hypebot

Pandora & Net Radio Need Our Support Now

Legislation is being considered this weekend that would help internet radio (read more).  Pandora and others are calling on fans of net radio to contact their Congressmen today.

After a yearlong negotiation, Pandora, artists and record companies are finally optimistic about reaching an agreement on royalties that would save Pandora and Internet radio. But just as we've gotten close, large traditional broadcast radio companies have launched a covert lobbying campaign to sabotage our progress.

Last Minute Legislation Looms: Net Radio & Piracy

A financial bailout is not the only thing that Congress is working on as it rushes towards a pre-election recess.  Last minute bills that could dramatically effect music fans as well as webcasters and antipiracy efforts are the subject of back room wheelings and dealings.

A bill introduced in Congress offers hope for negotiations over drastically increased performance royalties for net radio. The Webcaster Settlement Act authorizes SoundExchange, on behalf of copyright owners and performers, to negotiate alternative royalty agreement before the end of the year with net radio services. Late Friday, however, Tech Daily Dose  reported that lobbyists for radio are "worried about competition from webcasters and extinguishing the bill would throw a wrench into the royalty talks." (more at R.A.I.N.)

Another bill would encourage a government crack down on piracy by boosting...

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The Muxtape Story: Lies, Labels, Lawyers & Rebirth

"The industry will catch up some day, it pretty much has to."

The front page of shuttered playlist site Muxtape has been replaced by founder Justin Oulette's odyssey from web experimenter to major label pariah and all of duplicitous negotiations, mixed signals and false assumptions in between. 

It's the story of a somewhat naive entrepreneur butting heads with a major label system which seems determined to sue rather than deal and whose trade body the RIAA marches to its own drum without consulting its members. But in the end there's also optimism, as Muxtape turns into a platform to help indie artists thrive on the net. Some highlights:

"The people I met (at EMI) formed a semi-circle around me like a split brain, legal on one side and business development on the other. The meeting alternated between an intense grilling from the legal side (“you are a willful infringer and we are mere hours from shutting you down”) and an awkward discussion with the business side (“assuming we don’t shut you down, how do you see us working together?”). I asked for two weeks to make a proposal, they gave me two days..."

"I approached a Fifth Ave law firm about representing me in licensing negotiations with the major labels, and they took me on. Two weeks later I met with...

The Orchard's Greg Scholl On MySpace Equity & Why He Made The Deal

Merlin, A2IM and Koch along with some in the independent music community have complained loudly that the deal offered by MySpace Music doesn't give them the same equity stake as the major labels. "Any independent deal struck without an equity component (as was done with the majors), will see independent labels face a situation whereby their major competitors will profit from the use of their repertoire without an appropriate upside opportunity being extended to them," states Merlin CEO Charles Caldas.

But The Orchard, one of digital music's biggest aggregators, was happy to sign. "I see MySpace Music's short and medium term potential to provide revenue to artists and labels for doing what they already do: engage their fans on MySpace," Orchard CEO Greg Scholl told Hypebot.

"We were concerned with aggressively negotiating the highest rate possible." he continued. "I see all of this talk about equity as a bit of a red herring. What is equity worth when it can be diluted by new stock offerings and other financial maneuvers? We should be concerned with arguing for a share of the profits" if, for example, there were an asset sale.

The deal that The Orchard signed is "not particularly long term"...

Koch's Rejects "Cold Embrace" of "MajorSpace"

Koch Records has joined Merlin and A2IM in rejecting the deal offered independent labels by MySpace Music.

"KOCH Records, as the #1 Independent label in the U.S. for the last 7 years, was disappointed to see MySpace's 'smoke and mirrors' announcement regarding its new music service. Essentially it has announced a deal with the majors and has in effect become MajorSpace."

"It is unconscionable that it would give equity positions to the majors and treat the independent community as...

A2IM Joins Merlin's Call For Indie MySpace Equity

US indie label trade group A2IM has joined Merlin in calling on MySpace Music to offer independent labels a equity stake similar to that given to the four major label groups.

"A2IM is disappointed that MySpace Music, previously a champion of independent music, has not included independent music labels as equity participants as they have done with the major labels, thus not giving independently owned music labels parity. We are also disappointed that...

