hypebot

ASCAP Seeks $'s For 30 Second Song Clips

DiMA & NARM SAYS CLIPS ARE FAIR USE

Just as more and more sites are adding full song streams, ASCAP and BMI are trying to get paid for 30 second song samples.  The Digital Media Association (DiMA) filed an amicus brief today in the case of ASCAP vs. AT&T Mobile asking the federal district court to rule that 30-second music preview clips are “fair use” and do not justify public performance royalties as demanded by songwriter and music publisher representatives. 

“DiMA supports fair compensation for copyright owners,” stated Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of DiMA.  “DiMA members pay tens of millions of dollars in royalties to songwriters and publishers for online music sales.  But the performing rights organizations (ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) who represent songwriters and publishers demand additional payment for the preview clips that facilitate these online sales.”

Courts have consistently found...

60 Second Pitch: Songza

TechCrunch has a fascinating community video project that allows startup CEO's to pitch their idea in a 60 second video. From time to time we'll share some of the best and worst music related start-up elevator pitches.  Here's Songza's video. Tell us what you think of this pitch? And if you've got a pitch, I'd love to post it.

Part 2 With Tunecore's Jeff Price: Marketing

In Part 2 of the conversation between Ethan Bauley and Tunecore CEO Jeff Price, they talk marketing. Monday they'll take a look at Tunecore's new API which opens the site to outside developers.

Read Part 1 here.

Ethan: The knowledge [about the economics of the music industry] that you and Benkler have is hard won but it's very powerful.  Even though it's complicated, it has a lot of practical applications.  From what you've written in the Huffington Post and on the TuneCore blog, I think you're analysis makes sense and is valuable to a lot of people.  Giving your customers the ability to learn about their options and opportunities in the music world seems to be a strong marketing move.  How are you going about getting the word out about TuneCore?

Jeff:  The way we market and promote ties in to the number of potential customers and to social networking, word of mouth, and blogs.  Previously, there was only a fraction of a percent of musicians who were even allowed the chance to have a career.  The concept behind TuneCore was, "Let everybody in"; turn distribution into a bottle of water.  Just like water, anyone can walk into the store and buy it for a simple fee.  You know there’s no filters and everyone gets treated the same, be it Keith Richards or Nine Inch Nails or TuneCore customers or Liam Sullivan (who put a video up on YouTube for a song called "The Shoes" and who has sold over a million songs without a record label).

As far as marketing, we know that artists communicate...

Yahoo! Search Adds Rhapsody Full Song Playback

Yahoo! users who search for an artist will now find a play button at the top of the search results and can stream full songs via a Rhapsody powered FoxyTunes Player. This launch is part of the planned expansion of Rhapsody across Yahoo!.

Yahoo! recently partnered with RealNetworks' Rhapsody to offer users access to Rhapsody’s 5 million track deep subscription music service and this extends that relationship to Yahoo! Search. The partnership allows all users to listen to 25 free full-length tracks every 30 days. Once 25 songs have been played, users can subscribe to the Rhapsody Unlimited streaming service or listen to an unlimited number of 30-second samples until the next month begins.

UK Gets The MP3: 7Digital, Amazon & MySpace

• UK's 7Digital went all MP3 earlier this week.
• Amazon MP3 will launch in the UK "within weeks".  Of course the Amazon crew hates deadlines, so we may see delays. But my sources tell us that most of thedeals are in place.
• MySpace Music is rumored to be hitting the UK in 2009 with its Amazon supported mp3 offering
• #1 iTunes remains a mixed DRM bag

Friday's Music Briefing: Mudvayne, Wii, Bug & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• A conversation with Tunecore's Jeff Price: Part 1 & Part 2
• Yahoo! Search Adds Rhapsody Full Song Playback
• UK Gets The MP3: 7Digital, Amazon & MySpace
• Add Hypebot To Your Blog Or Site

> RIAA seeks sanctions against a file sharing lawyer. (ars)

