hypebot

When Music PR Goes To Far: Ashley Alexandra Dupre & Amie Street

How does Amie Street expect to be taken seriously as an indie music destination when it sends out press releases touting that its the only place you can find tracks from the prostitute that brought down New York Governor Eliot Spitzer? Here's the full text:

Hello,

I'm sure you are hearing a lot about Ashley Alexandra Dupre and the Spitzer scandal.  Ashley is also an R&B singer and her music is exclusively available on AmieStreet.com

The songs can only be listened to and downloaded on amie street. As of now, her myspace has been taken down.
 
Ashley has been an artist on the site since last November, and her music, like all music on amie street, is initially free and priced based on public demand. She has clearly been receiving a lot of attention in the past day, and the songs have risen very quickly to 98 cents on the site. She just added a brand new track this morning.

check out her music:
amiestreet.com/ashleyalexandradupre
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/nyregion/12cnd-kristen.html

As Labels Demand Higher Royalties, Radio Could Charge For Airplay

A NEW BRAND OF LEGAL PAYOLA

A battle is raging in Washington over requests by labels and artists to charge radio broadcasters more for playing music. Currently only the songwriter gets paid for the airplay via ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Nothing goes to the performer.

Sounds unfair. But change often has unforseen consequences. Is now when radio is faltering, the right time to ask for money or will it push more music off the air? And does charging more break the implicit promotional contract between artists, their record companies and broadcast radio?

Music Attorney David Oxenford  believes that new efforts to charge radio more for playing music breaks the promotional “bargain” between labels and broadcasters would be voided with the proposed legislation and put broadcasters "in the position where they could charge the labels or the artists money for playing those songs and getting promotional value.”.

NIN's Reznor Blasts Radiohead, Launches "Ghosts" Video Fest

In an interview with ABC, Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor question the manner and motives of the recent Radiohead pay what you want self-release. "I think the way they parlayed it into a marketing gimmick has certainly been shrewd," he told ABC'. "But if you look at what they did, though, it was very much a bait and switch to get you to pay for a MySpace-quality stream as a way to promote a very traditional record sale."

"There's nothing wrong with that - but I don't see that as a big revolution they're kinda getting credit for...What they did right: they surprised the world with a new record, and it was available digitally first. What they did wrong: by making it such a low quality thing, not even including artwork... to me that feels insincere." Reznor's criticisms would be seen as arrogant if hadn't just come of one week sales of $1.6 million on his own self-release. (that story here).

He is also taking the new release Ghosts into the "visual realm" with a YouTube channel and online showing of fan created videos inspired by the release.  Here's Reznor's introduction:

Friday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Napster UK, Less For Songwriters, MP3's Suck & More

> Napster and Ericcson have launched a mobile service in the UK with O2. (Marketwire)

> The RIAA and majors are continuing efforts to lower payments to songwriters (Slashdot) At the same time they are lobbying for higher payments from broadcasters. (Hypebot)

> Brad Davis moves from TVT to the top promo spot at S-Curve. (FMQB)

> Once again music is the draw as Fairmont Hotels opens a download store and music destination. EMI is the first on board. (press release) More niche stores are certainly in the offing but I'm not sure I see the purpose of this one or believe that luxury hotel guests want to leave the comfort and convenience of iTunes or Amazon for another service.

> An interesting look at two new artists - one taking the d.y.i approach and another the label approach. (Times UK)

> Lou Reed says mp3's suck. (Reuters)

> Indie distributor FineTunes adds its catalog to  Qtrax. (press release)

Overheard At SXSW 2008

"I got more out of SXSW interactive than any other tech conference I’ve been to. I really did enjoy it. Thoroughly." - Ethan Kaplan, Warner Brothers Records

"Gram Rabbitt @  Volume 1:00 am: Think Debra Harry, live disco with a cute blonde angry girl about 25 years old who kept apologizing for her hip hugger pants falling down...Angry songs with good grooves...felt like 1979 all over again....The real show was at 7:00 at La Zona Rosa. All I can say is Van Morrison was the man, is the man and isn't letting up...He made La Zona Rosa paint the walls a different color and no bar sales during his one hour set..." - Barron Ruth, Skyline Music

