hypebot

Friday's Music Briefing: Twitter, OurStage, Bono, Sony, Lala & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Derek Sivers Got $22 Million For CD Baby
• Universal Bundles Music For Dell PC's
• Under The Guns ('n Roses) Dr. Pepper Goes Free
• AC/DC: First Video In An Excel Spreadsheet
• Ticketmaster To Buy Azoff's Frontline Management
  
• It's Tribes Week on Hypebot- an exploration of marketing guru Seth Godin's new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and it's implications for musicians and the music industry. Join the gathering of the Music Tribe.

MORE NEWS:

• "Twitter is radically changing the way musicians are building communities of supportive fans around them. Are you still resisting it?" by publicity guru Ariel Hyatt and Laura Fitton on Music Think Tank.
• OurStage launches a music discovery platform for the iPhone. (press release)
• Bono has signed an Op-Ed deal with the New York Times. (New York Magazine)
• What lies ahead for Sony Music? (Coolfer)
• Duncan Freeman @ the Indie Music Tech blog has an interview with the founders of MixMatchMusic (IndieMusicTech)
• "10 Cents Buys Everything I Like About LaLa" (Ad Supported Music Central)
• WORTHY CLICK: GigPay is a UK start-up that acts as a middleman and escrow service between artists and promoters.

Ticketmaster To Buy Azoff's Frontline Management

Is Ticketmaster: The Concert Promoter Next?

Ticketmaster is buying a majority interest in Irving Azoff's Frontline Management (Christina Aguilera, the Eagles, Jimmy Buffett and Neil Diamond and others) and Azoff will head the combined operation, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The move is designed to strenghten Ticketmaster against concert giant Live Nation who has started a competing ticketing operation.

The mainstream press contends that Ticketmaster is buying control over Azoff's star studded roster to counter Live Nation's direct relationship with the artists (Madonna, US, Jay-Z, Nickleback and the many tours it promotes).  But ticketing deals are almost always made directly with the venues; not with artists.  The real star power in this deal is Irving Azoff.

A shrewed negotiator who always comes out on top, Azoff has deep connections thorughout the music industry.  This deal certainly represents a payday for him, as well as, a major challenge: how to stem the tide of ticketing clients to Live Nation when at the same time cutting the best deals he can for his management clients with the largest promoter in th world.

But what Irving giveth; Irving can also taketh away. What is to prevent Ticketmaster from becoming a national concert promoter?  They have deep pockets, relationships with venues and a rich database of concertgoers. Now Ticketmaster also has the 100 top artists represented by Frontline Management and most of all they have Irving Azoff.

Random Notes From CMJ 2008

• The common thread from yesterday’s panels was SERVICES.
• Took a quick trip through the trade hall and spoke with Muzlink, a music discovery search engine with entry level net surfer in mind, but where it falls down in my mind is a) it only includes those bands that sign up and b) it still lacks some important connectivity that would help a band sell product (merchandise or tickets) to their fans.
• The Inmates Running The Asylum panel was interesting b/c they talked about a self release vs label release. The panel was spilt 50/50 on the topic with a slight edge towards younger bands should try to find a label with a strong “brand” to help new listeners identify them with that brand. (duh?)
• Saw Trevor Menear live last night. He's a special talent.
• Stay tuned...
  
  • Patrick May, Skyline Music

New Pete Yorn Video Hopes To Mobilize Voters

Platinum seller Pete Yorn has released a new free single and video "American Blues Volume 1" that he hopes will remind people of the problems facing America and encourage them to vote on November 4th. Lyrics like "four-dollar-a-gallon-gas as jobs get slashed, you love your house, now give it back" are  mixed with images from headline news. MySpace has the free download.

Pete Yorn - American Blues Vol. 1

Gathering The Music Tribe

It's Tribes Week all this week on Hypebot - an exploration of marketing guru Seth Godin's new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us - and it's implications for musicians and the music industry.

• Exclusive Interview With Seth Godin
  • Part 1 - Tribes, Heretics & Music
  • Part 2 - Music's Messy Future
• Share Your Favorite Tribe Building Story
  • Win Prizes!
• Free Seth Godin, Free Tribes, Free The Music
  • Get A Free Audio Copy Of "Tribes
  • Links To More Resources

IODA Signs With MySpace Music

Digital distributor IODA has finalized a deal with MySpace Music. They become the second major Independent distributor after The Orchard to have their music included on the social networkers new ad supported music service.

