hypebot

NARM's Donio: 20 Years Of Music Retail Upheaval & Next Shift From Sales To Streaming [VIDEO]

(UPDATED) Jim Donio, President of NARM, joins Ian Rogers for a new episode of This Week In Music to talk about how music retail has changed over the past 20 years. Since 1958, The National Association of Recording Merchandisers has represented retailers, wholesalers, and now technology companies selling recorded music. Jim and Ian speak about the evolution of that process over the past decades, as well as NARM's new technology initiatives. About 18:30 in the pair tackle the coming mega-shift from the sale of music to subscriptions and streaming

Final Day To Crowdfund Onyx Ashanti's Amazing Beatjazz Cyborg

Onyx Ashanti, an artist and inventor based in Berlin, is in the final days of a crowdfunding campaign for the second phase of development for Beatjazz, his "quest to build the most amazing live music performance system ever." It's quite an interesting project that is hitting the end of its IndieGoGo funding window soon, possibly today. If you feel the time has come for improvisational music cyborgs that dance, this is a project you should probably be supporting.

Spotify Suffers Outage Ahead Of Wednesday's Big Announcement

Spotify suffered scattered outages on Sunday evening that effected users in the US and Europe. Some users trying to login were greeted with the message: “Service Temporarily Unavailable. The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to maintenance downtime or capacity problems. Please try again later.” A couple of hours later service began to stabilize, and Spotify tweeted:

NEWS BRIEF: Spotify's 'Big' Day, Sweden v. Legal Music, TuneCore v. DMN, Fugazi, Dizzee Rascal, More

Spotify had a brief outage Sunday, just days ahead of their "Big Announcement" on Wednesday. Music marketing options like this Gorillaz 10th Anniversary page may be part of the update. That same night Spotify is celebrating with a second 'user only' gig in their London series w/Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) and Josh T Pearson.

• Is Sweden selling its music-makers for a song? Swedish songwriters are up in arms after politician Annie Lööf suggested illegal downloads be legitimised for private use. (Guardian)
• JOIN THE DEBATE: Digital Music News used Tunecore stats to claim that "99.875% of its artists make less than minimum wage" and the only solutions are "a day job or subsidizing parents".  Needless to say, Tunecore CEO Jeff Price didn't agree. More here.

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Blogger Criticizes Artists for Making Money; TuneCore CEO Jeff Price Responds

(UPDATED) Earlier this week, blogger Paul Resnikoff of Digital Music News used isolated statistics obtained from TuneCore to prove an oversimplified claim that "99.875% of Tunecore artists are making less than minimum wage". According to DMN, the solution for developing artists is "a day job or subsidizing parents to keep the ship afloat."

TuneCore CEO Jeff Price responds: Before I say another word, yes, I know I'm rising to the bait. I know this response means more eyeballs for Digital Music News – a semi-legitimate music industry blog that tends to be sensational to drive eyeballs. I know that Paul Resnikoff’s constant personal attacks on TuneCore and me are a goad and good for his web traffic. Okay, sometimes the only way to refute a gambit is to accept it. If this means more people paying attention to Paul's site and generating revenue for his ad-supported business model, I guess he wins that round.

MTT Weekly Recap: Join The Music Think Tank Networking Party

Where

The Music Industry

Thinks Out Loud

• Minh Chau: Best Kept Secret for Advancing Your Music Career
• James Hogg: Learn How To Mix In 3D: Steve Hillier Tips on Mastering Reverb
• Music Think Tank: Join the Music Think Tank Networking Party

The Profitable Artist: A Handbook For Turning Your Art Into A Career

Artspire, a web community that provides such services to artists as fiscal sponsorship and a platform for soliciting donations, recently released "The Profitable Artist: A Handbook for All Artists in the Performing, Literary, and Visual Arts."

The Profitable Artist is a more solid offering than most of the business of art type books I've checked out in the past with a take on such topics as the SWOT analysis and negotiations that should be particularly useful for DIY musicians that want to develop as indie artists.

Sellaband Seeking Global A&R Scouts

Sellaband, a crowdfunding site for musicians, has had some difficult times but has remained in the business of helping artists get funding from fans. They're now launching an interesting initiative called the SellaBand Worldwide A&R Program (WARP) and are looking for individuals in numerous countries interested in such a role.

Join the Music Think Tank Online Networking Party

Come join the Music Think Tank Networking Party. Comment and let us know what you do in the music industry, your current projects, or what interests you have in the music business. Shameless plugs are allowed! For those of you that celebrate Thanksgiving, have a happy one. Join the MTT networking party here.

How To Adapt Your Gig Posters To A Digital World

Though you might think that gig posters and flyers are a relic of a forgotten age, in many locales they are still quite useful for publicity and are still considered basic merch items. However, digital flyers are a growing phenomenon that take the old school poster and update it for web and mobile distribution. Here are some resources for getting into the digital flyer game with some closing thoughts about revitalizing offline gig posters with QR codes for a mix of the tangible and digital.