"...when you pack people together in a tight space and give them social technologies, things can go “viral” in a flash. A couple times, heard stories of parties going from 5 to 250 attendees in a matter of minutes, once the message got out. Also, everyone was using a site called Sched.org to manage their itinerary during the event. A week ago, I don’t think anyone had heard of it." - Joseph Weisenthal, paidContent

 

AOL Buys Bebo For $850 Million

Music marketers take note: AOL may not grab the headlines as the most cutting edge destination, but they have huge daily page views and today they made a move that proves their determined not to fade away.

AOL just announced that is buying social networker Bebo for $850 million in cash. Together with its AIM and ICQ personal communications network, the acquisition will give AOL a strong position in the fast growing world of social media with a network of approximately 80 million unique users.   

With a membership of 40 million worldwide, Bebo is one of the leading social networks in the UK, and is ranked number one in Ireland and New Zealand, and number three in the U.S. Its users average 78 pages per usage day.
The deal comes just one week after AOL’s launch of Open AIM 2.0, an initiative that allows the developer community greater access the AIM network and integration of AIM into its sites and applications.

VIDEO - RIAA: All Your Music Belongs To Us

A Star Wars style listing of the RIAA defendants:

Untitled from thesixtyone on Vimeo.

Reznor Rakes In $1.6M First Week Sales By Understanding His Fans

Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails may have found the Music 2.0 sweet spot with his multi-tiered price strategy.

Just a week and a day after self-releasing the 36 track opus "Ghosts", Reznor has reported 781,917 transactions including free and paid downloads and orders of physical product. Nine of the 36 songs are available as a free download. A $300 Limited Edition Ultra-Deluxe Edition sold out 2,500 copies in 24 hours. The 36 tack set was also available as a $5 download, a $10 double-CD and in a $75 Deluxe Edition with bonus content. The total one week take according to Reznor is $1.6 million so far.

Reznor's entire marketing campaign for this self-release, which means he keeps the lions share of all profits, consisted of an announcement on the band's web site and seeding the free edition across P2P and torrent sites.

IMITATORS BEWARE
These numbers are certain to turn the heads of other artists, managers and label execs particularly since NIN is viewed as a successful but fringe band.  But it is precisely because NIN does not try to appeal to the fickle masses that this  release has been so successful. Reznor found his audience and then by staying close to them, he has been able to profit. 

REMEMBER HENRY FORD?
"Ghosts" is offered a price point for every level of commitment from vaguely interested (free  sample), to casual ($5 download, $10 CD/DVD) to fanatic ($75 and $300 sets). If you're uncomfortable buying via his site, Amazon has the download at the same price. Still like physical product? Pre-order the CD/DVD and get the download now free.  Even the inclusion of the DVD shows an awareness that the average consumer may grab a few mp3's from a friend, but is far less likely to download a DVD.

All this seems quite revolutionary until you consider that Reznor is just following a marketing mantra that other consumer sales driven industries have understood for decades: GIVE THE CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT.  Henry Ford said, "You can buy a Model T in any color you want as long as its black".  Not too many years later, cars not only come in a rainbow of colors, but also in various sizes, shapes and prices.

Too many in the music industry still need to learn this lesson before they go the way of the Edsel.

Quotable: Bob Lefstez

"...if you don't live in the same world as your audience, you're headed for marginalization, if not extinction."

more 

Thursday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Live Nation Chases Stones, Sykes Out At MTV & Much More

> Live Nation appears to be the front runner in the race for The Rolling Stones catalog. In addition to re-releasing the albums currently with EMI, "Live Nation would take merchandising and touring rights for future Stones shows in which they would showcase a classic catalog album each night. Fans would also be able to buy live mobile downloads at gigs." (Times UK) EMI can not keep taking these blows. Get out your checkbook and get creative Guy!

