hypebot

Skybox Offers Their Fans An Alternative To Filesharing

Joe Pug's Manager Uses "Free" To Promote Another Artist

A common paradox for indie artists is that while knowing that filesharing can be a great promo tool, they also need to make money selling music to survive. Skybox, managed by Don Bartlett who also manages D.I.Y. legend Joe Pug, decided to talk to their fans about the problem and offer a solution.

"We’re totally cool with (filesharing)," the band recently wrote their fans. "We’re pretty broke too, and like listening to tons of music that we can’t always afford…. the most important thing to us is that you get to enjoy our music. But the flip side to that...(is) when you buy our albums, literally every penny goes to promoting our music and getting out there to play shows." 

The Band Makes A Proposal To Fans -

Music Choice Adds SWRV Interactive Music Channel

Canble and online music providers Music Choice have created a new a 24/7 interactive music network using the never.no technology suite. SWRV. tv features interactive shows that offers viewers the opportunity to submit content, vote for and rate videos, and take over an entire programming block. They can participate by sending text, photos, and video, either using their mobile phones or by going online. Here's an overview.

24/7 Interactive Channel SWRV from never.no on Vimeo.

Video: Pandora's Tim Westergren On Nightline

Pandora was profiled last night on ABC's Nightline and it was so complimentary that you'd think the internet broadcaster got to script the entire piece.

Could Online Save Broadcast Radio?

A new report paints an optimistic view of the future of broadcast radio with online playing a large role in its rebirth. The radio industry will begin to see slight ad revenue increases in 2010 after several years of negative revenue, according to  BIA/Kelsey. They predict that revenues will hit $13.9 billion this year, an increase of 1.5% plus 2-4% annual growth over the next few years including 16.5% compounded growth from web and other online revenues.

Roanoke, VA: Where Music Is Made Matters

Virginia's Star City Explores Music As An Economic Driver

I've written before about how where music is made matters. Not only can music add flavor to a city as it does in Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans; but musicians can also be harbingers of future growth as we've seen in places like Austin and Brooklyn Heights, New York.

The conditions needed to grow a music city and music's potential to lead a city's transformation have become particularly apparent since my wife Katy and I moved  to Roanoke, Virginia late last year. There's a diverse music scene of surprising quality beginning to take shape here driven by a long tradition of music making, affordable living, and a few dedicated individuals like Katherine and Ed Walker, Gary Jackson and Stephanie Koehler of the Kirk Ave Music Hall, The Jefferson Center's Dylan Locke, Chris Stup of education hub The Music Lab, Cyrus Pace, who with VH1's Save The Music Foundation is bringing music into the schools, Beth Deel and Wendy Schuyler who chronicle the scene as well as help present it, and David Stewart Wiley who bucked national trends and grew the Roanoke Symphony's audience by as much as 316% for certain programs.

The Interview

Copyright Criminals Film On PBS Tuesday

Copyright Criminals - Trailer from IndiePix on Vimeo.

Copyright Criminals, a documentary that takes a detailed look at both sides of the important sampling debate and other challenges to modern copyrights airs Tuesday night on PBS stations throughout the U.S. Watch the trailer above and check local listings for times here.

Internet Broadcasting Grows As Radio Stumbles

A new Bridge Ratings survey asked, "With all the devices at their disposal, which is their primary mobile medium, the one they use the most each day?"

click on image to enlarge

Their AM or FM radio stations are still the primary daily device of 30% of the sample. That's a 9% drop in primary preference. Internet radio and cell phones with the increasing penetration of smartphones. Study sample information:

Advice For Musicians In 140 Characters Or Less

I recently asked Hypebot's Twitter followers to contribute their best advice to musicians in twitterspeak's 140 characters or less. Below are a few of the best that that I gathered using Twitoaster, a free online utility that threads and archives twitter conversations, bringing context and adding stats to your Twitter communications.

Some of the tweets are philosophical; while others are specific suggestions.  Add yours in the comments section below or reply to this Tweet if you're a Hypebot Twitter follower.  Please also consider a retweet, Digg or otherwise spreading the word.  I'll republish the best in a full post or two here, and if I get enough I may start a daily inspirational Tweet for musicians. What music industry advice can you share in 140 characters or less?

mattmacnaughton  September 21, 2009  Reply

@hypebot The way you communicate to your fans should be just as creative as the music you sell to them

piratefetus  September 21, 2009  Reply

@hypebot Don't expect people to find you. Be active and find THEM. Put a video on YouTube and link it to your site. Get your name out there.

