June 2008
3 posts
“However, he did confirm that Rhapsody will add a feature that lets blogs and...”
– Rhapsody To Sell MP3s via Web, iLike, MTV and Yahoo | Listening Post from Wired.com
Interesting!
“JEFF LEEDS: I think that sort of transparency, where we’re all declaring our...”
– Sasha Frere-Jones
April 2008
10 posts
“When we approached the major record label decision makers in order to obtain...”
– Gerd Leonhard Welcome to Sonific Sonific.com goes offline on May 1, 2008
“Here, it’s simple: You can contact just about anyone you want. The only...”
– Seth’s Blog: Catchers and throwers
Six Awesome Ways To Learn About Music (While... →
At EMI, could digital music kill the 'record'... →
Interesting article on EMI’s digital-before-physical approach to marketing Yelle in the US.
“In other words, not paying for In Rainbows today is helping people eliminate the...”
– Anyone Seen My $4.2 Billion? - Chuck Klosterman
Pretty Goes with Smart: A Rational Look At The...
Pretty Goes with Pretty: Anyone Can Sell a Product “Musicians, being the simpletons they are, have connected the dots—all two of them. “If my music is sold in a grocery store, I should make a deal with a grocer. If my music is sold in coffeehouse, I should make a deal with the coffeehouse. If my music is being downloaded outside of any bricks-and-mortar establishment, accessed directly by my...
: Who's Spending on Social Networks? →
Illuminating article on the amount of money being spent on social networks.
“The RIAA’s goal is to get from complaint to judgment as quickly as...”
– New ruling may “grease the wheels” of RIAA litigation machine Quote via EFF staff attorney Fred von Lohmann
“Seemingly none of the skills that propelled the recording industry to bloated,...”
– Why Won’t the Music Business Hire Nerds? — Vulture — Entertainment & Culture Blog — New York Magazine
March 2008
19 posts
$22.3 billion spent on 'branded entertainment... →
This stuff is for real ya’ll.
“Congress is not really interested in people who don’t vote, and there is...”
– Panel discourages media piracy - News Quite a point you’ve made there, sir.
Launch →
muxtape: Muxtape is up, you can create an account and start using it right away. Here’s my muxtape. The feature set is minimal to start with, but expect rapid developments. This tumblr will serve as a changelog and to highlight new features as they evolve. Your feedback is greatly appreciated! A new mixtape option. Legality somewhat in question I’d guess. And apparently you can only...
“To “run” the label, the BoDeans have put together a team of indie...”
– hypebot: BoDeans Go D.I.Y. With Impressive Results This seems to be a trend in music marketing. Instead of having everything done within one label umbrella, there is WAY more outsourcing going on with promotion and distribution. This can work really well, or rather badly depending a lot on the...
Net Radio + Social Networking = Powerful Marketing
hypebot: Net Radio + Social Networking = Powerful Marketing “A cost-effective new release campaign can now bypass traditional media entirely and focus on web radio, social networks and proven to be effective music blogs.” This article has some nice points about the value of online radio. This is an interesting point because of the increased pressure from the CRB with royalty rates...
“You see what they did? The shirts are eye catching and appealing enough to be...”
– Kevin Allen Jr. - Interesting concept. Not completely original but I’m surprised that this was at a Target. This might be an interesting venture for a fashion conscious musician. I can see it working on a smaller scale.
“That’s classic Sherman Antitrust Act behavior. It’s called tying,...”
– hypebot: eMusic Promises Lawsuits If Apple Offers “Unlimited” Interesting development. I don’t forsee anything happening for awhile if the bundled music package is true. This reminds me of the silly rumor about Jay-Z starting a label for apple. People love to speculate!
“Music is about taste. No amount of qualifications or expertise or insider...”
– The Raconteurs - Almost Music 2.0 « Song, by Toad
TiVo Integrates Podcasts with Set Top Box →
Good news for podcasters! For the long-term sustainment of podcasts, having them integrated with as many services like TiVo is great because you can acess podcasts more conveniently. Though I can’t think of anyone who listenings to podcasts via television. Oh well, one step at a time.
Indie labels bypass iTunes, give digital sales a... →
This is a nice article about how labels and artists are moving away from iTunes and starting to be more independent, controlling their own online stores. This is smart for a number of reasons, especially if you’re a label with a strong brand and people that pay attention to what you’re doing. Lable stores are a great way for you to conntect directly. You get more information,...
http://campaign-archive.com/archive.phtml?cid=E8FOR... →
Naxos- they know what they’re doing. A great example of a label that knows their audience and gets them the information they want in a variety of ways.
Merge Records Store →
Matt really likes this new store. And I’ll admit, I like the sassy little drop-down menu from Purchase. Clean!