Spotify Hits 2.5 Million Paid Subscribers

This morning Spotify announced that it had reached 2.5 million paying subscribers.  The company offered no breakdown of where those subscribers reside. But at average of between $5 and $10 USD, that's a $18 - $20 million in revenue from subscriptions plus advertising income. The full text of the Spotify announcement:

Flexi Of The Month: A Playable Music Postcard Club

With vinyl showing strong growth as a specialized music format and cassettes making a surprising return, the re-emergence of seemingly outdated formats makes the upcoming launch of the Flexi of the Month club right on time. A new project from the folks at Hifidelics, Flexi of the Month is inspired by flexi discs in the form of Polish Sound Postcards.

As Live Music Venues Struggle, Two In D.C. Find A New Way To Compete

Whether its the soft economy or competition from Live Nation, more and more of the live music venues that serve as essential showcases for emerging artists are struggling to survive. That's particularly true in the DC market, where established independent venues like The Birchmere and 9:30 Club are now battling concert giant Live Nation's Filmore and promoters AEG, C3 and NYC's BB Kings/Blue Note consortium have or are about to open venues. But two promoters have decided that the best way to compete, is to work together.

Pandora Posts Profits & Listener Growth, But Wall Street Doesn't Care

Despite growing competition, Pandora beat expectations managed strong growth in Q3 actually turning a profit of $638,000 compared to a loss of $1.77 million a year ago. The company reported quarterly revenue of $75 million, twice that of a year before and and up from $67 million in the second quarter.

GoRankem Upgrades Crowdsourced "Cheat Sheat For Music Discovery"

Music discovery platform GoRankem has undergone a major site overhaul including streamlining how users to share their rankings on social media. Unlike traditional charts and listings, GoRankem attempts to highlight  the "best" songs instead of the most popular by encouraging fans to rank their favorites. The site then aggregates those collective opinions.

8 Cutting Edge Music Tech Startups Present @ London's techpitch 4.5

Yesterday, the London music and tech communities along with EMI launched MUSIC techpitch 4.5 as a showcase for some of the latest music-tech startups in Europe. The goal was to provide them with a platform to build awareness, gain investment and users in an environment where they can present to and network with industry experts and potential partners. The startup presenting yesterday incuded:

NEWS BRIEF: YouTube VEVO & Publishing Deals, SOPA Falters, Grooveshark vss UMG, 2muse & More

YouTube News: Vevo is seeking a new ad deal (NY Post) just as YouTube cuts a deal to also start paying publishing fees (Paste). Plus: Hackers provide a sneak peek at YouTube's secret new design. (BI)

• Hypebot will be publishing throughout the Thanksgiving and holiday break. Also, follow us on twitter @hypebot.
• After the Hearing: SOPA Down But Not Yet Out. (EFF)
• Grooveshark Responds To Universal Music Lawsuit. 

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Top 10 Songs For A Modern Thanksgiving

Our annual bit of holiday musical fun to celebrate the annual U.S. day of thanks.

1.  "Alice's Restaurant" - Arlo Guthrie

2. "Thank You" - Dido

3. "The Thanksgiving Song" - Adam Sandler

4. "Thank U" - Alanis Morissette

Grooveshark Responds To Universal Music Lawsuit

As we reported on Monday, Universal Music Group has filed a new lawsuit alleging that the Grooveshark execs conspired to illegally upload more than 100,000 songs. UMG asked the court to shut Grooveshark down immediately and is seeking damages of $150,000 per infringement. Late Tuesday, Grooveshark responded:

Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Artist Zoe Keating, Manager Emily White & More On Direct To Fan [VIDEO]

Midem has crowdsourced a video asking prominent artists, managers and industry experts, "Why Direct To Fan?". Their answers present a collective argument for the almost unassailable truth that communicating with and selling direct to fans is the best, if not only, way forward. WATCH:

Occupy Music Movement Grows With Occupy Musicians Petition

Musicians have gotten involved with the Occupy Movement in many locations both on and offline. A new initiative seeks to focus that energy starting with an Occupy Musicians petition in support of the movement. But Occupy Musicians hopes to become much more than just a petition and plans to provide additional resources.

How To Mix In 3D: Steve Hillier On Mastering Reverb

If you’re in audio engineering, mastering the use of reverb is pretty important. On Music Think Tank, James Hogg writes what he thinks people are doing wrong with their music and explains more on reverb. Have you mastered the use of reverb?

The Finalists For Mashable Awards For Music App, Must Follow Musicians Are...

(UPDATED) Mashable announced the finalists for its 2011 Mashable Awards rewarding the best of digital and social media 28 categories, two of which focus on music: "Best Music Service or App" and "Must Follow Musician or Band on Social Media". The 2011 Mashable Awards nominees:

FanFueled Brings "Clean Energy" & Fan Rewards To Concert Ticketing

Last week yet another ticketing company intending to disrupt established players like Ticketmaster announced its launch. At first, though FanFueled offers an interesting mix of fan rewards and low fees, I was a bit underwhelmed by covering yet another contestant in a crowded field. But after speaking with Founder and CEO Anderson Bell, I realized there's a lot more to this story than my first impressions revealed.

Barry Fey's "Backstage Pass" - An Unvarnished View Of Rock Concert Promotion's Early Days

Veteran independent concert promoter Barry Fey has released a memoir of his years as a promoter, revealing stories culled from his extensive background in the live entertainment industry. Featuring forwards by rock luminaries Pete Townshend and Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne, Backstage Past is full of "warts and all" anecdotes about backstage life, with memories of numerous influential figures in the entertainment world, from Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen to Irving Azoff and Truman Capote.