hypebot

Facebook Announces Major Band Page Changes & They're Probably Going To Hurt You

Facebook has announced major changes that will affect evey musician and marketer using Page apps by RootMusic (Bandpages), ReverbNation, FanBridge and others.  On March 31st you will no longer be able to set those apps to serve as your default landing page.  Gone - hidden behind a tab - are the email sign-up, videos, storefront and other features that these apps provided.

Where Do The Bands At SXSW Come From? [INFOGRAPHIC]

According to the official count, SXSW 2012 has attracted 500 bands traveling from 45 countries. The team at wireless hi-fi creators Sonos has done the research and created two maps - one global and the other the U.S. - mapping where they cone from. Where Do The Bands At SXSW Come From? Here's the infographic:

MOG & The Coming Consolidation In Music Tech

Is MOG for sale?  Despite conflicting reports, the answer is probably yes with the most likely suitor Rhapsody, who recently purchased Napster. But what matters much more is that we're almost certainly watching the early stages of consolidation in music streaming and much of music tech.

Quantum Collective: Indie Community Joins Forces For SXSW Alternative

Quantum Collective is a combined force of artists, labels, marketers, brands and tech companies that have come together to take branded entertainment to the next level. They're presenting their official full debut during SXSW in a series of events called Southwest Invasion. Whether or not they're the first to take this collective approach, they are hearing from folks in related industries that their efforts are currently unique. I spoke this week with Mark Nguyen, Quantum Collective co-founder, about their upcoming plans for events during SXSW as well as the bigger picture.

The Fallacy Of Music Like Water

(UPDATED) Guest post by Portland songwriter and producer Gavin Castleton. He blogs at The Great Abstraction.

In 2002 David Bowie said, "Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity." In early 2005, Berklee VP David Kusek and "futurist" Gerd Leonhard based their book The Future of Music on the concept of "Music Like Water," i.e. the transformation of the music industry into one in which music is ubiquitous and subscription-based, paid for and delivered like any other utility service.

3 Great Examples Of Creative Music Marketing: Tailored Songs, One-of-a-Kind Albums, Video Games

Creative music marketing takes many forms but I think the strongest approach is directly connected to the music. In fact, two of today's examples involve individually unique offerings. Riot !n Paris are currently creating personalized songs based on people's social media presence. Artist/programmers Icarus are releasing 1000 digitally unique versions of their album Fake Fish Distribution. We're also sharing info about AWOLNATION's Megalithic Mayhem video game recently made available for the iPhone.

Facebook Rules Time On Social Networks [CHART]

Facebook users are spending an average of 6 hours on the site every month, according to a Wall Street Journal report. New comScore date for January social network activity also shows Facebook leaving Google+, MySpace and every other social network in the dust.

The Twitter Trolls: How to Deal With Criticism Online

Everything you do can be criticized. Criticism can be easily given and seen by all especially online. On Music Think Tank, Brian Thompson talks about the “Twitter Trolls”, people that criticize you, and negative feedback. Constructive criticism is understandable, but some people just criticize for sport. Brian talks about handling criticism in the proper way and has some words of advice:

“Think twice. Tweet once.”

MOG Is (Kind Of) For Sale As Subscription Music Consolidation Looms

(UPDATED) Spotify, Deezer, Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG, We7, Slacker, Pandora, Grooveshark and more.  Each is a little different, but it's not likely that so many streaming music services can survive.  And what happens if Apple and Amazon add streaming music? Rhapsody recently bought Napster, and now comes word the MOG is for sale.

NEWS BRIEF: MOG Sale?, Kid Cudi Slams UMG, Facebook Timeline To Pages, Pirate Bay & More

• MOG for sale?  There have been conflicitng reports, but what matters more is the inevitable consolidation in music tech. More here.
• Kid Cudi Slams 'Weak Ass Label' Universal On Twitter Over Handling of Rock Album. (The Juice)
• Artist Sues Sony Music Because Her Artwork Appears In The Background Of A Music Video. (Techdirt)

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Impala Comes Out Swinging Against EMI Pub Deal That Would Give Sony "Excessive Power"

Just hours after formerly Sony asked European regulators to review its proposed purchase of EMI's publishing arm, European independent music trade group Impala has confirmed its opposition to to a deal that it says would give Sony "excessive power". Full text of the statement:

Spotify, Rhapsody Execs Attack "Wrongheaded" Staggered Releases By Coldplay, Others

The practice of staggered releases or "windowing" new releases on streaming music services has been a hot topic ever since Coldplay, The Black Keys, Adele and a small but select group of artists chose to withhold their music. Two recent interviews with key executives at Spotify and Rhapsody are certain to fuel the flames.

The 10 Most Innovative Companies In Music

Fast Company Magazine has announced its 50 Most Innovative Companies Of 2012, along with a top 10 most innovative in music. Spotify, of course, made the list. But there are also some new and some old school surprises. Who do you you think should have made the cut?