> Mudvayne is offering fans a bundle of incentives to get them to pay for their new release.(FMQB)

> "Nintendo is hoping that "blue ocean" lightning strikes thrice with the October 20th release of Wii Music in North America, the rhythm game that, according to the company, "builds on that inclusive legacy" of Wii Sports and Wii Fit and translates into runaway sales. With more than 60 instruments, including guitar, drums, dog and cheerleader, and over 50 songs, Wii Music aims to bring music performance to the not-good-at-Guitar Hero masses." (Kotaku)

> Publisher Bug Music has secured a major line of credit and is said to be in talks with Chrysalis. (Coolfer)

> Videos don't have to be expensive to be effective. After the jump, check out a brilliant use of free public domain archival footage to support the new release of These United States.

Add Hypebot To Your Blog Or Site

I've gotten a number of requests recently from other blogs and web sites to add content from Hypebot. Celebrity Access uses select posts and ProHipHop prints a weekly summary of top stories. Now I've added a free widget that scrolls the latest headlines. Check it out and grab the code below.  If you add it to your site or want your own weekly news summary to print, email me and I'll reciprocate with a mention or to and addition to the Hypebot blogroll.

MySpace Music Hype Begins

The new MySpace music is not online yet, but the hyoe has already gone into overdrive. Below is a billboard going up in Los Angeles via TechCrunch. Another is up in Time Square.

A Conversation With Tunecore's Jeff Price - Part 1

In this exclusive Hypebot interview, Ethan Bauley sits down with Jeff Price for a wide ranging conversation between two creative thinkers who know the industry. Price ran successfull indie label spinArt (Pixies, Apples In Stereo) before founding TuneCore which is democratizing digital distribution with its low cost flat fee model. Ethan Bauley is a musician and Director of Social Media Strategy at M80, a WPP agency.  M80's sister company, m80 Music, is Dengue Fever's record label.

Ethan: Now that the revenue model is up in the air, what are the different roles recorded music plays for musicians besides making money?  Is it just money, is it just promo?

Jeff: It’s the right question to ask.  Is art for art sake, is it art for commerce, is it something else?  And that’s really up to the person or the band, or the graphic designer, or actor or actress, or slam poet or whoever makes it. Usually people make art or creative things out of passion, sometimes out of a want for money.  It’s really up to the individual or group to define what they want out of it.

What’s interesting is the way things have changed, how people are enabled to achieve success on their own as opposed to having to rely on

Thursday's Music Briefing: Yangaroo, Q Prime, Timberland & Much More

> Yangaroo has appointed Josh Zieman, former VP Marketing at EMI's Manhattan/Blue Note Label Group  as Senior Vice President of Business Development.  Yangaroo’s Digital Media Distribution Service allows record labels to distribute music directly to radio stations digitally and securely.

> Are the major labels on the verge of becoming profitable again thanks to digital revenues. (ars)

> Mega-managers Q Prime are opening their own label, the Mom & Pop Music Company. (FMQB)

> Vote here in the UK's BT Digital Music Awards.

> Does Metallica's new release sound better on Guitar Hero than it does on CD? MusicRadar thinks so.  (Thanks to Randy Taber for the tip.) Tell us what you think.

> Samsung makes a bid for ScanDisk. (AP)

> Shoe manufacturer Timberland is using music to drive four local environmental action days. (press release)

Any Idea What This Is About?

Big names. Great production. Smart viral tease. Maddening lack of information...

MySpace Music Updates

• Silicon Alley Insider says the MySpace Music launch could be delayed until next week and my sources also sound a lot vaguer than the once did about this week.
• cNet says EMI - the lone major label holdout - is close to making a deal.
• I got an email from a reader that I had implied that existing Amazon contracts were all indies needed to be included on MySapce Music. To clarify, that contract is for download sales only.  To get a share of revenue from streaming - a feature central to the new site - indies will need new contracts directly with MySpace.  This same source claims that Merlin is in deep dicsussions with MySapce now and I know of several other distributors that say the same.
• Talking with the NY Times the CEO of The Orchard sounded as if their MySpace deal was already done.
• Read what else I've learned so far here..

