hypebot

Music Industry Week In Review

FEATURED STORIES:

• Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0
• Help Wanted: Patrons & Champions. If the labels can't help, who will?
• Does Free Music Matter? Coldplay vs. Radiohead vs. NIN
• Music sites choosing Amazon over iTunes

TOP NEWS:

• Sony BMG cuts yield stronger financials
• EMI to cut 1000 additional jobs
• From SF MusicTech Summit: Venture Capital Talks Music, Digital Thought Leaders
• EU mobile extras provider Dada added mp3's from Sony BMG
• It was a good week for imeem:they passed Yahoo to hit #1 in streaming and joined Google's Open Social
• Nate "Daja" Hill dominated the SESAC Awards

PLUS:

• UMG Ramped Up It's Bravado Merchandise Division
• Google launched Friends Connect to make social networking free and portable across web site
• Fan Corps & Gydget Teamed For Fan Engagement
• Live Nation & AdBrite Launched eFan Finder

Small Changes On Hypebot & A Request

Over the last 48 hours I've made a few small design and format changes including domain mapping. (I'm now just using Hypebot.com for all url's instead of using some from our provider Typepad.)

If you have problems with links or suggestions to improve the blogs design or content, please share them in the comments section. The Hypebot community has grown significantly and I want to make it better. So please share any ideas and suggestions.

I also want to thank those who have been recommending more posts to Digg and Stumble, as well as, sharing links and trackbacks.  Please keep it up; you're helping to bring more people on board as well. And keep those on and off the record news tips coming!

A&R Roundup From Crazed Hits

New acts worth watching:

• Justin Nozuka - acoustic/soul
• The New Shining - hardrock
• The Mission District - electro pop/rock
• Awake And Dreaming - emo/rock
• Edreys - rap/hip hop
• Carlotta - pop/rock

More @ www.CrazedHits.com

Help Wanted: Patrons & Champions

IF NOT THE RECORD LABEL, WHO WILL HELP?

Several comments to my recent Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0 post suggested that an 11th issue facing indie musicians was to find a Patron. Readers pointed to the lean years that musicians suffer and the need for financial backers to help get through them.

It's not a new concept. The Medici family supported Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century  Recently artists like Jill Soluble have been asking fans to "invest" in a new album. Silicon Valley has "angel investors".

Money is essential; even if its a day job supporting nights making music. But in addition to Patrons, indie artists also need Champions -  a voice telling others how great you are.  A typical champion was once a a local DJ playing your tape, coaxing listeners to shows and handing your tape to a regional label rep. Champion 2.0 is more likely to be a writer who blogs about you, mentions you in his newspaper column and eventually submits review for national publication.  He talks you up to the indie labels who call and to his friends who are also writers and DJ's. You've go buzz.

If you've got the energy you can be your own Champion...

Radio 1's Unique "Band In Your Hand" Promo

Missed out on the lottery to see the #1 free show in the UK? Sponsors Radio 1 have what may be the best mass-consolation prize ever - "Band In Your Hand".

Friday's Music 2.0 Briefing: RIAA Pays, Deezer, Amazon & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• Help Wanted: Patrons & Champions. If labels can't help; who will?
• Video: Radio 1's unique "Band In Your Hand" promo

> RIAA is being forced to pay $108,000 in attorney fees to Tanya Andersen. (P2PNet)

> An in depth comparison of the legal download stores. (DigitalTrends)

> French ad supported music service Deezer gets the Universal catalog. (Billboard) UMG is the only major on board with Qtrax. Is Universal leading the ad-supported charge? Why no the other 3?

> Is major label diversification paying dividends? Paul at Digital Music News points out that in this week's quarterly report, Universal credited increased publishing and merchandising revenues from its recent buyouts for a 6.8% quarterly revenue increase. Publishing has supported EMI for years.

> Adobe has improved music support for Flash (Wired)

> Amazon has added widgets that enable bloggers and webmasters to offer music sampling and a revenue share of purchases. (press release) But the samples are only 30 seconds...thanks to our friends at the labels.

> Grab a Private Beta invite from music industry productivity solution Music Arsenal.

Private Beta Invites To Music Arsenal

Another day; another private beta invite.  But unlike yesterday's that was gone in 10 minutes, this one is not limited except that only Hypebot readers and a few others know about it.