The deal means 1 million tracks from 50K indie artists. "Sometimes being first to the party is not the best position to be in during negotiations," IODA CEO Kevin Arnold said in an interview late Wednesday. "We weren't under intense pressure to make this deal and I'm very happy with what we ended up with."

Arnold stated that "equity and profit participation were not a part of the contract", as MERLIN and some indies have called for.  "I said from the beginning that finding short term revenue streams for our label partners was the goal. We've tip toed our way towards the ad supported model and MySpace Music is well positioned to make it work."  While labels are able to opt out of participating, Arnold says his labels are generally enthusiastic. "Many of IODA’s labels have been early and active participants in the MySpace Music community, and consider it an essential tool to develop relationships with their fans."

Who is next? MySpace isn't really saying. "We’re creating a sustainable, profitable music economy for all artists and we're thrilled IODA endorses this vision.  MySpace Music continues to actively embrace the indie community as we further our partnership discussions with additional labels and aggregators," says  Frank Hajdu, My Space Music's Executive Director of Strategy & Operations.

Thursday's Synergy: imeem Layoffs, SanDisk & More

TOP NEWS& FEATURES:

• Ticketmaster To Buy Azoff's Frontline Management
• IODA Signs With MySpace Music
• New Pete Yorn Video Hopes To Mobilize Voters
• Seth Godin's "Tribes" Week on Hypebot: Gathering The Music Tribe
• Contest: How Are You Building Your Tribe?

MORE NEWS:

• Imeem is laying off 25% of its staff and looking for a buyer. (paidContent) Portfilio has a look at imeem's troubles as part of  the broader digital music landscape. (Portfolio) The consolidation which is being sped up by the poor global economy continues...
• Samsung has dropped it's $5.85B bid to buy Sandisk. (DMW)
• 3Q European Platinum Music awards. (IFPI)
• Opinion: The Facebook Music Mess. (Computerworld)
• A video look at the new Android music apps. (Music Ally, more info)
• Jambase has released an iPhone app that taps their big database of live shows. (Digital Noise)
• In an era of low sales, what constitutes a hit? (Daily News)
• Listen to the new G&R single and tell us if you think it was worth the wait.

 

Part 2: Seth Godin On Music's Messy Future

Part 2:  Today, marketing guru, blogger, and author of the new book Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. Seth Godin, talks about the old music business, it's messy future, the economic downtugn and what's on his iPod. (Read Part 1: Tribes Heretics & Music)

Q. Is it too late for the old music industry and what should new music industry tribes and their leaders focus on?

GODIN: It's not too late for music, no doubt about it. It's probably too late for the music 'industry'. Most of the religion of this industry is about paying for people who add precious little value to what's actually valued by the listeners. Once you remove radio, record stores and duplication from the equation, it's not clear to me what 80% of the people in the music industry actually do to add value.

Q. You caution, “Don’t panic when the new business model isn’t as clean as the old one.”  Can you elaborate, perhaps by using artists and the music industry as examples?

GODIN: Well, it took twenty or more years before the record business got perfect, but it was perfect. Free promotion (radio), dedicated stores (Tower)...

Google's Android Gets iPhone Like Music Treatment

The first phones powered by Google's Android open mobile platform are just becoming available and online music providers are already planting the flag with applications and hopes of success stories like iPhone provided Pandora and others.

• imeem for Android offers free streaming music and personalized radio. (more)
• Shazam offers an application that that recognizes a song, enables purchase on Amazon and connect with the artist on MySpace. (more)
• MySpace Mobile is offering an Android music application of its own. (more)
• Amazon MP3 also has an Android download application.

All of the applications will be offered as free downloads via the creators web sites and the Android Market.

Will Labels Control Your Digital Music Locker

Will record labels control the music you store online digital lockers?  It's an important question that Greg Sandoval at cNet asked, that I admit had never crossed my mind.

• The newly re-launched lala got licenses from all the major labels (not sure about indies) before it opened shop.
• MP3tunes, however, believes that if you own a track and its for your own use, why should they have to make a deal with the labels? They're in court with EMI right now trying to prove the point.

