Rock has actually been stated dead a lot of times that the statement has actually ended up being a custom of its own, though the brochure offers, sold-out arenas, and streaming numbers keep declining to flatline. Open On Sunday and Digital Music News brought 4 market veterans together for’The Value of Rock’webinar, moderated by Lars Murray of the Unlimited Supply podcast to take a look at where the category beings in the contemporary music service both culturally and economically.
This post was produced in cooperation with DMN partner Open On Sunday.
Over approximately an hour and a half, the discussion moved from whether rock still has a pulse to how brochures get priced, marketed, tidied up, and safeguarded when an offer closes. Murray framed the session by keeping in mind that the ‘rock is dead’ cliche has actually been a well-worn trope for years now. The cultural drift now prefers pop, EDM, and hip-hop as categories, however our panelists aren’t prepared to quit on the sound specified by the electrical guitar.
Ali Schlueter, Head of Frontline Marketing & & Catalog Development for North America at Reservoir/Chrysalis responds to the idea without doubt:” is not dead. It is growing.” She indicates how well rock streams on digital company (DSPs) and to the number of shapes the category has actually taken control of the years, from alternative and emo to singer-songwriters like Zach Bryan and Phoebe Bridgers– which she counts under the rock umbrella.
Jay Gilbert of Label Logic includes that Luminate Reports reveal rock fans are amongst the most devoted of any category which the category relocates cycles, mentioning the success of Ghost filling arenas worldwide. Rock brochures gain from a discovery loop that never ever truly stops, Gilbert includes. He points out an anecdote from his own life, in which his child got home and shared that she heard a terrific brand-new band called Queen.
Scott Seine, President of Surfdog/DKM discusses that streaming has actually matched discovery so a tune that surface areas in a social feed lands with a more youthful listener as a tune initially, separated from the years of brand name history. Fleetwood Mac got a taste of that early in TikTok’s life, as their hit “Dreams” resonated with a brand-new audience after a male on a skateboard recorded himself singing it while consuming Ocean Spray cranberry juice.
Video that may have aired when on tv in the 1970s now resides in what Seine calls a location where “this YouTube bunny hole permits such incredible discovery.” He likewise keeps in mind that older rock brings “this amazing credibility that features these older rock brochures” for more youthful fans, which discovery tends to take a trip backwards through the family tree, as when he discovered who Robert Johnson was while listening to Eric Clapton.
Kevin Dynda, Copyright Specialist at brochure financing business Open On Sunday, provided a take a look at how genre shapes underwriting. Market decay curves vary by category, with pop revealing a greater peak and a quicker decrease before it plateaus, while rock tends to begin lower and hang on, since “the listenership is extremely sticky and steady,” Dynda states. He explains rock as having “an extremely steady flooring” that exists practically specifically for the rock category, which he credits partially to album-oriented listening and partially to artists who compose and perform their own product.
That stability has a rate tag when it comes to brochure appraisal. Dynda keeps in mind that well-tended properties leave less to discover in metadata clean-up, which presses worth production towards marketing, experiences, and listening. In his words, valuing a brochure boils down to the reality that “you’re truly assessing threat profile more than anything.”
Murray, who created the term ‘queener’ on his podcast for a billion-dollar brochure increment, kept in mind that Queen, Pink Floyd, and Bruce Springsteen have actually all moved from numerous millions into area that nobody would have anticipated a years earlier. Dynda’s open example originates from Open On Sunday’s stake in the B.B. King brochure, hung on both the publishing and label sides with partner Fresh Sonics. The group discovered a 50-year-old eight-song album called Lucille Talks Back that had actually never ever been on streaming. They restore it as a re-imagined 50th anniversary release with visitors consisting of Doyle Bramhall II and Eric Gales.
Music managers tend to understand precisely what they desire and Ali Schlueter’s preferred evidence originated from Euphoria, where the manager matured on a Sinéad O’Connor album and requested the deep cut “Drink Before the War” instead of “Nothing Compares 2 U.” The tune was relaxing 4,000 streams in the days before the sync, then leapt to 787,000 right after the episode it was included in aired. Now the tune sits at around 45M streams. Schlueter’s group triggered the minute the positioning appeared with Spotify playlisting, advertisements, and an ask for a clip of the scene, which she states managers do not constantly turn over.
Scott Seine includes that synchronizes typically get authorized long before they air and after that those music managers do not inform you as soon as you’ve stated yes. His group now tracks their positionings to make sure artists get paid and fans are conscious of where they can stream the music they’ve simply heard on their preferred program.
Gilbert keeps in mind that the biopic lift gets the headings while much of the music company runs on less attractive works like syncs, interpolations, anniversaries, and behind-the-scenes storytelling. He explains a big IP business resting on 12 obtained brochures it had actually not touched merely due to the fact that they didn’t have the workforce.