Music Arsenal is a web based tool for artists and music business pros to manage their day to day business. For five years, dozens of indie labels have used it to manage projects, schedules and contact info, but the new version adds a focus on helping indie bands get the tools they need to increase their fan base and promote shows and records effectively.

The new version is in private beta and they're looking for some additional people who would like to give it a test drive free and provide some feedback. There is more info here and Hypebot readers can sign up for the private beta here. 

Axe Yields Sony BMG Profits. Are Cuts The Only Way Forward?

IS CUTTING COSTS ENOUGH?

Sales at SonyBMG dropped almost 4% in the fiscal year that ended March 31st, but before tax profits nearly doubled rising from $135 million to $257 million. The company report also hinted that higher restructuring costs and more job cuts ahead.

The NY Post is making its usual doom and gloom predictions based on a few facts wrapped on a bunch of rumors. What is clear is that Sony BMG and the other three major label groups are desperately trying to find new structures that are both profitable and designed to fit new industry realities. Thus far, however, none of the big four have offered any grand plans beyond cost cutting.

Early next week Hypebot will offer Sony BMG, Universal, EMI and WMG a few suggestions.  Until then: What drastic moves and bold initiatives do you think the four remaining majors need to embrace?

Fancorps & Gydget Team For Fan Engagement

Two companies helping to power band to fan engagement come together as Fancorps integrates Gydgets into its street team management software.

The custom solution developed by Gydget dynamically generates fan widgets, or gydgets, for each street team, based on XML feeds already used by Fancorps. Street team leaders can further customize the gydgets and then drive the street team to adopt the widget by adding it to their personal pages.

Other services including Nimbit and ReverbNation also offer tools that empower fan engagement.  Every artist and labels needs to embrace viral tools. Fortunately with initiatives like Google's Open Social keeping info updated across a myriad of sites is getting easier.

Bandwidth Conference Features Sup Pop's Jonathan Poneman

The Bandwidth Conference announced that Jonathan Poneman, co-founder of indie Sub Pop, will be a featured speaker at the conference to be held in San Francisco August 14-15. Poneman has been influential in the success of Nirvana, The Shins, The Postal Service, Soundgarden and others.

Other speakers set to appear at this year's conference include Tim McQuaid, President, Fan Asylum; Kevin Arnold, Founder/CEO, IODA; Ian C. Rogers, TopSpin: David Rosenheim, CEO, JamBase; Greg Werckman, Co-owner, Ipecac Recordings and others.

Panels at this year's conference include "Brand" which discusses music as a soundtrack for...

Thursday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Qtrax, SpiralFrog, UMG's Double Standard & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• The budget axe is yielding higher profits at Sony BMG. But are cuts the only way forward?
• Fancorps and Gydget team for fan engagement
• This weeks CIMS indie store charts
• imeem joins Google's Open Social

> Ad supported QTrax has signed its fourth major publisher Warner/Chappell. (Listening Post)

> SpiralFrog is expanding its sales team with the addition of industry vets Jesse Paynter as senior vice president of sales and Paul Rothkopf as senior vice president of sales strategy. (press release)

> Neal Diamond unseats Madonna to score his first Billboard #1 debut.  (FMQB) No offense to Mr. Diamond, but what does this say about who is still paying for music?  And what can the labels learn from this?

> Singer songwriter Josh Rouse has launched a membership only digital music store. (Glider)

> Double standard? UMG fights "excessive" infringement damages. (ars) I can't decide if I think this is sad or amusing.

Coalition of Independent Music Stores Charts For 5-14-08

CIMS FIRST DAY SALES FOR TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008

1 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE NARROW STAIRS
2 10 YEARS DIVISION
3 OLD 97'S BLAME IT ON GRAVITY
4 BLACK ANGELS DIRECTIONS TO SEE A GHOST
5 DUFFY ROCKFERRY
6 MRAZ,JASON WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THIN
7 LOCAL H 12 ANGRY MONTHS
8 BOONDOX KRIMSON CREEK
9 BURNETT,T-BONE TOOTH OF CRIME
10 FILTER ANTHEMS FOR THE DAMNED

Click below for the rest of the CIMS First Day Sales Chart, Vinyl Chart and Top 200 Chart.

imeem Joins Google's Open Social

OPEN SOCIAL NOW REACHES 300 MILLION

During the Google Open Social Summit today at the Googlex, imeem is announcing support for OpenSocial via their Media Platform for a third party developers. With the addition of imeem, OpenSocial now reaches a potential 300 million users via MySpace, Friendster and other social networking sites that have joined the initiative.

