Music blogs are a huge part of how avid listeners discover music. Many of them check the same sites every day in hopes of finding new songs and artists. But how broad is the appeal of music blogs? Music blogs have certainly grown in readership, but have they surpassed a niche audience? If so, how? What cultural trends, heroic efforts, or music products have most helped music blogs reach a larger audience? In this interview panel on music blogs, four influential thinkers in the music and tech sector weigh in on whether they think music blogs have reached the mainstream market and what that might mean.
So far we have explored the music blog landscape and how it has has changed in recent years, as well as whether music blogs have reached a mainstream audience. In this final interview panel on music blogs, David Greenwald and Nicole Cifani, two influential thinkers and tastemakers in the music industry, weigh in on how the way in which music blogs tell stories has evolved and whether they think music blogs have turned into record labels.
Fame House's Hisham Dahud was part of last week's IMS Engage in Los Angeles, a selection of “unmoderated conversations” between pioneers in the EDM space and prolific outsiders from different industries reaching in. Overseeing social media and acting as the official blogger for IMS Engage, this is his overview of the event.
The International Music Summit’s (IMS) first major conference stateside, IMS Engage took place last Wednesday April 17th at the W Hotel in Hollywood, CA. The event drew in 250 people from all over the world including music artists, industry professionals, techies, press / media and local L.A. residents seeking to enthrall themselves in this unique and first of its kind experience.
Peter Gotcher is Executive Chairman of Dolby Laboratories and Chairman of Topspin Media, Inc. He founded Digidesign Inc. in 1984 and served as its President, CEO and Chairman. He won a Grammy (2000) and an Oscar (2004): both were for Technical Achievement and honored Digidesign’s contributions to the recording and film industries. In the late 1990s, Gotcher became a founding partner at Redpoint Ventures of Menlo Park, California, a leading Silicon Valley technology venture capital firm.
Roger Faxon has had a distinguished career in the entertainment industry. He was executive vice president/COO at LucasFilm, a founding partner of the film and television production unit Mount Company, and a senior executive vice president at Columbia Pictures. He joined EMI in 1994 after serving as CEO of London-based Sotheby’s Europe. Until a year ago, he was CEO of EMI Group. Faxon orchestrated the sale of EMI’s Recorded Music and Publishing Assets, respectively, to Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV Publishing.
Pitchfork started as site called Turntable when founder Ryan Schreiber was barely out of high school. Now it’s a Spotify app, a “TV” channel, and many other things.
We asked Pitchfork vice president of video programming RJ Bentler about the evolution of Pitchfork TV and had a pretty interesting conversation by phone about how video on the internet still wants to be television… and how the trump card for web video vs. the television networks could be the promise of interactive features not possible on cable, over the air, or satellite broadcasts.
Is 2013 the year when Music Discovery breaks into the mainstream? It seems like services are finally realizing they need a good discovery aspect to
their music offering. Is that your sense or have you been seeing
something else?
Want your music to be used in films or games? Have a CD that came out five years ago, but never sold well, and don’t know what you can do with it now? Well, you have something to learn from major labels.
The Upward Spiral is back! This episode catches the guys with writer, pundit and college radio GM Emily White, as she joins to discuss how lyrics are ripe for a richer multimedia experience, and whether streaming services need more music curation (as Jimmy Iovine implies). Plus recommendations for new music, gear, events and Vietnamese food!
In the wake of LiveNation.com’s recent relaunch and the coming of a new year, Hypebot felt it was important to check up with one of the most innovative and potentially disruptive forces brewing within the music and tech sector: Live Nation Labs. Lead by the entrepreneurial minds of Eric Garland and Ethan Kaplan, Labs aims to foster innovation within the ticketing and promotions superpower. The pair has been chosen to steer the ship of Live Nation’s web and mobile product development efforts and establish its own investment arm. Hypebot’s Hisham Dahud caught up with general manager and co-founder Eric Garland for a look at the present state of Live Nation Labs.