> Music distributor Handleman posted another large quarterly loss. (Crains)

> President of Network Development John Sykes is leaving MTV. He was part of the original 1981 launch team. (FMQB)

> "The 20 Biggest Record Company Screw Ups" according to Blender. We all have our own list.

> Management consulting and technology services company Accenture will provide digital supply services for Universal Music Group in all territories outside North America. Under the deal, Accenture will organize and store audio, video, artwork and metadata for distribution. (press release) I believe in outsourcing but I'm surprised that the world's largest label group would not want to control its own digital assets.

> Alltop provides pages of top headlines on a variety of topics including music.  Its an interesting way to get an overview of what's happening in the world and topics you care about from wide variety of sources. Its now part of my daily read.

> I get a lot of pitches from labels touting their new initiatives, but I was particularly impressed by an email from classical label group Naxos and the variety of Music 2.0 avenues they are exploring. (view it here)

> Sirius say they are confident the merger with XM will be approved withing a month. (Reuters)

Ricall Signs Big Life & Blue Mountain Music For Licensing

Ricall, the UK based online music licensing company, has signed a deal with two independent music publishers - Big Life Music and Blue Mountain Music - to bring all the tracks from their catalogs including Bob Marley, Free, Snow Patrol, The Waterboys, Futureheads and Badly Drawn Boy onto their online licensing platform.

Send Us Your SXSW Impressions

Hypebot has several members of our extend family on the ground at SXSW including Mark Laurie and Barron Ruth from our parent company booking agency Skyline Music, but...

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU.

We'll look at comments short and long but we're particularly interested in quick impressions for a daily feature OVERHEARD AT SXSW.  So fire up your Blackberry and point those barbs and kudos at hypebot@skylineonline.com.

Orchard Adds Services As Distributors Struggle To Prove Value

I wrote yesterday about IODA and the growing need for digital distributors to prove their worth with value-added services. (Read why here.) Now The Orchard, once known for charging some of the industry's highest distribution fees, is jumping on the bandwagon with new B2B tools dubbed the Artist/Label Workstation (ALW) that include catalog and new release management, digital marketing analysis, accounting and royalty administration.

ALW also enables clients to manage their participation in other Orchard services like synch licensing and feeds for integrated marketing campaigns It's all part of an ongoing effort to create proprietary label relations, music discovery, and delivery technologies like their V.E.C.T.O.R music, mastertone and video management and delivery platform.

I have not spent any time under the hood of The Orchard's new offering, but they seem a fairly aggressive attempt to counter both RoyaltyShare's recent addition of reduced fee distribution to their own tracking and administrative t ools and IODA PromoNet online markting services.  It remains to be seen, however if artists and labels respond to any of these offerings or prefer to find the cheapest means of delivery and handle marketing and administration on their own. 

Join The Music 2.0 Discussion

As Music 2.0 gains Traction, How Do Artists Get Paid?

"...the online content aggregators will make money and the label owners will make money and the only ones starving (outside of the few remaining superstars) are the ones creating the music to begin with. The artist community seriously needs to move collectively on this asap." - Mitch Reisendorf   Join the discussion

Digital Distributor IODA Marks 5 Years But Competition Looms

"This industry will see a lot of promotional automation very soon, but that does not mean it works. Are there any artists out there that can stand up for the IODA and say they are the sh#$%?" - Eric @ Evolver.com    Join the discussion

Wednesday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Live Nation Polls Fans. Abrams Leaves XM, Music Think Tank & More

> PureTracks has created a DRM free download store for Blackberry users. (press release)

> The "wisdom of the crowds" as it applies to touring: Live Nation is surveying fans on what they'd pay (if anything) to see a New Kinds On The Block Reunion tour. (via Daily Swarm) Tell me this kind of market research doesn't frighten agents...

> Radio legend Lee Abrams is leaving his gig as programming head of XM for a job as Chief Innovation Officer at the Tribune Company overseeing change across their print, broadcast and other media operations. (FMQB) This guy made XM what it is - good and bad. But his departure does not bode well from music at there.