Jelli Crowdsources Radio Programming

Broadcast radio sucks. It's programmed by computers controlled by old white men looking over their shoulders for advice from a handful of consultants and focus groups. What if we, the people, controlled what was played?  It would have to better than it is now, right?

Jelli.net aims to find out. Jelli is user-controlled radio. The service lets fans take over a radio station using their web browsers and empowers the community to interact with the broadcast in real-time and determine dynamically what plays on air. Jeli has been testing online and will go live later this month with a weekly 2 hour Sunday slot on San Francisco's Live 105.

Here's how it works:

Are Artists The New Gatekeepers? Clear Channel Radio & Front Line Mgt. Think So.

Both broadcast and online radio are searching for new ways to engage listeners in the iPod age and radio giant Clear Channel is betting that name artists may be the answer.

In a partnership with Irving Azoff's Front Line Management, Clear Channel is is launching artist personal experience a.p.e. radio ( artist personal experience), a stand-alone company that will produce artist driven own online channels, according to Billboard. The new broadcasts will launch in July with The Eagles, Weezer & Christina Aguilera. Each 24 hour channels will play music chosen by the artist along with interviews and commentary.

Sirius XM has found success with both short and long term artist channels that range from a Sinatra driven station featuring duaghter Nancy as a host to a shorter term Dave Mathews channel celebrating the release of a new record and tour.  Other artists have also launched their own online broadcasts...

Is Radio Punishing Artists That Support Performance Royalties?

musicFIRST has filed a formal request with the Federal Communications Commission, asking that they investigate reports of radio stations refusing to air musicFIRST ads and withholding airplay from artists who support the payment of broadcast radio performance royalties. No specific artists were named in the filing, but several sources suggest that U2 is one of those effected.

The bill supporting broadcast performance royalties is facing tough opposition on Congress and the National Association Of Broadcasters is calling musicFIRST's request to the FCC "an act of desperation".

Surprise! Study Shows Few Indies On Radio

Artist advocacy group The Future Of Music Coalition has released a new report "Same Old  Song" confirming that indie music is not getting its fair share of airplay on broadcast radio.

In April 2007, the FCC found widespread payola and ordered the four largest U.S. radio groups (Clear Channel, CBS, Citadel and Entercom) to pay $12.5 million in fines and work with the American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) to draft 8 “Rules of Engagement” and an “indie set-aside” including 4,200 hours of unsigned and indie label music.

But FMC's new survey of Mediaguide airplay data shows little has changed in the 2 years since the FCC decree. Indie music did make slight gains at AAA Non-comm. and Country radio. But at all 5 other dominant radio formats (AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, CHR Pop, and Triple A Comm.) the share of indie music played remained stagnant at 78-82% despite ndies comprising 30-40% of the marketplace.

Not surprisingly, the FMC also found that there were very few slots for any new music .There too, new major label songs typically receive more spins than indies. Finally, FMC looked at the indie labels...

Smashing Pumpkins Offer $40 Subscriptions

A Free Corgan Brings Fans "Behind The Wizard's Curtain" And Asks Them For Input.

"For many years I've been really unhappy with the stupidity of the music business," admits Smashing Pumpkin leader Billy Corgan. "But now I am free from corporate meddling. No contracts, no deadlines to meet."  But he's far from idle. Corgan is quote busy writing, rehearsing a new band, recording, exploring side projects and starting up his own subscription service.

Exactly how Corgan's subscription model will work is still be debatedut, but including new material is not out of the question and he's asking his fans to help him decide,. "I guess we as a community could throw out how many people would be interested in that as an idea. It would definitely have to be something that would be worth the effort on all sides."