Friday's Music Briefing: Microsoft Wins MP3 Case, Jay-Z Starts Label, EU Rejects 3 Strikes & More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• The Muxtape Story: Lies, Labels, Lawyers & Rebirth
• The Orchard's Greg Scholl On MySpace Equity & Why He Made The Deal
• Some indies are speaking their minds about the deal offered by MySpace Music: Merlin, A2IM and KOCH react.
• MySpace responds to indie labels

MORE NEWS:

• Microsoft has won a court case that, if the decision had gone the other way, would have forced an additional payment on most downloads for use of mp3 technology. (IT Examiner)
• Jay-Z and Grammy nominated production duo Stargate (responsible for producing such #1 songs as "Irreplaceable" by Beyoncé, "Take A Bow" by Rihanna and "Closer" by Ne-Yo) have formed of a new label and publishing company StarRoc funded via his 360 deal with Live Nation. (FMQB)
• Universal is planning its own online video destination. (Billboard)
• The EU Parliment has voted against a P2P three strikes law. (TorrentFreak)
• The judge in the Jammie Thomas file sharing case brought by the RIAA has declared a mistrial and ordered a new trial. (AP)
• Generally positive reaction to MySpace Music from Listening Post, Coolfer. AP, and PaidContent
• Toshiba has invested $20 million in retail kiosk provider MOD Systems whose sytem downloads onto SD cards. (press release)
• Fontana announces an aggressive fourth quarter schedule of indie releases. (press release)

MySpace Responds To Merlin's Accusations

Indie trade group Merlin has been hitting MySpace hard in the last 24 hours with allegations that they have been unable to make a deal on behalf of their indie label members with Myspace Music which launched today. I asked MySpace for reaction:

“We have offered a relationship with Merlin that provides equal opportunities to Merlin’s labels and Merlin’s artists that we have provided to ALL labels and artists whether they are Indie Artists, Major Artists or Unsigned artists. We hope that the entire Music Community including the Labels and all Artists will take advantage of the unique relationship that Myspace has built between Artists and Fans.” 

MySpace Music: Details & Commentary

• The new MySpace Music is up and running now. Here's a list of new features and who's on board.
• The Orchard 1 million tracks along with indie labels distributed by major label owned ADA, RED. Caroline and Fontana are represented.
• But trade group Merlin and its indies representing 9% of US digital are holding out for an equity stake like the majors received.
• A new MySpace self-service ad platform presents an opportunity for music marketers but has serious limitations.
• Hypebot has learned that new tools aimed at indie and d.i.y. artists are in the planning stages.

COMMENTARY: MySpace Music is open for business and a new features represent a true step forward for the popular social networker. Ad-supported song streams, a new player, playlists, Amazon powered download sales and more offer exciting opportunities for labels and indie musicians.

But a quick tour of the site showed that one of  MySpace's strengths - custom designed pages - continues to be a MySpace Music weakness...

Merlin Cries Foul: No MySpace Equity = No Deal

At launch, repertoire from top independents including Koch, Beggars Group and Domino will missing from MySpace Music.  Their trade group Merlin, whose members make up 9% of the US digital music market (equivalent to EMI) is still in negotiations with the social networker's new music destination. The hold up is not payments, but rather getting an equity share as the four major labels have.

“It is incredibly disappointing that MySpace will launch their new service without having finalized a deal with...

MySpace Music Launches With Some Indies: Orchard, ADA, RED, Fontana & Caroline

The new MySpace Music includes independent music thanks to a deal with The Orchard and its million track catalog as well as tracks from labels distributed by the indie arms of all four major label groups: ADA (WMG), RED (SonyBMG), Fontana (Universal) and Caroline (EMI).

Notably missing is repertoire from Koch, Beggars Group, Domino and other members of the Merlin trade group whose members command 9% of the US digital recorded music market.. IODA, inGrooves and CD Baby labels are also not part of the launch.

But Greg Scholl, president & chief executive of The Orchard, is happy with the deal...

Thursday's Music Briefing: MySpace,Play Now, Interscope & Much More

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

• MySpace Music: Details & Commentary
• MySpace Music Launches With EMI Aboard
• MySpace Music Indies: Orchard, ADA, RED, Fontana & Caroline
• MySpace Opens Self-Serve Ad Platform
• What If You Took A Poll Of Your Fans?

It feels like all MySpace all the time today, but there is other news.

• Sony Ericsson and Omnifone launch PlayNow (almost) unlimited mobile music service. (press release)
• Martin Kierszenbaum, head of Cherrytree Records and president of international operations for Interscope Geffen A&M, is adding president of pop & rock A&R for Interscope Records to his duties.Kierszenbaum will oversee Interscope's pop and rock roster and A&R staff. (Hollywood Reporter)
• Anticipating new net royalty rate structures, RoyaltyShare offers new service to track and pay royalties for interactive streaming and limited downloads. (press release)
• Alltel pacts with nuTsie to bring iTunes to their wireless. (press release)

MySpace Music Launches With EMI Aboard

UPDATES:
- The EMI deal was so last minute that its artists will not be included on launch day
- The Orchard has signed on but Merlin and other indies are still in negotiations.

