The music vibe

Krezip - The Music Box

2008-01-14T13:14:00.000+01:00

De nieuwe single ’All my life’ van Krezip is te beluisteren op de zeer fraaie promosite ’The Krezip Music Box’. De bezoeker moet er alleen wel wat voor doen. Om de nieuwe single te kunnen luisteren moet de bezoeker namelijk rondjes draaien met z’n muis! Op ’The Krezip Music Box’ staat de band opgesteld op een plaat. Door de plaat met de muis op het juiste tempo rond te draaien zal Krezip de nieuwe single spelen. Hoe langer de bezoeker het juiste tempo weet aan te houden, hoe mooier de prijs is die gewonnen kan worden. Een leuk idee dat bezoekers zeker tot actie aanzet!

'EMI gaat duizenden banen schrappen'

2008-01-14T13:02:00.001+01:00

EMI wil tweeduizend banen schrappen. Dat meldden de Britse kranten. De Amerikaanse muziekmaatschappij zou de banen willen schrapen als een onderdeel van de reorganisatie van EMI door Terra Firma.

Het marketingbudget van EMI zou worden verlaagd van 20 naar 12 procent. Ook zouden duizenden artiesten op straat komen te staan. Grote namen als Robbie Williams Coldplay en Kylie Minogue zouden weg willen bij EMI.

'EMI ontslaat duizenden artiesten'

2008-01-14T13:01:00.001+01:00

(Novum/AP) - Een grootschalige reorganisatie bij platenlabel EMI gaat duizenden medewerkers en artiesten hun baan kosten. Naar schatting staat een derde van de huidige werknemers binnenkort op straat, zo berichtten diverse Britse media zondag. De marketingafdeling zou de grootste klappen te verduren krijgen.

EMI, waar onder anderen de Beastie Boys, Coldplay, The Rolling Stones en Kylie Minogue onder contract staan, werd in augustus opgekocht voor 3,5 miljard euro. De nieuwe eigenaar van het Britse bedrijf, Firma Capital Partners, zou uit zijn op een winstverdubbeling. Naar verwachting worden de nieuwe plannen dinsdag officieel bekendgemaakt.

Vrijdag werd al bekend dat Robbie Williams, die in 2002 een contract van naar verluidt 105 miljoen euro bij EMI binnensleepte, het niet eens is met de nieuwe koers van het bedrijf. De Britse zanger staakt voor nog onbepaalde tijd al zijn werkzaamheden. Ook Coldplay zou hebben gedreigd geen platen meer aan te leveren.

Faithless promoot nieuwe Coca-Cola fles

2008-01-14T12:58:00.000+01:00

Het optreden van Faithless op het Filmfestival van Cannes vorige maand was de kick-off van een muziekportal van Coca-Cola i.s.m. Apple's iTunes. Met het online muziekplatform worden via codes in Coca-Cola verpakkingen vele tientallen miljoenen mensen bereikt. Daarmee is het 's werelds grootste muziekpromotie aller tijden.
Faithless produceerde exclusief voor Coca-Cola een song die o.a te downloaden is op de site faithless.coca-cola.com.

Deze prachtig gemaakte site is meer dan de moeite waard en biedt allerlei interactieve mogelijkheden, zoals het zelf bewerken van het decor van een coca-cola fles. Wat opvalt is dat Coca-Cola op een zeer minimalistische en uitsluitend functionele manier aanwezig is op de site. Overdadige branding zou de geloofwaardigheid van het project niet ten goed komen.
Op de site wordt uitgebreid aandacht besteed aan 'The Project', de combinatie van de nieuwe song van Faithless en de bijbehorende video-clip, beiden gratis te downloaden. De clip is een samenwerking van mensen met verschillende artistieke achtergrond en afkomstig uit verschillende culturen. Deze manier van werken van Faithless leidde eerder tot het muziekproject One Giant Leap.

Naast de song en de videoclip is de site het platform voor de nieuwe aluminium fles van Coca-cola. "A bottle. But not just any bottle". De op een bijzondere manier gedecoreerde aluminium Glow in the Dark fles - limited edition - zal alleen gedistribueerd worden in de 'hippest' clubs en bars in Europa. Deze strategie lijkt gekopieerd van Heineken die met de introductie van de aluminium Paco fles enkele jaren geleden het product bij een nieuwe doelgroep onder de aandacht wist te brengen. Maakte Heineken gebruik van design celebrity Ora-Ito, Coca-Cola huurde cultgroep Faithless in en voor het ontwerp voor de fles ontwerpgroep Paranoidus. De laatste meldt op haar website momenteel ook voor Heineken actief te zijn.

In een eerder bericht noemde ik Pepsi dat d.m.v. crowdsourcing op zoek is naar een nieuw (tijdelijk) decor voor haar standaardblik en belangrijker, connectie met het avant-gardistische deel van haar doelgroep. Coca-Cola kiest een ander strategie. Wat het meeste op zal leveren moet nog blijken, al zal het moeilijik zijn daar achter te komen. Zeker is dat het marketingteam van Coca-Cola kon beschikken over veel groter budget dan het team van Pepsi.

Is Microsoft's Zune Finally Selling? Shortage Appears

2007-12-19T16:35:00.000+01:00

Microsoft is now experiencing a shortage on its recently-released, 80GB Zune, a development that raises some positive possibilities. Research group iSuppli reported the shortage, though the company was careful in its assessments. Last year, Microsoft aggressively hoisted its first-run, 30GB player, though iSuppli characterized the second wave marketing approach as tentative. "Given the widespread criticism of the first Zune model, it is likely Microsoft erred on the side of caution when placing initial orders for the new Zunes, which include the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) based Zune 80 as well as the flash memory-based Zune 4 and 8," said senior analyst Chris Crotty.
The Zune could be picking up speed, though the iPod still remains king. Recent rumors recently suggested that the Zune was beating the iPod on Amazon, though Crotty quickly dismissed those reports. "In reality, those reports referred to a sales spike for the older, deeply discounted Zune 30 model," Crotty said. Meanwhile, hard numbers remain elusive, though most expect a better Microsoft showing this holiday season. Across all manufacturers, iSuppli projected year-end global sales of roughly 211.5 million units and revenues of $19.5 billion. The latest round of Zunes, released in September, were mostly praised by once-critical reviewers.

All-Time Online Shopping Record Emerges, Growth Concerns Linger

2007-12-19T16:34:00.002+01:00

Online shopping tallies continued their year-over-year gains last week, and a fresh, one-day record emerged. According to research group comScore, December 10th was the biggest online shopping day on record, reaching a healthy revenue total of $881 million. Between November 1st and December 14th, online spending totaled $22.7 billion, a bump from year-ago figures of $19.2 billion. On the music side, digital downloads moved upward 35.9 percent to 15.6 million a-la-carte downloads for the week ending December 9th. Cumulative annual downloads are now up 45.9 percent to 766.3 million units, according to figures published by Nielsen Soundscan.
All of that sounds impressive, though some signs of sluggishness are surfacing. Despite the one-day record, online shopping volumes are growing at a slower pace than last year. Specifically, year-over-year gains for the holiday period improved by roughly 18 percent, slower than a 26 percent gain from last year, according to comScore. And households with less than $50,000 in annual earnings are showing the slowest purchasing activity, a sign of possible consumer anxiety.
Meanwhile, the same type of slowdown is being found in the paid download arena. At the end of 2006, year-over-year paid download volumes had jumped 65 percent to 581.9 million, a more aggressive pace. The year earlier, the growth rate was 147 percent, though total volumes of 352.7 million were considerably smaller.

Resnikoff's Parting Shot: The Universal Tollbooth

2007-12-19T16:34:00.001+01:00

Universal Music Group is quickly losing cash, but Doug Morris is now converting downstream device manufacturers into paying partners. The latest is XM Satellite Radio, which has now entered into a "multi-year deal covering all XM radios with advanced recording functionality," including future devices. The vague description sounds like a per-device levy on time-shifting devices, or at least a stepped-up revenue payment tied to advanced players.
XM Satellite already pays for the use of recorded music content. Now, the royalties are spreading into devices, and overall payments are larger as a result. Although deal specifics are foggy, the top-level description resembles a recent arrangement with Microsoft, which is now delivering a per-unit fee to Universal Music on every Zune sold.
In the current landscape, time-shifting satellite receivers and Zunes are marginal sellers. Perhaps that will change over time, but if not, Doug Morris is putting other partners in place - across devices and beyond.
But what about the iPod, the most important portable music and media device? The question is whether Morris has the muscle to force a similar toll on Apple. And the answer is probably not.
Earlier this year, Universal started beating its chest by shifting towards a shorter-term iTunes Store licensing arrangement. Instead of an extended, more friendly agreement, Universal opted for a narrower month-to-month deal. The shift was designed to dangle the possibility of a catalog pullout, and highlight the dissatisfaction Universal felt over its lack of control over digital pricing and packaging.
Morris has the balls to do it, but an iTunes pullout would not be the shrewdest of moves. And the reason is obvious - iPod+iTunes is mostly about elegant devices and seamless music management, not ecommerce. Sure, the iTunes Store is part of the play, but not a critical component.
Others are more willing to jump into a partnership. Just recently, Nokia announced its inclusion of Universal Music artists into its "Comes With Music" initiative, a plan that packages catalog access into newer handhelds - and pays Universal a piece of each purchased phone.
The Nokia deal started in a less acrimonious place than the XM Satellite and Microsoft agreements, and is part of a broader Total Music strategy for Universal. The details on that strategy are still emerging, though earlier information pointed to potential alliances with a number of downstream heavyweights, including ISPs.
Total Music or not, all of these deals are collectively designed to shift the emphasis away from discrete recording purchases - and more towards licensing and usage agreements. The Morris strategy is destined to tap other manufacturers and providers - either through acrimony or amicable agreement. But whether that will compensate for a downward spiral in physical sales remains highly questionable.
The reason is that Universal - and other majors - have a fairly narrow window to develop diversification strategies. Concepts like Total Music - and hard-fought per-device deals - not only take time and money to develop, they take even longer to produce meaningful revenues. And time is not something that major labels have, especially with bread-and-butter albums sinking at such an alarming rate.

MTV Dips Into GoFish, Broadens Distribution Network

2007-12-19T16:29:00.002+01:00

MTV Networks recently grabbed an equity stake in GoFish, an online video destination. The pact, which first bubbled in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), gives MTV ownership of one million GoFish shares. Additionally, GoFish will carry a non-exclusive right to broadcast MTV Networks content, and share advertising revenues accordingly. As part of the pact, MTV also grabs the right to participate in future financings, according to the filing. The two-year MTV arrangement comes alongside an equity investment and advertising pact between GoFish and UK-based MiniClip.

iTunes DRM-Free Catalog Steadily Grows, Koch Joins Ranks

2007-12-19T16:29:00.001+01:00

Apple is steadily expanding its iTunes Plus offering, part of a larger shift towards DRM-free content. The move, first announced on Monday, taps a sizable Koch catalog that includes Styles P, OTEP, Sinead O'Connor, Bebe Winans, Ray J, DJ Khaled, Jim Jones and Unk. Those artists have helped to make Koch a heavyweight independent, and a significant addition to the iTunes Plus offering. "Koch Records continues to embrace new delivery methods and technologies as we always have," said Bob Frank, president of the label.
The tracks will not be available as MP3s, rather, they will be packaged as unprotected, 256kbps AAC files. That is the codec of choice for Apple, though compatibility is actually spotty across non-iPod portable MP3 players. The incompatibility is an unfortunate asterisk on the iTunes Plus initiative, though iPod owners are unlikely to care.
Meanwhile, Apple recently dropped the price of its DRM-free downloads from $1.29 to 99-cents, a move that closely followed the launch of a cut-rate, MP3-based Amazon download store. Other iTunes Plus participants include Sub Pop, Nettwerk, IODA, and The Orchard.

Universal Music Drops XM Satellite Beef, Revenue Deal Arranged

2007-12-19T16:28:00.001+01:00

Universal Music Group has now dropped its lawsuit against XM Satellite Radio, according to an official statement issued on Monday. The original lawsuit, filed by major labels last year, alleged that devices like the XM-compatible Pioneer Inno unfairly allow users to record and time-shift programming. The challenge set the stage for a potentially important precedent, though Universal is now bowing out of the action.
Instead, Universal Music chief Doug Morris pointed to a multi-year deal that covers a range of advanced XM Satellite receivers. "We are pleased to have resolved this situation in an amicable manner," said Morris. "We pride ourselves on empowering new technology and expanding consumer choice." The top-level description of the agreement hinted at a per-device payment arrangement, though neither party would offer settlement details.
The resolution could pave the way for similar agreements with other majors, and XM Satellite president and chief executive Nate Davis invited others to forge amicable accords. Shares of XMSR fell on the news.

Resnikoff's Parting Shot: What Happens Next

2007-12-19T16:25:00.000+01:00

Album sales have been sinking for most of this decade, but this year marks a sudden change. Instead of a single-digit percentage drop, albums - mostly CDs - are now roughly 15 percent below already-depressed 2006 totals. And with less than two weeks left, the fourth quarter has failed to produce a recovery.
Suddenly, more air is leaking out of the tire. And that changes the prospects for a recording industry turnaround considerably.
The reason is that revolutionizing business models is a time-consuming process, and the window for change is quickly narrowing. Flashback to the earlier part of this decade, and labels had more time to operate, and more time to diversify. Now, newer initiatives have less time to incubate, executives have less time to reorient teams and approaches, and worsening financial conditions are making it difficult to protect human resources and retain investors.
Some view the demise of major labels as an inevitable result. Highly disruptive markets are great at producing casualties, and the recording industry has shown limited ability to adapt.
We all know the criticisms. But labels have started to score limited successes in mobile, digital, and advertising arenas. And for all the criticism that Doug Morris has attracted, he is at least pushing a number of newer revenue approaches.
The question is whether early-stage gains can be developed into meaningful revenue producers. Universal Music Group is the biggest of the roost, and enjoys a massive market share. That spells more insulation, and a greater window for experimentation and development. But all four majors are facing incredibly difficult fates, and far less time than they would ideally prefer.
So what do the next few years look like? Barring a miraculous turnaround, labels will continue to shrink, and eventually wither. But the end is never a neat-and-clean process. Distressed companies often attract bargain-hunters and liquidators, and produce breakups, mergers, and everything in-between. Parent companies like Vivendi may hold onto their musical ambitions for a protracted period. Others, like Terra Firma, may trigger a fire sale.
But majors aren't free-falling dot coms. They have publishing, recording, branding, and even real estate assets. And those are attractive to newer players, especially those pursuing broader, next-generation models.
So, lights out, liquidation? Again, not so simple. Because the asset drain is already happening - whether majors control the process or not.
The biggest asset any major label has is its superstar artists. And those heavy-sellers are now exiting the building. The Eagles are now partnered with Wal-Mart, Madonna is hanging with Live Nation, and Radiohead is playing an independent card. Majors no longer play a critical role in the promotion, distribution, and development of artists - instead, they are now liabilities to the artists they once helped to develop.
Even publishing assets are being auctioned off. Sure, a suddenly frigid capital market is precluding moves currently, though both EMI and Warner Music Group are eyeing publishing securitization plays. That is different from a liquidation, though it falls under a similar umbrella.
Perhaps the most overlooked liquidation is happening in the human arena. All four majors have been shrinking their workforces, and Sony BMG and Universal Music Group are currently doing the most downsizing.
Sure, layoffs are often an excuse to trim underperforming employees. But this is broader than that, and a great deal of highly-qualified minds are exiting. And many of the brightest minds left long ago, simply because they had more options. It's a classic brain drain.
So what happens next? The details are entirely unpredictable, though the prospects are rocky for 2008. Sure, consumer appetites for music have never waned - and they appear to be growing exponentially. But consumers are the ultimate drivers of change, and their shift away from bundled CDs - and paid recordings in general - is likely to intensify.
That is forcing labels to monetize elsewhere, and orchestrate comebacks almost overnight. Impossible? No. Difficult? Incredibly.

Rhapsody Keeps Spreading, Denon Integration Latest

2007-12-19T16:21:00.000+01:00

Rhapsody is now insinuating itself into a number of new platforms, and gaining broader exposure in the process. Just this week, the company launched a Facebook application, one that plays into existing user preferences and teases full subscriptions. Of course, Facebook is a massive destination, but Rhapsody is also blending itself into more niche platforms as well.
On Tuesday, stereo manufacturer Denon announced that Rhapsody would be integrated into a pair of connected systems. The S-Series Networked Audio Systems, specifically models S-52 ($699) and S-32 ($499), offer easy access to the massive, on-demand Rhapsody collection. That follows an earlier deal involving Sonos, perhaps the best-known manufacturer of connected, high-end stereo systems.

Nonesuch Balances CD, Download Sales Online

2007-12-19T16:16:00.000+01:00

Warner Music Group label Nonesuch Records is now attempting a balancing act between CD sales and downloads. The group already offers a number of digital plays, including Nonesuch Radio. Now, the company is unveiling its Nonesuch Store, which packages downloads alongside CD purchases. "We recognize the convenience and the portability downloading music allows, but we also believe that the physical CD still offers a more complete listening experience," the company explained.
Along those lines, the Nonesuch store positions full CD purchases, but instantly offers downloads after an order is placed. In addition, downloads are available as DRM-free, 320kbps tracks, a fidelity that plays better with audiophiles. Lower-quality, 128kbps files are also available.
The site itself is rather simple and uncluttered, a nice change of pace. But a-la-carte downloads are not part of the plan, and not all artist albums are available. But the group is steadily adding content from a catalog that spans roughly 50 years.

Apple Negotiates iPhone In Japan, Snags Materialize

2007-12-19T16:15:00.000+01:00

Apple is now negotiating its iPhone presence in Japan, though operators NTT DoCoMo and Softbank are reportedly uncomfortable with the initial terms. "The negotiations are not going smoothly, as Apple's conditions are extremely hard to meet," one source recently told Reuters. If European and American deals offer a clue, those conditions probably include control over the subscriber through iTunes, and a percentage of subscriber revenue from iPhone users.
Other carriers have paid that price to win an exclusive, and a similar result is likely in Japan. And discussions with multiple operators could spark a competition on terms, depending on the flexibility each carrier is willing to entertain. In its march eastward, Apple is now encountering increasingly sophisticated markets, and Japan represents one of the most developed arenas for mobile telephony.

Federal Judge Rules Against "Obstreperous" TorrentSpy

2007-12-19T16:14:00.000+01:00

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) won a decisive victory against TorrentSpy this week, after a judge terminated the case. US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper found that TorrentSpy had destroyed, withheld or modified important evidence, and determined that a fair trial was impossible.
The group was accused of tampering with evidence like server logs, IP addresses, and usernames. "Defendants' conduct during discovery in this case has been obstreperous," the judge declared. "They have engaged in widespread and systematic efforts to destroy evidence and have provided false testimony under oath in an effort to hide evidence of such destruction."
The result is an MPAA victory, though TorrentSpy indicated that it would appeal. That will be a difficult protest, especially given the now-sullied reputation of the group. The case started in February of 2006, and TorrentSpy closed access to US-based visitors several months later. TorrentSpy is a leading BitTorrent indexing service, one that helps users locate and download specific files.

FCC Green Lights Increased Media Consolidation

2007-12-19T16:09:00.000+01:00

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved increased media consolidation on Tuesday, though not without a fight. After a cantankerous internal debate, the group voted to allow cross-ownership between radio stations, television stations, and newspapers within the largest US markets. That could stimulate increased merger and acquisition activity, though the loosened regulation comes with a number of strings attached.
Among them is a stipulation that the consolidation can only happen within a top-twenty market. Additionally, eight independently-owned stations or media sources must exist in the market post-acquisition. And a top-four television station is off limits.
Elsewhere, the group moved to cap the marketshare of cable operators to 30 percent of nationwide subscribers. Overall, the changes face a considerable level of opposition from both legislators and special interest groups, many of whom favor more fragmented media ownership.

More Facebook Music Rumors

2007-12-19T16:08:00.002+01:00

Is Facebook finally going to take on MySpace as a place for bands and music fans to hang out? We’ve heard various Facebook Music rumors before. The latest one comes from CO-ED Magazine.com According to CO-ED’s executive editor Stephen Gebhardt, who says he heard it from a group of marketing managers at a major music label, Facebook has been holding secret meetings with all the music labels and will announce Facebook Music next week at New York’s ad:tech conference. Added 10/31/2007.

3 in 5 "Didn't Pay a Cent" for Radiohead Album

2007-12-19T16:08:00.001+01:00

Radiohead's grand experiment in 'honesty box' music sales may have gone a little flat after a report found that three in five people downloading the band's latest album did not pay a cent for it. Of the 1.2 million people who have downloaded In Rainbows since it was released last month, 62 per cent did not pay anything, and 12 per cent accounted for more than 52 per cent of the revenue from sales. The average price paid was $6 (£2.90) globally, but this figure was propped up by the 12 per cent who were willing to pay between $8 to $12 (£3.90 to £5.80) - the approximate cost of downloading an album from a retail service like iTunes, the report, by comScore, concluded. Added 11/06/2007.

Wendy's to Give Away Digital Music With Their Burgers!

2007-12-19T16:07:00.001+01:00

Wendy's and Rhapsody have joined forces to delight music fans across the country with the giveaway of up to 100,000,000 songs. Starting this week, every Wendy's medium- and large-sized combo meal sold at participating restaurants will include a unique code redeemable for any of Rhapsody's over 4.5 million songs. The Wendy's/Rhapsody song download giveaway will be supported by a comprehensive marketing campaign including broadcast and online media. Added 11/14/2007.

Nokia Calls New Collaborative Social Media Phenomenon "Circular Entertainment"

2007-12-19T16:03:00.000+01:00

The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up and pass it on within their peer groups - a form of collaborative social media," said Mark Selby, Nokia's Vice President of Multimedia. ""From our research we predict that up to a quarter of the entertainment being consumed in five years will be what we call 'Circular'." Selby continued, "We think it will work something like this; someone shares video footage they shot on their mobile device from a night out with a friend, that friend takes that footage and adds an MP3 file - the soundtrack of the evening - then passes it to another friend. That friend edits the footage by adding some photographs and passes it on to another friend and so on. The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."He was speaking as the results of a global study into the future of entertainment were announced. The study, entitled 'A Glimpse of the Next Episode', carried out by The Future Laboratory, interviewed trend-setting consumers from 17 countries about their digital behaviors and lifestyles signposting emerging entertainment trends. Combining views from industry leading figures with Nokia's own research from its 900 million consumers around the world, Nokia has constructed a global picture of what it believes entertainment will look like over the next five years.
Tom Savigar, Trends Director at The Future Laboratory added:
"Consumers are increasingly demanding their entertainment be truly immersive, engaging and collaborative. Whereas once the act of watching, reading and hearing entertainment was passive, consumers now and in the future will be active and unrestrained by the ubiquitous nature of circular entertainment. Key to this evolution is consumers' basic human desire to compare and contrast, create and communicate. We believe the next episode promises to deliver the democracy politics can only dream of."Savigar continued that, of the 9,000 consumers surveyed:
23% buy movies in digital format
35% buy music on MP3 files
25% buy music on mobile devices
39% watch TV on the internet
23% watch TV on mobile devices
46% regularly use IM, 37% on a mobile device
29% regularly blog
28% regularly access social networking sites
22% connect using technologies such as Skype
17% take part in Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games
17% upload to the internet from a mobile device
"As part of the research we have identified four key driving trends; Immersive Living; Geek Culture; G Tech and Localism. These trends are currently sitting on the edge, but as these trends become more mainstream, they will have a collaborative, creative effect on the way people consume entertainment and, we predict, will lead to the Circular Entertainment phenomenon," said Selby.