> Are music graphics dead in the post-digital era? (Design Week)

> Amazon is hosting its first ever online in-store with a live new broadcast of The Presidents Of The United States. (more)  Is this the beginning of Amazon creating a music destination? If not it should be.

> New Music Strategies'  Andrew Dubber has launched a promising group blog Music Think Tank that promises content from a variety of Music 2.0 thought leaders. First up is CD's Baby's Derek Sivers on the fallacy of chasing the major label dream.

IODA Marks 5 Years. Competition Looms.

Digital distributor IODA is marking its fifth anniversary. One of the larger players, IODA claims 50,000 artists from 50 countries representing a catalog of over 1 million tracks resulting in average annual revenue growth for the company of more than 370 percent since 2004.

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF IODA & DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION?

• Forrester Research, in its February 2008 "The End Of The Music Industry As We Know It" predicted that one-half of all music sold in the US will be digital by 2011 and surpass CD sales a year later. The report projects digital music sales of $4.8 billion by 2012.
• But labels and artists are increasingly questioning why they are paying 15-20% and more to have a distributor encode and deliver product to the handful of online and mobile outlets that really matter.
• Distributor margins are also being squeezed by competitors willing to take an ever smaller slice for for encoding and delivering product.  Some like TuneCore even offer flat fee distribution. Others like RoyaltyShare offer value added services on top of reduced fees.

eMusic Adds Labels

eMusic has announced that its catalog has surpassed 3.5 million tracks with the addition of 43 new record labels and digital aggregators. The eMusic roster now includes German electronic label Kompakt (Michael Mayer, Superpitcher), indie rockers Constellation Records (Do Make Say Think, Silver Mt Zion), and pop/rock/electronic imprint IAMSOUND Records (Cut Off Your Hands) among others.

The retailer will also host a South by Southwest (SXSW) Showcase on Wednesday, March 12 at 8:00 p.m. at Maggie Mae's in Austin. The event will be recorded live for future release on eMusic and features a curated, international lineup of up-and-coming artists. (Will eMusic be adding more original and exclusive content to lure subscribers?)

MP3 SCORECARD

1. Amazon 4,360,022 track
2. eMusic 3,500,000+ tracks

Kyte Flies Straight T0 $21M. Bands Get Live Mobile Fan Clubs

Live mobile video and social networking site Kyte has grabbed an impressive $21.1 million in second round financing ed by Steamboat Ventures (Disney) and Intellect Capital Ventures.

50 Cent, Prodigy and others acts are creating channels online where they broadcast photo slide shows, videos, webcams and other content to fans who can also create their own channels. While content can be viewed online like at MySpace, etc. including via a  super widget, Kyte content is also optimized for mobile phone viewing.

"It's a quid pro quo. The fans get inside information about their favorite bands and in exchange the fans provide marketing access and critical data about themselves," said Michael Goodman, an analyst with Yankee Group told Red Herring. "It's a variation on the old fan club."

EMI To Stay With IFPI But Reduces Funding

Despite rumors to the contrary, EMI has announced it will remain a member of IFPI, the trade association that represents the recording industry worldwide.

Jean-Francois Cecillon, President, EMI Int'l said in a statement, "We undertook to work with our colleagues inthe other major labels...on a cost saving plan for the IFPI and together we have been able to find solutions which we believe are achievable whilst maintaining what the IFPI does best in representing our industry."

Translation: EMI and perhaps other major labels will be putting less money into IFPI and thus less money into international piracy efforts.

Does reduced IFPI funding mean the majors are finally realizing the futility of most anti-piracy efforts or is it simply a reflection of belt-tightening at the big four?

Tell us what you think.

Free Digital Music Outlook Webinar Today

JupiterResearch is hosting a free Digital Music Trends & Outlook Plug.IN Webinar today Tuesday March 11th at 1pm ET/10am PT.

"Digital music was a $1.3 billion business in 2007, but it still only comprised 10 percent of consumer music spending. Meanwhile, Apple continues to dominate both devices and downloads and Yahoo! became the third big player to drop out of on-demand subscription services."