Is this about labels once again trying to control downloads even after they are purchased? Or is it protecting the artist and label rights?  If you believe, as many do, that  like other digital information your music will someday exist primarily in the online cloud to be pulled down for use wherever you are, then this is an important distinction. What do you think?

Contest: How Are You Building Your Tribe?

As part of Tribes week on Hypebot, I want you to hear how you are building your tribe. Whether its fans or team members at a label, management firm or start-up we're all trying to build tribes. Use the comment section below to share tribe building technologies and techniques that are working for you.  Is Facebook. ArtistData or Basecamp working for you?  Are you using vlogs or free music to grow your Tribe? Maybe there's something you've seen someone else use that you think is worth sharing.

One winner for the best idea gets a free a copy of Seth Godin's new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Two more winner get to tell us your favorite 2 artists on our Skyline Music booking agency roster and we'll send you some free CD's. We'll also take a few of the best and share them in a Tribe Building post.  

Wednesday's Music Briefing: Yahoo, iLike, Winn-Dixie, PlayPhone, CMJ & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Interview: Seth Godin On Tribes, Heretics & Music
• Part 2: Seth Godin On Music's Messy Future
• Google's Android Gets iPhone Like Music Treatment
• Will Labels Control Your Digital Music Locker?
• From SF MusicTech Summit: Don't Forget The Data
• >> Contest: How Are You Building Your Tribe? <<

MORE NEWS:

• 
• iLike grabs an exclusive pre-release of the new Ryan Adams. (press release)
• Shoppers at 521 Winn-Dixie supermarkets in the US south can buy Sony BMG Premiun MusicPass download cards. (press release)
• Yahoo has axed 10% of its worldwide workforce. (FT) Here's a look at 3Q earnings. (ars) The Yahoo Music has already been cut so its heard to imagine more job losses there. Please email me if I'm wrong.
• UMG will offer real music tones from through a number of PlayPhone's mobile entertainment destinations including Wal-Mart, Best Buy and BET. (press release)
• The School of Rock comes to the iPhone complete music lessons from some classic rockers. (press release)
• Are you at CMJ? Email me and let me know what booths and bands our representative Patrick May of Skyline Music needs to check out. We hear our own The Lee Boys rocked last night and Trevor Menear is a must see for tonight at Kenny's Castaway. Stay tuned for reports...

From SF MusicTech Summit: Don't Forget The Data

It's no secret that music fans are hungry for all the artist information they can get, from lyrics to liner notes to every other piece of meta data imaginable. Artist data not only drives music discovery, but lyrics can also be a source of publishing income when licensed by sites like LyricFind. Yet according to the panelists at yesterday's SF MusicTech's "Leveraging Data" session, many indie labels and artists aren't making their data as accessible as they should be.

Fortunately, there are a couple of relatively easy solutions...

LaLa Adds Twist To Streaming And Owning Music

lala has reinvented itself for the third or fourth time and this time may (or may not) be onto something. At the very least, they've added a new twist to streaming and ownership delivered in a clean interface with the blessing of the major labels. We wrote about the new site in beta a few months ago, but here is what the public site has to offer:

• You can store the music you own and access it from any web enabled device
• If you don't own a track you can add it your lala.com library for unlimited streaming for 10 cents
• For about 90 cents you can own the mp3 and if you previously rented the track the 10 cents is applied to the price

Will people pay 10 cents...

A2IM Study: Payola Still Keeps Indies Music Off Air

18 months after the end of the most extensive payola investigation in a decade and the signing of FCC sponsored Rules of Engagement, a new survey by indie label trade group A2IM shows that independent artists and labels are still being shut out of broadcast radio. According to 61 indie labels who responded to the survey:

• Over 92% of independent labels report no change in their relationship with commercial radio since the settlement
• 41% reported that payola remains a determining factor in commercial radio airplay
• 47% said indie promotion companies are still a factor
• Asked if that had asked for payola since the FCC settlement, only 39 labels answered and 1 in 4 of those said that they had

Interview: Seth Godin On Tribes, Heretics & Music

Part 1 of 2:  Marketing guru Seth Godin is a prolific author (Permission Marketing, The Purple Cow and more) and the world's most read business blogger. His new book Tribes was not written about music or the music industry per se, but Godin is an enthusiastic fan and along the way offers important direction for both artists who care about their fans and a music industry in search of new ideas and leaders. 