Globalization of Online Record Company Continues With Launch of BETA Records UK

2007-12-19T16:02:00.000+01:00

Indie Artists and Fans Are Invited to Join www.betarecords.co.uk Starting September, 2007 as BETA Adds Another Country to a Growing List of LocationsLOS ANGELES, Calif. and LONDON, England - Sept. 4 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- BETA Records, the online record company, officially launched BETA Records UK (www.betarecords.co.uk) on September 1, opening a London office and a portal for music lovers and artists of every style.Following the success of BETA Records in the USA, Germany and Mexico, company founders Chris Honetschlaeger and Georg van Handel are moving forward with creation of an interconnected online community for the sharing of musical and social experiences. Additional expansion is planned with pending deals in the Netherlands and China expected by year-end."BETA Records is opening its online portal to singers, songwriters, instrumentalists, bands and fans everywhere, but with the additional advantage of local land-based operations, expanding global distribution channels and new revenue opportunities across BETA's multiple ecosystem platforms," states Honetschlaeger."By combining online's social interaction with the personalization of local facilities, BETA Records offers the best of both worlds to everyone who makes or enjoys music," van Handel states. "We love being an online record company, but there are many advantages to having terrestrial operations, including recording studios, mobile recording facilities, A&R representatives, video and broadcast professionals, and distribution channels," van Handel added."Unsigned artists joining BETA Records receive their own personal Web presence, complete with hosting of songs, photos, biographical and contact information, and a wide variety of additional features, including opportunities for networking, studio appearances, live shows, airplay on BETA Radio (www.BETA.fm), and presentation to decision-makers throughout the fields of music, motion pictures, television, radio and live venues," says Honetschlaeger."Every advancement in technology, recording, distribution and promotion at BETA Records brings independent artists closer to enjoying all the advantages formerly reserved for artists on one of the four major record labels," notes Chris Harper, BETA's Chief Experience Officer. About BETA Records:Blending 21st century digital technology with traditional brick-and-mortar approaches, BETA Records is both online and terrestrial. Using a growing network of offices, BETA finds, produces, and showcases unsigned artists and distributes content to fans globally.Additional information: www.betarecords.co.uk

Starbucks, HP music cafe percolating

2007-12-16T10:49:00.000+01:00

Coffee company Starbucks and computer maker Hewlett-Packard are working together on a new music-centric coffee store as they look for ways to grow.
Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz and HP CEO Carly Fiorina plan to be in Santa Monica, Calif., to launch the companies' first such shop, according to an HP advisory. More of these stores, each called Hear Music Coffeehouse, are expected to open later this year, according to the Starbucks Web site.

The coffee house customers will be able to create their own music compilations from a digital library and burn them to CDs. HP Tablet PCs will be used in the stores, along with listening stations, where consumers will be able to listen to music before purchasing it.
Store locations and the prices of their services and products will be detailed at the Tuesday press conference, the companies said.

Starbucks, which already owns several Hear Music retail stores that sell albums only, declined to comment for this story. HP representatives also declined to comment.
Both companies have turned to digital music in varying degrees as a way to complement their businesses.

Starbucks and its Wi-Fi partner T-Mobile USA offer music downloads over a wireless network. And earlier this year, HP, which has been making a broad expansion into consumer electronics said it was teaming with Apple Computer to resell iPod portable digital audio players. HP is expected to start preinstalling Apple's iTunes and reselling its iPods by this summer.

Apple and Starbucks Announce Music Partnership

2007-12-16T10:46:00.000+01:00

Wirelessly Find and Buy Music at Starbucks

SAN FRANCISCO Apple® and Starbucks today announced an exclusive partnership that lets customers wirelessly browse, search for, preview, buy and download music from the iTunes® Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks onto their iPod® touch, iPhone™ or PC or Mac® running iTunes while at a participating location.

When a customer enters a participating location, their device will automatically recognize the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store using a high-speed Wi-Fi wireless network with no connection fee or hotspot login. Customers will be able to browse, search and freely preview millions of songs, including a new “Now Playing” service which displays the name of the song playing in the Starbucks store at that moment, then easily buy and download songs or albums directly to their device. Prices and selection on the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store are the same as on the regular iTunes Store. The service will make its debut at more than 600 Starbucks company-operated locations in New York and Seattle on October 2.

“Getting free access to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and the ‘Now Playing’ service at Starbucks is a great way for customers to discover new music,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Imagine walking into a participating Starbucks, hearing a great song, and being able to instantly download it onto your iPod or iPhone. We think this is very cool.”

“With this partnership, we’re bringing Apple’s leadership in digital music together with not only our retail footprint, but the unique Starbucks experience, to offer customers a world-class digital music experience,” said Howard Schultz, chairman, Starbucks Coffee Company. “Introducing this new service is a natural extension of our music strategy which only enhances the retail coffee experience for customers by helping them discover and acquire new music instantly.”

After its debut in New York and Seattle on October 2, the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will continue its national rollout to 350 Starbucks stores in the San Francisco Bay area on November 7; 500 stores in Los Angeles in early February 2008; 300 stores in Chicago in March 2008; and additional markets throughout the US later in 2008.

The iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store at Starbucks will run on the robust T-Mobile HotSpot Wi-Fi network which is available at participating Starbucks locations across the US.
With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as Cover Flow™, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, and the ability to turn previously purchased songs into completed albums at reduced prices, the iTunes Store is the best way for PC and Mac users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online. BULLET LIST HEADER (as needed)

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Starbucks Coffee Company provides an uplifting experience that enriches people’s lives one moment, one human being, one extraordinary cup of coffee at a time. To share in the experience, visit www.starbucks.com.

Paul McCartney noemt platenlabel EMI 'saai'

2007-12-16T10:42:00.000+01:00

vr 14 dec 2007, 12:31

Paul McCartney noemt platenlabel EMI 'saai'

LONDEN - Sir Paul McCartney heeft na 45 jaar platenlabel EMI verlaten omdat hij het „saai” vindt. McCartney vond het vreselijk om langs te gaan bij de directie van EMI.

Tegen de Britse krant The Times zei McCartney dat de manier waarop EMI met zijn muziek omging, symbolisch is voor de sleur. „Iedereen bij EMI is niet meer dan meubilair. Ik ben de bank, Coldplay is de stoel.”

De zanger heeft momenteel een overeenkomst met Hear Music, het label van koffieketen Starbucks. In juni bracht hij daarop zijn cd Memory Almost Full uit. In de eerste week na de release verkocht hij meer exemplaren dan van zijn eerdere studioalbums.

Band Maximo Park krijgt eigen bier....

2007-12-05T18:10:00.000+01:00

Maximo Park krijgt eigen bier BIERTJE?.

Fans van Maximo Park in Groot-Brittannië krijgen binnenkort de kans
een biertje te drinken dat de naam van hun favoriete band draagt.

Vanaf 15 december heet het Newcastle Brown Ale namelijk voor een gelimiteerde
periode Maximo Brown Ale. Bierbrouwer Tynedise Brewers uit Newcastle hernoemt
het bier in verband met een concert van de band in die stad.

“De laatste tijd zijn zoveel verbazingwekkende dingen gebeurd”, zegt frontman Paul Smith.
“Een eigen biertje kan ook nog wel op die lijst. Aan de ene kant heel amusant,
tegelijkertijd een enorme eer.”

Overigens is Maximo Park zeker niet de enige band die zijn eigen bier heeft.
Zo had in ons land begin jaren negentig de Achterhoekse rockformatie Normaal
al zijn eigen biertje. Dat werd destijds gebrouwen door de Gulpener Brouwerijen in Limburg.

Metallica lanceert single via game

2007-12-05T17:53:00.000+01:00

Metallica overweegt om hun nieuwe single als eerste via de game Rock Band te lanceren.
Het nummer zou dan pas later in de winkels komen te liggen. Precieze details over het nummer zelf en de overwegingen van de band zijn nog niet bekend, maar zeker is wel dát Metallica een bijdrage gaat leverenmaan het spel.

“Metallica is een band waar we echt trouw aan zweren. Ze
hebben het recht verdiend hun eerste single van het nieuwe album in het spel te krijgen”, aldus MTV Entertainment-directeur Paul DeGooyer.

Rock Band is de bandvariant van dezelfde makers op het spel Guitar Hero. In de VS kunnen gamers nu al een virtuele band vormen, in Nederland moeten we nog wachten tot
begin volgend jaar.

METRO 5-12-2007

Nokia biedt onbeperkt muziek op mobiele telefoon

2007-12-05T17:48:00.000+01:00

Nokia heeft vandaag een grote stap gezet op de mobiele muziekmarkt. Op de jaarlijkse Nokia World Conference, die in Amsterdam gehouden wordt, presenteerde de Finse grootmacht een nieuw programma: Comes with Music.

Een nieuwe Nokia kan binnenkort voorzien zijn van een jaar lang onbeperkte toegang tot een downloadservice. Nokia streeft naar een schier oneindig aanbod van miljoenen tracks. Bij het verstrijken van het abonnement blijven de tracks gewoon in bezit van de klant. “We willen de muziekervaring creëren waar mensen om roepen – alle muziek die ze willen in de vorm van een onbeperkte hoeveelheid downloads naar hun mobile device en pc”, zegt Anssi Vanjoki, Executive Vice President en General Manager, Multimedia van Nokia. V

oor het ambitieuze project heeft Nokia direct een belangrijke partner weten te interesseren: platenmaatschappij Universal, de grootste van de vier major labels. Universal Chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge toonde zich verheugd met de deal: “Comes with Music stelt onze artiesten in staat een nieuw publiek te bereiken op een heel makkelijke en betaalbare manier.” De deal met
Universal is een overtuigend begin, maar een dergelijk project zal vermoedelijk alleen kans van slagen hebben als de klant kan putten uit alle beschikbare muziek.

Nokia is dan ook in gesprek met de andere major labels. Over deals met independent labels is voorlopig niets bekend. Ook heeft Nokia niets bekend gemaakt over eventuele kopieerbeveiliging op de bestanden of de kwaliteit ervan. Muziek op je mobiele telefoon is in Europa nog niet heel gewoon, maar met name in Azië heeft het fenomeen al een aardige vlucht genomen.

Experts in de industrie verwachten ook in Europa een doorbraak. Apple’s iPhone – letterlijk een combinatie van een iPod en een telefoon – was eerder dit jaar een belangrijke zet in die richting. Het Amerikaanse computerbedrijf zal dan ook niet blij zijn met het project van Nokia. Met zijn downloaddienst iTunes is Apple marktleider op het gebied van digitale muziekverkoop, tot ongenoegen van Universal.

De samenwerking van Universal met Nokia kan dan ook gerust gezien worden als een poging de hegemonie van Apple te doorbreken.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

dinsdag 4 december 2007

Nokia heeft een deal met Universal gesloten die bezitters van telefoons die Nokia's toekomstige 'Comes with Music'-dienst ondersteunen, in staat stellen tot een jaar na de aankoop van het mobieltje gratis muziek te downloaden naar telefoon en pc.

Dat heeft Nokia-ceo Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo dinsdag gezegd op de Nokia World Conference te Amsterdam. De mobieltjesfabrikant is in gesprek met andere muziekmaatschappijen om vergelijkbare overeenkomsten te sluiten, maar met Universal hebben ze alvast het grootste label ter wereld aan boord. Nokia lanceert 'Comes with Music' in de tweede helft van volgend jaar.

Nokia-bezitters mogen de gedownloade muziek na verloop van dat jaar de houden. Universal Music-ceo Lucian Grainge, die Kallasvuo op de conferentie vergezelde, sprak wat dat betreft van een revolutionaire overeenkomst. 'Er zijn geen vergelijkbare diensten waarbij je na afloop van het abonnement de muziek mag houden', aldus Grainge. Consumenten mogen zoveel Universal-tracks binnenhengelen als ze willen.

In eerste instantie zullen enkel mobieltjes uit Nokia's N-serie van het 'Comes with Music'-label worden voorzien. Later volgen ook andere modellen, maar welke dat zullen zijn is niet bekendgemaakt. Ook is onbekend hoeveel Nokia aan Universal betaalt voor de downloads, en hoeveel consumenten voor de muziek moeten gaan betalen na het eerste jaar.

Universal-topman Rob Wells ziet de overeenkomst als een stap op weg naar een nieuw toegangsmodel voor muziek. 'Consumenten krijgen de beschikking over alle opgenomen muziek, en dat zit inbegrepen in de prijs van een apparaat of dienst, of in de prijs van breedbandtoegang', aldus Wells tegen persbureau Reuters.

Universal Music group wil gaan experimenteren met online verkoop DRM-vrij muziek

2007-12-05T17:46:00.000+01:00

13 augustus 2007 -

Universal Music Group heeft aangekondigd te gaan experimenteren met de online verkoop van DRM-vrije muziek. Universal biedt nummers van zijn populairste artiesten aan in DRM-vrije vormmet een hogere geluidskwaliteit dan de reguliere nummers.

Voor de verkoop van zijn DRM-vrije muziek werkt Universal Music Group samen met de muziekdiensten van Amazon, RealNetworks en de Amerikaanse winkelketens BestBuy en Wal-Mart. Voorlopig kunnen alleen Amerikaanse internetters DRM-vrije muziek van Universal artiesten kopen.

RealNetworks Rhapsody zal de DRM-vrije nummers voor 99 dollarcent per stuk verkopen, hiervoor krijgen kopers een mp3-bestand in 256 kbps kwaliteit. Het experiment loopt vanaf 21 augustus aanstaande tot en met 31 januari 2008.

Universal Music is het tweede grote internationale label dat zich stort op de verkoop van DRM-vrije muziek. EMI Music ging Universal al voor. EMI Music verkoopt al langere tijd DRM-vrije muziek, eerst via de Apple iTunes Store en sinds kort ook via andere partijen. Ook Microsoft heeft aangekondigd DRM-vrije muziek te gaan verkopen via Zune Marketplace.

Nokia and Universal Music Publishing Group Sign Deal forRing Tones in Asia-Pacific Region

2007-12-05T17:43:00.000+01:00

Nokia and Universal Music Publishing Group Sign Deal forRing Tones in Asia-Pacific Region

Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone brand has signed an agreement with Universal Music Publishing Group, one of the world's leading music publishers, for the licensing of musical compositions for ring tones for mobile phones in the Asia Pacific region.The agreement enables

Nokia to have access to a comprehensive and diverse range of music repertoire, with particular focus on Asian music. The regional licensing agreement, which is non-exclusive, covers rights to Universal Music Publishing Group's song catalog where it owns or controls digital rights. It does not include the rights to Universal Music Group's owned or controlled master recording catalog.

For UMP Asia, the agreement signals a strategic step to growing the market in Asia, by delivering its repertoire of music to consumers through a volume distribution channel such as Nokia mobile phones. This collaboration between two leading industry players in mobile communications and music will offer an innovative and greater range of mobile phones ringing tones to Nokia phone users, enabling them to enjoy a richer user experience.

Nigel Rundstrom, Vice President of Strategic Marketing, Nokia Mobile Phones Asia Pacific, commented, "We are pleased to enter into this licensing deal with UMP Asia. The development of mobile communication technologies has made the mobile phone a preferred personal device that connects consumers to services beyond voice communication.

Nokia's aim is to add value to our terminals through service offerings that are optimized for Nokia terminals to bring a richer user experience. This includes a wide choice of ringing tones and mobile music contents. The cooperation with UMP Asia strongly complements Nokia's efforts." He added, "Nokia will continue to build strategic alliances with content owners in the area of music and entertainment to bring relevant and interesting mobile entertainment and services to Nokia phone users."

Nokia has had a successful history in pioneering innovative features to support personalised services, such as ringing tones and ringing tone composer capabilities in its mobile phones. This is part of the Smart Messaging technology which is based upon an open specification that Nokia developed, to bring features such as ringing tones, picture messaging and pictorial logos in Nokia mobile phones since 1997.

Sony Prepares Video-Enabled Walkman

2007-12-03T15:09:00.000+01:00

Sony Prepares Video-Enabled Walkman

Sony will soon deliver a video-enabled Walkman, a move comes more than a year after Apple released its comparable iPod. The announcement was made by Sony senior vice president

Hiroshi Yoshioka, who pointed to "a product that handles images" without offering a specific release date. Yoshioka also introduced a collection of flash-based players, which will offer a range of colors and storage sizes. Specifically, consumers can grab sizes ranging from 1GB to 4GB, and a total of five colors will be offered.

The flash-based lineup, which also includes noise-cancellation capabilities, will be released by year-end. Sony is constantly tossing new players into the ring, though it has struggled to gain meaningful market traction.

Yoshioka is now driving to double market share, from 10 percent to 20 percent, according to recent comments. That will be challenging, especially as the space gets more crowded. On November 14th, Microsoft is launching its Zune, a 30GB, video- and WiFi-enabled player that will be backed by serious marketing dollars.

Mobile manufacturers and carriers are also getting aggressive, a trend that could move into overdrive following the release of an iPod phone, anticipated early next year.

Black Eyed Vlogging Peas

2007-12-02T16:01:00.000+01:00

De inmiddels crossmediale formatie Black Eyed Peas vormt de eerste band ter wereld die zijn tournee via de website up-to-date houdt middels vloggen. De term vloggen komt van video en bloggen. De artiesten posten korte beelden via hun mobiele telefoon naar hun website. De fans kunnen de beelden gratis bekijken.

De telefoonvideotechniek wordt mogelijk gemaakt door de 3G (derde generatie) videotelefoons, VideoCall2Web genaamd. De techniek is ontwikkeld door het Europese bedrijf IceMobile.
Will.i.am: Het is wonderbaarlijk wat men tegenwoordig allemaal kan met techniek. De VideoCall2Web maakt het mogelijk om dichter bij alle fans wereldwijd te komen. Het is te gek.

MUZIKALE CREDITCARD Mogelijke kans??

2007-12-02T15:24:00.000+01:00

Alles in de elektronicawereld moet kleiner, dunner en platter. Walletex ontwierp eerder al een creditcard-USB flash drive en wil nu met de Wallet MP3 de muziekmarkt gaan veroveren.

Deze mp3-speler is gemaakt van laagjes plastic en heeft de grootte van een pinpas. Om het apparaatje zo klein mogelijk te houden, heeft hij één USB-aansluitingspunt om hem mee op te laden, muziek te downloaden en een koptelefoon in te steken.

De Wallet MP3 heeft geen display, dus je zult zelf moeten onthouden waar het nummer staat dat je op dat moment wilt horen. Een LED-indicator geeft wel aan of bijvoorbeeld je batterij is opgeladen. Groot pluspunt: hij is waterdicht.

Bedrijven kunnen ze ook met een eigen logo gaan bestellen om als relatiegeschenk weg te geven. Walletex wil hem met zes verschillende schijven, van 128 MB tot en met 4 GB, in het midden van 2007 op de markt brengen. -WJ
(Bron: Walletex)

MUZIEKVERKOOP DAALT, CONCERTPRIJZEN STIJGT

2007-12-02T13:32:00.000+01:00

De verkoopcijfers van cd’s dalen nog steeds, en de toename van legale downloads lijkt het verlies niet te kunnen compenseren. Waar moet de muziekindustrie dan zijn geld vandaan halen?
In het eerste kwartaal van 2007 bleek in Groot-Brittannië, het land waar per hoofd van de bevolking de meeste cd’s verkocht worden, de verkoop van de zilveren schijfjes met 20 procent afgenomen te zijn ten opzichte van het jaar ervoor. Voor andere landen gelden vergelijkbare cijfers: in de VS nam de cd-verkoop met 15 procent af, in Frankrijk met 25 procent, in Canada zelfs met 35 procent.

Ondertussen worden betaalde downloads wel populairder, maar die toename lijkt af te vlakken. Met andere worden: er wordt alles bij elkaar minder muziek verkocht, en het lijkt erop dat platenmaatschappijen daarmee moeten zien te leren leven.

Waar dan wel het geld vandaan moet komen? Live-optredens, zegt Robert Sandall in het Britse Prospect Magazine, en de daarbij verkochte merchandise. Grappig voorbeeld van dat laatste is het verhaal van een jonge Amerikaanse band die onlangs stopte met het verkopen van cd's bij concerten. Vroeger een goede manier om het bedrag dat normaal voor de cd-winkel is in eigen zak te steken, tegenwoordig alleen maar lastig. Want: de verkoop van de twee keer zo dure, maar waarschijnlijk voor een habbekrats in de derde wereld geproduceerde tour-T-shirts heeft eronder te lijden.

Ook de kaartverkoop brengt veel geld in het laatje. Dat is een relatief nieuw verschijnsel: voorheen was toeren vooral een manier om je album te promoten waar je desnoods geld bijlegde, nu lijkt het omgekeerde waar te zijn. Zoals de gitarist van Anthrax het formuleerde: “Ons album is het menu, het concert is de maaltijd.”

Tekenend zijn daarbij de toegenomen prijzen van de kaartjes. “In de jaren tachtig kostte een plek bij een concert van een superster ongeveer evenveel als een album op cd,” schrijft Sandall. “Nu kun je het complete oeuvre van Madonna kopen voor de helft van het bedrag dat je nodig hebt om haar in de Wembley Arena live te zien.”

Pijnlijk zijn deze dure tickets vooral als je geboren bent in een wat minder bedeelde plek op aarde. Een Chileen moet zo’n 120 euro neertellen om Coldplay te zien spelen, terwijl daar een gemiddeld maandsalaris onder de 400 euro ligt. Dan houd je inderdaad weinig geld over voor een handjevol nieuwe cd’s per maand. -JPK

(Bron: Prospect Magazine)

Muziek net zo lekker als seks??

2007-12-02T12:22:00.000+01:00

Muziek net zo lekker als seks?

Canadees onderzoekt effecten muziek op onze hersens

‘Bij het luisteren naar muziek komen de zelfde chemicaliën vrij in onze hersens als tijdens het eten of tijdens de seks.’ Dit is een van de conclusies van Professor Daniël Levitin, een Canadese neuroloog, die onderzoek deed naar de effecten van verschillende soorten muziek op onze geestelijke gesteldheid.

‘Bij het luisteren naar muziek ervaren we min of meer hetzelfde gevoel als dat van een gokker die een winnende gok waagt, of iemand die net drugs heeft gebruikt’ stelt Levitin. Maar het blijft niet bij geestelijke effecten. Je favoriete artiest kan ook fysieke invloed op je uitoefenen. Zo heeft muziek invloed op bijvoorbeeld onze hartslag en onze zweetklieren.