"Will digital music ever save the industry? Are downloaded singles replacing CD sales? Who are today's customers, and how is that likely to change over time? What is the role of ad-supported services, and of P2P networks? Will there be a showdown between iPods and music phones? iPods and anybody? How do you compete with, or thrive alongside Apple?"

JupiterResearch VPs David Card and Michael Gartenberg are hosting the webinar. Register free here.

Tuesday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Spitzer Fumbles, NME Stumbles, Marillion Rumbles & More

HYPEBOT'S FEATURES:

• EMI is staying with the IFPI
• Digital Distributor IODA Marks 5 Years but competition looms
• eMusic adds labels
• As Music 2.0 spreads how do the artists get paid? Or do they get paid at all?
• Free Digital Music Webinar Today
• SliceThe Pie grabs $2M in funding
• REM to debut new album early via iLike

MORE NEWS -

> NY Governor and former Attorney General Elliot Spitzer who fought music industry payola is being accused of hiring prostitutes. (WSJ) The jokes are just too easy.

> Boston-based Hardcore label Bridge Nine Records and Caroline Distribution announced they have extended the distribution agreement they began in 2004.  Caroline will continue to be the exclusive distributor of physical and digital albums from Bridge Nine in the U.S. and Canada.  Bridge Nine’s upcoming release schedule includes albums from New Found Glory, H20 and Crime In Stereo.

> Veteran UK music rag NME is on its last legs in print as circulation drops to 64k. (Times UK)

> Veteran prog rockers Marillion has raised $725,000 in pre-sales of a deluxe edition of a new album from fans. (Billboard)

> Glenn @ Coolfer looks at "Who's Getting the Synch Money".

>  An overview of the changing European digital music landscape. (Digital Trends)

SliceThePie Grabs $2M In Funding

I was critical of SliceThePie and the wisdom of the crowds last week, but obviously the guys with checkbooks disagree. The website that turns fans into a record label, has secured $2 million in Series C financing and will use the funding to enhance the offering and launch unnamed digital services for artists and record labels.

In the 9 months since launch, the site says fans have submitted 600,000 independent reviews of music submitted by artists helping Slicethepie identify which to present to investors and fans for financing. To date, 13 artists have been financed to record and release albums.

Investors who finance an artist on Slicethepie profit if the artist sells over 1,000 albums and singles fitting well with recent industry trends showing that the number of new hit artists is declining while there continues to be a place for a wider range of lower selling artists.

iLike Scores Exclusives R.E.M. Album Debut

WMG's R.E.M. and iLike announced today that "Accelerate", the band’s 14th studio album, will stream in its entirety exclusively on iLike and its syndicates beginning Monday, March 24th. The iLike "Worldwide Listening Party" will continue through March 26th prior to the album’s North American release on April 1st. R.E.M. will also record an exclusive video and discussing the album that will be available via iLike.

In addition to being available on iLike, this promotion extends to the iLike Sidebar desktop plugin for iTunes and Windows Media Player as well as via iLike’s applications on Facebook, Bebo, hi5 and the iPhone. The band already uses iLike's Artist Dashboard to post content across multiple syndication channels via iLike's "Post Once, Publish Everywhere" platform. The album will also be available for pre-order via iLike’s retail links to iTunes and Amazon.com.

As Music 2.0 Gains Traction, How Do Artists Get Paid?

A plethora of new and re-tooled sites are offering free ad supported music via streaming and download.  Spiral Frog, Qtrax, imeem, We7, iLike, YouTube and others each offer their own platforms to listen to almost any song or video on demand and sometimes to even download it.

Each service has made their own unique deals with labels and publishers for compensation. Some pay a fee per play or download. Others share a portion of ad revenue received; and rumors have a new MySpace music service trying to compensate labels with stock options.

  But how much of that money will find its way to the artist and how many of these new deals conform with existing label and publishing contracts or the statutory rate legally due songwriters?  I don't know of a single artist contract that mentions stock options or ad revenue as acceptable compensation.

Artist managers are just beginning to question where their share is of large settlements with the original Napster and others. Thus far, however, payments from ad supported services have not drawn much attention perhaps because they are too small or because the deals too arcane to understand.