Developers can now port existing OpenSocial applications to imeem, the third largest social networking site in the US with over 24 million users.  They can also extend the capabilities...

Private Beta Invites To The Echotron

I've got 10 VIP invites to the private beta of The Echotron "Your Personalized Window To The Music Web."

Think of it as automated music discovery on steroids. The Echotron crawls the web to find mp3s, videos, news,photos and more learning your musical tastes to build a personalized music home page. It even recommends new artists to check out.

The first 10 people to email me with "The Echotron Giveaway" in the subject line get the VIP invite with rapid activation.  The rest of you poor slobs can get in the regular que at  http://the.echotron.com/ and let me know what you think of the service.

YOU CAN STOP NOW!  I GOT 10 WINNERS IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES. IF YOU WON, YOU'LL GET AN EMAIL FROM ME TODAY.  BUT EVEN IF YOU DID NOT, SIGN UP FOR ECHOTRON AND CHECK IT OUT. WE'LL DO THIS AGAIN SOON.

Join "Issues Facing Music 2.0" Discussion

PLUS MORE ON "VENTURE CAPITAL TALKS MUSIC"

Our recent post The Top 10 Issues Music 2.0 has led to some great comments both here  and from several other bloggers.  Read the original post a join the discussion here.

Attorney Nancy Prager would add a #11 PATRONAGE: "It takes years of hard work to develop a following as a band, touring and luck. So, what new bands really need are patrons a la Medici, or angel investors, who will finance the period of time it takes to build an audience."

For Sean @ BoardOfDictators #11 is: "Bands Who Worry About All The Above. Aspiring to make a living, rather than a legend, is making for bands more interested in their matte black Mac Books and Blackberries riddled with mid-weeks, merch sales and business models."

WB Records Tech VP Ethan Kaplan on his BlackRimGlasses blog: "Funny thing is, with smart people, these are not challenges. With smart partners, they are open opportunities."

Streaming Rules And Imeem Rules Streaming

Streaming far surpasses any other music related activity on the web and imeem has jumped past Yahoo to become the top choice for listeners, according to a data released this week from Compete. Based on a survey of 1000 music sites:

Dada Adds Sony BMG MP3's

Mobile services provider Dada Dada, a joint venture between with SONY BMG has added DRM-free MP3s from label group to its product suite. Users can download full MP3's to their computer and the tracks can subsequently be transferred to any mobile phone or player. Dada expects to be able to offer users over-the-air MP3 downloads to mobile devices in the coming months.

The joint venture claims it will add content from other labels in the near future. Dada users are billed for the service through their phone bill via Premium SMS. So aside from the billing, Dada has essentially created another download store.

If Sony BMG can go DRM free with Dada and Amazon, why not others? Stay tuned...

Google Announces Friend Connect

Tired of inviting friends to 13 different social networks?

The walled garden around social networks continues to crumbles. Just days after MySpace and Facebook opened their profiles and platforms, Google has l aunched Friends Connect which easily adds social networking functions to any web site at no cost. Your connections then travel with you to any web site using the platform. See more from Google here. 

I'd love to see a band use these tools on their site to give fans new ways to connect. Bands could even trade or share friends.
Should I try it on Hypebot?

Wednesday's Music 2.0 Briefing: Limewire Shares $, Zune, CD's & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES -

• Streaming is the top music activity on the web and imeem has overtaken Yahoo as the top choice of listeners
• Dada adds DRM-free mp3's from Sony BMG to its download store
• Google announces Friends Connect opening social networking across sites
• More reasons to distrust the music industry
• Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0. Join the debate.

> Limewire wants to give labels a share of ad revenue. (P2P Blog) Too little, too late?

> Zune has reached 2 million in sales.  Market share is coming from Creative rather than iTunes. (Engadget)

> Radiohead's In Rainbows is now on eMusic.