Bandcamp Offers Free Indie Download & Viral Tools

It never made sense to me: you beg fans to go to your site. then you send them off to iTunes or Amazon to buy your music. The distributor takes a cut, retailer grabs  30-35 cents and you're left with 58 cents of  the 99 cents your loyal fans shelled out  for... plus they''ve left your web site.

Bandcamp.mu launched this morning with a set of tools solving these problems. You sell or giveaway your music from what looks and feels like your site  The rights are yours and for the next six months at least 100% of the money is deposited directly into your PayPal account.

The exact revenue split is a bit of a work in progress at...

iLike Opens Platform & Partners With Top Sites

Just days ahead of the MySpace Music launch, social music discovery site iLike has launched an open platform that enables developers to add interactive music features to their website or Facebook application. Launch partners include leading Facebook application developers SGN, Flixster, Watercooler, Connected Weddings, Slide, Mesmo TV and more. Participating top-tier consumer websites include Google, Evite and Typepad.

iLike already has the most used music application on Facebook, Orkut and hi5; and with today’s announcement they hope to extend their reach even further.

Also: iLike And Facebook Join For Thiervery Corp. Pre-Release

4 Thoughts On Best Buy & Napster

•   Napster was worth even less than I thought. Given the $67 million in cash that Napster has on hand, the purchase for $121 million by Best Buy puts the valuation at just $54 million. Not much for a company with 700,000 subscribers, decent technology and a strong brand name.
• This purchase is a blow for RealNetworks' Rhapsody who previously powered Best Buys download store. It's not fatal, but it isn't good news as Rhapsody struggles to gain traction. (Thanks to an alert Hypebot reader for pointing this out.)
• The integration of Napster into Best Buy may confuse consumers and tarnish wha ist left of the Napster brand. Or is that the point?  There's not much left to Napster's once powerful brand.
• I'm having trouble imagining the synergies between online and brick and morter Best Buy that would help Napster grow. Dp you see any?

Wednesday's Music Briefing: Digtal Awards, Metallica & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• MySpace Music Updates
• Bandcamp Offers Free Indie Download & Viral Tools
• iLike Opens Platform & Partners With Top Sites
• 4 Thoughts On Best Buy & Napster
• Warner Music Group's New Organizational Chart
• WMG Re-Shuffles Executive Deck. Cohen A Winner

> The UK's BT Digital Music Awards have announced this year's nominees. (Tech Digest)

> Despite all the whining about leaked tracks, Metallica sold just shy of 500K in its debut week. (Billboard.biz)

> Vivendi is predicting an upturn for the music industry. (FT) What do they know that we don't?

> EU regulators have blessed the buyout of BMG by Sony. (FMQB)

> McDonalds will offer free WiFi capability for any Zune. (paidContent) Take that Apple/Starbucks!

Warner Music Group's New Organizational Chart

IS THIS PROGRESS?

FULL STORY

WMG Re-Shuffles Executive Deck. Cohen A Winner.

Warner Music Group this morning announced a series of management appointments. Under the new structure, Lyor Cohen and Michael Fleisher have been promoted head a new Office of The Chairman heading a reorganized worldwide team.  Warner Music International Chairman and CEO Patrick Vien will leave the company.

This is a victory for Cohen who some detractors believed was struggling to hold on to his position in the face of declining sales. Previously he led WMG's U.S. and Canadian recorded music operations and now as Vice Chairman, WMG and Chairman and CEO, Recorded Music Americas and the U.K. will add oversight of U.K. and Latin American operations to his responsibilities.

