Crain’s Chicago Business, April 12, 2014 — Here’s how the music business works in 2014: On April 3, BuzzFeed proclaimed, “This Country Cover of Kesha is Totally Beautiful,” drawing listeners to a free audio stream of Bloodshot Records artist Lydia Loveless’ twangy version of pop star Kesha’s “Blind.” Over the next four days, the post received more than 77,000 views and probably stoked sales for the single, to be released on April 19. The shoutout didn’t happen by chance… Read my story in Crain’s Chicago Business.
Illustration by Kevin Marks