MySpace Music will re-launch on Thursday morning. EMI will join SONY BMG , Universal, Warner Music Group, Sony/ ATV Music and a number of indies. The debut marks the first phase of an iterative global rollout which will ultimately include premium and promotional content, new user-to-user sharing tools, and additional e-commerce opportunities for artists including merchandise and ticketing.

Starting today in the U.S. and launching internationally in the coming months, the new MySpace Music  will also be available in Spanish and fully localized for the MySpace en Español community.

At launch new MySpace Music includes:

• The new, ‘MyMusic,’ personal music management toolset
• Free and unlimited ad-supported, full-length audio streaming
• Free and unlimited playlist functionality
• Free discography and content catalogues for SONY BMG, UMG and WMG artists
• DRM-free MP3 music e-commerce downloads powered by Amazon MP3
• Ringtone e-commerce powered by Jamster

MixTube Picks Up Where Muxtape Left Off

     YOUTUBE CONTENT + DELIVERY PLATFORM + ADS = PROFITS ?

Where the now shuttered Muxtape ran afoul of the RIAA by actually hosting music files, upstart MixTube.org tries to avoid infringement and bandwidth costs by letting YouTube do all the heavy lifting. Like Muxtape, MixTube is free and its inerface offers playlist creation and sharing.

MySpace Opens Self-Serve Ad Platform

NO EXTERNAL LINKS OR KEY WORD TARGETING ALLOWED

There's no sign yet of the new MySpace Music, but the social networker has just launched a self-service ad platform aimed straight at bands, concert promoters and small business. 

The ads run as pay per click banners, but unlike Facebook ads or Google Adsense, MySpace ads can only link to another page on MySpace. That's rather limiting to marketers trying to drive traffic elsewhere, though they can easily create custom MySpace pages (like for a new release or tour) filled with external links.

The power of these kinds of ads is hyper-targeting, and here again MySpace falls short of the competion...

What If You Took A Poll Of Your Fans?

What would you learn if put a poll on the web or had someone with a clip board at shows and asked questions like:

• How old are you and where do you live?
• What are your favorite songs and albums?
• Where do you buy music?
• What other bands do you like?
• How many of our shows have you been to?
• Where the ticket prices too high?
• Would you have paid more to get a great seat?
• How did you learn we were coming to town?
• What piece of merchandise do they wish we sold?

Reward those who take the survey with a free download. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is doing something like that right now.

Top 10 Mobile & Digital Music Deals

via paidcontent

Wednesday's Music Briefing: CIMS Looses Leader, GPhone, Janet Jackson D.I.Y. & More

• Don Van Cleave will exit his position as executive director of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) at year's end to join Gary Gersh's Artists Organization in an executive management position. The company manages The Counting Crows, John Legend and Matisyahu among others. The CIMS board is interviewing candidates to fill the position which remain in Birmingham. (Billboard)
• Yesterday Google and T-Mobile unveiled the first GPhone powered by Android open source software yesterday and it includes an app that enables Amazon mp3 downloads via wi-fi.  It will cost $179 with a to year commitment. View two video walk throughs after the jump. The second video focuses more on software including a push GMail app.  What music apps do you think developers should create for the open source Android?
• Janet Jackson D.I.Y. - "More than 20 years after the release of her iconic album, Control, Janet will have autonomy over her career, without the restrictions of a label system," her publicist said in a statement. "Always known to break new ground and set trends, Janet's departure from Island makes her one of the first superstar artists to have the individual freedom to promote their work through a variety of avenues such as iTunes, mobile carriers and other diverse and innovative channels."
• Coverage of the EconMusic Conference. (paidcontent)
• RoyaltyShare plans new Digital Music Tracking Service. (press release)
• Media trading site Swaptree grabbed $3.35 million in funding. Users can trade CD's, DVD's, video games and books at no charge other than the cost of shipping. (press release) Since no cash is changing hands would it be legal to trade mp3's?  Would anyone bother?

RoyaltyShare Adds Mobile Distribution

RoyaltyShare has expanded its low cost mobile distribution services through partnerships with mobile music services LiveWire Mobile, Moderati, SendMe Mobile, Thumbplay and Zed (formerly 9squared).

Labels who use RoyaltyShare royalty tracking and digital distribtuion services ( including Sanctuary, Beggars Group, and Epitaph.) will now also be able to sell full track downloads, master tones, ringback tones, voice tones, and wallpapers through leading U.S wireless carriers.

More: RoyaltyShare Adds 7 Download Stores