Michael Fleisher, who has served as WMG’s EVP and CFO since January 2005. In his new role as Vice Chairman, Strategy and Operations he will oversee global corporate operations. He will also continue to head the company’s investor relations and information technology departments.Steven Macri, WMG’s SVP and Global Controller has been named EVP and CFO. rsponsible for the company’s worldwide financial operations.

In making the announcement, WMG Chairman and CEO, Edgar Bronfman, Jr. said...

7Digital Upgrades. Promises US Expansion.

With the aggressive moves needed to stand out in a marketplace dominated by iTunes and just days prior to a much anticipated Amazon MP3 UK launch,  7Digital has gone 100% DRM free with 320K mp3's from all four major labels and most indies.   The 4 million track store is currently available in the UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Austria and Portugal with expansion into the U.S. and Canada promised before the end of the year.

One of 7Digital earlier successes, white label stores for artists, has also gotten an upgrade with the addition CD's, merchandise and tickets. Sister site indiestore.com for indie and d.i.y. artists now offers new features and more integration into the main 7Digital storefront, as well.

To help spread 7Digital new offerings, the company has added both a partner program and opened its ssytem to outside developers. A new...

Labels & Studios Mull DRM Comeback

It's been said, wants gone is gone. But apparently some in the entertainment industry failed to get the memo. A group of major film studios and record labels have joined together once again in an initiative called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem to find a way to control what happens after you purchase a digital album or movie.

"The goal is to create for downloads the same kind of interoperability that's been true for physical products, such as CDs and DVDs...Once you've acquired a file, you could play it on any of your devices -- if it couldn't be passed directly from one DECE-ready device to another, you'd be allowed to download additional copies. And when you're away from home, you could stream the file to any device with a DECE-compatible Web browser." - LA Times

Its called domain based digital rights management. Apple already uses a version of it. Total freedom until you want to share what you bought with a friend...or use it on a non-compatible device.This DRM has a new name and may even be a bit less intrusive. But it's still DRM, and as such faces certain consumer rejection. When will we learn?

Best Buy To Acquire Napster

Retail giant Best Buy is acquiring Napster via the cash purchase of outstanding shares for $2.65. Napster stocked closed Friday at $1.36.  The proposed acquisition includes the online music store's 700K subscribers and $67 million in cash on hand. CEO Chris Gorog and key members of senior management have agreed to stay with the company.

With subscription sales flat and iTunes as competition, Napster has struggled to gain consumer traction. Sales of physical CD's have been tumbling at Best Buy who recently announced it will shrink CD floor space to make room for new music instrument sections. Together may be able to find on and offline cross-promotions and other synergies that will differentiate them from online only iTunes, Amazon and Rhapsody.

MySpace Music: Launch Delayed, CEO, iTunes, Amazon, Ads & Much More

• The launch of MySpace Music has been delayed a few days but should be this week.
• They are getting closer to a new CEO with the LA Times reporting two top candidates:
• Andy Schuon - former head of programming at MTV and Infinity Broadcasting and longtime Universal Music executive
• Owen Van Natta - the chief revenue officer at Facebook
• As we reported more than a week ago Amazon is confirmed as the download provider guaranteeing deep catalog at launch - if all the tech works properly
• In a major challenge to the closed iTunes/iPod ecosystem, Amazon has created a custom application that to routes downloads directly into iTunes or the Windows Media player
• Users will be able to create, post and share as supported custom playlists of tracks from Universal, Sony BMG and WMG. Talks are ongoing with EMI and most indies are just now being offered contracts to participate in streaming.
• Sony Pictures, Toyota, McDonald's and State Farm Insurance have all signed on as major advertisers
• In a new Fortune interview co-founder Chris deWolfe predicts boldly:

 "Think about MTV. Not necessarily what they are right now, but how they created pop culture in the late '80s, early '90s. I think that's what MySpace Music will do now."