He keeps in mind that an improvement job of his own focused on 11 Rick Springfield albums going back to the artist, where each album needed to be looked for streaming accessibility, replicates, missing out on tracks, and area spaces. Seine explains a comparable effort resolving Iron Mountain archives where an engineer’s doodled notes are the only map, specifying: “you simply got ta start someplace and chip away.” The reward for that included a Clapton re-issue that appeared 3 unreleased tunes.
When it concerns diligence, that likewise includes understanding when to pass. Schlueter states she denied a metal band’s brochure after keeping in mind that it featured no merch or touring rights in the offer. Dynda includes that the chain of title, copyright registration, songwriter divides, and third-party approvals can all intensify into threat which ownership disputes from lost 40-year-old contracts can emerge well after a brochure acquisition has actually closed.
Older rock brochures can be important for immersive fan experiences and direct-to-fan sales, too. Tank has actually purchased the London-based immersive business Lightroom, and Schlueter explained the David Bowie and Radiohead reveals as a method for fans to experience artists who can not explore or are not presently exploring, including that “leaving your phone into a space with comparable fans is simply such an excellent shared experience.” Gilbert and Seine both promoted immersive audio like Dolby Atmos, with Seine remembering a Bob Marley live album at Capitol combined so well that he might hear the cups clinking behind him. He argues that the format requires education so listeners comprehend that it is not solely for audiophiles.
Speaking on direct-to-fan designs, Gilbert explains that rights holders make “$3,000 to $5,000 for every single million streams,” which is why he examines artists’ sites and 9 times out of 10, discovers no direct-to-consumer relationship established. Once again Gilbert holds up arena rock act Ghost as the design to imitate as they do a brand-new drop approximately every 4 weeks. Dynda includes that first-party fan information is not yet a significant part of brochure appraisals which the market isn’t at a point yet where it must be.
Carrying on to songwriters, publishing, and what follows, Gilbert took the contrarian position on the high multiples that Merck Mercuriadis and Hipgnosis were slammed for, arguing that those offers raised the standing of songwriters, who usually sit at the bottom of the royalty chain. Seine, whose customer Dave Stewart offered to Hipgnosis early on, stated the attention on songwriters is precisely what Stewart liked about the offer. Dynda includes that Open On Sunday sees funding as another method for authors to access their own possessions.
On publishing, Schlueter mentioned Reservoir’s Miles Davis 100th birthday project, with brand name collaborations and DSP activations run by a devoted publishing marketing group. Asked which property is much better placed for the future, Gilbert picked publishing and informed artists who get deals keep that in reserve. “That’s a last hope choice. Hang on to that publishing.”
Near completion, Murray observes that the panel pertained to discuss rock and wound up covering almost whatever through that prism, concluding that rock is a category that has a strong brochure existence. “It might or might not be all that various from whatever else,” states Murray. That’s maybe the most truthful takeaway of the session. Rock no longer owns the charts the method it did from the 1960s through the early 2000s, however its worth lies in other places, in a fan base that stays, tunes that discover brand-new listeners whenever a program or social feed surface areas them, and a back brochure still filled with unreleased tapes and unblemished properties.
Individuals succeeding behind the scenes with rock brochures tend to be those who want to dig and Murray’s closing line uses to every offer gone over: “if you resolve for the artist, typically everyone wins.”
Panelists
Lars Murray Mediator — Murray is the host of the day-to-day Unlimited Supply podcast, a 7 to 10 minute executive summary of music market innovation and financing advancements. He’s likewise a consultant to business operating at the crossway of music and digital innovation. He has a 30-year performance history as a digital change strategist with work covering Pandora, Columbia Records, Sony Music, Spotify, Apple, Google/YouTube, UMG, and WMG. He encourages the media workshop WBRU Studios and made a Certificate in Applied Agentic AI for Organizational Transformation from MIT in 2026.
Ali Schlueter — Head of Frontline Marketing & & Catalog Development, North America, Recorded Music at Chrysalis Records, Tommy Boy Music, and Reservoir. She supervises North American marketing throughout the tape-recorded music department, consisting of freshly released umbrella label Reservoir Recordings and contributed in bringing De La Soul’s brochure to streaming for the very first time. She formerly held marketing functions at mtheory, IAG, and Island Def Jam.
Kevin Dynda — Copyright Specialist at brochure financing business Open on Sunday. The New Jersey-based expert brings more than 8 years of experience in music rights, licensing, and metadata management from previous functions at Reservoir and HFA.
Jay Gilbert — Music Industry consultant, teacher, and manager of the weekly Your Morning Coffee newsletter and podcast and Co-Founder of Digital Strategy and Audience Insights at Label Logic. He invested years as an executive at Universal, Sony, and Warner Music producing internet marketing prepare for artists consisting of Nirvana, The Police, KISS, Bob Marley, and Johnny Cash.
Scott Seine — President of Surfdog/KDM, where he supervises personnel, company method, and business efforts for the label and management business. Over 24 years with the business he has actually managed top-charting releases and significant projects for Glen Campbell, Eric Clapton, Brian Setzer, Sublime, Dave Stewart, The Stray Cats, and Joss Stone to name a few.
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