New Essential Music Promo Tools For Google, Bing, Facebook, YouTube & Vimeo

Just when you think you have all the angles down for promoting your music via a particular web service, they go and add something new you have to consider including in your repertoire. However, if you've gotten the basics down, a lot of the functionality currently being added to search and social networking services is pretty useful for marketing music, even when the services don't pitch it that way.

The Four P’s of Playing Live Shows: Promotion

 

 

This week, Dave Cool follows up on the Four P’s of Playing Live Shows with the next element: Promotion.

If you missed the first post about preparation, read here. On Music Think Tank, read about various ways to promote your show.

10 Truths From 10 Established Artists On Making It In Music [Free eBook]

"10 Truths About Making It In Music" is a free 50+ page ebook by Dotted Music's Ben Brown featuring quotes from OK-Go, Puddle Of Mudd and Dire Straits and others. Though these are all rock musicians, Brown's take on things is relevant to anyone navigating the current terrain in hopes of building a career in music. I've seen a lot of material featuring tips for growing a career in the music industry, and found this ebook a particularly solid read.

Record Labels Hope "Work For Hire" Rules Allow Them To Screw Artists Again

Guest post by MP3.com founder and Mp3tunes CEO Michael Robertson.

To anyone who has followed the music industry, it comes as no surprise to learn that artists with major labels have very lopsided contracts where they usually get a few pennies for every dollar major labels collect. (Often they have to fight even for those few pennies.) A few years back Congress changed copyright law so that these long-suffering artists can reclaim ownership of their works after 35 years. That's a long time to suffer, but at least there's some relief.

More & A List Of Artists

NEWS BRIEF: EMI vs. Regulators, Spotify vs. Artists, Toto vs. Sony, Google+ Slides, MTV Mobile & More

The sale of EMI is in the hands of regulators with tough EU rules a possible stumbling block. Today the European Commission set a deadline of April 2 to rule on the Sony backed purchase of EMI's music publishing arm.  EU rivals and customers are also actively being questioned on whether the sale of EMI's recorded music business to of Universal Music Group would lead to higher prices.

• Labels And Spotify Still Struggle To Convince Some Artists On Stream Rates. (paidContent)
• Toto pull Sony Music into digital royalties debate. (CMU)

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New Rules For Flying With Musical Instruments Should Make Touring Easier

Being on the road is hard enough, but having to figure out each airline's arcane and ever-changing rules for flying with musical instruments has made travel much more difficult for many musicians. That's changing thanks to The FAA Modernization and Safety Improvement Act of 2012, which was finalized by Congress earlier this month.

Great Ticket Scandal Documentary Exposes Practices Of Secondary Ticket Sellers

The debate over secondary ticket sales, scalping and related issues is a hot topic in England thanks the upcoming 2012 Summer Olympics in London and an investigative documentary that aired last week titled The Great Ticket Scandal.

Kickstarter Will Fund More Projects In 2012 Than National Endowment For The Arts

Fan funding platform Kickstarter is on track to distribute more than $150 million to creative projects in 2012. That's more than this year's $146 million budget for The National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), the primary source of government arts funding in the U.S. Kickstarter's lifetime funding now stands at $150 million, but is accelrating rapidly with $99 million pledged last year alone.

Kickstarter vs. The National Endowment

Chamillionaire Goes Direct To Fans With Moontoast Store For Ammunition EP

[Update: See Closing] Chamillionaire is going straight to fans with his upcoming EP release Ammunition. To do so he's using Moontoast, a "social commerce platform" that recently raised $6 million. Ammunition drops digitally March 20 with physical bundles released March 27.

Plus, his song Ridin' is currently appearing in a Volkswagen commercial.

The Next Music Format Case-Study: Twisted Music

At MIDEM 2012, music industry analyst, Mark Mulligan, presented a plea for adoption of a new music format. He presented a manifesto for the next generation of music products and talked about how future music formats should be Dynamic, Interactive, Social, and Curated (DISC). On Music Think Tank, Bas Grasmayer talks about a case study he did on a record label called Twisted Music and the business model and products that follow Mulligan’s DISC formula. Read on and let us know what you think of this business model.

Why Slacker Had Offline Playback, Pandora Does Not

1. (UPDATED) Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

Our article about the "unsexy" issue of offline playback — a feature that allows streaming apps to store music and video temporarily so you can play it on the go without impacting your wireless data plan — attracted a fair amount of attention earlier this week, so we decided to dig a little deeper. After hearing from both Slacker and Pandora, we've concluded that there are two reasons that Pandora doesn't have offline playback, while Slacker does.

Music's Winners At 2012 Academy Awards Are...

The Oscar for Best Original Song went "Man or Muppet" with music and lyrics by Flight Of The Concord's Bret McKenzie.  Best Original Score went to "The Artist" by Ludovic Bource. The complete list of Academy Awards 2012 winners is here