Soundtrack van je dagMuziek heeft zelfs zoveel invloed op onze gemoedstoestand dat het volgens de Canadees nuttig is om een ‘soundtrack van je dag’ te maken. Door op de juiste momenten de goede muziek te luisteren kunnen je prestaties gedurende de dag aanzienlijk verbeteren. Volgens Levitin is het bijvoorbeeld verstandig om tijdens het studeren klassiek of jazz op te zetten, terwijl popmuziek weer erg geschikt is voor tijdens het sporten.

LijstAan de hand van zijn onderzoek stelde Levitin de volgende lijst met muzikale suggesties voor:

Studie en werk:Mozart, Divertimenti for Winds; Doc Watson, Foundation: The Doc Watson Guitar Instrumental Collection, John Coltrane, Ballads; Gary Burton and Chick Corea, Crystal Silence; Mike Oldfield, Tubular Bells.

Huishoudelijke activiteiten: Sarah McLachlin, Wintersong; Buena Vista Social Club; Tommy Flanagan, Trio and Sextet; Vivaldi, Four Seasons; AC/DC, Back in Black; McFly, Baby's Coming Back.

Lichamelijke oefeningen: Avril Lavigne, The Village People; Arrested Development; Creedence Clearwater Revival; the Temptations; Talking Heads; Madonna, Hung Up; Irene Cara, What A Feeling.

Ontspannen (en voor het slapen gaan):Bach, Oboe Concertos, Triple Concerto, Flute Concerto; Bill Evans, The Village Vanguard Sessions; Chopin, Nocturnes; Brahms, Lullaby; Peter, Paul & Mary, Greatest Hits.

Romantiek: Amerie; Akon, Konvicted; the Postal Service; Ella Fitzgerald, The Cole Porter Songbook.

Ringo Starr biedt muziek aan op internet

2007-12-02T11:58:00.000+01:00

Ringo Starr biedt zijn muziekcatalogus aan op internet.

De voormalige drummer van The Beatles heeft daarvoor een deal gesloten met platenlabel Capitol/EMI. Onder meer de albums 'Beaucoups of blues' uit 1970 en 'Ringo' uit 1973, die hij beide als soloartiest uitbracht, zullen als downloads op internet worden aangeboden.

De muziek, waaronder het compilatiealbum 'Photograph: the very best of Ringo Starr', is vanaf 28 augustus verkrijgbaar. Om het digitale geheel af te maken, biedt de 66-jarige Starr ook zes ringtones aan. Begin volgend jaar komt zijn nieuwe soloalbum uit, 'Liverpool 8'.Het oeuvre van

The Beatles kan nog niet online worden aangeschaft, wat de Britse band één van de meest prominente bands maakt die ontbreekt in virtuele winkels. EMI liet eerder dit jaar weten wel te werken aan een deal de muziek van The Beatles te gaan verkopen via online muziekwinkels.

Artiesten eisen vergoeding voor kopiëren films en muziek

2007-12-02T11:39:00.000+01:00

Artiesten eisen vergoeding voor kopiëren films en muziek

HILVERSUM - Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin van Justitie is door musici en acteurs voor de rechter gedaagd omdat ze vergoeding eisen voor gekopieerde films op een computerschijf en gekopieerde muziek op een MP3-speler. Dat zeiden zangeres Ricky Koole en acteur Peter Blok zaterdag in NOVA.

Hirsch Ballin zei onlangs dat zo'n heffing er niet voor 1 januari 2009 komt. Hierdoor lopen de artiesten miljoenen euro's mis.

Computer

Op lege cassettebandjes, cd's of dvd's zit al jaren een toeslag. Daarmee worden artiesten betaald voor het kopiëren van hun werk. Tegenwoordig worden de liedjes of tv-series vaak rechtstreeks op de harde schijf van een computer of MP3-speler gezet.

De artiesten zeggen daardaar ruim 16 miljoen euro mis te lopen. Samen met de rechtenorganisatie Stichting Norma beginnen de artiesten nu een rechtszaak. Het kort geding dient op 11 december.

Led Zeppelin landmarks now on Google Maps

2007-11-28T19:29:00.000+01:00

Check out the historic locations online now

4 hours ago

Led Zeppelin's greatest landmarks have been added to Google Maps and Google Earth.Fans can now tour virtually around sites that were pivotal in the group's history, including Olympic Studios and Jimmy Page's Scottish mansion Boleskine House.Also included are the O2 Arena and drummer John Bonham's grave.A handful of locations in the US are also pinpointed, including Madison Square Garden, where the group filmed their concert documentary 'The Song Remains The Same' in 1973.Go to Google Maps to view the Led Zeppelin landmarks

Downloading is killing music industry

2007-11-28T18:31:00.000+01:00

XS4ALL mag van Buma/Stemra niet zomaar online liedjes aanbieden. Ook niet nu alle betrokken artiesten en platenmaatschappijen expliciet toestemming hebben gegeven om de gespeelde liedjes gratis aan te bieden aan iedereen die het wil downloaden.
De Buma eist 8 eurocent per gedownload liedje - en dat is dan nog bij wijze van grote gunst. Het reguliere tarief bedraagt 13 procent van de winkelprijs, met een minimum van 20 eurocent per track.
Eerdere emotionelere verzoeken om gratis muziek te draaien, waren ook afgewezen, liet de organisatie hooghartig weten, inclusief verzoeken om het speciaal gecomponeerde herdenkingslied 'Candle in the wind' rechtenvrij te draaien bij de begrafenis van Lady Di. Dus ook voor het 'auteursrechtenvrij' festival maakt de rechtenorganisatie geen uitzondering.
Dit summum van monopolistengedrag wordt mogelijk gemaakt door onze uit 1912 stammende Auteurswet. Sinds 1913 heeft de Buma het wettelijk monopolie op het uitbaten van de rechten van componisten en tekstschrijvers. Daar kwam ruim twintig jaar later de Stemra bij, die de rechten int voor het vastleggen en verveelvoudigen van muziek, en sinds 1993 de SENA, die de zogenaamde 'naburige' rechten int. Binnenkort gaan ze fuseren, helemaal in stijl.
Met een gezamenlijke omzet van bijna 230 miljoen euro in 2002 hebben de organisaties inmiddels een zeer lucratieve business. Daar kun je wel een lobby van betalen. Van daadkrachtig toezicht of reguliere inspraak van de groep die aangeduid wordt als de 'betalingsplichtigen' is geen sprake. De regeringscommissaris die sinds begin vorige eeuw belast was met het toezicht is eerder dit jaar weliswaar vervangen door een onafhankelijk college van toezicht, maar als het gaat om de inhoudelijke koers heeft het college slechts recht van advies.
Die inhoudelijke koers van Buma/Stemra is in mijn ogen vooral een oorlogsverklaring aan de burger, die al heel lang laat merken graag via internet naar muziek te willen luisteren. Maar het is ook een oorlogsverklaring aan de muzikant, de eigenlijke rechthebbende. Muzikanten en componisten hebben immers geen keuze: als ze zich niet inschrijven bij de monopolist, moeten ze afzien van hun rechten. Er is geen alternatieve organisatie, dus de Buma kan alle vernieuwingen stelselmatig frustreren.
Verzoeken om bijvoorbeeld flexibele contracten, waarbij muzikanten hun rechten soms wel en soms niet laten innen, worden steevast weggebureaucratiseerd met een beroep op het belang van de collectiviteit van rechten-inning.
Ik koester een beschermingshoes voor een plaat - ik denk uit de jaren 70 - met een plaatje van een cassettebandje erop, doorkruist door twee botten, het internationale symbool van piraterij. 'Hometaping is killing music industry!!!' staat er in chocoladeletters onder. Jammer voor de optimisten, die toen repliceerden: "And it was about time". Want de belangenbehartigers hebben de radio, het cassettebandje en de cd niet alleen overleefd, ze hebben er ook telkens nieuwe inkomstenbronnen door aangeboord. Toch lijken de rechtenorganisaties in het zicht van nieuwe technologie telkens maar één reactie te hebben: verbieden! Of het nu gaat om DAT-recorders, om minidisks met digitale opnamemogelijkheid of om bestandsruilprogramma's op internet.
Nieuwe technologie gaat meestal ten koste van oude. Dat bracht de advocaat-generaal vorige maand in herinnering in zijn advies aan de Hoge Raad in de zaak van Kazaa tegen Buma: "zoals het spoor natuurlijk ten koste ging van de trekschuit". Door de rituele verbodsgebedszangen van de Buma lijken de meeste mensen te vergeten dat er allang voorzien is in een regeling om muzikanten en componisten tegemoet te komen voor thuisgebruik van muziek, via de heffing op tapes, blanco opneembare cd's en dvd's. Die heffing bedraagt nu in Nederland 14 eurocent voor data-cd-r's en 42 eurocent voor officiële audio-cd-r's.
Ik betaal die heffing graag, ondanks het feit dat ik maar een klein deel van die schijfjes gebruik om er muziek op te zetten. De meeste schijfjes vul ik met back-ups van bijvoorbeeld e-mail en zelfgemaakte digitale foto's. Het belangrijkste voordeel vind ik de door Buma zo bejubelde collectiviteit: omdat het een algemene heffing is, is het niet nodig om de individuele lees- en luistergewoonten van iedere internetter te bewaren en te analyseren. Maar alle ontwikkelingen met Digital Rights Management wijzen juist de andere kant op, richting totale controle over ieders elektronisch gedrag. De heffingen worden daarbij steeds vaker een obstakel genoemd.
Downloading is killing music industry. Of is het zelfmoord? De huidige doodsstrijd duurt in ieder geval wel erg lang

Open Mic Night Magic

2007-11-28T18:20:00.000+01:00

There is a lot of talk on this site about the importance of playing live to building up an audience for your band, but what if you have never played live before, and the prospect of taking to the stage has you quaking in your boots? There is a place where you can get some on-stage practice under your belt without braving the crowds at a big show - your local open mic night. Open mic nights sometimes get a little a bit of a bad rap, but not every open mic night is associated with earnest performances of poorly written pseudo-beat poetry. In fact, many towns have established open mic nights that are great places to catch the best up and coming local talent, and if you need to hone your stage act, these nights can be just the place to build up your comfort level on stage in a supportive environment. The crowds that turn up to see open mic nights are genuinely interested in hearing new music, and there also tends to be a good sense of community between the musicians taking part. Once you feel like you know how to own the stage, those same musicians you meet at open mic nights could be the contacts you need to get on your first concert bill. Open mic nights aren't also great for new musicians. They also offer band who are old hats at playing live a place to try out new songs and experiment a little bit with their sound. If you are trying to move your band out of your local scene, hitting up open mic nights in another town is a good way to get a foot in the door with the music scene in that area. All in, open mic nights offer you the chance to practice your live set and build your confidence - plus, they can be a lot of fun. If you have written off the open mic night as an option for your band, don't knock it until you've tried it.

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper's free Prince CD

2007-11-28T10:44:00.001+01:00

Music industry attacks Sunday newspaper's free Prince CD

Katie Allen, media business correspondent

The Guardian

Friday June 29 2007

The eagerly awaited new album by Prince is being launched as a free CD with a national Sunday newspaper in a move that has drawn widespread criticism from music retailers.
The Mail on Sunday revealed yesterday that the 10-track Planet Earth CD will be available with an "imminent" edition, making it the first place in the world to get the album. Planet Earth will go on sale on July 24.
"It's all about giving music for the masses and he believes in spreading the music he produces to as many people as possible," said Mail on Sunday managing director Stephen Miron. "This is the biggest innovation in newspaper promotions in recent times."
The paper, which sells more than 2m copies a week, will be ramping up its print run in anticipation of a huge spike in circulation but would not reveal how much the deal with Prince would cost.
One music store executive described the plan as "madness" while others said it was a huge insult to an industry battling fierce competition from supermarkets and online stores. Prince's label has cut its ties with the album in the UK to try to appease music stores.
The Entertainment Retailers Association said the giveaway "beggars belief". "It would be an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," ERA co-chairman Paul Quirk told a music conference. "It would be yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music.
"The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday."
High street music giant HMV was similarly scathing about the plans. Speaking before rumours of a giveaway were confirmed, HMV chief executive Simon Fox said: "I think it would be absolutely nuts. I can't believe the music industry would do it to itself. I simply can't believe it would happen; it would be absolute madness."
Prince, whose Purple Rain sold more than 11m copies, also plans to give away a free copy of his latest album with tickets for his forthcoming concerts in London. The singer had signed a global deal for the promotion and distribution of Planet Earth in partnership with Columbia Records, a division of music company Sony BMG. A spokesman for the group said last night that the UK arm of Sony BMG had withdrawn from Prince's global deal and would not distribute the album to UK stores.

Steve Jobs: "The music industry nobs have finally fugured out what we're doing".

2007-11-28T10:38:00.000+01:00

So you've no doubt seen this story or one like it explaining that Universal Music Group won't renew its iTunes deal. And you've seen people saying that the majors are trying to "recalibrate" their relationships with us. Actually what's happening is they're crapping in their pants. They woke up one day and realized that we've got 80% share of digital downloads. Suddenly all the power in the value chain resides in one player. Oops.Here's the thing. These guys could have done what we did. In the early days of the Internet, everyone figured the majors would build digital distribution arms. But they didn't do it, because they didn't understand technology, and they didn't want to invest in building this expertise, and they were freaked out about piracy and paralyzed with fear. So we stepped in. We made the big investment. We hired programmers. We developed software that's easy to use and works flawlessly. (If you think that's trivial, think again. It's huge.) We ran the system. We promoted it, we marketed it, we haggled with all the majors and struck deals. We took all the risk, which was considerable. Now we're reaping the reward. And the majors want a bigger slice. Um, for what? We did all the work. Ain't gonna happen, slick.Here's the back story. The music companies are in a dying business, and they know it. Sure, they act all cool because they hang around with rock stars. But beneath all the glamour these guys are actually operating two very low-tech businesses. One is a form of loan-sharking: they put up money to make records, then force recording artists to pay the money back with exorbitant interest. The other business is distribution. They’ve got big warehouses and they control the shipment of little plastic boxes that happen to have music in them. The guys running the labels are pretty stupid -- most are just dirtbags who started out as band managers or promoters -- but now at long last they are kinda sorta finally vaguely getting clued in to the fact that both parts of their business model are fucked. Their loan-sharking business is being eliminated by low-cost digital recording technology that lets people make an album for very little money. And by letting us build the online music store they've taken themselves out of the distribution business. In the days of vinyl and then CDs, the labels managed to control the value chain by having loads of retailers in a highly fragmented market, and playing them off each other. In the digital world they've got us. And that's it. Ironically the mistake the major labels made was the same one that IBM made when it gave the DOS franchise to Microsoft nearly 30 years ago. They were faced with a new market that they didn't understand. They had a piece of work that they couldn't do on their own or didn't want to do on their own and they didn't view it as critical or important, so they outsourced it to a partner. The partner turned that seemingly unimportant work into a way to accrue power and create a monopoly and control the industry. Today in the music business we're about where IBM and Microsoft were in 1989, when IBM finally got hit with the clue stick and realized what Microsoft was doing. How will it play out this time? I don't know, honestly. But I like our chances.

The Problem With Music

2007-11-28T10:34:00.000+01:00

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what's printed on the contract. It's too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody's eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there's only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says "Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke". And he does of course.
Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an "A & R" rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for "Artist and Repertoire." because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave.
Lyle Preslar, former guitarist for Minor Threat, is one of them. Terry Tolkin, former NY independent booking agent and assistant manager at Touch and Go is one of them. Al Smith, former soundman at CBGB is one of them. Mike Gitter, former editor of XXX fanzine and contributor to Rip, Kerrang and other lowbrow rags is one of them. Many of the annoying turds who used to staff college radio stations are in their ranks as well. There are several reasons A & R scouts are always young. The explanation usually copped-to is that the scout will be "hip to the current musical "scene." A more important reason is that the bands will intuitively trust someone they think is a peer, and who speaks fondly of the same formative rock and roll experiences. The A & R person is the first person to make contact with the band, and as such is the first person to promise them the moon. Who better to promise them the moon than an idealistic young turk who expects to be calling the shots in a few years, and who has had no previous experience with a big record company. Hell, he's as naive as the band he's duping. When he tells them no one will interfere in their creative process, he probably even believes it. When he sits down with the band for the first time, over a plate of angel hair pasta, he can tell them with all sincerity that when they sign with company X, they're really signing with him and he's on their side. Remember that great gig I saw you at in '85? Didn't we have a blast. By now all rock bands are wise enough to be suspicious of music industry scum. There is a pervasive caricature in popular culture of a portly, middle aged ex-hipster talking a mile-a-minute, using outdated jargon and calling everybody "baby." After meeting "their" A & R guy, the band will say to themselves and everyone else, "He's not like a record company guy at all! He's like one of us." And they will be right. That's one of the reasons he was hired.
These A & R guys are not allowed to write contracts. What they do is present the band with a letter of intent, or "deal memo," which loosely states some terms, and affirms that the band will sign with the label once a contract has been agreed on. The spookiest thing about this harmless sounding little memo, is that it is, for all legal purposes, a binding document. That is, once the band signs it, they are under obligation to conclude a deal with the label. If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength. These letters never have any terms of expiration, so the band remain bound by the deal memo until a contract is signed, no matter how long that takes. The band cannot sign to another laborer or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens. Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.
One of my favorite bands was held hostage for the better part of two years by a slick young "He's not like a label guy at all," A & R rep, on the basis of such a deal memo. He had failed to come through on any of his promises [something he did with similar effect to another well-known band], and so the band wanted out. Another label expressed interest, but when the A & R man was asked to release the band, he said he would need money or points, or possibly both, before he would consider it. The new label was afraid the price would be too dear, and they said no thanks. On the cusp of making their signature album, an excellent band, humiliated, broke up from the stress and the many months of inactivity. There's this band. They're pretty ordinary, but they're also pretty good, so they've attracted some attention. They're signed to a moderate-sized "independent" label owned by a distribution company, and they have another two albums owed to the label. They're a little ambitious. They'd like to get signed by a major label so they can have some security you know, get some good equipment, tour in a proper tour bus -- nothing fancy, just a little reward for all the hard work. To that end, they got a manager. He knows some of the label guys, and he can shop their next project to all the right people. He takes his cut, sure, but it's only 15%, and if he can get them signed then it's money well spent. Anyways, it doesn't cost them anything if it doesn't work. 15% of nothing isn't much! One day an A & R scout calls them, says he's 'been following them for a while now, and when their manager mentioned them to him, it just "clicked." Would they like to meet with him about the possibility of working out a deal with his label? Wow. Big Break time. They meet the guy, and y'know what -- he's not what they expected from a label guy. He's young and dresses pretty much like the band does. He knows all their favorite bands. He's like one of them. He tells them he wants to go to bat for them, to try to get them everything they want. He says anything is possible with the right attitude.
They conclude the evening by taking home a copy of a deal memo they wrote out and signed on the spot. The A & R guy was full of great ideas, even talked about using a name producer. Butch Vig is out of the question-he wants 100 g's and three points, but they can get Don Fleming for $30,000 plus three points. Even that's a little steep, so maybe they'll go with that guy who used to be in David Letterman's band. He only wants three points. Or they can have just anybody record it (like Warton Tiers, maybe-- cost you 5 or 7 grand] and have Andy Wallace remix it for 4 grand a track plus 2 points. It was a lot to think about. Well, they like this guy and they trust him. Besides, they already signed the deal memo. He must have been serious about wanting them to sign. They break the news to their current label, and the label manager says he wants them to succeed, so they have his blessing. He will need to be compensated, of course, for the remaining albums left on their contract, but he'll work it out with the label himself.
Sub Pop made millions from selling off Nirvana, and Twin Tone hasn't done bad either: 50 grand for the Babes and 60 grand for the Poster Children-- without having to sell a single additional record. It'll be something modest. The new label doesn't mind, so long as it's recoupable out of royalties. Well, they get the final contract, and it's not quite what they expected. They figure it's better to be safe than sorry and they turn it over to a lawyer--one who says he's experienced in entertainment law and he hammers out a few bugs. They're still not sure about it, but the lawyer says he's seen a lot of contracts, and theirs is pretty good. They'll be great royalty: 13% [less a 1O% packaging deduction]. Wasn't it Buffalo Tom that were only getting 12% less 10? Whatever. The old label only wants 50 grand, an no points. Hell, Sub Pop got 3 points when they let Nirvana go. They're signed for four years, with options on each year, for a total of over a million dollars! That's a lot of money in any man's English. The first year's advance alone is $250,000. Just think about it, a quarter million, just for being in a rock band! Their manager thinks it's a great deal, especially the large advance. Besides, he knows a publishing company that will take the band on if they get signed, and even give them an advance of 20 grand, so they'll be making that money too. The manager says publishing is pretty mysterious, and nobody really knows where all the money comes from, but the lawyer can look that contract over too. Hell, it's free money. Their booking agent is excited about the band signing to a major. He says they can maybe average $1,000 or $2,000 a night from now on. That's enough to justify a five week tour, and with tour support, they can use a proper crew, buy some good equipment and even get a tour bus! Buses are pretty expensive, but if you figure in the price of a hotel room for everybody In the band and crew, they're actually about the same cost. Some bands like Therapy? and Sloan and Stereolab use buses on their tours even when they're getting paid only a couple hundred bucks a night, and this tour should earn at least a grand or two every night. It'll be worth it. The band will be more comfortable and will play better.
The agent says a band on a major label can get a merchandising company to pay them an advance on T-shirt sales! ridiculous! There's a gold mine here! The lawyer Should look over the merchandising contract, just to be safe. They get drunk at the signing party. Polaroids are taken and everybody looks thrilled. The label picked them up in a limo. They decided to go with the producer who used to be in Letterman's band. He had these technicians come in and tune the drums for them and tweak their amps and guitars. He had a guy bring in a slew of expensive old "vintage" microphones. Boy, were they "warm." He even had a guy come in and check the phase of all the equipment in the control room! Boy, was he professional. He used a bunch of equipment on them and by the end of it, they all agreed that it sounded very "punchy," yet "warm." All that hard work paid off. With the help of a video, the album went like hotcakes! They sold a quarter million copies! Here is the math that will explain just how fucked they are: These figures are representative of amounts that appear in record contracts daily. There's no need to skew the figures to make the scenario look bad, since real-life examples more than abound. income is bold and underlined, expenses are not.
Advance:
$ 250,000
Manager's cut:
$ 37,500
Legal fees:
$ 10,000
Recording Budget:
$ 150,000
Producer's advance:
$ 50,000
Studio fee:
$ 52,500
Drum Amp, Mic and Phase "Doctors":
$ 3,000
Recording tape:
$ 8,000
Equipment rental:
$ 5,000
Cartage and Transportation:
$ 5,000
Lodgings while in studio:
$ 10,000
Catering:
$ 3,000
Mastering:
$ 10,000
Tape copies, reference CDs, shipping tapes, misc. expenses:
$ 2,000
Video budget:
$ 30,000
Cameras:
$ 8,000
Crew:
$ 5,000
Processing and transfers:
$ 3,000
Off-line:
$ 2,000
On-line editing:
$ 3,000
Catering:
$ 1,000
Stage and construction:
$ 3,000
Copies, couriers, transportation:
$ 2,000
Director's fee:
$ 3,000
Album Artwork:
$ 5,000
Promotional photo shoot and duplication:
$ 2,000
Band fund:
$ 15,000
New fancy professional drum kit:
$ 5,000
New fancy professional guitars [2]:
$ 3,000
New fancy professional guitar amp rigs [2]:
$ 4,000
New fancy potato-shaped bass guitar:
$ 1,000
New fancy rack of lights bass amp:
$ 1,000
Rehearsal space rental:
$ 500
Big blowout party for their friends:
$ 500
Tour expense [5 weeks]:
$ 50,875
Bus:
$ 25,000
Crew [3]:
$ 7,500
Food and per diems:
$ 7,875
Fuel:
$ 3,000
Consumable supplies:
$ 3,500
Wardrobe:
$ 1,000
Promotion:
$ 3,000
Tour gross income:
$ 50,000
Agent's cut:
$ 7,500
Manager's cut:
$ 7,500
Merchandising advance:
$ 20,000
Manager's cut:
$ 3,000
Lawyer's fee:
$ 1,000
Publishing advance:
$ 20,000
Manager's cut:
$ 3,000
Lawyer's fee:
$ 1,000
Record sales:
250,000 @ $12 =$3,000,000
Gross retail revenue Royalty:
[13% of 90% of retail]:$ 351,000
Less advance:
$ 250,000
Producer's points:
[3% less $50,000 advance]:$ 40,000
Promotional budget:
$ 25,000
Recoupable buyout from previous label:
$ 50,000

Net royalty:
$ -14,000
Record company income:
Record wholesale price:
$6.50 x 250,000 =$1,625,000 gross income
Artist Royalties:
$ 351,000
Deficit from royalties:
$ 14,000
Manufacturing, packaging and distribution:
@ $2.20 per record: $ 550,000
Gross profit:
$ 7l0,000
The Balance Sheet: This is how much each player got paid at the end of the game.
Record company:
$ 710,000
Producer:
$ 90,000
Manager:
$ 51,000
Studio:
$ 52,500
Previous label:
$ 50,000
Agent:
$ 7,500
Lawyer:
$ 12,000
Band member net income each:
$ 4,031.25
The band is now 1/4 of the way through its contract, has made the music industry more than 3 million dollars richer, but is in the hole $14,000 on royalties. The band members have each earned about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they got to ride in a tour bus for a month. The next album will be about the same, except that the record company will insist they spend more time and money on it. Since the previous one never "recouped," the band will have no leverage, and will oblige. The next tour will be about the same, except the merchandising advance will have already been paid, and the band, strangely enough, won't have earned any royalties from their T-shirts yet. Maybe the T-shirt guys have figured out how to count money like record company guys. Some of your friends are probably already this fucked.
Steve Albini is an independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for having produced Nirvana's "In Utero".