> RightsFlow, which provides licensing and royalty services, has announced a mechanical licensing agreement with The Harry Fox Agency. (press release)

> The Clear Channel Radio buyout deal is finally going through. (paidcontent)

Here is a pdf of an NPD group study of physical formats for NARM. (pdf) This is worth reading. The short story: the CD is not dead yet, but no other physical formats are gaining much traction. I would question how hard the labels are trying...

More Reasons To Distrust The Music Industry

If file sharing is destroying the music industry, then how did Warner Music Group increase its sales in the first quarter 7 per cent to $989 million?

• This despite the fact that Warner Music paid its top five operational execs a total of $15,733,611 in 2007.
• It doesn’t hurt Warner Music’s bottom line that in 2005, according to the LA Times, they “eliminated 1600 positions, pared wages, slashed investment in new artists, shut offices, and quadrupled employees’ health insurance premiums."

In February, Michael Cohl was elected chairman of the board of Live Nation...

Music Sites Choosing Amazon Over iTunes

Revenue Hunt & Major Label Demands Drive Partnerships 

Yesterday Emmis announced a pact with iTunes for downloads from its radio station web sites. The deal is part of a growing trend as music and social networking sites search for ways to monetize traffic beyond advertising.

But iTunes is increasingly a second choice as Amazon appears poised to finalize a variety of partnerships. Universal mp3 compatibility is a factor, but so is the web retail giant's  extensive credit card database. Ease of use and trust dominate when purchasing online.

The major labels are also motivating some download store partnerships. If they are going to license a fledgling music discovery service or social network, the majors want to be certain that discovery can lead to purchase.

Napster and Rhapsody are barely a factor in these talks.  Their slow crawl towards DRM-free appear to have left them out of this race altogether

Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0

WHAT ISSUES NEED TO BE CONFRONTED?

Here, in no particular order, are what I believe to be the Top 10 issues shaping Music 2.0.  How they develop will determine what the music industry looks in 5 or 10 years. Ignore them at you peril.

1. THE DEATH OF THE ALBUM - Individual track downloads are killing the album market and the revenue that it once created. Can the album be saved? Should artists release in 1 to 3 track clusters?
2. MUSIC TAXES - Is "taxing" music at the device and/or ISP level the answer? Or are these taxes unfair and further erode consumer trust?
3. MUSIC AS A SERVICE - We used to call music "product".  Did the pendulum swing to far in that direction? Or is music a service - subscriptions, "Comes With Music", optional ISP licensing?
4. MOBILE - Will more and more music be bought an enjoyed via mobile devices? How does that effect the music?
5. NEW REVENUE SOURCES - From YouTube to imeem and We7 to Nokia, revenue is being generated everywhere. Who will be sending big checks to labels in 5 years and how will that revenue be distributed? 
6. NO ONE BUSINESS MODEL - It used to be that record labels made money selling records and bands made money live.  Is the future more varied: NIN, Radiohead, 360 deals, and partnerships with brands?
7. 1000 TRUE FANS - Whether you need a thousand, 10,000 or even 100,000 true fans, how do you find, service and monetize a fan base?
8. THE RISE OF THE MUSICAL MIDDLE CLASS - Do fractured media and short attention spans mean the superstar is dead? What new companies will rise to service and profit from a growing middle class of musicians with fewer fans but longer careers?
9. THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF MUSIC DISCOVERY - Once DJ's told us what to like. Now our friends do or we discover it ourselves and share the news.  How does that change how music is marketed?
10. THE POWER OF LIVE - Is performing more important than ever? You can't copy it and it's a great place to build community and sell stuff. Or is that a music 1.0 notion and Twitter the new barstool?

Is there a number 11?

EMI To Cut 1000 More Jobs

Yes, that's on top of the 2000 or so already scheduled. This would reduce the total number of employees to about 2000 from a recent total of 4500 according to the UK's Telegraph.

"...(Guy) Hands was looking to cut more jobs at the company because, even after the round of redundancies announced in January, the business will still have more employees generating less revenues than its competitors at Warner Music and Universal."

NO WAY FORWARD

Sadly these cuts may be needed or even justified.  But what's missing from Hand's strategy is a new way forward.  Where is the investment in A&R or new business models? If CD's are selling fewer per release; why not chase the long tale and release more of them? 

EMI's clock is ticking and thus far the Hands are on zero.