COMMENTARY: If the tech works smoothly - and integration into tens of thousands of custom designed sites is no easy task - then MySpace's social music experience has at least the potential to add significantly to music sales, as well as, greatly strengthen Amazon's claim as "the" iTunes alternative.
It's also clear that MySpace is vastly improving its tools that lead to music discovery. But it remains to be seen if young fans will ever view MySpace as a place to actually pay for music - if they ever learn to pay music at all.

Third Eye Blind Ask Fans To Help Mix New Release

Indaba Music, a site which enables musicians to work together online, will feature tracks from Third Eye Blind inviting an open collaboration with fans on  their upcoming album.

Over the next several months, as Third Eye Blind works to finish their album, they will release the stems for each of the tracks they’re working on, blog their own creative process, and work with some of Indaba's  75,000 member musicians to incorporate their creativity into the album.

iLike And Facebook Join For Thiervery Corp. Pre-Release

DJ and production duo Thievery Corporation has partnered with both iLike and Facebook to stream the band's new album "Radio Retaliation" exclusively beginning September 19th, five days before the album’s release..

This is the first time iLike and Facebook have jointly promoted a worldwide listening event, which will take place during the album’s exclusive window of pre-order availability at iTunes. Additionally, Thievery Corporation have made a series of video messages, in which they introduce and discuss the album, that iLike will premier and distribute across the Web.

“Apart from a few independent bastions, there is no musical or informational freedom on the U.S. airwaves...

Monday's Music Briefing: Facebook Music, UK Indies, Download Standards & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES

• Best Buy To Acquire Napster
• MySpace Music Update: Launch Delayed, CEO, iTunes, Amazon, Ads & Much More
• The Fall Of Communization And The Rise Of The Music Fan
• Hypebot's Music Industry Week In Review: MySpace, Apple, Payola & Much More

> Does Facebook have an answer to MySpace Music? (cNet) And as a matter of fact do imeem, iLike and others have an answer? Or will they even need one? I'm betting MySpace Music is good for the industry and good for Amazon but not a game changer that others can't adapt to compete with.

> A look at all-covers record label American Laundromat Records. (Wired)

> Survey: Broadcast and internet radio listenership remains strong. (FMQB)

> UK indie labels are starting to sell music in numbers that should make the majors jealous. (Guardian UK)

> A consortium of the big media and technology companies is seeking common download standards that would boost sales of cells and other handheld devices and web content. Apple has not joined the group. (FT) What's up Steve?  Are you afraid of loosing control?  You're going to anyway...

> Industry vet David Bean opens Artist Airplay Advisors to offer self-released artists and digital labels radio promo service. (press release)

> EMI Music Publishing has signed a global co-publishing deal with Norwegian songwriter and producer Mikkel Eriksen. The agreement further extends the company’s relationship with the multi-award winning Stargate production team responsible for worldwide hits by artists including Rihanna, Ne-Yo, Jordin Sparks and Beyoncé.

Hypebot's Music Industry Week In Review: MySpace, Apple, Payola & Much More

> MySpace Music is launching - perhaps as soon as Monday - but will we like what we see? We do know that thanks to Amazon the launch will include indies.

> Seth Godin Meets Music: The Fall Of Communization And The Rise Of The Music Fan. A guest post that Godin himself wrote, "This is a great analysis. Well done."

> Apple Refreshes iPods And iTunes Adds "Genius"

> Sony Ericsson Follows "Comes With Music" Lead

> EMI And Warner Music Group Partner For Asia

> Can Payola Save Internet Radio? Some people think so...

> Zune Upgrades Wireless, Adds FM Tagging.

> Hypebot's Bruce Houghton Joins MidemNet Board

> Indie Mobile: Thumbplay Open Enables Indie Mobile Sales and Cutting Tune Enables Make Your Own Ringtones

> Amazon Offers Indies Free Download Distribution

> Popkomm Digital Music Innovator Nominees Chosen

> Radar Connects Artists With Budget Video Producers

> Band Metrics To Measure Popularity

Help write a Hypebot post and Nominate Your Top Indie D.I.Y. Info Sites