • Last week, we launched a new partnership with beatBread offering our members exclusive, transparent funding options – including free distribution via Too Lost and a free OpenPlay subscription!

• A2IM Mentorship Program is in full swing! 🫶
  • It’s back for its 11th go-round! The A2IM Fall Mentorship program is running from October 15 – March 31, 2025. Applications were open from August 15-September 13. Thanks to our mentor committee, now run by Emmaline, which includes Lisa Levy, Mariah Czap, Kristin Epstein and new member Warren Konigsmark, everyone is officially paired up and collaborating together!

Team A2IM on the Road 🚌

• October
  • Chirag was recently in Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪to speak at Ireland Music Week from October 1-4, before he headed to Santa Monica, CA for Music Tectonics from October 22-24, and then to San Francisco for a mixer at the Empire HQ on October 29. 
  • Emmaline gave a presentation about the value of A2IM in North Carolina during the annual Redeye Label Hang from October 22-24.
• November
  • Chirag is in Los Angeles this week for the Jump Global Summit from November 17-20.
• December
  • Richard will be in LA on Tuesday, December 3rd for our annual LA holiday party! RSVP here. 
  • Emmaline will be in Nashville for our Nashville Holiday Party! RSVP here. 

Advocacy ✊

• NO FAKES Act 
  • Update: The No Fakes Act has been introduced to the US House of Representatives. This legislation already has bipartisan support in the Senate, where it was introduced in late July. The Human Artistry Campaign (HAC) has issued a press release, which includes a quote in support from A2IM, and a quote from WIN. A2IM has been involved in moving this legislation forward along with the RIAA, Recording Academy, ARA, SONA, SoundExchange, and more.
    • The NO FAKES Act would create a federal intellectual property right for an individual’s visual likeness and voice – accelerating the push for protection against invasive AI deep fakes, voice clones and other non consensual digital replicas – while also establishing a system of accountability and enforcement.

• PAC Developments
  • Our Political Action Committee continues to strengthen ties with key lawmakers to champion the interests of the independent music sector. For more information, please reach out to [email protected] or [email protected]. 

Education: Indiescussion Webinar Series 🎥

• UPCOMING: Curve Royalty Systems Workshop, November 21, 1-2pm ET – RSVP
  • Curve presents its industry leading software and services for processing music royalties. Learn about transparency in your royalty accounting, providing your artists with data access and analytics, and how the right approach can help you strengthen your relationships with your clients.
• UPCOMING: AI in Music Production: Ethical Frameworks, December 5 1-2pm ET – RSVP
  • Explore the evolving relationship between AI and music production in this webinar, featuring MatchTune’s Virginie Berger (CBDO) and Ben Porter (Marketing Associate). Trace AI’s journey through the history of music, examine its current applications, and evaluate essential ethical considerations—including bias, transparency, intellectual property rights, and fair compensation. Investigate real-world examples of AI’s polarizing impact on music, and help conceptualize the regulatory and technological frameworks needed to guide AI’s future role as a collaborator with human creators. In an AI-integrated industry, join us as we engage in vital discussions to ensure music’s integrity of music for all stakeholders.
• Music Video Masterclass presented by Vevo, October 3 – WATCH
• A key success factor in any artist’s campaign revolves around effective music video marketing. In this presentation, the experts at Vevo, the world’s leading music video network, showed how to optimize your content to the fullest extent and reach a global network of fans. Vevo discussed best practices, tips and tricks for growth and more. Attendees were able to learn the most effective and efficient processes with Vevo’s firsthand knowledge and step-by-step walk-throughs around editorial support, playlisting and distribution to keep the attention of longtime fans, as well as expose their music to potential audiences.

• Bridging Traditional Music Distribution with NFTs, November 7 – WATCH
  • We had an engaging and informative session with Revelator as we explored the groundbreaking Simple Music NFT DDEX standard and its transformative impact on the music industry. This webinar highlighted how the new standard seamlessly connects traditional music distribution with NFTs and Web3 projects, opening up new opportunities for creators, labels, and distributors.

• Soundcloud School, November 14, 1-2PM ET – WATCH
  • The goal of “SoundCloud School” is to redefine SoundCloud’s image beyond just a Digital Streaming Partner (DSP) by providing an educational program designed to help music creators and industry stakeholders understand and utilize the full potential of SoundCloud. This program aims to educate at scale, covering basic to advanced topics, ensuring users can effectively engage with SoundCloud’s tools and community, whether or not they are releasing music.