The Day The Music Indusrty Died

2007-11-28T10:33:00.000+01:00

From The Sunday Times
October 7, 2007
The day the music industry died
There is no money in recorded music any more, that’s why bands are now giving it away
Robert Sandall
Having waited four years for their heroes to finish another record, Radiohead fans were understandably excited last week to learn that the band’s seventh album, In Rainbows, will finally be released on Wednesday. But what really rocked the fanbase – and heightened the air of gloom enveloping the global record industry – was the news that In Rainbows could be preordered and downloaded perfectly legally for as little as 1p at Radio-head.com.
Currently out of contract and thus entitled to dispose of their recordings as they see fit, one of the most popular bands in the world had decided to let the fans decide how much their latest album was worth. An MP3 file of In Rainbows would have no price tag. Honesty boxes, it seemed, were the new rock’n’roll.
If the Radiohead faithful appeared somewhat nonplussed by this move – “The danger is that people will stop seeing their music as important,” one fan posted in a blog; “I will gladly pay $20 knowing the artist will get the money,” pledged another – the band’s strategy was anything but mad, and not even that revolutionary. Last week the Charlatans announced they would be giving away their new album as a free download. Earlier this year another rock band, the Crimea, did the same.
In July Prince arranged for 2.5m copies of his new album to be cover-mounted on a Sunday newspaper and issued several hundred thousand more free of charge to anybody attending his London concerts in August. The scale of this charitable epidemic can be measured by a quick browse of the Free Albums Galore blog that lists more than 800 albums by a range of artists – from the Beastie Boys to some unsigned metal bands – all of which are free to download.
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Related Links
Radiohead: In Rainbows
What looks like commercial suicide is, in today’s reality, sound business sense. Records, CDs or downloads now have all become downgraded to the status of promotional tools – useful to sell concert tickets and fan paraphernalia. While there is still good money to be made in music, and particularly on the concert circuit, the record business – blame it on piracy, too many CD giveaways or the advent of the recordable CD – is a busted flush.
A revealing story doing the rounds in America tells of a young rock band who decided to stop selling their CDs at gigs after they discovered that by offering their CDs for $10 they were cannibalising sales of their $20 T-shirts. The truth now is that a rudimentary cotton garment with a band logo stamped across it that has probably been manufactured for pennies in a Third World sweatshop costs about twice as much as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art western studio. And even at that price, recorded music isn’t selling.
Album sales are currently in freefall all over the world. The 10% drop in the UK over the past year is dwarfed by a 15% slide in the US, 25% in France and a whopping 35% in Canada. The bankruptcy this summer of the CD retail chain Fopp, HMV’s announcement that its profits halved in the first six months of this year and Richard Branson’s recent decision to dump the Virgin Megastores – which have reportedly lost him more than £50m in 2007 – are only the most visible signs of a crisis that has rocked the music industry on its axis.
The point isn’t just that people are buying fewer CDs; they are paying as much as two-thirds less in real terms today for the music they listen to on their iPods than they used to when the compact disc first took over the market. Twenty years ago a chart CD cost about £14. Today you can buy the same in a super-market for £9.
The online market may have grown recently, but not enough to fix the hole. Here, too, margins have shrunk. A download of a single track now costs 79p against the £4 a CD single cost in 1999.
The impact on the bottom line of the record labels has been catastrophic. When EMI’s subsidiary Virgin put out the Spice Girls’ debut album in 1996 the company cleared roughly £5 in profit on each copy sold. That margin has since shrivelled to around £2 – and only then for albums that are significant hits. Industry insiders estimate that only one of the new British acts that has “broken” in 2007 – the pop diva Mika – will actually make his record company any money.
This has not gone unremarked in the City. When the private equity firm Terra Firma bought EMI recently it paid about a third, in real terms, what the company nearly fetched 10 years ago when a sale to its competitor Universal was mooted. That decline mirrors what has happened over the same period to the retail price of new CDs, and it also reflects the scale of the cull of EMI’s workforce, which has shrunk in 10 years from more than 10,000 worldwide to about 4,000 today.
The mood of panic is palpable, and there are no obvious solutions in sight. In America the recently appointed co-chairman of the Columbia label Rick Rubin, formerly a record producer by trade, has spoken of his ambition to turn the company around by refocusing it along the lines of a cable TV business – making Columbia’s entire catalogue downloadable to customers who pay a monthly subscription.
Another senior figure at Columbia has dismissed this plan as “potentially the last nail in the coffin”. The recent establishment of a “word of mouth” department at the label reflects the loss of control felt within a business that has lost a grip on its market.
One – fading – hope of the major labels is that they can somehow grab a share of the profits their artists make elsewhere. When Robbie Williams resigned to EMI in 2002 for a reported £80m this new deal guaranteed the label a piece of the action from Williams’s highly lucrative concert tours. But many young artists since have become wary of such composite arrangements. Some have decided to bypass the major record companies altogether.
One of the hottest new names to emerge here this year, the rave metal band Enter Shikari, refused to sign to anybody and in March released their debut album, Take to the Skies, on their own label Ambush Reality. In the past these tiny, so-called indie labels have usually been funded by majors anxious to covertly purchase credibility for their products with a young audience traditionally distrustful of big music corporations.
But that is not how it is with Ambush Reality. The marketing of Take to the Skies was largely down to the band themselves, who have played nearly 700 gigs since forming in St Albans in 2003. Word of mouth, coupled with a band presence on MySpace, has done the rest.
In November 2006 Enter Shikari became only the second unsigned act after the Darkness to sell out the leading London rock venue the Astoria. Take to the Skies entered the album chart at number four in March. In May they undertook a major tour of America – the first British band to do so without the support of a big record company.
This upending of the music business was neatly predicted back in the 1990s by the guitarist of the American hardcore band Anthrax who described their new album as “the menu; our concert is the meal”. This comment recalled the Beatles’ producer George Martin’s observation about his protégés’ first LP, Please Please Me from 1963. It was, Martin said, “just a memento of a concert”. Now, likewise, bands sell CD recordings of their performances at the end of the night.
The reprioritisation in recent years of live music over the recorded variety has been dramatic. Attendance at arena shows rose here by 11% last year. By the time 2007 bows out, 450 music festivals will have taken place in the UK.
Every week brings news of another frenzied assault on the box office. Last Monday Ticket-master reported that 20,000 tickets for the Spice Girls’ first reunion concert at London’s O2 arena in December sold out in 38 seconds, with 1m fans registering to buy. Three weeks back more than a million clamoured for seats at the forthcoming Led Zeppelin reunion. Glastonbury disposed of its 135,000 weekend passes for this year’s event within two hours – taking more than £21m in the process.
Ticket prices, especially for Alist artists, have soared as the price of CDs has tumbled. You could have bought Madonna’s entire catalogue for less than half what it cost to see her perform at Wembley Arena last summer where the best seats in the house went for £160. With the Rolling Stones at Twickenham a view from the pitch would have set you back £150.
Now that live music rules, nobody bothers to complain about what it costs any more. Euphoria at the news earlier this year that the Police had reformed obliterated all concerns that it cost between £70 and £90 to see them play at Twickenham in September. I spoke to many fans at one of those gigs; not one complained about the ticket price.
In the light of these numbers, the probability is that music fans now are spending more money on their passion than they were in the heyday of the CD. They have rediscovered an ancient truth that music is, at root, a communal experience as much as it is something that goes on between your ears.
Interestingly the band now tolling the death knell of the record industry, Radiohead, seem currently to have mixed feelings about live work.
“They probably will be playing some dates next year,” a spokesman said last week. “But Thom Yorke doesn’t like touring much.”

Steve Jobs' thoughts on the music industry

2007-11-28T10:30:00.000+01:00

With the stunning global success of Apple’s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to “open” the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let’s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future.
To begin, it is useful to remember that all iPods play music that is free of any DRM and encoded in “open” licensable formats such as MP3 and AAC. iPod users can and do acquire their music from many sources, including CDs they own. Music on CDs can be easily imported into the freely-downloadable iTunes jukebox software which runs on both Macs and Windows PCs, and is automatically encoded into the open AAC or MP3 formats without any DRM. This music can be played on iPods or any other music players that play these open formats.
The rub comes from the music Apple sells on its online iTunes Store. Since Apple does not own or control any music itself, it must license the rights to distribute music from others, primarily the “big four” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI. These four companies control the distribution of over 70% of the world’s music. When Apple approached these companies to license their music to distribute legally over the Internet, they were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied. The solution was to create a DRM system, which envelopes each song purchased from the iTunes store in special and secret software so that it cannot be played on unauthorized devices.
Apple was able to negotiate landmark usage rights at the time, which include allowing users to play their DRM protected music on up to 5 computers and on an unlimited number of iPods. Obtaining such rights from the music companies was unprecedented at the time, and even today is unmatched by most other digital music services. However, a key provision of our agreements with the music companies is that if our DRM system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to fix the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store.
To prevent illegal copies, DRM systems must allow only authorized devices to play the protected music. If a copy of a DRM protected song is posted on the Internet, it should not be able to play on a downloader’s computer or portable music device. To achieve this, a DRM system employs secrets. There is no theory of protecting content other than keeping secrets. In other words, even if one uses the most sophisticated cryptographic locks to protect the actual music, one must still “hide” the keys which unlock the music on the user’s computer or portable music player. No one has ever implemented a DRM system that does not depend on such secrets for its operation.
The problem, of course, is that there are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music. They are often successful in doing just that, so any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets. It is a cat-and-mouse game. Apple’s DRM system is called FairPlay. While we have had a few breaches in FairPlay, we have been able to successfully repair them through updating the iTunes store software, the iTunes jukebox software and software in the iPods themselves. So far we have met our commitments to the music companies to protect their music, and we have given users the most liberal usage rights available in the industry for legally downloaded music.
With this background, let’s now explore three different alternatives for the future.
The first alternative is to continue on the current course, with each manufacturer competing freely with their own “top to bottom” proprietary systems for selling, playing and protecting music. It is a very competitive market, with major global companies making large investments to develop new music players and online music stores. Apple, Microsoft and Sony all compete with proprietary systems. Music purchased from Microsoft’s Zune store will only play on Zune players; music purchased from Sony’s Connect store will only play on Sony’s players; and music purchased from Apple’s iTunes store will only play on iPods. This is the current state of affairs in the industry, and customers are being well served with a continuing stream of innovative products and a wide variety of choices.
Some have argued that once a consumer purchases a body of music from one of the proprietary music stores, they are forever locked into only using music players from that one company. Or, if they buy a specific player, they are locked into buying music only from that company’s music store. Is this true? Let’s look at the data for iPods and the iTunes store – they are the industry’s most popular products and we have accurate data for them. Through the end of 2006, customers purchased a total of 90 million iPods and 2 billion songs from the iTunes store. On average, that’s 22 songs purchased from the iTunes store for each iPod ever sold.
Today’s most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full. This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats. It’s hard to believe that just 3% of the music on the average iPod is enough to lock users into buying only iPods in the future. And since 97% of the music on the average iPod was not purchased from the iTunes store, iPod users are clearly not locked into the iTunes store to acquire their music.
The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company’s players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benefit by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM. However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players.
An equally serious problem is how to quickly repair the damage caused by such a leak. A successful repair will likely involve enhancing the music store software, the music jukebox software, and the software in the players with new secrets, then transferring this updated software into the tens (or hundreds) of millions of Macs, Windows PCs and players already in use. This must all be done quickly and in a very coordinated way. Such an undertaking is very difficult when just one company controls all of the pieces. It is near impossible if multiple companies control separate pieces of the puzzle, and all of them must quickly act in concert to repair the damage from a leak.
Apple has concluded that if it licenses FairPlay to others, it can no longer guarantee to protect the music it licenses from the big four music companies. Perhaps this same conclusion contributed to Microsoft’s recent decision to switch their emphasis from an “open” model of licensing their DRM to others to a “closed” model of offering a proprietary music store, proprietary jukebox software and proprietary players.
The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.
Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The simplest answer is because DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy. Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. That’s right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player.
In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves. The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system.
So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none. If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies.
Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.

What’s the Future of the Music Industry?