“Reznor has put aside most concerns about fairness and has concentrated on a...”
– Coolfer - The Fairness Principle: Fairness or Profit
“A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer,...”
– Kevin Kelly — The Technium
Pitchfork to Launch Online Music TV Channel April... →
This is a pretty big deal, at least for the indie rock fishbowl. There’s also an impending redesign for Pitchfork itself buried in here: And later this year, as part of a massive redesign effort, Pitchfork.tv will integrate with its parent site, presenting innovations and further advancements to the world of online music journalism. Seems like a cool move on Pfork’s part. I’ve...
Chris Anderson + Wired explain the business of... →
This is on my list of articles to read about music, free, and other subjects. NOT writter by chris Anderson, but thoughts on his new philosophy.
Build Last.fm: Extend your Last.fm experience →
“Downloadable tools, plug-ins, and more” Last.fm thrid-party applications! Some of these look like they could be really handy! Time to investigate!
February 2008
35 posts
Peel - Stay in the loop →
“Never miss a hot track again. Peel is an MP3 blog reader and player rolled into one. Subscribe and stream music the minute it becomes available!” So the sell-line is a bit cheesy but this looks like a potentially great service. Sorry PC users, this gem is only available for Macs.
“Indie artists who want to get included in YouTube revenue shares are best served...”
– The State of the Digital Music Union | Listening Post from Wired.com
The Best (MAJOR) Digital Distributor-- Digikorps -... →
Well thanks Digikorps! I’m pretty sure we don’t charge for encoding though. And also, the exclusive agreement means that two distributors can’t deliver content to the same site. Like you can’t have two people giving iTunes your music. Nice :]
Music Blog Directory →
Blogged.com is a directory that offers ratings, reviews, and comments on a categorized list of popular blogs. Our blog directory is completely free to use and does not require any registration or sign up process. Blogged.com also offers a social network community that allows bloggers and readers with similar interests to connect with each other. This service is also completely free but will...
Digital Audio Insider →
Another examination of the new music industry. The New Music Equation: Radiohead, Trent Reznor, Etc. It seems that the business model of giving music away and relying on voluntary payments boils down to the following equation: A x B x C = D where A = the total # of people who acquire the work B = the percent who actually pay for it C = the average amount each person pays ...
IODA SXSW Opening Day Bash!!!!
IODA SXSW opening day bash at Emo’s (Wednesday, March 12, 2008) - Upcoming We’re happy to announce the details of our annual IODA Opening Day Bash at the upcoming SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. This year’s showcase features popular independent artists from around the world in celebration of IODA’s five-year anniversary. Ten fan-favorite bands will help IODA...
newsobserver.com |On the Beat: David Menconi on... →
“But not everybody feeling the pain is an overpaid muckety-muck, and the independent-music community is taking a major hit: No Depression, the award-winning bimonthly magazine that covers alternative-country and its variants, is going out of business after the May/June issue. And the primary reason for its demise is that record-label print advertising has plummeted even faster than compact...
“There are a lot of unanswered questions, to be sure. Among them, international....”
– News Corp. Working On Music ‘Hulu’ For MySpace | paidContent.org More interesting commentary around MySpace music!
New details on MySpace's music play | Tech news... →
“News Corp. has tested the record industry’s interest in a site that would offer music in several different ways, including ad-supported downloads and streaming to PCs, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. This may be why PaidContent reported that News Corp. was proposing an ad-supported download service while the blog Silicon Alley Insider said the company was backing a...
Uncensored Interview →
“It’s amazing, but the recording industry seems absolutely committed to...”
– Police fans, watch out! | Crave : The gadget blog I had to go through this rigamaroll to unsubscribe to The Police fan club. It was a racket when you first had to sign up. I’m glad I caught this before the account was charged again!
Eliot Van Buskirk's Listening Post: Major Label... →
“Aside from its embeddable widgets and playlist sharing, people use SeeqPod for two main reasons, according to co-founder and CEO Kasian Franks. “No. 1: You’re more likely to find what you’re looking for here than anywhere else. No. 2: Ease of use. It’s refreshingly simple.” Sound familiar? Those same factors made Google what it is today.”
AllHipHop.com Daily News - : BREAKING NEWS: TVT... →
New York based independent record label TVT Records terminated the majority of their employees today, sources revealed to AllHipHop.com today (February 18). Oh no!
AIRSPUN :: Music Promotion :: Indie Bands :: Find... →
Useful Reports →
“The AIM Journal is a fantastic new business affairs newsletter containing lots of interesting articles, opinions and business information dealing with day-to-day label matters written by Friends of AIM, industry organisations and AIM committee member” AIM is the Association of Independent Music. This is their second newsletter.