The web services are not to blame for pushing the envelope and attempting to offer consumer choice. But just as they always have (eMusic payments are a recent example) record labels large and small are bending the rules in search of revenue and hoping that  artists don't have the means or motivation to argue with them.

The Hidden Danger Of Downloading. The IFPI Tries New Scare Tactic

As if the threats of police raids and lawsuits weren't enough, recording industry trade group the IFPI has started a campaign to remind you that P2P is hazardous to your computing health. Siting an academic paper from June of last year the IFPI claims:

• " Unrecognized to many of [P2P] users is the serious security threat these networks pose to both corporate and individual security."
• "Confidential and potentially damaging documents have made their way onto these networks. The research also shows that criminals actively search P2P networks hoping to find information that they can exploit."

WATCH OUT FOR YOUNGER WORKERS
An just in case you're still not afraid, the IFPI warns your employer to beware encouraging them to watch out particularly if you're under 25.

SxSW Keynote Reveals No Facebook Music Details

A keynote at SXSW Interactive with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerman got a touch ugly when the crowd booed interviewer and BusinessWeek columnist Sarah Lacy for fawning over Zuckerman and her softball questions.

Lacy certainly failed to get the young billionaire to reveal any of the company's Facebook Music plans. “What’s going on there is we talk to a lot of companies all the time… there are music applications on Facebook (created by outside developers)," he told the crowd. "At this point… we have nothing to talk about right now.”

Here's a link to full video of the Zuckerman SxSW interview, but this instant comic strip kind of sums it up:

Advertise On Hypebot

Do you want to reach a daily audience of 5000 music and technology professionals interested in the products and services that are fueling Music 2.0?

Hypebot is now accepting advertising from select companies like current advertisers the National Association of Recording Merchandisers' digital NARM conference and TicketLiquidator.

If you want to learn more about reaching this very targeted audience of industry decision makers, you'll find ad rates here or contact Hypebot for special ad and sponsorship opportunities.

iMeem's Ultimate Guide To SXSW

SXSW Music Festival 2008 begins this week and imeem has created a unique resource to give music fans and attendees a preview of what to expect from Austin this year. The Ultimate Guide to SXSW offers free streaming playlists for virtually every showcase at SXSW, along with artist interviews, blog posts, video of showcases, and picks of must-see bands from music bloggers.   imeem is working directly with artists and labels to make more music available before the show, and we’ll also be updating it daily throughout SXSW with music, video, photos and blogs from the festival.   

With nearly 1,700 bands playing this year, imeem’s Ultimate Guide to SXSW will enable fans to actually hear bands’ music prior to SXSW and find recommendations, all in one place on imeem. For full length songs, be sure to sign-in to imeem or register for free.

DON'T MISS HYPEBOT'S SPECIAL COVERAGE ALL WEEK FROM SXSW.

Monday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Universal & MySpace, We7 Grabs Sony, Beatles To iTunes & More

The action shifts sifts to Austin, Texas and SXSW this week. Hypebot will have full coverage with several people on the ground.

> MySpace may finally be ready to settle with Universal. (SVI) Motivation comes from a desire to launch a new music service and they need the world's largest label group along for the ride.

>  Sony BMG will make its music available via streaming on ad supported WE7. (more) Since its streaming only like imeem and others this is nice, but no breakthrough.

> Qtrax has added the Beggars Group labels to is services. (Listening Post) Still no majors.

> Advertising Age takes an interesting look at indie bands out shopping for sponsorships.

> Music supervisors are on the prowl for new material at SxSW. (WSJ)

> The UK tabloids are reporting that The Beatles catalog will finally be available on iTunes within a few month. We've heard this story before but this time it appears real.

> CBS and AOL have combined their online radio networks. (Eye)

> One casualty of the CBS AOL deal is XM, who will stop contributing their content to AOL and bring their online streams back home to XMRadio.com. (FMQB)

> For a roundup of last week's top industry stories be sure to read Hypebot's Music 2.0 Week In Review.