2007-11-28T10:29:00.000+01:00

What’s the Future of the Music Industry? A Freakonomics Quorum

By Stephen J. Dubner

Before I was in the writing industry, I was in the music industry.
While the economics of journalism have changed a lot over the past 20 years — witness the demise of Times Select and the potential demise of the Wall Street Journal’s pay site — many other aspects of the writing industry haven’t changed much at all. If you are a non-fiction writer who writes books, for instance, the economic setup is pretty much the same as it was, in large part because book publishers still primarily offer hard copies of books to people who pay money for them.
But the music industry of today looks almost nothing like the music industry of 20 years ago. There are a ton of reasons, most of them having to do with digital technology. If you are a young journalist starting out today, you may still aspire to get a big publisher to give you an advance and widely publish your book; but if you are a young musician starting out today, do you want to get a big record advance or do you want to sell the music yourself, like these folks do, and like Jane Siberry does? If you are a record label, what do you do about illegal downloads, and do you keep putting out “albums” that nobody buys or do you instead try to release only individual songs, as many people seem to prefer?
It strikes me as ironic that a new technology (digital music) may have accidentally forced record labels to abandon the status quo (releasing albums) and return to the past (selling singles). I sometimes think that the biggest mistake the record industry ever made was abandoning the pop single in the first place. Customers were forced to buy albums to get the one or two songs they loved; how many albums can you say that you truly love, or love even 50% of the songs — 10? 20? But now the people have spoken: they want one song at a time, digitally please, maybe even free (yikes: big can of worms, which is addressed ably below).
So what really happened to the music industry, and what will it look like in five or ten years?
That’s the question we put to five smart people in our latest Freakonomics Quorum. I found their answers to be incredibly interesting, full of real information and clear-eyed thinking. (If you haven’t already done so, you should also read Lynn Hirschberg’s really good recent profile of Rick Rubin in the Times Magazine.) Huge thanks to all our participants.
Koleman Strumpf, professor of business economics at the University of Kansas Business School whose papers include “The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales”:
Many dire assessments have been made about the record business. Unfortunately, these claims are rarely supported with data. As such, I will provide specific numbers about the industry’s health, put those numbers in perspective, and discuss several factors that might explain recent trends.
Let me begin by discussing the current state of the U.S. record industry. As has been widely reported, sales are down. According to Nielsen SoundScan, album sales fell 18 percent between 2000 and 2006, after accounting for paid digital downloads from online stores like iTunes. While these numbers are not good, other industries have experienced similar downturns. For example, new car sales are down 22 percent for U.S. automakers.
It is important to remember that sales downturns are not atypical in the music business, and that investors remain interested in selling records. The current situation closely mirrors the post-disco bust in the early 1980s. Specifically, real revenues fell by the same percentage during the years 1979 to 1985 and 1999 to 2006. The record industry also continues to generate profits and attract interest from investors. For example, a private equity firm just last month completed a ₤3 billion takeover of EMI, and an investment group purchased the Warner Music Group in 2004 for $2.6 billion.
Investors seek out high returns, and these large investments suggest that many believe that they can make money in the record business. It also implies that the industry is still profitable. While profit data can be hard to come by, we get a small window from Warner, the only publicly traded standalone record company in the U.S., which enjoyed operating margins of 7 percent and 10 percent from its recorded music segments in 2005 and 2006.
Putting profitability aside for now, what is the explanation for the sales reduction that has occurred? The most obvious culprit is illicit file-sharing on networks such as Napster, KaZaA, eDonkey, and BitTorrent. While linking the two seems tantalizing — file sharing rose to prominence at roughly the same time that record sales started to fall — there is surprisingly little evidence to support the claim that file sharing has significantly hurt record sales. I co-authored a paper with Felix Oberholzer-Gee of the Harvard Business School in which we studied this link using download data from file-sharing networks. If file sharing hurts record sales, then albums that are more heavily downloaded should experience lower sales than comparable albums that are less downloaded. But, after controlling for the role of popularity, we found that downloads had little effect on album sales.
There are several other factors that might explain recent sales trends. First, recall the industry’s similar problems in the early 1980s. Then, as now, sales were down as consumers stopped purchasing albums from a previously popular genre (in the ’80s it was disco; now it’s teen-pop). So one explanation is that the industry has failed to find genres that capture the interests of consumers.
Second, much of the reduction in sales is the direct result of industry cost-cutting. The major record labels have cut large numbers of staff and severed ties with many artists. Such moves are not necessarily bad business choices, but they suggest that less attention should be given to revenues and more to profits.
Third, recorded music has had trouble competing against other products that vie for consumers’ entertainment spending. Consider home video products like the DVD. It does not seem implausible that a good chunk of the $11 billion rise in spending on home video products since 1999 represents foregone CD sales. (Music industry revenues only fell $2 billion over this period.) Entertainment spending was also likely channeled into cell phones and video games, both of which experienced large sales growth and have been particularly popular with the key teen demographic.
A fourth and final factor to consider is the rise of paid digital downloads made popular by iTunes. While this model is often described as a competitor of illicit downloading, there is little evidence that file-sharing users also use iTunes (plus genres like classical music, which are largely ignored on file-sharing networks, are very popular on iTunes). More problematic is the likelihood that music consumers who used to purchase whole albums now download only one or two songs, so rather than getting $15 for an album sale, the industry gets two downloads at $2. While there is no direct evidence that cannibalization is occurring, the growing size of paid downloads makes this factor an important one to consider.
As for the future, I am dubious about making forecasts. Much will depend on the choices the major labels make on key issues (will they run experiments to determine the optimal pricing of digital downloads?) and the arrival of still-unforeseen technologies (which could allow labels to more cheaply distribute music, or lead to new forms of piracy). At the same time, I reject the argument that recorded music is close to death, simply because the financial incentives to create music have never been particularly high. In 2005, less than one in five albums were released on a major label, and even among those releases, fewer than one in fifteen went gold (the usual measure of record success). With such daunting odds, recording an album may have seemed like a pointless task. But in that year, nearly 44,000 albums were released — enough to provide almost three consecutive years of listening. Regardless of what happens to companies that produce and distribute music, I am sure that recorded music will continue to be made.
Fredric Dannen, author of Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business:
Two decades ago, I was interviewing David Geffen for Hit Men, and he offered a warning about what he saw as a grave threat to the record industry: digital audio tape. If record companies started issuing albums on D.A.T., Geffen said, they would effectively be distributing their master tapes, “obviating the need for catalog.” At the time, Geffen’s admonition made sense; but D.A.T. never caught on with the consumer. The failure of D.A.T. got me thinking, and before long I believed I had discerned something about the consumption of recorded music — something startlingly obvious that has somehow eluded the record industry throughout its history, and led to the industry’s irreversible decline.
My epiphany, if you want to call it that, was simply this: consumers of recorded music will always embrace the format that provides the greatest convenience. No other factor — certainly not high fidelity — will move consumers substantially to change their listening and buying habits. The single exception to this rule was the introduction of two-channel stereo in the late fifties.
Let me state this more clearly, by example. When the long-playing record (LP) format was introduced by Columbia Records back in the late 1940s, the industry as a whole resisted it, and many predicted it would never take off because 78s sounded better. Without question, early LPs did not sound nearly as good as 78s. But given the choice of listening to all of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on two sides of one record versus sixteen sides of eight records, the consumer opted for convenience and simplicity (not to mention less shelf space).
The industry also resisted the audio cassette. Who in their right mind would prefer a format with an ever-present hiss over the pristine sound of an LP? The answer: nearly everybody. Cassettes were much easier to handle than records; they didn’t scratch, and you could listen to them in your car, or while walking or jogging.
Starting about twenty years ago, the CD took off like a rocket, burying both the LP and the audio cassette in a few short years. At that time, the CD was the last word in simplicity and convenience. I remember meeting an audiophile at a record-industry convention in the late 1980s. The popularity of the CD appalled and befuddled him. Couldn’t people hear that digital sound was cold and harsh compared to the warm, luxurious sound of an LP? Sure. But most consumers of music are not high-end audiophiles. Now you could hear all 74 minutes of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on one side of one disk.
I myself am something of a music nut. I cannot get through a day without listening to music, and my personal collection of recordings is enormous. By the early 1990s, I longed for a format even more convenient than the CD. And, based on my own listening habits, I was pretty sure I knew where we were headed. In short, I wanted to be able to run my music library from my home computer, and dispense with disks altogether. What I did not foresee was the advent of MP3 compression. As soon as MP3s hit the scene, I embraced them ecstatically. I was the first person I knew to own a Diamond Rio, the first portable MP3 player.
In 1999, I wrote an editorial for the New York Times predicting that MP3 was an unstoppable force that would destroy the oligopolistic power of the record industry. This paper did not believe me; the editorial ran instead in the Los Angeles Times.
It was an easy prediction to make. You can always count on the record industry to cling to the past, and to fight innovation. (Apart from resisting the LP, the cassette, and the CD, the industry also fought MTV.) The industry could have adopted and embraced MP3 as the new dominant format, had it understood why it was unstoppable. But the business’ failure to understand has been striking for its persistence. By the time Napster hit the scene, the industry had a Hobson’s choice: accept MP3, or die.
We all know what happened next.
George Drakoulias, music producer, artists & repertoire executive at American Recordings, and veteran of Def Jam Recordings:
There are many factors contributing to the industry’s current decline. The biggest ones include the inability of record companies to take advantage of new resources like Napster and American Idol, the continuous churning out of bad music, and, of course, greed, greed, and more greed. I think it is clear how we got here; but where we’re going remains very uncertain.
For starters, while we’re still in agreement as a society that people want music, I’d say music is not as important now as it once was. Instant gratification has removed some of the the demand. Music feels like it has become more disposable and cheap, with less staying power. As a result, it becomes a lot harder to commit to newer acts knowing they may not be around a year from now. I don’t see many kids nowadays wearing the T-shirts of the latest fad bands, but I do see a hell of a lot of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd shirts out there.
In a way, the blogosphere has removed all sense of mystery from the entertainment industry as a whole. For example, everyone knows what Heath Ledger looks like as the Joker in the the new installment of Batman, which won’t be in theaters for almost a year. We see previews of magazine covers weeks before they hit the stands. The Christmas Eve-type excitement and anticipation that used to accompany entertainment seems to have disappeared.
As far as how the music industry fits into this scheme, the old business model is dead. In five years, the CD should be over. Someone will take a stab at a subscription service — though the right way to make that work is a mystery to me. Maybe it will involve several like-minded acts getting together and starting a co-op, such as the bands of Ozzfest, etc. Meanwhile, music executives still need some sort of filter to help them navigate the new playing field.
Without stating the obvious, the future is really in the hands of the consumer. The public will dictate to whatever is left of the record industry (it’s funny that we still call it that — long live vinyl!) the way in which it wants its music delivered. The final product will most likely involve computers, and will give you the ability to take your music with you in your phone, car, bathtub, skydiving parachute, etc.
What am I going to do in the midst of all this? It may sound simple, but my plan is to work as hard as I can to make the best music possible and try to educate the listener. A few years ago, I worked on a record called The Last DJ by Tom Petty. The songs on the album addressed the problems we are currently dealing with in the industry. I thought the record would be a wakeup call for consumers; but it’s hard to tell kids, “Eat your broccoli, it’s good for you.” I’ll try to nurture new talent and make records that sound exciting, emotional, and timeless, and to bring some level of craft back into record-making, ensuring that the artists I work with have the ability to play live and move an audience.
One option that doesn’t seem feasible is making everything free and eliminating copyrights. Hopefully, someone smarter than I am will come up with the right formula to get music to consumers in the way that they want it, and to collect fees that are distributed accordingly. I hope that person shows up soon.
Peter Rojas, founder of Engadget and co-founder of RCRD LBL, a free, online-only music label launched by Downtown Records.
The short answer is that the Internet happened.
I never thought studying Adorno and Horkheimer in college would come in handy (much as I loved them), but they did a good job of identifying how the rise of mechanical reproduction went hand-in-hand with the birth of mass culture. Whether it was television, radio, newspapers, or records, huge media companies were able to take advantage of a curious sweet spot in history — mechanical reproduction made it possible to churn out cheap, identical copies of a book, newspaper, record, etc., but creating and distributing those cheap, identical copies required the sort of capital to which very few individuals had access. In the case of music, a handful of major labels could more or less monopolize the creation and distribution of music.
The Internet changed all that. We’d already been slowly shifting from analog to digital reproduction, but it was digital reproduction combined with the a ridiculously cheap distribution channel (the Internet) that really mucked it up for the major labels. The emergence of Napster (the original one) was the wake-up call, but the record industry would be in trouble now even if no one had invented peer-to-peer file sharing.
The fact of the matter is that the majors thrived in an era of inefficiency, when there was value in physically producing and distributing music. There isn’t any value in that any more (or at least, it’s very quickly declining), and there’s no good way for labels to compete given that the cost structure of the business was designed around physical releases. Major labels need blockbusters, because the costs inherent with producing, distributing, and marketing each physical release means it’s easier to make money from one mega-hit that sells 10 million records than 100 small hits that each sell 100,000 records. In a digital world, you could make money from those 100 small hits almost as easily as you could from that one mega-hit. (See Chris Anderson’s theory of the Long Tail).
If this was merely the extent of the problem, the record industry might be doing okay right now. The majors could have adjusted and reinvented themselves for the digital era. Instead, they took too long to start selling music online (and even when they did agree to start selling digital downloads, they screwed it up by insisting on digital rights management). The lack of legal, paid-for downloads created a vacuum in the pre-iTunes era, one that numerous peer-to-peer file-sharing networks were happy to fill. A generation of kids got used to the idea that music was free, and given the infinite amount of freely — if illegally — available music out there, it was hard to argue with the facts on the ground. Music seemed free, so it was free. It didn’t help that the industry had been gouging consumers for years with high CD prices; prices rose even as the cost of producing CDs plummeted. Digital downloads should have made it possible to slash prices for recorded music, but the majors have done their best to keep prices at around a dollar a track — an artificially high price point that makes piracy more attractive than it should be.
I don’t pretend to know what the industry will look like in ten years, but the funny thing about all of this is that music itself is healthier than ever. The Internet, combined with low-cost (or even no-cost) digital tools, has led to an explosion of creativity, with millions of amateurs making music for every conceivable genre, sub-genre, and microgenre, and then sharing their creations online. Andrew Keen might look down on these results, and no doubt 99.9 percent of the music being created today is terrible; but that’s besides the point. Even that one-tenth of one percent means that there is more great music being created than any of us will have time to listen to — and that’s not even taking into account all of the “professional” music that still manages to get made. Many professional artists are discovering that, regardless of how well their music sells, they’re still able to make a healthy living from live appearances, merchandise, and licensing — and the Internet only makes it easier for them to build a fan base. It’s the Britney Spearses of the world that are hit hardest by all of this change. Manufactured pop doesn’t do quite so well when consumers have better options to choose from.
The majors thrived in an era of artificial scarcity when they were able to control the production and distribution of music. Today, we have an infinite number of choices available to us, and when content is infinitely abundant, the only scarce commodities are convenience, taste, and trust. The music companies that are successfully shaping the Internet era are recognizing that the real value is in making it easier to buy music than to steal it, helping consumers find other people who share their music tastes, and serving as a trusted source for discovering new music.
Steve Gottlieb, president of TVT Records:
The decline in record sales over the past year was entirely predictable. The technology that has wreaked havoc on the industry was developed 8 or 9 years ago, and, while certain features of it have improved, the individual elements that comprise it — an institutionalized standard for non-protected music files like MP3s, music search and swapping protocols, and rip/burn hardware — are not new. Combining these elements allowed CDs to go from a storage medium to a broadcast medium. As such, the passing along of burned CDs now constitutes the primary means of music acquisition. The cycle of reduced demand causing retail channels to reduce distribution pipelines in advance of the marketplace began in earnest last year, when not a single retailer saw enough value in Tower Record to outbid liquidators.
This tale of technology leveling the record industry demonstrates its unique character. Record companies seem unable to digest change, redefine their businesses, and, perhaps most importantly, resist the temptation to seek unfair competitive advantages over one another. The failure of record labels to take collaborative action against piracy has led to the industry’s current bizarre circumstances — in a world of skyrocketing demand for music, the development and sale of recorded music offers ever-decreasing economic returns.
This set of circumstances was entirely avoidable. Many of the blunders that created the current mess were heavily anticipated, as was the recent decline in sales. Major industry mistakes included shutting down Napster after its commitment to begin paying rights holders, suing consumers without clarifying to the public what constituted personal use, and failing to squarely address CD burners and iPods as strategies to sell hardware by bundling them with unlimited access to freely-copied music.
For as long as the woes of MP3s, file sharing and CD burning have existed, solutions to them have existed as well, although their attractiveness and cost of implementation may have changed. These solutions include combining advertising with free consumption, subscription services, and transactional unit-based sales of secure formats. Given the fact that the public has gotten used to sharing music for free, getting people to abandon this notion will be extremely difficult.
Regardless of what created this mess, if we accept that free music has become the model for consumption, then we have little choice but to invest in advertising-supported free services that will make this type of consumption profitable. This step will require patience, leadership and a long-term view. After formulating a way to recapture the revenue it’s losing, the industry can then address the development of a new, secure file format that offers audio, meta-data, and other digital features superior to those of MP3s. This should be an easy task, and will give the industry access to both ad-supported free “iPod quality” MP3s, and higher-quality digital products that can be sold directly.
Unless the labels actively reinvent themselves and embrace change, they will continue to find themselves in an expanding music marketplace that rewards their efforts less and less.

Techno, House and Electro Meet @ Nopeisdope

2007-11-28T10:24:00.000+01:00

De toekomst van House zal niet alleen in de house muziek liggen, en daarbij de toekomst van het house publiek ook niet. Op den duur zal het house publiek kennis maken met stijlen als techno, minimal en electro. Stijlen die nu vooral nog meer underground zijn, vergeleken met house, zullen in de toekomst ook terug te vinden zijn in de grotere clubs van Nederland. Rockstarz zal housejunkies op vrijdag 30 november kennis laten maken met deze opkomende stijlen in de dance scene! In combinatie met Nopeisdope, wat voor de derde keer in Eindhoven te vinden is, zal Rockstarz op deze avond haar nieuwste feest lanceren: “The New Revolution”. The New Revolution, een combinatie van house, techno, minimal en electro, zal zoals de naam al vertelt een nieuwe revolutie zijn in de dance scene. House liefhebbers zullen kennis maken met techno, minimal en electro; minimal liefhebbers met house, techno en electro etc.! Maar wat vooral bijzonder zal zijn is dat al deze stijlen op vrijdag de 30e onder één dag te vinden zijn, namelijk in CLUB REMBRANDT! Techno liefhebbers zullen deze avond los gaan op minimal beats, Minimal addicts zullen House lovers ontmoeten, Elektro zal kennis maken met techno en house junkies zullen een gru-we-lij-ke avond hebben en nooit meer wat anders willen! En bij de lancering van een nieuw feest hoort natuurlijk een super line-up! New Revolution Area Bart Skils 2000 and One Warren Fellow Gfreaxx Ille Bitch Darko Esser Nope Area: House Kenneth G Quintino Afrojack Sidney Samson D-Rashid Yasmin le Bon Miss Sugaware MC Roga Dope Area: Eclectic Billy the Klit Irwan Jamie Westland Lina Ann Marvelous K MC Shanairo Talent stage Bassjackers Groovenatics Veron Basti Lourenz New Revolution Area De eerste indruk van The New Revolution moet natuurlijk goed zijn, daarom heeft Rockstarz gekozen voor een ijzersterke line-up! Rockstarz heeft met Darko Esser, Ille Bitch en Warren Fellow een paar DJ’s geboekt die in Nederland behoren tot de top DJ’s in de techno en minimal scene. 01.00 – 02.30 Bart Skils 02.30 – 04.00 2000 and One Met erg veel boekingen en een paar erg vette gigs op verschillende grote festivals in Nederland is Bart Skils afgelopen zomer definitief doorgebroken! Éen van zijn hoogtepunten moet zijn b2b set samen met ‘2000 and One’ op Awakenings geweest zijn. Met zijn eigen clubavonden is Bart Skils op dit moment één van de meest bekende DJ’s in de Nederlandse dance scene. 2000 and One zal The New Revolution afsluiten met een 1,5 uur durende set. Naast alleen DJ is 2000 and One nog eens een erg goede producer met een paar vette releases afgelopen tijd! NOPE AREA: In de Nope Area zullen Rockstarz finest; Afojack, Kenneth G en Quintino hun kunsten laten zien. Deze drie jongens hebben de afgelopen maanden duidelijk laten zien dat ze binnenkort niet meer weg te denken zijn uit de house scene. De remix van Erasmus (Gregor Salto) door Quintino die op de mix cd, AAAAAA, van Roger Sanchez en Laidback Luke terug te vinden is geeft aan hoe ver deze drie DJ’s het kunnen gaan schoppen! Ondersteund door Sidney Samson, D-Rashid, Yasmin le Bon en Miss Sugaware zal er in de Nope Area een house feestje gebouwd worden zoals jullie van Nopeisdope gewent zijn! De Nope Area zal gehost worden door MC Roga. DOPE AREA: Billy the Klit heeft afgelopen maanden bewezen een echte Nopeisdope DJ te zijn, met zijn sets vol power en afwisseling weet hij er altijd voor te zorgen dat iedereen, en dan ook echt iedereen, helemaal uit zijn dak gaat! Na sets op een aantal vorige NID edities is hij dan ook zeker één van de DJ’s waar naar uitgekeken mag worden! Naast Billy zullen Jamie Westland, Irwan, Lina Ann en Marvelous K in de foyer achter de draaitafels plaats nemen. MC Shanairo zal als Mc deze zaal onder zijn hoede nemen! Talent stage: Zoals de laatste tijd vaker gebeurt zal Rockstarz deze avond ook een aantal talentvolle DJ’s de kans geven om zich op dit podium te bewijzen. Bassjackers, Groovenatics, Gfreaxx, Veron en Basti Lourenz zullen er alles aan doen om een onvergetelijke indruk achter te laten, dus vergeet deze talentvolle DJ’s de 30e niet!

A Book with a Theme Song?

2007-11-27T15:51:00.000+01:00

Published: Tue, 13 Nov 2007, 08:32:46 GMT

DALLAS, Texas - Nov. 13 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- It's not a song book or a singing book, though technologically possible, but buyers of the new novella anthology, "The Pilgrimage & Dark Spaces: Collected short works of fictional drama" (ISBN: 9780978713003), are asked to broaden their reading experience with a little original music accompaniment. The book written by Randy Doyle Hazlett and newly released by Christian Artist's Workshop directs readership to contemporary music extras found at http://www.DarkSpaces.info which were written specifically for the book.

The music is freely downloadable for listening pleasure and available in popular ringtone formats (mp3, MIDI).Music or not, the book (see accompanying cover photo) contains a soul-searching slice of Americana. In "The Pilgrimage," we are invited into the home of a dysfunctional family exposed to tragedy. The family is fragmented and struggles to express emotion in any constructive form. At the death of a parent, the family is partially reunited, but the road long chosen takes some beyond the possibility of redemption.

The departing gift of an old woman well-versed in the sins of others enables the eldest to rekindle life's most essential element - love. Veteran Broadway actor, writer and producer Albert T. Viola of Princeton University parallels "The Pilgrimage" to the works of Nobel-prize winning American playwright Eugene O'Neill and says of Dr. Hazlett, "He writes with breathtaking realism, clarity and grace." Regarding the second feature, "Dark Spaces" is a spiritual short story trilogy which follows the fictional lives of three couples separated in time.

The intrigue of the short story collection in dramatic prose is both emotionally captivating and intellectually stimulating. In the genre of C.S. Lewis, "Dark Spaces" challenges readers to formulate their own theology and, in the process, reconnect with their eternal friend - their soul. In "The Pilgrimage and Dark Spaces," Randy Doyle Hazlett has thrown us a lifeline of faith, hope, and love. This is Dr. Hazlett's second out-of-the-box book release of the year, with the first being the acclaimed nonfiction work, "Negotiate Like a Phoenician," coauthored with friend and business partner Dr. Habib Chamoun-Nicolas.

With the success of that book, which draws heavily on Biblical accounts of the deal behind the construction of Solomon's Temple, a series of workshops on best business practices of the ancient Phoenician trading masters is being unveiled for 2008 at Camp Allen near Houston. In conjunction with the workshops, Dr. Hazlett is designing a suite of fun learning games for future commercial development. While entry into print media is new news, publishing is not. Loads more original music and additional ebooks reside in cyber metastasis at www.FreeChristianStuff.net.

Music, fun, and games aside, Christian Artist's Workshop is nominating "The Pilgrimage & Dark Spaces: Collected short works of fictional drama" for a PEN/Faulkner Award and National Book Critics Circle Award consideration. The book is currently available in trade paperback online or directly via Pathway Book Services (800-345-6665) and Ingram or Baker & Taylor channels (ISBN: 9780978713003, LCCN: 2006905615) at a suggested retail price of $16.95. Speaking engagements and author interviews are by arrangement through website contacts

Universal Music puts its faith in memory cure for sliding sales

2007-11-27T13:37:00.000+01:00

Universal Music, the world’s biggest music company, is to release singles on USB memory sticks this month, in an attempt to arrest the decline in music sales.

The Vivendi-owned company plans to charge about £4.99 for USB singles starting on October 29 with releases from piano rock band Keane and Nicole, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. That compares with £2.99 for a typical CD single.

However, the hope is that fans will be willing to pay extra because the extra storage capacity on a USB allows the addition of videos and other multimedia.
Brian Rose, the commercial director for Universal UK, said: “This is aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be”.

Hurt hard by music piracy and legal downloads, sales of CDs are down by 19 per cent in the US and 10 per cent in the UK in the first half of the year.
But with physical music more profitable than downloads, the music business is eager to find formats that will keep consumers coming back to record stores.

Universal’s move is being gradually followed by the other three majors, although by contrast their efforts only amount to dipping their toe in the water, with EMI planning to release Pink Floyd’s studio albums on the format, while Warner Music is aiming squarely at the younger market with a November release of a part-album from electro-punk band Hadouken!
An agreement between the music companies and the Offical Charts Company, which runs the Top 40, means that USB sticks are eligible for inclusion in the chart. That now justifies making them available at the same time as a normal release.

Eric Daugan, vice-president, of digital business in Europe for Warner Music, said: “The CD is an old technology that has not evolved. Fortunately people still want to own a physical product, so with the extra storage, the idea is to offer a better consumer experience”.
Warner Music is hoping that Hadouken!’s USB will retail at £7.99. Promoted as being “halfway between a single and album” by the record company it includes six new songs and five old ones, with links to multimedia content on the internet, and an interface whose job it is to replace the look and feel of the paper album cover.

For Universal, the UK is the test market for the USB format worldwide, partly because it believes the UK is the last important market for singles.

The company hopes to release USB albums before the end of the year from acts such as Kanye West and Amy Winehouse – although rivals privately query its emphasis on the technology when there are alternatives such as MVI, a DVD-based format that combines music and video.
Mr Rose said: “We’re hoping that people will see USB singles as a piece of merchandise. There’s obviously a demand for collectable physical music the kind of format people want to stick up on their wall”.

Concerten op USB-stick

2007-11-27T13:36:00.001+01:00

Een Weens bedrijf gaat live concerten op USB-stick uitbrengen, zo meld webwereld. Na afloop van concerten kunnen bezoekers dan voor €17 een USB-stick aanschaffen met daarop de verse opnamen van die avond.

Muziek voortaan ook op USB

2007-11-27T13:34:00.000+01:00

Platenmaatschappij Universal gaat voortaan muzieknummers op USB schijf verkopen. De doelgroep: 12 tot 25-jarigen die niets met cd's hebben.
Op 29 oktober wordt een nummer van Keane via USB stick ter beschikking gesteld. Daarna is Nicole, de zangeres van de Pussycat Dolls, aan de beurt.

Kopers zijn met USB sticks wel duurder uit. Een cd single kost gemiddeld zes dollar en een single op iTunes gemiddeld 99 dollarcent. Muziek op USB gaat 10 dollar kosten.

Behalve Universal zijn ook Warner en EMI van plan om muziek op USB uit te brengen. Warner komt naar eigen zeggen met een 'gedeeltelijk album' van de band Hadouken. EMI gaat in de nabije toekomst muziek van Pink Floyd op USB uitbrengen.

De Official Charts Company, de samensteller van de Britse Top 40, laat de verkoop van voorbespeelde USB stick voortaan meewegen bij de berekeningen van zijn hitlijst.

NEW music industry

2007-11-27T13:29:00.003+01:00

This is an articale about the new music industry.

http://cobrapunchers.blogspot.com/2007/04/new-music-industry.html

Rethinking The Music Industry Business Model...

2007-11-27T13:26:00.000+01:00

For all the complaints we have about the way the RIAA conducts its business, we have always been optimistic that things would get sorted out eventually. It wasn't the music industry that was in trouble at all -- just the traditional recording labels. People often accuse us of hating the music industry, which is totally incorrect. When we discuss music industry strategies it's hoping that they recognize that these new business models have the potential to be much bigger than the old ones.

This is based on a few simple ideas that really shouldn't be that hard to grasp, unless you're desperately tied to an existing business model and unwilling to change. First, treating all your customers as criminals doesn't create much loyalty or willingness to buy your product. Especially in a market where the product is based on being a fan, not filling a need. You want your fans to be happy -- not pissed off. Second, the basic economics are there. On the supply and demand curve the supply of digital goods is infinite, meaning that the trend over time will absolutely be for the price to get pushed towards zero. It's just the way the market works.

That's not a bad thing if you embrace it and recognize that, rather than lost revenue, free content represents free promotion. After all, the hardest part of becoming a success in the music business is the marketing to get your product known. The third, and final, aspect of this is how new technologies have dramatically decreased the costs of every other aspect of the music business. Creation, publishing and distribution are all now much cheaper due to the onward march of technology, forcing a shift in how we think about copyright issues.

Based on all of this, it's not hard to come up with a variety of different business models that are based on (1) using the music as a promotional good to get a lot more attention in a crowded market (2) offering customers what they want, and offering them plenty of different ways to get it and (3) building tremendous loyalty from happy customers who feel much closer to the musicians and are much more willing to spend money on secondary products (merchandise, concerts, access). Plenty of musicians have figured this out, and now it's moving further and further away from being a "fringe" idea and into the mainstream music business. Wired

Magazine is running a bunch of articles about how the industry is realizing this, with two pieces that are definitely worth reading. There's an interview with Beck where he discusses continually giving fans more ways to interact with the content, and not worrying about things appearing on the internet. However, even more interesting is the article about Canadian music management and music label firm Nettwerk. You may remember that name from their announcement earlier this year that they would pay the legal fees for a teen sued for file sharing one of their own artists. The article also discusses how Nettwerk recognizes all of what we discuss above, in that it's encouraging each band on its roster to build its own label, and focus not just on how to "sell a CD," but on selling the entire experience of the music. When you look at things that way, it means you don't worry if some of the music is heard for free, because that just encourages more interest in other things the band is selling.

It's also looking to try experiments similar to the recently announced Sellaband, who focuses on getting people to "invest" in a musician to help them pay for a recording, in exchange for a share of the later profits. In other words, the industry is evolving -- in many of the ways that plenty of people have been predicting all along. This is a good thing -- and one of these days the old record labels will finally recognize the mistakes they've made... or simply disappear

Universal Music Wants YouTube to Pay Up

2007-11-27T13:24:00.000+01:00

Universal Music Wants YouTube to Pay Up

Universal, the world's largest music company, has decided that free promotion for their artists via music videos shown on YouTube is actually costing them money, and they are ready to send the internet startup a big bill.Universal, in a move that could be a sign of things to come from other music labels, is claiming that YouTube owes the label tens of millions of dollars," according to an article in the New York Post. Universal Music chief Doug Morris is quoted as saying

YouTube and other sites "owe us tens of millions of dollars. How we deal with these companies will be revealed shortly."

