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The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! AUG 19: Happy birthday to John Deacon! Born August 19, 1951, in Leicester, England, Deacon is best known as the quiet yet essential bassist for the legendary rock band Queen. Joining the group in 1971, he completed the classic lineup alongside Freddie Mercury, Brian May, and Roger Taylor. Though often reserved on stage and in interviews, Deacon’s musical contributions were pivotal to Queen’s sound, blending melodic bass lines with rhythmic precision. Deacon proved himself not only as a bassist but...

Since our last report in 2024 on the latest RIAA top 10 albums in terms of U.S. sales, AC/DC is the biggest mover, with their Back In Black masterstroke album now going from fourth to third on the list. In doing so they overtook the Eagles venerable Hotel California album.   Eagles, however, remain fully secure at the top of the list with their best seller, Eagles/Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975, at 38 million copies sold. Also, Led Zeppelin's IV album notched past Billy Joel's two-volume greatest hits release, tying the Beatles White Album at 24 million sold. Other moves in the top...

The week in music history brought to you by MusicGoldmine.com. Just a couple of highlights from this week in music history! JUL 26: Happy birthday to Roger Taylor! Born July 26, 1949, in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England, Taylor is best known as the dynamic drummer and vocalist for the legendary rock band Queen. With his powerful playing style, distinctive high harmonies, and songwriting contributions, Taylor played a vital role in shaping Queen’s sound and global success. Taylor began his musical journey in his teens, initially playing guitar before switching to drums. In 1970, he joined forces with Freddie Mercury, Brian May,...

While consumers and fans of music know what songs they love, it turns out that big business really loves songs too. Especially song catalogs, which are bundles of songs that an artist created that include rights to exploit them. "Exploit them" means not only deriving the revenue from them when people buy a physical copy, download, or stream of a song, but also revenue from uses of a song in film or television, commercials, video games, and more. In fact, song catalogs have grown from niche music-industry curiosities into mainstream investment assets. Several factors have converged to drive this boom:...

MusicGoldmine recently acquired a stellar collection of rare RIAA "white matte" record awards. For those not familiar, this type of RIAA awards are the rarest and most valuable of all RIAA awards. They were made from 1964 through 1974 in quite limited numbers for each title by only one company, the New York Frame & Picture Co. Also worth noting is that artist-presented awards are always the most valuable*, when they are genuine. Fortunately, all of these awards are genuine. If you'd like to know how we determine whether white matte RIAA awards are genuine, check out our detailed guide...