• Read Part 2: Seth Godin On Music's Messy Future

Q: ”Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us" explores the power of committed groups and the need for people to lead them. Do you see fans as a tribes and artists as leaders?

GODIN: I think that when it works, that's exactly what is happening. Bob Dylan led a tribe. It's not clear that Rhiannon does. Artists of all stripes can entertain us, certainly, but when you create a movement, things change, a new force appears and the world becomes different.

Q: Not every artist feels comfortable as a leader.  What is the cost of avoiding leadership or can someone else lead their Tribe for them?

GODIN: I think being uncomfortable leading in the traditional sense is quite common. Your opinion on the financial crisis, or on gay marriage may be something you don't want to share. But if you're not willing to lead ARTISTICALLY...

Tuesday's Music Briefing: 3.8M XBox Tracks, Live Nation Stock, Satellite Trouble & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Interview: Seth Godin On Tribes, Heretics & Music
• LaLa Adds Twist To Streaming And Owning Music
• A2IM Study: Payola Still Keeps Indies Music Off Air
• From SF MusicTech Summit: Don't Forget The Data
• Majors May Miss MySpace Music Payday

MORE NEWS:

• A new NPD survey shows that Xbox Live has "delivered more than 80 per cent of the downloadable songs for music games, currently averaging 3.8 million music downloads per month," for a total of 45 million music files to date. (GamesIndustry.biz)
• U2, Jay-Z and Madonna all got shares of Live Nation as part of their 360 deals. (LA Times)
• Watch out Sirius XM. WorldSpace, a top provider of satellite radio services outside the U.S., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. (BusinessWire)
• The blogger who leaked the new Guns 'n Roses pleaded innocent. (Reuters)
• Mexican customs seized 8.7M blank discs coming in from Taiwan. (IFPI)
• A film chronicling the legacy of legendary indie Chess Records and starring Beyonce as Etta James will hit screens in December. (Playlist)
• Music Ally spent some time with free streaming music service Spotify and liked what what it heard. (Music Ally)

Majors May Miss MySpace Music Payday

COMMENTARY: According to paidContent, News Corp is now reconsidering the need to bring in private equity partners and spin off the new MySpace Music. The initial success of site appears to have caused the company to question if it needs to dilute its position.

But a move towards private equity and a spin off is also a move closer to an IPO and the real payday that the major labels were hoping for when they reportedly dropped cash advance demands in exchange for an equity share. If the big pay day never arrives, it also throws into question the wisdom of Merlin led indies holdong out for an equity position of their own. 

Perhaps a share ad revenue and promotional value is all that MySpace Music ever intended to offer.  If so, isn't that enough? - Bruce Houghton

Free Seth Godin, Free Tribes, Free The Music Business

>>> READ PART 1 OF OUR EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SETH GODIN ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, TRIBES AND THE NEED FOR PEOPLE TO LEAD THEM HERE. <<<

All this week, alongside our regular features, we'll be looking at Seth Godin's  new book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. Godin is an outspoken marketing guru and prolific author whose passion for music is almost as great as his passion for marketing in our post-tv, post-advertising, internet connected, socially networked age.

We'll look at the need for music Tribes (aka passionate, active supporters) and how to lead them. You'll have a chance to share your Tribe building techniques and stories with prizes for the best ones. In case you haven't had a chance to buy and read the book, here are are two free of near free audio versions and a free bonus ebook:

• Audible is ofering the audio book as a free promotion. You need to register.
• Godin's reading of Tribes is also available on iTunes as a 3 hour audio book for less than a dollar.
• Members of an invitation only Tribes social network have created a Current Tribes Casebook available as a free ebook. (pdf)
• Seth's popular blog is also a fabulous ongoing resource.

Facebook Mulls Music. This Time With Partners.

Facebook is once again considering deepening its music offering. Music already finds its way onto Facebook via authorized widgets and the site's open API. But according to reports, the social networking giant is in deep talks with a number of streaming services and music community sites, including Rhapsod, iMeem, iLike and Lala about an outsourcing deal that would more deeply integrate their music experience into Facebook.

Facebook has made looked at turning up the volume of music content previously; and the early successes of MySpace Music may have motivated the latest round of talks. Interestlngly Facebook is choosing not to cut its own liscensing deals as MySpace did and instead is eyeing alliances with providers who have already crossed that costly mindfield or at least begun the journey. 