The news comes at a bad time for YouTube, as the online video site is considering offers from buyers, as well as a possible IPO in the future. Any such plans could be put on hold if the threat of future lawsuits is realized.

Universal, as well as Warner Music, EMI and SonyBMG, have all been in ongoing talks with YouTube about licensing arrangements.

Microsoft Strikes Deal for Music

2007-11-27T13:19:00.000+01:00

In a rare move, Microsoft said yesterday that it had agreed to pay a percentage of the sales of its new portable media player to the Universal Music Group.

Universal Music, a unit of Vivendi, will receive a royalty on the Zune player in exchange for licensing its recordings for Microsoft’s new digital music service, the companies said.
Universal, which releases recordings from acts like U2 and Jay-Z, said it would pay half of what it receives on the device to its artists. The company is expected to receive more than $1 for each $250 device, according to executives who were briefed on the pact.

The deal represents a big departure from the standard set by Apple Computer, which pays record companies for songs sold through its iTunes service but does not give them a cut of the sales of its hugely successful iPod.

Under the deal, Universal, the world’s largest music corporation, will receive a percentage of both download revenue and digital player sales when the Zune and its related service are introduced next week.

The pact comes after weeks of tense talks and averts a standoff that might have crippled Microsoft’s attempt to compete against the iPod.

The accord also could represent a sea change in the dynamics between technology developers and the media companies that provide the content that plays on their devices. It illustrates how music companies are scrambling to attach themselves to fast-developing online businesses. The move also reflects Universal’s recognition that, for all the runaway success of gadgets like the iPod, consumers are still not buying enough digital music to make up for declining sales of music on compact disk. Universal said it was only fair to receive payment on devices that may be repositories for stolen music.

A recent study estimated that Apple has sold an average of 20 songs per iPod — a fraction of its capacity. The rest of consumers’ music files — 95 percent or more — come from ripped CDs, possibly including discs from their own collections, and illegal file-trading networks, the study said.

As a result, music companies have long coveted the revenue being generated through devices like the iPod. But so far, they have had little recourse.
In 1999, a federal appeals court ruled that one of the earliest digital music players, the Diamond Rio, was not covered by a federal law that required makers of certain audio recording devices to use anticopying technology and pay a royalty to the record labels.
In announcing the deal with Universal, Microsoft said it would now offer similar royalty deals to the rest of the industry. In discussing the rationale for the royalty, Chris Stephenson, general manager for global marketing in Microsoft’s entertainment unit, said the company “needed people to rally behind” the new device and service.

“It’s a higher-level business relationship,” he said.
In addition, the deal may provide leverage for Universal to insist on a cut of future iPod sales when its existing contract with Apple expires next year.
“It’s a major change for the industry,” said David Geffen, the entertainment mogul who more than a decade ago sold the record label that bears his name to Universal. “Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material. This way, on top of the material people do pay for, the record companies are getting paid on the devices storing the copied music.”
He added: “It certainly changes the paradigm.”

Under federal legislation passed in the early 1990s, the recording industry receives a royalty on sales of certain audio devices like digital-audio tape machines. But the devices covered by the law do not generate much: the nonprofit organization that oversees those royalties distributed just $3.5 million to labels and artists last year, according to its Web site.
But Universal Music’s chairman, Doug Morris, has been increasingly vocal about securing compensation for the company’s music.

Two months ago, Mr. Morris took a public swipe at user-driven Web sites like MySpace and YouTube, telling a Merrill Lynch investor conference that “these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars.” (Universal later struck a licensing deal with YouTube.)

“I’m hopeful that technology companies and creative companies will understand how each other’s futures are intertwined,” Mr. Morris said last night. “It can only work if one doesn’t try and take advantage of the other, and so far we’ve come out on the short end.”
Given the industry’s sluggish sales, Mr. Morris has had plenty of reason to try new business models. CD sales continue to decline, and digital music has not offset the drop. In addition, the pace of growth in digital sales has been slowing by some measures.

Microsoft ultimately had plenty of incentive to make a deal with Universal. Microsoft is laying a huge wager on the Zune. If it had not struck a deal, it would have been left in the position of trying to mount a credible challenge to the iPod without Universal, which accounts for a third of new albums sold in the United States. Microsoft also stands to benefit by cultivating a fan-friendly image with the notion that artists — not just corporations — will share in the Zune’s sales.

Steve Gordon, an entertainment lawyer, said that Universal was saying, in effect: “Look, we know new technologies are here to stay. We know CDs are like typewriters, and are being replaced. ”

When the companies initially licensed Apple’s fledgling iTunes service, “they didn’t figure he’d make tens of billions of dollars from the iPod,” said Mr. Gordon, author of the book “The Future of the Music Business.”
“This time they’re saying, ‘Well, we want a piece.’ ”

Rechtzaak tegen Myspace door Universal

2007-11-27T13:15:00.000+01:00

Rechtszaak tegen MySpace door Universal Music [za 18 nov 2006, 09:47]

Omdat MySpace haar gebruikers zou aanmoedigen om illegaal muziek en videos te delen heeft Universal Music een proces aangespannen. De platenbaas vindt dat er in het geheel geen sprake is van 'user generated content' maar van pure diefstal.De rechtszaak is het zoveelste achterhoede gevecht van traditionele media bedrijven tegen de veranderende wereld van distrubutie van content.

Are Radiohead, Madonna, Trent Reznor Sounding The Death Knell For Major Record Labels?

2007-11-27T13:12:00.000+01:00

In 1993, noted audio engineer/ musician/ curmudgeon Steve Albini penned an article called "The Problem With Music," in which he detailed the perils that await a band signing with a major label. It's a fairly remarkable read, if only for the opening paragraph, an oft-quoted bit of vitriol and imagery that sums up the label courting process thusly:

"Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about 4 feet wide and 5 feet deep, maybe 60 yards long, filled with runny, decaying sh--. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end, holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed."

It's been 14 years since Albini's piece was first published, and it's debatable whether things have changed for the better. Certainly, major labels are still portrayed as the Enemy, soul-crushing suits concerned with nothing more than the bottom line. Whether or not this is true, it bears mentioning that said bottom line is getting harder to meet by the minute — so much so that for the first time in memory, it might be possible to actually feel sorry for majors (if not necessarily likely).

The record industry is in a freefall, with annual album sales around half of what they were in the late '90s due primarily to downloading — a situation that can only get worse. Then a trio of high-profile defections made headlines in the last few days: Radiohead eschewed "traditional" routes and released In Rainbows largely on their own (see "Radiohead's In Rainbows To Be Released Digitally October 10 — You Decide The Price!"); Trent Reznor declared his freedom from

Interscope (then basically attempted to scuttle the label-release of his Year Zero Remixed album by promising to leak all the tracks himself); and Madonna is leaving Warner Bros. in favor of a big-money deal with concert promoter Live Nation that includes albums, concert promotion, licensing and merchandising. Needless to say, things are pretty rough for the majors these days.
In fact, one could ask the question: Do artists of a certain caliber even need major labels anymore? Couldn't acts like Pearl Jam, R.E.M. or the Dave Matthews Band survive — and even thrive — on their own? And doesn't the answer to this question (which seems to be an unequivocal "yes") lead to an even larger one: Are major labels becoming obsolete?

The answer largely depends on who's asking.
"I don't envy the people at major labels," said Danny Goldberg, the founder of Gold Village Entertainment (which manages acts like the Hives and Ben Lee) and former Nirvana co-manager, who was CEO of both Warner Bros. and Mercury Records and president of Atlantic Records during the 1990s. "They're narrowing their business right now, and that's what they might have to do. Their business is becoming a combination of catalog licensing — because they all have amazing catalogs — and the pop business. And there's less and less room for anything in between. It used to be just [having a release] on a major label was a source of prestige and status, in terms of the way the rest of the business, media and promoters would look at a band.

But because there are so many successful artists on their own labels or on indie labels, I don't think that's the case anymore."
Jonathan Daniel, co-founder of Crush Music Media Management, which helms the careers of acts like Fall Out Boy and Panic! at the Disco, offered a more cautious assessment. "I think the world is changing so rapidly, it becomes less attractive to sign with a major label," he said. "But it's foolhardy for a young band to say, 'We don't need labels.' You might not need a label in the traditional sense, but you still need people to help you get ahead. Plus, even though recording and touring are cheaper, there are still costs of doing business, and labels have traditionally always helped with that."

Again, the situation depends on the artist. While the traditional major-label setup can benefit up-and-coming acts (who are largely unknown and can have their careers established by a major's promotional muscle), it's not going to be much help to a reasonably established band on its fourth, fifth or even 10th album — such artists usually know who their audience is and are less likely to break out beyond it. So in order for majors to survive — and for both new and old acts on their rosters to thrive — they're going to have to change the way they do business.

"There already are massive changes [being made] at major labels," said Bertis Downs, longtime manager of R.E.M. "The situation we're finding ourselves in now is definitely not a surprise to anybody — 'Oh my God, a major band can do this without us!' I mean, [a major act releasing an album] is about the same as sending out e-mails. Labels are totally restructuring. They're beefing up all the new-media stuff, all the digital stuff. I don't think this is really this cataclysmic tipping point where, starting tomorrow, everyone's going to start doing things this way. First of all, people are still in deals, people still have contracts, and it's not like you can hit a switch and everything will change. It's incremental."

MTV News reached out to representatives at each of the so-called "Big Four" — Sony/BMG, EMI, the Warner Music Group and the Universal Music Group — for comment on just how their relationships with artists are changing. While no one would speak on the record, a spokesperson for one of the four noted (off the record) that majors are putting a lot of stock in "360 deals," where a label partners with the artist in publishing, merchandising and touring revenue — not just sales of recorded music — in a sense saying that if the label is doing its job promoting an artist, then it should reap the benefits of said promotion across the board (similar to Korn's deal with Virgin and the Madonna/ LiveNation deal).

The wild card in all that deal-making — and in pretty much everything — is technology. It's no secret that labels have been struggling to find ways of making the Internet work for them. In the wake of what Radiohead has done, it looks like many artists are one step ahead: They've figured out that technology has given some of the power back to them. Why pay for production of an album when you don't actually have to produce any physical copies? Or why have a label spend money on promoting a record — money that the artist must pay back before they can turn a profit — when you can use a MySpace account to do basically the same thing? If only it were that easy.

"I think the reason labels are under attack is because the barrier to entry used to be much higher," Daniel said. "The Internet has lowered that barrier, for sure. But at the same time, it's made it even harder to filter through. Part of the reason you sign with a label is promotion, because while the Internet can be a powerful promotional tool, it can be so unkind. Like the Pitchfork review of the second Jet record [that consisted entirely of a video of a] monkey p---ing into its own mouth? Or kids not liking a Yellowcard single [after the song leaked and met with widely negative reviews]? Both those things killed those records."

"Technology has given power to the consumers. All we're doing is following along," Downs laughed. "The playbook is changing. [R.E.M's] new album is basically done, so if something comes along — whether it be MTV or Martin Scorsese — and they want to use one of our songs, of course we're going to listen. But a year or two ago we would've said no, because that's not by the books; that's not the formula. You wouldn't waste a song that early. Now, you're trying to get excitement. You're kind of making it up as you go along."

The rules of the game seem to be different for everyone playing. Most agree that only a very select group of artists could do what Radiohead is doing, and that the In Rainbows situation is in no way a model of how to save the record industry. The overwhelming percentage of artists signed to major labels don't have the critical and commercial clout of Thom Yorke and company.
How do musicians play the game and still manage to benefit from being on a major? By being more selective when it comes to signing deals — including the aforementioned 360 arrangements.

"It's strange, because we work with a lot of bands on a lot of different levels," Daniel said. "If an artist [sells] 2-3 million [albums], like Fall Out Boy, the label will make a lot of money and the artist will make money too. But we're also paying attention to what happens with this Radiohead thing, because for a young band, we're going to try to work deals differently with labels, because they're pushing these 360 deals, where they incentivize everything. It's their 'new' way of looking at deals, and to me, that's not really reinventing how the business is. I'm more interested in looking at a new band like, 'OK, the band is 100 percent of what it is, let's divvy that up amongst people who can help the band. Maybe we give 50 percent to Oprah, and she puts them on her show and all of a sudden they're big.' "

Perhaps the backlash Radiohead incurred following the release of In Rainbows sort of proves that all bands need a label to iron out the kinks and get CDs into stores, which, for all the shouts of "The sky is falling!," still remains a very vital aspect of the record industry.
"It seems like [Radiohead's model is] disproportionately an online strategy," Goldberg offered. "I mean, the high-end proportionality of digital sales is like 30-40 percent. And for older audiences, it's something like 10-20 percent. So whichever place in that range Radiohead is, more than half of their audience is still buying CDs, and that half is fundamentally being ignored. So half of their audience is basically being told, 'You know what? You're just not important to us. We're interested in people who get their music online, because they're younger or hipper. And everybody else can wait until next year.' And that can be offensive to a percentage of their audience. And that, to me, is a flaw."

"Obviously [Radiohead] had some issues, some infrastructure and technical issues," Downs said. "So there's some advantage to being with a big institution — the scale and the servers and all that."

But can the majors adapt? No one can be sure, but if there is one beacon of light out there, it's probably the majors' bread and butter: pop music. It seems that, to a much greater degree than their rock brethren, established pop and hip-hop acts (like Mariah Carey or Kanye West) need the strength of a major label to ensure big-time sales.

"[Major labels] are part of big corporations, whether they're public or private, and they have obligations to investors for short-term results, so they have to make very hard choices, and those choices mean that they're not able to work effectively on as many artists as they used to," Goldberg said. "I don't think there's any question that majors do a good job with some artists. Kanye West, he's probably better off in the major-label system. On his own, I don't know if he'd be able to do what he's done within the system."

"I think when Nirvana broke, rock music blurred into pop music, in terms of sales numbers, and it never should've done that," Daniel added. "Rock music was really always an underground thing. Major labels were built for pop music, and they really work. I don't think Beyoncé could make records with the same great success without a major label. For a pure pop thing that doesn't build its fans by touring or word of mouth, labels are great. But for bands, major labels become less important until you want to cross into the pop realm. ... I don't know, though. I think the bottom line is that it's not easy to sell records."

Warner Music Boss says Smartphones are the future

2007-11-27T13:08:00.000+01:00

Uses GSMA keynote speech to get chummy with digital music and unveil new initiative
Edgar Bronfman Jr, chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group, has used his keynote at the GSMA conference in Macau to say that he thinks the future of of the music industry will depend heavily of its collaboration with smartphone devices."The mobile platform is an enormous part of the future of the music business. And I believe that music is crucial to the future of the mobile industry," he said. Last year sales of music-enabled phones topped 80 million units while MP3 players sold less than 50 million. And next year, there will be more than 200 million music enabled handsets."

He also presented a mea culpa on behalf of the big music companies. "By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find…and as a result of course,consumers won."Warner's solution to this predicament appears to be something called the Connected Music Experience - CMX for short. In essence this appears to be an attempt to simplify the music buying process over mobile phone to promote impulse purchasing.

Mobile sonic boom

2007-11-27T12:39:00.000+01:00

In today's mobile world, it's all about music. Start with the splashy introduction of new music phones. Mix in falling mobile Web access prices and new music download services. And finally, trumpet a high-profile deal, like Nokia's Loudeye acquisition, and the band is clearly warming up. But are we ready to call this music?

Mobile music is not just the next big thing. It may be the catalyst that once and for all brings together the digital home with the mobile data revolution. Finally, those who enjoy music (and other multimedia content) on their home computer will be able to enjoy this content anywhere, anytime on mobile handsets, smartphones and converged devices.

It's happening fast. Nokia expects to sell more than 80 million music phones this year, more than all the iPods sold to date. Motorola has shipped 10 million music phones in the last year. And don't count out Sony Ericsson, which has received rave reviews for its Walkman phones and will undoubtedly remain a big player in portable music.

The numbers are enormous: 2.5 billion mobile users worldwide, 1 billion handsets shipping this year, and more than half of the handsets sold in 2007 will offer music functionality.
Can the iPod and other stand-alone music players without wireless connectivity compete with the connected mobile music and multimedia device on this veritable bandstand?

Outside the US, the battle is probably over, the music phone the likely winner. In the US, the more network operators force a walled garden approach to music with mediocre music phones, cumbersome interfaces and dedicated (and costly) single-track download services, the safer will be Apple's market share. Attempting to "out-Apple" Apple is a fool's folly.

What will make mobile music the success that the numbers and trends all indicate? First, phones optimized for playing music must at least approximate the quality of stand-alone music players. Despite the hype, there is a substantial difference in quality and usability among the first wave of music phones. Frankly, many of these music phones just don't cut it in terms of user interfaces, ease of operation, open file formats and sound quality.

The tunes that people will be listening to on their music phones will primarily be pulled from their own collection of music. Those who enjoy music today on stand-alone music players have substantial (and organized) home music collections, averaging more than 700 songs on their PCs. They want to own their music and won't pay premium prices to repurchase music they already own nor use network operators as their principle source of online music.
Network operators must think of music as a way to generate higher data revenues and profits rather than adopt walled garden strategies that limit or control subscribers' music purchasing options.

In the end, operators are best served by offering a wide range of the best music phones and unlimited data plans that give subscribers a full range of choices for accessing their music. Low-cost access and choice will bring the power of the mobile Web and music phones to their full revenue and lifestyle potential.

The question becomes how many devices people want to carry. The mobile phone is the one device that most people don't leave home without. People will decide which device wins based on the money and amount of space in their pockets. Logically, subscribers will pay more for a mobile device that does it all, eliminating the cost and clutter of both a mobile handset and a $300 music player. Music phones might even wean U.S. operators from the subsidized handset model.

Outside the US, the mobile ecosystem is more democratic, and resistance to Apple's proprietary audio encryption strategy is stronger. In the US, the value proposition — music phone choice and quality, economic data pricing, and subscriber access to the full range of music (and video) choices on the Web — is the key to outflanking the mighty iPod.
Done right, the coming sonic boom will leave stand-alone music players to join today's mobile pagers and yesterday's transistor radios in the personal electronics compost pile.

Can Unsigned Artists be digitally distributed through iTunes?

2007-11-27T12:09:00.000+01:00

An artist who has not signed to a major or independent record label can still get their music distributed via iTunes by a number of various companies also affiliated with Apple. The two that I will mention in this article are cdbaby.com and iFanz.com.

Out of the $0.70 cents remaining after Apple takes its $0.29 share, cdbaby only takes a 9% fee for each download, passing through to its artists a whopping 91% of the income! iFanz charges 40% per download. In both cases, the artist is responsible for all third party payments including any royalties payable to producers of the recordings and digital mechanical royalties which are paid to owners and/or controllers of the musical compositions contained in each recording.

With respect to digital mechanical royalties, the online service (i.e., iTunes), like a physical retailer, pays these royalties to the record companies (who own and control the recordings containing the songs) who in turn pay either the songwriters, music publishers or the Harry Fox Agency who in turn pays the music publishers.

Taking a Glance at Other Income Streams in the Music Industry...2007

2007-11-27T11:56:00.000+01:00

by Dina LaPolt, Esq.* - March

In addition to income generated from traditional record sales, music used in films and television, and sources from music publishing, there are other income streams (some new and some not so new) available to the music industry. Please note that although the information contained in this article has been updated, it may be obsolete in a few months time as the music industry is changing so rapidly that those of us who work in it can hardly keep up! However, the one fact that remains constant is that music is now available everywhere.

Today music is available through digital download services such as iTunes, eMusic, and Napster; streaming interactive subscription services such as Rhapsody and MusicNet as well as non-interactive subscription services via MusicChoice, Sirius, and XM Satellite; video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Madden Football as well as through your cell phone. In addition, there are many Internet destination sites that are music driven and visited by millions and millions of people everyday such as MySpace (who, incidentally, just announced that they are working with SnoCap to try and launch a music download service that would let musicians sell music directly from their profiles and their fans’ profiles).

In an effort to keep the confusion at a minimum, below are just a few of the descriptions for some of these formats and the breakdown of some of the income paid to artists and songwriters and others.

Digital DownloadsAccording to Billboard Magazine, U.S. album sales dropped to 588.2 million in 2006 which is a 5% decrease from the 619 million copies scanned in 2005 which is the first time since 1993 that the U.S. sales figure has slipped below the 600 million mark. However, as grim as the foregoing may seem, the increase in U.S. digital sales hit an all time high especially the week after Christmas 2006 with a whopping 30.1 million tracks sold according to Nielsen Soundscan (582 million downloads sold total for 2006). This is a 51% increase from the 19.9 million digital tracks sold during the last week of the year in 2005. In addition, Fergie’s popular hit single, “Fergalicious” also set a new record for the most tracks sold in a single week with 249,000 downloads.

Although there are numerous digital download services available throughout the world, the most prominent seems to be Apple’s iTunes. Through mass marketing campaigns that extend throughout the world which feature such globally recognized artists such as Eminem, U2, and the Black Eyed Peas, iTunes is offered via both PC and Mac computers which is then downloaded to a handheld device called an iPod. '

By September 2006, iTunes reported a total of 1.5 billion downloads sold. In addition, indie-only specialist, eMusic, announced they have just surpassed the 100 million mark at the end of 2006. Pursuant to the iTunes agreement with the record labels, the iTunes share of income is $0.29 cents out of each $0.99 download.

The following sets forth the way in which many of the record labels in the U.S. pay third parties with respect to each $0.99 download assuming that the recording agreement allocated the artist an “all in” royalty rate of 15% (i.e., which includes a producer royalty of 3%, leaving a “net artist” rate of 12%):

Artist iTunes Royalty (with wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 x 130% (wholesale markup) x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.1092 cents per download

Producer iTunes Royalty (with wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 x 130% (wholesale markup) x 3% (producer rate) = $0.027cents per download.

Artist iTunes Royalty (without wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.084 cents per download

Producer iTunes Royalty (without wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumer less $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 x 3% (producer rate) = $0.021cents per download.

Although not widely practiced, there are some labels that take this further by first deducting the mechanical royalty from the $0.70 cents prior to calculating the iTunes royalty which is then paid to the artist and the producer which results in a lower royalty rate as follows:

Artist iTunes Royalty (with wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumerless $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 less a digital mechanical royalty of $0.091 centsleft $0.609 x 130% ( wholesale markup) x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.095 Artist

iTunes Royalty (without wholesale markup) $0.99 download single song price to the consumerless $0.29 to Appleleft $0.70 less a digital mechanical royalty of $0.091 centsleft $0.609 x 12% (net artist net rate) = $0.073

With respect to mechanical royalties paid for digital distributions of musical compositions, although this may change in the future, record companies in the U.S. have been using a notice of compulsory license when notifying music publishers of their intention to offer digital downloads of musical compositions.

