The best newsletters for people who love music

Music is a big part of our everyday lives. I’m sure most of you, much like myself, wake up and put your favorite songs on. Also, how many of you go to the gym or for a jog without music blasting in your headphones? My point exactly. Oftentimes, we go out with our friends solely for the purpose of listening to our most beloved artists when they are playing somewhere.

But there are also people who are very passionate on a deeper level when it comes to the music industry and everything in between. They are typically knowledgeable and enthusiastic individuals who have immersed themselves into the cultural and business side of the music world and have been curating about it in their popular personal newsletters. We selected some of the best ones and wanted to share those with you.

Platform & Stream

Platform & Stream is a daily digest about the world of music streaming. Jeff Hyatt is on a mission to keep you updated on the latest news about music streaming platforms, like Spotify or Apple Music. What is really interesting, is that there is so much happening when it comes to music streaming that a daily digest such as this one is a great way to stay up to date. Every single issue contains a relevant list of articles about the industry with a few sentences that summarize the essence of the article. So in case you’re in a hurry, you can still browse through the news and never miss out on anything important. To this date, there are 130 issues of Platform & Stream, so if you want to read up on what’s been going on with music streaming lately, this is a great place to start catching up.

Lefsetz Letter

Bob Lefsetz is a legend in the music world thanks to his infamous Lefsetz Letter. His newsletter started a long time ago, even before the existence of email, but you can read the whole story here. Bob is the person who discusses and criticizes artists, the business side of the music world and music itself. His opinion obviously matters to those same artists as well, given that he’s previously had some popular feuds with celebrities like Taylor Swift, Gene Simmons and Kid Rock.

One thing that separates him from everyone else is that Bob’s not afraid to express his true opinions in each and every issue of the Lefsetz Letter. That blunt honesty makes his newsletter that much more exciting and his expertise that much more relevant. Bob has been reaching music enthusiasts all over the world for more than a decade now by popping up in their inboxes. And that’s simply because the Lefsetz Letter is one most exceptional music digests out there.

Music x Tech x Future

In Music x Tech x Future, Bas curates weekly about music, tech, the future and how those three things intersect each other in different ways. He’s one of those passionate curators who aim to open up your perspective about the way the music world works and makes it a priority to provide you with as many insights as possible. In every issue, you get to learn not only about the latest things happening in the music industry, but also plenty of cool things from the digital music space that you might’ve missed. Every week, he shares personal thought pieces, news about the digital music space and exciting pieces from the industry. At the end of his digest you will find a “fun” section where you can indulge in cool stories, updates on projects he’s working on or wicked recommendations about hidden music gems from all over the world! And you can rely on his exceptional music taste since you won’t find mainstream nonsense in there :)

Blended Beats

This newsletter is a collaborative project between Jacques Hoogesteger & Stan Steeghs from Warner Music together with Revue. It really is one of the coolest newsletters about music with a very simple concept – every Thursday you get 3 trending tracks in your inbox. The Blended Beats newsletter will make your day brighter by offering you a fresh set of 3 trending underground tracks that you most probably didn’t know about. It’s a great way to start off the weekend by finding your new potential favorite jam. Curated by two passionate people with an impeccable sense for upcoming quality trending tracks, you are guaranteed to receive a weekly selection of the finest hits.To top it all off, you get a little backstory by radio promotor Jeroen Linnenbank for each track about what went down behind the scenes.

Five-Song-Fridays

Speaking of starting off the weekend right, Five Song Fridays is the digest that provides its readers with 5 song suggestions on Fridays by Song Exploder, the podcast on which musicians take listeners through the creation process of their songs. The idea of their digest is simple — you get 5 recommendations of awesome songs. As an addition, inside there’s a link to their latest podcast episode. Sometimes you’ll also find some updates on the latest things happening with Song Exploder.

Water & Music

Cherie Hu is a writer and curator with a burning passion for music. Her newsletter Water & Music briefs you on news about the music world but also plenty of materials that touch upon bigger and more serious issues, like gender or making money as an artist among many other relevant topics regarding the music industry. Typically, you will find an engaging intro that aims to summarize some recent highlights and oftentimes will leave you with something to ponder upon. Her humorous, somewhat chucklesome style of writing makes her newsletter that much more of a pleasure to read. I’m sure you will find the last section, titled “obligatory potato” quite amusing, charming and actually educational. It’s like an extra little gift that will definitely make you smile.

22tracks

22track’s newsletter is a monthly list of awesome music recommendations that are clustered into playlists and are curated by the music lovers at 22tracks. Each playlist is accompanied by a summary that will give you an idea as to what it’s all about. All of those playlists are connected to the 22tracks platform which enables you to listen to them directly on Spotify. What you can expect from the newsletter is various suggestions for styles of music and artists that you might’ve not heard of so far. The beauty of their digest is that everyone can find something to their liking no matter what your music preferences are and that’s exactly what makes 22tracks so special and different.