Exactly what a new alliance would offer is unclear.  But a mashup of the best of several services could provide a worthy music alternative.

Warner Brothers Records VP Ethan Kaplan's Office

Ethan is Warner Brother Records' VP of Technology and it seems like he cleaned it up a bit since the last time we saw it.

My office and our conf room in HD from Ethan Kaplan on Vimeo

Monday's Music Briefing: Pandora, U2, G 'n R, TuneCore & Much More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Pandora Cuts Staff 14%. Are More  Layoffs Ahead? 
• Majors May Miss MySpace Music Payday
• Facebook Mulls Music. This Time With Partners
• A tour of Warner Brothers Records VP Ethan Kaplan's Office
• Did you miss anything last week? Music's Week In Review: slotMusic, iTunes, WMG, AC/DC & More
• EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY WITH SETH GODIN ON THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, TRIBES AND THE NEED FOR PEOPLE TO LEAD THEM.

MORE NEWS:

• U2 recieved 1.56 million shares of Live Nation stock worth $19 million in exchange for its 12 year touring and merch deal signed back in March. (Billboard)
• Guns 'n Roses are interviewing ad agences in an effort to make a break from traditional music marketing strategies. (Marketing Week)
• The RIAA now wants to avoid trial in innocent infringement case and are appealing the mistrial in the Jammie Thompson case.
• TuneCore and iLike have partnered to offer combined distribution and cross platform song streaming. (Billboard) I don't see much new here or am I missing something?
• Some Chinese manufacturers are adding low rez digital cameras to their music players.(Digitimes)
• The plug has been pulled on the "first ever donation based record label"

Pandora Cuts Staff 14%. Are More Layoffs Ahead?

"This is a very sad day for Pandora, and for me personally. Today we reduced our staff from 140 to 120 employees. Like virtually every company, Pandora is not immune to the challenges presented by the current economic turmoil. We are trying to react quickly and responsibly to the new environment...

There are tough times ahead for the economy, but our listenership is growing rapidly, the Internet radio royalty rate resolution seems finally near, and the explosion of mobile devices like the iPhone are opening up a world of opportunity for internet radio to expand off the desktop. Moreover, our ad sales are growing so well that, not only did we not make any reductions there, we need to continue to hire more."

These layoffs come from what is by many measurements one of the more successful music start-ups. As founder Tim Westergren pointed out in the announcement, battles like royalty rates are almost behind the company.  But a bad economy is a bad economy; and Pandora is smart to conserve cash as it works toward profitablitiy. Expect more such announcements before the end of the year from across the music and tech sectors.

Music's Week In Review: slotMusic, iTunes, WMG, AC/DC & More

• A new digital music survey offers signs of hope for the industry.
• Why Hasn't Apple's iTunes Gone DRM Free?
• Warner Music Group Sale: 5 Years Later
• AC/DC On iTunes & Wal-Mart
• SanDisk released the new slotMusic microSD cards and player. Commentary: Do we really need these tiny things?
• MidemNet Adds Speakers, Seeks Biz Showcase Submissons
• MySpace MyAds Targets Indie Music
• The iTunes album vs. single debate: Stop Comparing Apples & Oranges
• Commentary: Indies & MySpace: Like Unfulfilling Sex
• ReverbNation Adds Digital Distribution, Songvest
• Videos: Hands On Nokia's Comes With Music, Rhapsody VP Smith On The Digital Music Business
• In addition to regular news and commentary, October 20-26th Hypebot will feature coverage from CMJ and explore marketing guru Seth Godin's new book "Tribes" and how artists and the music industry can benefit from his theories.
• Limewire Legit: Free CMJ Compilation & Subscriptions
• Survey: The Top Software Used To Make Music
• Can you hear me now? iPods Cause Ear Damage

Oct. 20-26: Seth Godin Tribes Week On Hypebot

TRIBES WEEK ON HYPEBOT HAS BEGUN HERE.  DON'T MISS MY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SETH ON HYPEBOT TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY.

Along with our regular news and commentary, we'll be delving into Seth Godin's just released book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and some of its implications for artists, labels and the music industry. Godin is an outspoken marketing guru and prolific author whose passion for music is almost as great as his passion for marketing in our post-tv, post-advertising, internet connected, socially networked age.