This ‘notice’ usually lists the record company, the recording artist, the name of the musical composition, the identity of the songwriters and music publishers, and the expected distribution date of the ‘digital phonograph delivery’ of the song. These compulsory licenses are typically referred to as “DPD Licenses” and they are paid at the maximum statutory rate which is currently .091 cents for songs under 5 minutes or 1.65 cents per minute if the song is over 5 minutes.

For recordings produced pursuant to contracts entered after 1995, the law prohibits a controlled composition provision of the artists’ contract from discounting the compulsory DPD rate, so even if there is a controlled composition clause in the contract, the singer-songwriter should receive the entire .091 cents

EMI's global strategic iniative for the digital future

2007-11-27T11:53:00.000+01:00

http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/3/8/e38ad8fa-a0c8-4be0-b1f9-30274144a1c2/emi_case_study.pdf

Is EMI buying Apple???

2007-11-27T11:51:00.000+01:00

Ever since Steve Jobs posted his thoughts on future of DRM on apple.com, there’s been a fierce discussion anywhere you look. The ivestment gurus, company executives, musicians, bloggers, critics, even a few totally drunk old ladies at the local retirement village have been debating it to the death. OK, only kidding, they weren’t that drunk after all.

The time line is what makes things very interesting. Firstly, there is Apple vs Apple settlement, which we don’t know very much about. Then Steve Jobs comes out with ‘no-DRM future’ suggestion. A day or so later, EMI suggest they are thinking of going mp3.
Isn’t that weird? Apple Records, that has specific ties to EMI, settles with Apple Computer Inc, and then Apple Inc. CEO goes on to attack DRM with ‘backing’ of EMI. Oh, yes, Apple has just dropped that ‘Computer” part from its name, hardly a month ago. Hmmmm …

I was doing my laps around the lake earlier today and I was asking myself “Is Apple Inc. buying EMI?” I am not completely sure about the Apple Records relationship with EMI, but is the settlement maybe something that would make one Apple eat another Apple? After all, it could make some sense with Apple Inc. running recording business and selling non-DRM music.

2007-11-27T11:49:00.001+01:00

Warner lonkt weer naar EMI

Warner Music doet een nieuwe poging om EMI over te nemen. De twee muziekmaatschappijen willen samen gaan, om zo een blok te vormen tegen de branchegenoten Universal Music en Sony BMG, die samen al meer dan 60% van de internationale muziekwereld in handen hebben.De twee partijen proberen al sinds 2000 tot een overeenkomst te komen. Meerdere pogingen leidden tot niets. Vorig jaar wees Warner Music een aanbod van het Britse EMI nog af, omdat het niet in het voordeel van hun aandeelhouders zou zijn. EMI heeft dit jaar de winstverwachting al twee keer naar beneden bijgesteld.

2007-11-27T11:36:00.000+01:00

The Possible Future of the Music Industry

Yes this is a bold title, but with the what has been going on the past couple of months in the music industry it is definitely something that is worth looking at.
Rick Rubin signs as the co-chairman of Columbia Records.
iTunes becomes the number three music retailer in the U.S.
Radiohead releases their new album In Rainbows online, allowing the consumers to choose the price they pay.

Madonna opts to leave Warner Music Group and sign with Live Nation, becoming “the first major star to choose an all-in-one agreement with a tour company over a traditional record deal.”

What Does This All Mean?
So what does all of this mean? The answer is really quite simple: artists and the recording industry are doing what they can to salvage the declining music sales that have been going on for the past seven years. In order for the music industry to survive and halt the low sales of music they will need to reinvent their business model. Steve O’Hear from the last100 blog recently did a post detailing five alternative business models for the music industry. The models that S

teve presented are as follows:
Free - give music away for free.
Pay what you want - basically what Radiohead did with the In Rainbows album.
Pay by popularity - the more popular an album/song is, the more you pay for it.
Subscription - pay x dollars a month, and get access to thousands of songs.
A music tax - some type of tax, whether it be on cell phones, your internet, or through the government.

Why These Business Models Alone Won’t Work
Personally I see some flaws with each of these business models. The problem with the free and pay what you want, and music tax business models is that even if the music is used to promote tours/other advertising, it is still not going to pay all of the bills. A music tax could theoretically work, but I feel that adding a tax to our already exorbitantly priced internet plans isn’t going to go over so well with consumers.

Pay by popularity could possibly work, some iTunes album are already priced above the $9.99 standard. The only thing that is stopping this model from working is the record labels; they would rather see the price per song somewhere around the $2.50 per song mark, which would result in albums being a lot more expensive.

The subscription business model has the best chance of working on its own. Music services like Napster and Rhapsody already use this business model, and Universal Music is looking to compete with iTunes by forming their own $5 a month subscription service. I believe the reason this model is working is because people like the idea of having unlimited access to any music they want for a minimal monthly charge. The reason why this model alone will not reinvent the music industry is because a good portion of consumers (myself included) like having ownership of our music. As soon as you stop paying the monthly subscription fee, poof, no more music.

Conclusion
In the end I feel a hybrid of these five business models is what the music industry needs. Either that or they can tack on another year to the declining music sales.

Is mobile the future of music

2007-11-27T11:33:00.000+01:00

This is a link to a pdf about the mobile industry and the musicindustry

http://www.three.co.uk/threefiles/pdf/MusicReport.pdf

Future of the music business by president mca

2007-11-27T11:28:00.000+01:00

With all the flux in the current music scene, how will the future shake out? Here are the views of Jay Boberg, former president of MCA Records; David Codikow, Velvet Revolver's manager; Leonard J. Beer, editor of Hits Magazine, Danny Goldberg, chairman and CEO of Artemis Records; and Jeff Leeds, reporter for the Los Angeles Times, offer different scenarios of what's ahead for the music industry.

Former president, MCA Records

I think that this is an incredibly vital time in the music industry where the chips are just being reassigned. It's going to just be a different layout.
I think musically, this may end up being an incredibly vital time because of the fact that people are making music for themselves. They're not making it to get a record deal. I mean, I think there was a point where maybe three, four years ago where even on a grassroots level, everything was aiming towards getting a major record deal.

I now talk to many musicians out there who have no interest in a major record label deal. What they have an interest in is trying to make their music. They do want to get paid, they want to find out a way that they can actually make a career of it, but they're much more hands-on. They're much more willing to understand the process themselves of what's involved in doing it and to find out a way of doing it where they're not as dependent on other people.

Now, do I think record companies are going to go away? No, I don't. I think a great value is added by a great record company -- or at least the people at a record [company], because record companies are not entities, it's the people in them. And, you know, what is a record company supposed to do? They're supposed to recognize exceptional talent, they're supposed to help develop that talent -- whether it be their imaging, whether it be introducing them to people who can help them in a recording process or a songwriting process, or in any of the aspects that sort of gets their music ready to be out there and be presented. They're supposed to have relationships to help them market themselves in terms of touring or presentation.

They're supposed to, in many ways, provide a certain amount of financial capital to at least get the ball started and rolling. And it doesn't have to be a lot of capital. In some cases it is, but many examples would have been very modest expenditures.
And then they're supposed to have an expertise of knowing where in the marketplace that particular art that this musician is creating might resonate and be able to target that market to see if it does resonate. And thus then spread it from there and try to pull it into the greater marketplace and the greater population.

Those are skill sets. Those skill sets are still going to be needed. The question is can the artist do some of that, more of that, themselves? Will it be a manager who does more of that themselves? Will there be independent companies that will be doing more of that that used to be done by the majors? Or will the majors adapt and create different types of companies that are staffed differently to provide different services that are more attuned? I think the answer is a little bit of all the above, but it'll be very different.

future of the music industry by former president MCA

2007-11-27T11:19:00.000+01:00

Interview on the Future of Music

2007-11-26T19:08:00.000+01:00

Nov 15

Posted in Interviews with Authors, Music Industry, Online Course - FOM
Post tagged artist, book, dave kusek, fan, format, model, music, trust, water

New Formats

In a recent interview with Doug Dixon, David Kusek argues that the industry needs to develop new formats for music
distributed in physical formats. "Dual Disc is certainly a pointer in the
right direction," he says. "You need to create something that has
great value in order to continue to compete."

For example, in the movie A Clockwork Orange, says Kusek, "even
before CDs were out, they played music on a disk that was a little bigger than a
silver dollar. It reminds me of the idea that perhaps there are other formats
that could be developed, nontraditional formats, from what we have seen so far.
If you had a recordable format that was more convenient than CD, and held more
data, and was faster to record, then perhaps you could have a system where the
recording could be inside the stream of commerce."

The other critical trend, he says, is that "the price of these physical
products needs to come down. I’m encouraged that Dual Disc seems to be priced
around $18 to $20, and discouraged that CDs continue to hover in the $15 to $18
range. I don’t know how much control the manufacturers have over this, but to
the extent they can encourage their customers to be more realistic about pricing
CDs, the longer they will be able to stay in business. I really do believe the
price point for an audio CD is south of $10 at retail."

Music Commerce

But isn’t piracy destroying the industry? "There are two forms that are
currently labeled piracy," says Kusek. "You have the wholesale
replication of CDs and DVDs. To me, that’s counterfeit products and is obviously
not to be tolerated. It is certainly evil and criminal, and bad for
business."

"But the other kind of behavior that is labeled as piracy — downloading
files and trading files with your friends — I’m not sure that I would put that
in the same camp. Often there is no profit margin, there’s no distribution
network, other than yourself and a handful of people that you know. Generally,
you are not selling files to your friends."

"You can measure wholesale piracy and replication in many billions of
dollars, whereas for downloading and file sharing, it’s hard to quantify whether
it has had any negative impact at all in terms of real sales. I actually think
that is good for music, as painful as it may be for to the record
companies."

"I don’t think that file sharing and downloading of music is going to
stop," says Kusek, "until there is something easier, and better, and
cheaper, and more appealing. So as I argue in the book, why not embrace that
behavior, license and tax it, and somehow derive money from it? Make it easier
to find music, improve the quality of the files, and make it easier to record,
instead of trying to fight it. It seems a completely losing battle; People are
never going to stop doing it as long as the price of CDs is too high. So why not
go with the flow and embrace it?"

Investing in the Future

Says Kusek, "by and large the record companies are not in touch
with their customers at any significant level. They thought that their customer
was Wal-Mart. They are out of touch with their ultimate customer, and their
customer shifted away from them. They are still selling a ton of CDs, but the
whole file sharing thing was off their radar screen until someone told them
about it. So then they decided, let’s just go sue all these bastards."

"That bothers me as well," he says. "I ran the numbers, and
somewhere between 30 and 40 million dollars is being collected in the
settlements from the RIAA. But none of that money is going to the artists or
songwriters. It is going to the attorneys and the courts to process the papers,
and whatever is left is going to fund more lawsuits. It’s incredibly wasteful.
The numbers I see show file sharing growing on a monthly basis, ever since they
started the lawsuits, so it is not working. Imagine if they took $40 million and
invested it in a new way of delivering music that is attuned to the way people
want to buy."

To help people in the industry examine these options, Kusek runs an online
course on "The Future of Music and the Music Business" through the
Berkleemusic.com online extension school. "The course is for people at any
level of the music business," he says, "from artists, songwriters,
managers, record company, publisher, promoter, venue. We have had a lot of
people sign up from those areas trying to figure out what am I going to do in
the future: I own a record label, and how I get into this digital thing, or I am
a manager, and I can see that the labels are not really servicing my clients
anymore, so how can I grow my business in an appropriate way. A lot of the work
we do in the class is class projects or personal projects where you apply what
we are talking about to your situation and try to figure out what the next step
might be."

From his classes and consulting work, Kusek also sees differences in the
music business across the global economy. "One of my online students runs a
CD and DVD manufacturing company in India," he says. "They’re finding
that sales are actually quite healthy because the computer thing has not taken
off in the way it has in other parts of the world. I think there are many areas
in the global economy where there are lots of legs left to the existing physical
media, and those folks have more time to figure out alternatives."

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

New Artist Model

2007-11-26T18:54:00.000+01:00

Oct 21

Posted in Artists and Writers, Music Creation, Music Industry, Music Marketing
Post tagged artist, future, itunes, marketing, merchandise, model, music, nokia, performance, touring

It used to cost a lot of money to record and promote new music. Artists struggled like hell to find a patron to support them (i.e. a label). Everything was controlled and only a few artists became stars. That was the major label system. Most artists learned quickly when the recording advance money ran out that they needed other sources of income like performing, songwriting and the sales of merchandise to survive. The new artist model says anybody can make and distribute a recording. It is much less expensive to make a record today and recorded music is only going to become less valuable to everyone over time. The real hard part is promotion. The true nemesis of the artist is obscurity. There is a glut of music out there and the situation is only going to get worse. This is the reality of the future of music, abundance and saturation.

Record companies alone cannot afford to invest in the future of artists. They are like the Detroit auto makers of the mid 1980’s. The business model that drove the music industry for the last 70 years is almost dead. Unfortunately, the economics of today’s popular digital music splits (iTunes) do not make any sense for artists. Why make $0.06 off an iTunes download, when you can make $0.80 doing it yourself? If you don’t own your masters then you have nothing.

Personal connection with a fan base is the hallmark of the masterful entertainer. Truly great artists engage their audience while playing shows by working the room. Today artists can establish meaningful virtual relationships directly with their audience by building an online fan base and answering online posts and comments and taking the time to interact with their fans. The reach of a live show can be magnified with the orbit and power of a networked online community. To be sure, it is a lot of work to monitor the boards and keep up with the postings, but it is a lot easier than touring 250 nights a year, and the payoff can be massive.

This is just like employing street teams to build buzz and selling CDs out of the back of the tour van, both of which are proven tactics to build audience and create direct relationships between artists and fans. Only now the street teams are virtual and the van is open for business in every city across the globe all the time. The name of the game for bands is to know who your audience is and what they like and where they are coming from. You cater to that and you might just have a chance at a career in the new music economy.

Artists, songwriters and producers of the future need to find ways to break through the noise and stand out without significant recording revenue. That model is no longer going to work. Artists of the future are going to need musician businesses built around them that attract audience without relying on recordings to finance the machine. We have already seen how this is possible today, and it is going to become more commonplace over time.

The recording has lost much of its perceived value and musicians are going to have to struggle with that new reality. Sales of records and CDs will never again be the cash cow the major labels got fat and happy on. But recorded music can play a major part in the promotional strategy of new musician businesses and even make some money.

The future of music distribution is going to be mobile and oriented toward mobile devices. Think Nokia. The culture of payment that exists in the mobile space will support transactional and subscription models for music that will capture people’s attention. It is going to become more about having access to music than actually owning it.

Sales of CDs are falling off a cliff as people find it easier and easier to get music digitally. The value of recorded music is plummeting and not even Apple can make money off of it. About iTunes, Steve Jobs says “Most of the money goes to the music companies, we would like to break even/make a little bit of money but it’s not a money maker.” It has just kept Apple out of court with the labels.

The packaging and sales of recorded music is being ripped apart with full albums and CDs being cannibalized by the new digital single track downloads. New bands are going to have to try new formats for recorded music to extract any real recording related profits in the future.

The broadband Internet, 3G mobile phones and MP3 players have fundamentally shifted the balance of power in the music industry forever, especially for the young. Owning CDs is so last century.

The big money for artists has always come from live performance, sales of merchandise, DVDs, personal appearances, publishing and alternative revenue streams – all promoted and supported by the free and nearly free distribution of recorded music. Live performances and t-shirts cannot be digitized at least at the moment, and the experience of being at a live event is going to have to get more appealing, for many bands to survive in the coming years.

New Artist Model

In reality, this is the way is has been for most artists for the past 50 years. Only now the tide has turned, and the shifting sands of the music business will form around an entirely new promotional model that puts we, the music fans, at the very center of the circle. It’s going to be entertaining to be sure.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

Artists Perspectives on the Future

2007-11-26T18:39:00.000+01:00

Nov 03

Posted in Artists and Writers, Music Creation, Music Industry, The Future
Post tagged artist, beats, computer, create, fan, future, label, music

The current issue of Rolling Stone includes some interviews with artists on the future of music. Here are some excepts:

Adam Levine - Maroon 5
How do you think the music business will change in the next decade?

It’s a very greedy, artist-exploiting business, and I think it will fall hard so it can rebuild itself with a better business model that is slightly more fair to everybody involved. But, yes, I do think that right now the music business is crumbling. Artists are starting to take back control from the labels, which is great. We have record labels to thank for a lot, but we also have them to blame for a lot. The major labels are scrambling right now and trying reactionary measures. Like, if you sign a record deal now, they take a percentage of your touring revenue. Bands are getting grabbed by the balls before they even sign a record deal and the grip on their balls is even tighter than it used to be. I think it’s only a matter of time before everyone is on an indie label. Because music isn’t going anywhere and the business is being forced to take a look at itself. It needs to go through this phase: Eventually, the scale will calibrate and the business part will ultimately survive, but I think artists will end up in a better position than they’ve ever been.

John Legend
Are you optimistic about the future of the music business?

I don’t really care that much about the overall business. What I care about is, “Am I creating something great for the fans, something that they want to pay for?” Fans might not buy as many albums as they used to, but as long as you make something special, they’re going to keep coming back to you. There are ways to succeed outside of just selling actual units. There’s touring and merchandise and corporate partnerships and all kinds of other ways to make money. I think I’ll be fine, as long as I’m making music people want to buy.

Jack Johnson
What advice do you give to young musicians?

It seems like a really good time to get into music, as far as trying to get your music heard. You don’t really need to have the backing of a major label anymore, you can do it, get your music on the Internet, and that word of mouth thing can happen. That was a huge part for me before I even had a record out. People started trading our stuff online. Once we had a record, people would have me sign a burned copy and say, “Sorry it’s burned,” and I didn’t really care. If people were getting the music, I was cool. I thought technology was helping spread it around. I always hear people say the music industry is in trouble, and it probably is, but as far as getting your music heard, it seems easier nowadays.

Wyclef Jean
What changes do you see coming in music?

I feel like we’re going into a very eclectic mode now, where the strong will survive. Kids can create beats now through their computer in two hours, so to last in the long form, you have to bring a musicianship to it. If you’re hearing the track I did on the CD with me and Serj from System of a Down, you hear how the movement is syncopated, then I stop the record at two minutes, screw it up, then I pick it back up with a classical part, go back into the groove. A kid goes, “Damn, how did he do that? I can’t really do that on my computer. On these Fruity Loops [software], I’ve got to keep it a certain way.” I think this will inspire kids to say, “Man, I’ve got to learn more music and put more arrangements in the music.” People are making music and they’re getting it out there, but we’re losing a sense of the live elements inside their music.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

Birt to shake and rattle ‘lazy’ pop stars

2007-11-26T18:34:00.001+01:00

EMI calls in former BBC chief to review upunderperforming singers

Dipesh Gadher

HE is an unlikely candidate to become the saviour of rock’n’roll. But Lord Birt, the former BBC director-general once ridiculed as a “croak-voiced Dalek”, has resurfaced at EMI, the troubled music group, to help knock artists such as Robbie Williams and Lily Allen into shape.

Birt, who also served as Tony Blair’s “blue skies” strategic thinker for four years, has been drafted in by EMI’s new private equity owners as they embark on a mission of “fundamental change” that could see big stars being dropped if they fail to pull their weight.

Like other big music groups, EMI, which was bought by Terra Firma for £2.4 billion this year, is battling against falling record sales prompted by piracy and ever-changing consumer buying habits.

Birt, who joined Terra Firma as an adviser in 2005, has been asked to review how EMI treats its roster of artists, raising the prospect of him rubbing shoulders with the likes of Pete Doherty, the drug-addled frontman of Babyshambles.

Birt, 62, will consider the best means of promoting stars and disseminating their music, whether it be through conventional CD sales, internet downloads or live concerts.

Insiders insist that Birt — who gained a reputation for cost-cutting and unintelligible management-speak at the BBC — will not be involved in wielding the axe.

In a leaked memo sent to EMI staff last month, Guy Hands, the head of Terra Firma, said: “There has been a lot of talk about what labels offer to artists and to the consumer.

“However, there is not much talk about how artists should work with their label. While many spend huge amounts of time working with their label to promote, perfect and endorse their music, some unfortunately simply focus on negotiating for the maximum advance . . . advances which are often never repaid.”

Hands said that once EMI had raised its standards “it will be open to us to choose which artists we wish to work with and promote”. Although the memo did not include names, it has triggered speculation about which artists EMI’s new owners might have in their sights.

Williams, who has sold more albums in the UK than any other solo artist, was reportedly paid £80m when he signed to EMI in 2002. However, his last album, Rudebox, has been a relative flop.

Hands has singled out Birt’s expertise in technology as “invaluable” and his assessment will feed into a company-wide strategic plan.

Despite his unpopularity with BBC staff, one of Birt’s main achievements at the corporation was to prepare it for the multi-channel digital age.

Yet his calculating, mechanical demeanour may prove uncomfortable for creative types. It was Dennis Potter, the late playwright, who gave Birt the “croak-voiced Dalek” epithet.

Birt’s familiarity with today’s music scene may also prove problematic. His closest friend from the world of pop is thought to be Cilla Black.

A fellow Liverpudlian, Black was a guest of honour when Birt tied the knot in December 2006 to Eithne Wallis, a former head of the probation service. The wedding followed Birt’s divorce from his ex-wife Jane after 40 years of marriage.

One EMI group that has crossed paths with Birt is the Rolling Stones. As a young editor on World in Action in the late 1960s, he was offered a fleeting glance of the “sex, drugs and rock’n’roll” lifestyle when he got Mick Jagger, in the wake of the infamous drugs raid on Keith Richards’s country home, to appear on a live television debate about the state of youth.

Birt was unavailable for comment this weekend.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

Continued ad of "The day the music industry died"

2007-11-26T18:19:00.000+01:00

What looks like commercial suicide is, in today’s reality, sound business sense. Records, CDs or downloads now have all become downgraded to the status of promotional tools – useful to sell concert tickets and fan paraphernalia. While there is still good money to be made in music, and particularly on the concert circuit, the record business – blame it on piracy, too many CD giveaways or the advent of the recordable CD – is a busted flush.

A revealing story doing the rounds in America tells of a young rock band who decided to stop selling their CDs at gigs after they discovered that by offering their CDs for $10 they were cannibalising sales of their $20 T-shirts. The truth now is that a rudimentary cotton garment with a band logo stamped across it that has probably been manufactured for pennies in a Third World sweatshop costs about twice as much as an album recorded in a state-of-the-art western studio. And even at that price, recorded music isn’t selling.

Album sales are currently in freefall all over the world. The 10% drop in the UK over the past year is dwarfed by a 15% slide in the US, 25% in France and a whopping 35% in Canada. The bankruptcy this summer of the CD retail chain Fopp, HMV’s announcement that its profits halved in the first six months of this year and Richard Branson’s recent decision to dump the Virgin Megastores – which have reportedly lost him more than £50m in 2007 – are only the most visible signs of a crisis that has rocked the music industry on its axis.

The point isn’t just that people are buying fewer CDs; they are paying as much as two-thirds less in real terms today for the music they listen to on their iPods than they used to when the compact disc first took over the market. Twenty years ago a chart CD cost about £14. Today you can buy the same in a super-market for £9.