Venture Capital Talks Music @ MusicTech Summit

Late Last week in San Francisco, the MusicTech Summit sought to bring together music and the tech industry. This panel asked what VC's think about the digital music business. From the panelists:

• Most music 2.0 companies can't generate a high enough rate of return to satisfy venture funds. However, that doesn't mean they can't be viable, profitable businesses. Entrepreneurs in the digital music space are more likely to find funding from angel investors or in some cases smaller VC funds.
• Funds are typically hesitant to invest in music 2.0 companies because 1) there is no money in selling music, and 2) if the company hasn't properly licensed music from l

Tuesday's Music 2.0 Briefing: ADA, XM Sirius, Jeff Leeds & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES -

• Top 10 Issues Facing Music 2.0
• Music sites choosing to partner with Amazon over iTunes
• EMI to cut 1000 more jobs than planned
• From SanFran MusicTech Summit: Venture capitalists talk about investing in music. Digital Though Leaders have their say.

> ADA Prez Andy Allen is coming back from sabbatical to helm all things indie at WMG (Billboard)

> Last.fm is powering a web radio service for Lollapooza. (Last.fm)

> Clear Channel may offer Pandora personalized streams. (DMW)

> XM posts wider 1st Quarter loss. (press release) Sirius posted slightly narrower losses. (The Street) Personally, I don't want this merger, but let's get it done one way or the other.

> Is Hip Hop over? "Hip Hop Is No Longer Cooler Than Me" (Salon)

> The New York Times has cut respected music industry reporter Jeff Leeds. (Deadline Hollywood)

> Revelation Theory and The Cab have both signed global co-publishing deals with EMI.

> A time line of the brilliant NIN run up to their Year Zero album release.  Music marketers: Read it and learn. (Wikipedia)

We're proud of the fact that we print free listings of available jobs; so why wouldn't we want to help out someone we've always enjoyed working with who is looking for a gig. Ex-Nimbit and OurStage marketing guru Scott Feldman writes:

Brilliant, talented, and extremely modest marketing guy with years of experience in the industry is in search of solid opportunities.  Got a spot to fill?  Need someone who knows everyone?   Click here for more info.  You won't regret it ...

(I agree.)

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MusicTech Summit: Digital Thought Leaders

Late Last week in San Francisco the MusicTech Summit sought to bring together music and the tech industry. The "Digital Thought Leaders" panelists discussed challenges in the digital music space including:

Balancing the rights of content owners and consumer interests -

• Tim Westegren, founder of Pandora, stressed that protecting artists' intellectual property is very important. He believes content owners and Web 2.0 companies both need to compromise to find viable business models that are fair to artists and also something customers want to use.
• Michael Petricone (Consumer Electronics Association) noted that patents are easier to get and the penalties for violating them are higher than they have ever been before. He stated that IP is important, but it needs to be tolerant enough to allow for technical innovation.

Simplifying the user experience -

• All of the panelists agreed that the current digital music retail environment is too fragmented and complicated from the customer's perspective.
• Aza Raskin (Mozilla, Songza) described the need for "continuity of experience" across

Nate "Danja" Hill Dominates SESAC Awards

Songwriter/producer Nate “Danja” Hills took home top honors as Songwriter of the Year at SESAC’s 12th annual New York Music Awards last week in NYC. Hill had an impressive array of hits in the last year by Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and 50 Cent.  Hills also won Song of the Year award for his smash hit, “Say It Right,” as recorded by Nelly Furtado.

See a full list of winners after the jump.

UMG Ramps Up Bravado Merch.

As part of an ongoing effort to diversify beyond recorded music sales, UMG has promoted Tom Bennett to global Chief Executive Officer of Bravado, its global merchandising division. Bennett had been the North American CEO.

Bravado develops and markets licensed merchandise world-wide...

Coldplay vs. Radiohead vs. NIN

DOES FREE MUSIC = MORE POPULAR?

How does "free music" effect a band's popularity?  An analysis by Hitwise (via DMW) showed that Radiohead's release was much more popular than either Coldplay's or either of the Nine Inch Nails releases, as measured by US Internet visits.  Radiohead also did a much better job of sustaining interest.

Why did Radiohead rule the net since Coldplay is a more popular band by most other measures? Was it because they were Radiohead was the first major band to go free?  Or was Coldplay's single song limited-time offering just not enough to grow and sustain fan interest?