Jason Feinberg, VP of Digital Strategy at Epitaph / Anti- Records, joins the conversation. As a veteran of the digital music space and an insightful teacher/speaker/writer, Jason has a lot to say about the state of the "artist hub". Hear his big-picture ideas and practical, useful advice. Plus, get recommendations for books, music, and portable speakers, and find out what kind of beer Kyle doesn't recommend.
This episode has the guys talking with Joey Flores, founder of streaming service Earbits, for a lively discussion about internet radio royalties and what it takes to be a start-up founder in today's music business. Plus, Hisham Dahud reports back on his experience as part of the CNTRL: Beyond EDM tour.
The following interview is a lightly edited and condensed trascript of an episode of The Upward Spiral, Hypebot's music and tech podcast.
Jason Spitz: Welcome Jack Conte.
Jack Conte: Hello there. Thank you for having me.
Jason Spitz: Hey, Jack. It's a pleasure to have you... Jack is one half of
Pomplamoose, a band you that you may know from their illustrious YouTube videos and ad soundtracks, but he's also an independent musician in his own right... I want to take a second for Jack to tell the listeners a little bit about
yourself. What's your story?
About a year ago, I wrote an article entitled “Musicians:
Remember to Start with Why” that spoke about defining the intrinsic motivation
behind your music career. The piece spoke about the differences between “work”
and “effort”, and challenged readers to really consider why they are choosing to pursue one of the most difficult ways to
make a living these days – to examine their inner drive.
In this episode, Jack Conte of Pomplamoose lets loose in a passionate and brutally honest interview. He offers blunt insights into his band's success (and its shortcomings), and discusses the value of experimentation and the pitfalls of fan feedback. Plus, we cover the news on Taylor Swift and DJZ, the new EDM website by the founder of Turntable.fm.
Guest post by Kyle Bylin of sidewinder.fm, a music and tech think tank.
In 2011, several headlines asked this question, “Can Turntable.fm save music?” It didn’t, as it turns out, but that’s okay. Songza has become the next
savior. Group listening is out and playlist curation is in. In 2013, a new pack of music startups will emerge with equally cool apps. Media outlets will
fawn and another savior will rise.
New York Magazine's recent story with Grizzly Bear
exposed several economic realities of being an independent artist in today’s
music business. The NYM went on to reveal
that, “some band members don’t even have health insurance.” The Brooklyn-based rockers
are far from being alone, as one third of full-time working musicians do not
have health insurance, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. For a
look at the plight of uninsured musicians – and what's being done
to address it – we spoke with Adam Huttler, a leading health care reform
advocate whose organization, Fractured Atlas, has been providing affordable
health insurance to musicians and artists for more than a decade.
In this episode, the guys are joined by music industry veteran and digital expert Rynda Laurel(Smashing Pumpkins, Chuck D / Public Enemy, Afghan Whigs), diving into a series of deep discussions on the value of major labels and the importance of music charts (or the lack thereof). Also, the group discusses recent news about Facebook, Rhapsody and Taylor Swift. All this plus beef ribs, pizza, cold-brewed coffee, and more!
Guest post by Kyle Bylin of sidewinder.fm, a music-and-tech think tank.
In his most recent essay, “The Success Of The Online Music Market Will Be Won Or Lost In Translation,” Jason Herskowitz talks about the downside of the lock-in tactic that many online music services use and how it can create a bad
experience for users. On Spotify, for example, users can’t export their music library or playlists to a rival service.
During last
Tuesday’s SF MusicTech Summit, I had the privilege of moderating a panel alongside
several top minds within music and technology, where a short, yet powerful
quote was said that resonated deeply with myself and several members of the
audience. “Data is the new hustle,” pronounced
BitTorrent’s Executive Director of Marketing Matt Mason. The traditional music
business has never been rational (as Incubus manager Steve Rennie pointed out),
nor has it ever been easy or straightforward. However, Mason points out that the democratized use of online tools and metrics is beginning facilitate a new kind of music
business – one that is becoming fairer for artists.