The online market may have grown recently, but not enough to fix the hole. Here, too, margins have shrunk. A download of a single track now costs 79p against the £4 a CD single cost in 1999.

The impact on the bottom line of the record labels has been catastrophic. When EMI’s subsidiary Virgin put out the Spice Girls’ debut album in 1996 the company cleared roughly £5 in profit on each copy sold. That margin has since shrivelled to around £2 – and only then for albums that are significant hits. Industry insiders estimate that only one of the new British acts that has “broken” in 2007 – the pop diva Mika – will actually make his record company any money.

This has not gone unremarked in the City. When the private equity firm Terra Firma bought EMI recently it paid about a third, in real terms, what the company nearly fetched 10 years ago when a sale to its competitor Universal was mooted. That decline mirrors what has happened over the same period to the retail price of new CDs, and it also reflects the scale of the cull of EMI’s workforce, which has shrunk in 10 years from more than 10,000 worldwide to about 4,000 today.

The mood of panic is palpable, and there are no obvious solutions in sight. In America the recently appointed co-chairman of the Columbia label Rick Rubin, formerly a record producer by trade, has spoken of his ambition to turn the company around by refocusing it along the lines of a cable TV business – making Columbia’s entire catalogue downloadable to customers who pay a monthly subscription.

Another senior figure at Columbia has dismissed this plan as “potentially the last nail in the coffin”. The recent establishment of a “word of mouth” department at the label reflects the loss of control felt within a business that has lost a grip on its market.

One – fading – hope of the major labels is that they can somehow grab a share of the profits their artists make elsewhere. When Robbie Williams resigned to EMI in 2002 for a reported £80m this new deal guaranteed the label a piece of the action from Williams’s highly lucrative concert tours. But many young artists since have become wary of such composite arrangements. Some have decided to bypass the major record companies altogether.

One of the hottest new names to emerge here this year, the rave metal band Enter Shikari, refused to sign to anybody and in March released their debut album, Take to the Skies, on their own label Ambush Reality. In the past these tiny, so-called indie labels have usually been funded by majors anxious to covertly purchase credibility for their products with a young audience traditionally distrustful of big music corporations.

But that is not how it is with Ambush Reality. The marketing of Take to the Skies was largely down to the band themselves, who have played nearly 700 gigs since forming in St Albans in 2003. Word of mouth, coupled with a band presence on MySpace, has done the rest.

In November 2006 Enter Shikari became only the second unsigned act after the Darkness to sell out the leading London rock venue the Astoria. Take to the Skies entered the album chart at number four in March. In May they undertook a major tour of America – the first British band to do so without the support of a big record company.

This upending of the music business was neatly predicted back in the 1990s by the guitarist of the American hardcore band Anthrax who described their new album as “the menu; our concert is the meal”. This comment recalled the Beatles’ producer George Martin’s observation about his protégés’ first LP, Please Please Me from 1963. It was, Martin said, “just a memento of a concert”. Now, likewise, bands sell CD recordings of their performances at the end of the night.

The reprioritisation in recent years of live music over the recorded variety has been dramatic. Attendance at arena shows rose here by 11% last year. By the time 2007 bows out, 450 music festivals will have taken place in the UK.

Every week brings news of another frenzied assault on the box office. Last Monday Ticket-master reported that 20,000 tickets for the Spice Girls’ first reunion concert at London’s O2 arena in December sold out in 38 seconds, with 1m fans registering to buy. Three weeks back more than a million clamoured for seats at the forthcoming Led Zeppelin reunion. Glastonbury disposed of its 135,000 weekend passes for this year’s event within two hours – taking more than £21m in the process.

Ticket prices, especially for Alist artists, have soared as the price of CDs has tumbled. You could have bought Madonna’s entire catalogue for less than half what it cost to see her perform at Wembley Arena last summer where the best seats in the house went for £160. With the Rolling Stones at Twickenham a view from the pitch would have set you back £150.

Now that live music rules, nobody bothers to complain about what it costs any more. Euphoria at the news earlier this year that the Police had reformed obliterated all concerns that it cost between £70 and £90 to see them play at Twickenham in September. I spoke to many fans at one of those gigs; not one complained about the ticket price.

In the light of these numbers, the probability is that music fans now are spending more money on their passion than they were in the heyday of the CD. They have rediscovered an ancient truth that music is, at root, a communal experience as much as it is something that goes on between your ears.

Interestingly the band now tolling the death knell of the record industry, Radiohead, seem currently to have mixed feelings about live work.

“They probably will be playing some dates next year,” a spokesman said last week. “But Thom Yorke doesn’t like touring much.”

The day the music industry died

2007-11-26T18:08:00.000+01:00

There is no money in recorded music any more, that’s why bands are now giving it away

Robert Sandall

Having waited four years for their heroes to finish another record, Radiohead fans were understandably excited last week to learn that the band’s seventh album, In Rainbows, will finally be released on Wednesday. But what really rocked the fanbase – and heightened the air of gloom enveloping the global record industry – was the news that In Rainbows could be preordered and downloaded perfectly legally for as little as 1p at Radio-head.com.

Currently out of contract and thus entitled to dispose of their recordings as they see fit, one of the most popular bands in the world had decided to let the fans decide how much their latest album was worth. An MP3 file of In Rainbows would have no price tag. Honesty boxes, it seemed, were the new rock’n’roll.

If the Radiohead faithful appeared somewhat nonplussed by this move – “The danger is that people will stop seeing their music as important,” one fan posted in a blog; “I will gladly pay $20 knowing the artist will get the money,” pledged another – the band’s strategy was anything but mad, and not even that revolutionary. Last week the Charlatans announced they would be giving away their new album as a free download. Earlier this year another rock band, the Crimea, did the same.

In July Prince arranged for 2.5m copies of his new album to be cover-mounted on a Sunday newspaper and issued several hundred thousand more free of charge to anybody attending his London concerts in August. The scale of this charitable epidemic can be measured by a quick browse of the Free Albums Galore blog that lists more than 800 albums by a range of artists – from the Beastie Boys to some unsigned metal bands – all of which are free to download.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

“The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales”

2007-11-26T16:46:00.000+01:00

Koleman Strumpf, professor of business economics at the University of Kansas Business School whose papers include “The Effect of File Sharing on Record Sales”:

Many dire assessments have been made about the record business. Unfortunately, these claims are rarely supported with data. As such, I will provide specific numbers about the industry’s health, put those numbers in perspective, and discuss several factors that might explain recent trends.

Let me begin by discussing the current state of the U.S. record industry. As has been widely reported, sales are down. According to Nielsen SoundScan, album sales fell 18 percent between 2000 and 2006, after accounting for paid digital downloads from online stores like iTunes. While these numbers are not good, other industries have experienced similar downturns. For example, new car sales are down 22 percent for U.S. automakers.

It is important to remember that sales downturns are not atypical in the music business, and that investors remain interested in selling records. The current situation closely mirrors the post-disco bust in the early 1980s. Specifically, real revenues fell by the same percentage during the years 1979 to 1985 and 1999 to 2006. The record industry also continues to generate profits and attract interest from investors. For example, a private equity firm just last month completed a ₤3 billion takeover of EMI, and an investment group purchased the Warner Music Group in 2004 for $2.6 billion.

Investors seek out high returns, and these large investments suggest that many believe that they can make money in the record business. It also implies that the industry is still profitable. While profit data can be hard to come by, we get a small window from Warner, the only publicly traded standalone record company in the U.S., which enjoyed operating margins of 7 percent and 10 percent from its recorded music segments in 2005 and 2006.

Putting profitability aside for now, what is the explanation for the sales reduction that has occurred? The most obvious culprit is illicit file-sharing on networks such as Napster, KaZaA, eDonkey, and BitTorrent. While linking the two seems tantalizing — file sharing rose to prominence at roughly the same time that record sales started to fall — there is surprisingly little evidence to support the claim that file sharing has significantly hurt record sales. I co-authored a paper with Felix Oberholzer-Gee of the Harvard Business School in which we studied this link using download data from file-sharing networks. If file sharing hurts record sales, then albums that are more heavily downloaded should experience lower sales than comparable albums that are less downloaded. But, after controlling for the role of popularity, we found that downloads had little effect on album sales.

There are several other factors that might explain recent sales trends. First, recall the industry’s similar problems in the early 1980s. Then, as now, sales were down as consumers stopped purchasing albums from a previously popular genre (in the ’80s it was disco; now it’s teen-pop). So one explanation is that the industry has failed to find genres that capture the interests of consumers.

Second, much of the reduction in sales is the direct result of industry cost-cutting. The major record labels have cut large numbers of staff and severed ties with many artists. Such moves are not necessarily bad business choices, but they suggest that less attention should be given to revenues and more to profits.

Third, recorded music has had trouble competing against other products that vie for consumers’ entertainment spending. Consider home video products like the DVD. It does not seem implausible that a good chunk of the $11 billion rise in spending on home video products since 1999 represents foregone CD sales. (Music industry revenues only fell $2 billion over this period.) Entertainment spending was also likely channeled into cell phones and video games, both of which experienced large sales growth and have been particularly popular with the key teen demographic.

A fourth and final factor to consider is the rise of paid digital downloads made popular by iTunes. While this model is often described as a competitor of illicit downloading, there is little evidence that file-sharing users also use iTunes (plus genres like classical music, which are largely ignored on file-sharing networks, are very popular on iTunes). More problematic is the likelihood that music consumers who used to purchase whole albums now download only one or two songs, so rather than getting $15 for an album sale, the industry gets two downloads at $2. While there is no direct evidence that cannibalization is occurring, the growing size of paid downloads makes this factor an important one to consider.

As for the future, I am dubious about making forecasts. Much will depend on the choices the major labels make on key issues (will they run experiments to determine the optimal pricing of digital downloads?) and the arrival of still-unforeseen technologies (which could allow labels to more cheaply distribute music, or lead to new forms of piracy). At the same time, I reject the argument that recorded music is close to death, simply because the financial incentives to create music have never been particularly high. In 2005, less than one in five albums were released on a major label, and even among those releases, fewer than one in fifteen went gold (the usual measure of record success). With such daunting odds, recording an album may have seemed like a pointless task. But in that year, nearly 44,000 albums were released — enough to provide almost three consecutive years of listening. Regardless of what happens to companies that produce and distribute music, I am sure that recorded music will continue to be made.

Added by Tessa Reijndorp

BACK IN YOUR EARDRUMS

2007-11-21T22:46:00.000+01:00

We're releasing a Mixtape, it's called 'Not Here To Please You'

Tracklisting is...

Leap Of Faith
Bounce
Girls
Love, Sweat & Beer
Dance Lesson
You Can't Be That
Liquid Lives (Noisia Remix)
Tuning In (H! Rerub)
Bloc Party Vs Hadouken! Remix
Plan B Vs Hadouken! Remix
Bolt Action 5 Vs Hadouken! Remix

It's going to be available on USB only and will be the first release to be available exclusively on that format. Why you may well ask? Well we're not foolish enough to think that the future of music consumption is on USB, but we thought it would be cool to try it for these reasons:

1. This is not our album, to make sure there was no confusion, we decided to make it aesthetically different from your standard album. We'll be back with our album next year on more traditional formats.

2. The USB does open some interesting new possibilities, it's not a case of you plugging the thing in and pulling the tracks out of a folder, we've had an interactive bit of artwork built that you can navigate through to get to the tracks and other secret bits and pieces.

The video for 'Leap of Faith' will be available online on Monday at 8pm, it won't be on here, on youtube or any of our sites but check back to this blog and we'll have put up a link to where you can find it. It was made by Bobby Harlow and StitchThat, who made Liquid Lives and That Boy That Girl, I think it's their best yet and can't wait for everyone to see it.

Saul Williams biedt nieuw album gratis aan

2007-11-21T22:43:00.000+01:00

AMSTERDAM - De naam Saul Williams zal niet meteen bij iedereen een belletje doen rinkelen. Toch is het de moeite waard om zijn nieuwe album, geheel gratis, te downloaden.

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is namelijk een van de betere albums die de laatste tijd zijn uitgekomen.

Voor het productie van NiggyTardust is niemand minder dan Trent Reznor van Nine Inch Nails verantwoordelijk. Het resultaat van deze samenwerking is een opwindende plaat die door de zang van Saul Williams en de tegendraadse ritmes vaak aan Bloc Party doet denken. Verder valt de plaat op door een bijzondere cover van U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday.

Formaten

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is in twee verschillende formaten te downloaden. Hierbij is er de keuze tussen een gratis versie en een download voor 5 dollar.

Beide versies bevatten naast de nummers ook het artwork en de teksten van de nummers. Het enige verschil is dat de betaalde versie van een hogere kwaliteit is.

Saul Williams is bekend als dichter en acteur en werkte in het verleden mee aan albums van onder andere The Fugees, Coldcut en De La Soul. De laatste tijd is Saul Williams druk bezig zijn muzikale horizon te verbreden en speelde hij in het voorprogramma van The Mars Volta en Nine Inch Nails.

ZIE OOK:

BETA Records Partners with Audiobaba to Match Mainstream Artist Searches to Unsigned Artists

2007-11-21T22:22:00.000+01:00

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - Nov. 20 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Georg van Handel (CEO) and Chris Honetschlaeger (President) of BETA Records, LLC, announced today that they will partner with Audiobaba to match mainstream artist searches to unsigned artists. Using their proprietary acoustic fingerprinting technology, users of the upcoming new site (http://www.betarecords.com/) will be able to discover new music from unsigned artists around the world simply by typing in a mainstream artist name.

BETA Records will utilize Audiobaba to enhance a highly immersive and engaging music experience that creates close connections between unsigned artists and indie music fans on the new site slated for release later this year. Independent artists can easily upload their music and get exposed to a world-wide audience.

"With Audiobaba's technology, artists on our site will have a greater chance of being discovered by music fans that would most likely enjoy their work. The fans will have an easy tool to find new music, all under one roof in a social music setting," said Chris Harper, BETA CXO (Chief Experience Officer).

"BETA Records is one of our first licensing partners and immediately understood the value of providing a mechanism for visitors on their site to easily find music out of the BETA catalog by searching for a mainstream artist," said Audiobaba Founder and CEO Michael Kuhlmann. "We're very excited about our relationship with BETA Records and their plans to incorporate our engine into the core of their site, serving local and international visitors.

About BETA
RecordsBETA Records leverages online techniques, combined with valuable label resources, to discover independent artists and expose them in an upcoming robust social music community of listeners. With localized versions of the site in multiple countries, artists can truly get exposed to a world-wide audience, and fans can have fun listening with their friends and making new ones.

About Audiobaba
Vancouver based Audiobaba (http://www.audiobaba.com/) bridges the gap between music tracks by objectively linking them based on acoustic similarity. A proprietary acoustic fingerprinting and ranking engine is used to match other tracks that have similar acoustic features, whether these tracks are well known or not, and regardless of whether the track was just added to the database or months earlier.Audiobaba's technology is particularly well suited to matching up mainstream searches to longtail content. A very simple web based API connects search requests to heavily optimized servers for quick similarity results. Label partners are able to contain the results to similar sounding tracks in their catalogue and provide search results even if the search was started with a mainstream artist by the user. Other partners are able to supplement their search results with acoustically similar content for further user discovery and transactions.

By Anouk de Lima

AFA Music Group Names First Artist for Digital Music Label

2007-11-21T22:17:00.000+01:00

WHITE PLAINS, NY--(Marketwire - November 20, 2007) - AFA Music Group, Ltd. (PINKSHEETS: AFAO) is pleased to announce that Brooks Buford has signed to release his solo album on AFA Music Group's new digital music label. The album will be available in early 2008 from the http://www.afamusic.com/ Web site, via download. CDs and merchandise related to the album will also be made available directly from AFA Music Group. The Company has signed an agreement with Brooks Buford to market and sell the album and the merchandise through its digital music label.

AFA Music Group's, Tommy Henriksen is producing the album, which will be recorded at AFA's Van Nuys studio, where all of the Company's master recordings are produced. Mr. Henriksen has produced major label releases for Epic Records, Warner Bros and Interscope Records.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brooks Buford first gained notice as half of the southern rap duo, Rehab. The group's 2000 debut, "Southern Discomfort," spawned a Billboard (Modern Rock) Top 20 single, "It Don't Matter," cultivating a large following, particularly in the south, and preceded a year of high-profile touring. He has also hosted "Bust-A-Move" on MTV Overdrive, as well as MTV's "Trailer Fabulous," a spoof on the home makeover show genre. Mr. Buford is also a member of AFA Music Group recording artist, The Audio Club.
"This is a great project for our first release. Brooks Buford has a well established following as an artist and a personality, and this long awaited album will result in a tremendous amount of exposure for him and AFA Music Group," stated Jon Goldwater, President and CEO of AFA Music Group, Ltd.
For more information on Brooks Buford, see the "Artist" page at http://www.afamusic.com/.
About AFA Music Group, Ltd.:
AFA "Artists for Artists" is a talent development and management agency. Since being founded in 2005, and based on its philosophy, AFA has attracted a roster of 10 "major-quality" recording artists. AFA Music Group plans to simultaneously acquire various music-publishing assets and to begin developing its own catalogue of artists and albums. The Company plans to launch its own digital music label in the first quarter of 2008 and make all music downloads, merchandise, art work, photos, and other artist information available through the Company's Web site, http://www.afamusic.com/. AFA retains equity positions with all of its artists, which include all income streams generated by these artists.

SOURCE: The AFA Music Group

By Anouk de Lima

Sony BMG licenses video/audio to Yahoo for User Generated Content

2007-11-21T22:13:00.000+01:00

Sony BMG has signed a licensing deal with Yahoo that allows users to upload files with music or video content by the record company’s artists to the portal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, although like most agreements of this nature, Sony BMG will most likely received an upfront payout, and then a cut of advertising revenue on those pages.

The deal also covers the distribution of music videos via Yahoo player applications and widgets that computer users can place on other Web sites. The agreement marks the first time Yahoo has inked a deal with a major recording company over licensing content in user-created videos.

Sony BMG, home to recording artists, reached a similar licensing deal with Google Inc. last year. That agreement also includes Google subsidiary YouTube.

Tuesday, november 20th, 2007

By Anouk de Lima

Eat Your Way to a Free Music Download

2007-11-21T22:12:00.000+01:00

Wendy's, the third largest fast food retailer in the United States, has teamed up with RealNetworks to give away free digital music. Starting November 12th, if you buy a medium or large combo meal, you will be given a ‘cup code’ that can be redeemed for a complimentary music track. There are 100 million downloads to be given away during the campaign with access to over 4 million songs via the Rhapsody digital music service. Visitors to the Wendy’s web site will also be able to register their details for the chance to win other music related prizes.

With the holiday season nearly upon us, this is a good excuse to take the family out for a meal and get something in return. If you’re on a diet, you may just want to buy them all digital music gift cards instead!

Wednesday November 14, 2007
http://mp3.about.com/

By Anouk de Lima

D'Accord Music Releases New Software that Allows Users to Download and Recognize Files from Multiple Media Sources

2007-11-21T22:10:00.000+01:00

RECIFE, Brazil - Oct. 23 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- D'Accord Music Software, the Brazilian leader in music software, announces a new version of its award-winning software - iChords - that recognizes and presents chords from any MP3, WMA files or CDs. By using iChords 2.0, the new version, musicians can learn how to play any song on keyboard or guitar. It also exports song videos to iPod(TM) and mobile phones.

Popular features enable users to automatically retrieve CD chords, and those from MP3, WAV and WMA files. It also creates WMV or MP4 videos with the song, chords and lyrics.

"Musicians throughout the world adopted the first version, and we are excited to release iChords 2.0," Americo Amorim, D'Accord's Executive Director, said. "Our users will love the new features such as exporting videos to their iPods."

D'Accord's iChords 2.0 is a musician's dream come true. Chords, in any song, are identified without searching for tablatures or sheet music. The software is easy-to-use and after opening a song file, it automatically processes and extracts the chords.

The new export video feature generates a file with the song being played on the guitar or keyboard and allows musicians to create personalized transcriptions. For instance, they can change the transcribed chords and add song lyrics in a karaoke-like style. If lyrics are added and chords transposed, they can be printed together with chord diagrams. For each chord, the software presents fingering and notation.

Novice players can configure the difficulty level of the presented chords and choose from easy, medium or difficult; it's possible to play from simple harmonies to complex musical pieces.

For guitar players, there are four different guitar-view modes, including one for left-handed players. And, users can control the tempo, according to skill.

D'Accord relies on experienced researchers, software engineers and musicians to work together to develop innovative products and services. Its products are among the most popular on several download sites such as Download.com and are used by millions of musicians in more than 65 countries.

The software is compatible with Microsoft Windows 2000, 2003, XP and Vista.A trial version of iChords 2.0 is available for download at: http://www.daccordmusic.com/

By Anouk de Lima

BETA Records Partners with Limelight Networks for Internet Streaming and Downloading of Songs and Videos

2007-11-21T22:03:00.000+01:00

Published: Mon, 24 Sep 2007, 19:23:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Sept. 24 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Georg van Handel (CEO) and Chris Honetschlaeger (President) with BETA Records, LLC, announced today that they will partner with Limelight Networks to allow users to stream and download songs and videos at lightning speeds. Using their reliable network to distribute content globally, music fans will enjoy a high-quality rich media experience.

BETA Records will utilize Limelight Networks to enhance a highly immersive and engaging music experience that creates close connections between unsigned artists and indie music fans on the new site slated for release later this year. "We're excited to partner with Limelight for many reasons, including the support Limelight brings to all our partner countries," Honetschlaeger stated.

"We decided to go with a CDN to ensure the artists and fans of our upcoming site will have the best experience possible in getting music, videos, and photos quickly. Limelight Networks has proven to be a solid, flexible platform with reasonable rates, superb sales support and excellent customer service," said Chris Harper, BETA's Chief Experience Officer.

"People worldwide want to connect with each other via a common interest in music - whether they are looking to discover new talent or collaborate together on creating new music," said Lou Greco, Limelight VP of North American enterprise sales and channel operations. "By leveraging Limelight's advanced CDN service, BETA Records solves a business challenge that many user-generated music sites are facing today - providing the best possible experience to a rapidly growing community of users and ensuring reliable and high-quality delivery of rich media regardless of audience size or activity."

About BETA Records
BETA Records combines online techniques and label resources to discover independent artists and present them in an upcoming robust social music community of listeners. With localized versions of the site in multiple countries, artists can truly get exposed to a world-wide audience. http://www.betarecords.com/

About Limelight Networks
Limelight Networks is a high-performance content delivery network for digital media, providing massively scalable, global delivery solutions for on-demand and live Internet distribution of video, music, games and social media. Limelight Networks' infrastructure is optimized for the large object sizes, large content libraries, and large audiences associated with compelling rich media content. Limelight is the content delivery network of choice for more than 850 of the world's top media companies, including Akimbo, Amazon Unbox(TM), Belo Interactive, Brightcove, "BuyMusic" @ Buy.com, DreamWorks, LLC, Facebook, FOXNews.com, IFILM, ITV Play, MSNBC.com, MySpace, NC Interactive, Valve Software and Xbox Live. http://www.llnw.com/

By Anouk de Lima