Details of  the Corgan's subscription so far:

New FCC Chair Has Strong Venture & Digital Ties

UPDATE:  The appointment is now official. Reaction to the appointment from the indie label community via A2IM President Rich Bengloff after the jump below/

Julius Genachowski has been named the new Chairman of The Federal Communications Commission. As with most things Obama, this is not you're father's FCC chair. From his bio:

• Cofounder and managing director of venture capital firm Rock Creek.
• Founding partner of LaunchBox Digital
• Chairman and cofounder of Thummit
• From 1997-2005, senior exec for 8 years at Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp/
• He has served on the Boards of Directors or Advisors of several companies, including Web.com, Ticketmaster, The Motley Fool, Beliefnet (sold to NewsCorp), Truveo (sold to AOL), and Rapt (sold to Microsoft).

An Obama/Genachowski administration can be expected to more aggressively license and promote wireless internet and other technologies that will enable the next generation of information and entertainment delivery.

Top 10 Reasons Radio Stations Are Bleeding Money

Another great guest post from our resident music industry philosopher Kyle Bylin. The title speaks for itself.

In The Social Music Evolution I wrote about the commercialization of radio due to Clear Channel's growth from owning forty five stations in 1995 to a staggering fifteen hundred by 2003.  Noting this as a contributing factor that has increased the complexity of the music industry.   The idea of commercialization was great at the time, because after all, what's better than owning five stations locally?  Of course, owning hundreds nationally.

Commercialized radio may not die out entirely, but it will bleed money in the meantime.  The local radio stations stand a better chance because they have the advantage connecting with their audience and being more able to adapt to the needs of their market. Here are the top 10 reasons why radio stations are bleeding money:

1. Loss of community - They're not losing their listeners, they're losing their communities.  Remember when you got on the air and talked with the host?  Then, later that night, your friends called you because they heard you on air.  Dying.  You retell the stories from the morning show with your coworkers later that day.  Dying.  We've all lost our sense of community and are finding somewhere else to belong everyday.

2. Generalization to specialization - We've developed very diverse and complex listening habits.  The problem is that radio plays music based on genre and the different the eras of its success.  If I'm listening to current alternative and want to hear some classic rock, they lose every time.  Switching back and forth between stations isn't good for driving, but for those who are still listening, they're doing it more and more.

3. Localization to nationalization - Loud and local was the mantra of the station...

Nic Harcourt Steps Down At KCRW

After 10 years as the host of Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW LA's influential music director Nic Harcourt is stepping down on November 30th to pursue several independent projects. Harcourt will continue hosting a 3-hour show on Sundays from 6-9 pm.

“As a parent of two young children, I believe it’s time for me to explore new career opportunities and expand upon my other activities in movie, television, voice over work, advertising and the Internet,” Harcorft said in a statement. “Nic is a hard act to follow”, said General Manger Ruth Seymour. “We are now in the process of choosing a new Music Director. We have been looking at potential candidates with an eye toward announcing a choice in the new few weeks.”

Can Broadcast Radio Matter Again?

How Barak Obama Helped Make Radio Matter

During a recent trip to Charleston, SC  my wife Katy and I spent time listening to WMGL FM - Today's R&B and Classic Soul. Our tastes trend towards Leonard Cohen and Ray Lamontagne, but we found ourselves riveted to WMGL because the DJ's mixed passion for things that mattered to their audience with the music.

This is not talk radio, but interest in the election and pride in the possibility of electing the first Afro-American president was evident throughout both local and syndicated shows. One DJ spent 15 minutes on a misleading ad by NC Senator Dole that called her Sunday school teacher opponent "Godless" because an atheist had sponsored a fundraiser. "I did not always agree with Libby Dole, but thought she was a fair and classy lady. No more", he declared. A steady stream of guests provided color and context to concerts, local events, record releases and the elections.

Broadcast radio stopped offering a reason to tune in. WGMT and some other Afro-American broadcasters are following a path ironically paved by conservative talk radio back to broadcasting that is not afraid to express a point of view and talk about issues facing listeners. For radio to matter again, it must:

• Talk about subjects that matter. (the elections. jobs, health care)
• Provide information that matters. (where to find cheapest gas, polling locations, government programs)
• Play music that matters. (Kayne West connects. No one will care about Rihanna in five years.)

The audience must matter to radio, before radio can matter to the audience.          - Bruce Houghton

A2IM Study: Payola Still Keeps Indies Music Off Air

18 months after the end of the most extensive payola investigation in a decade and the signing of FCC sponsored Rules of Engagement, a new survey by indie label trade group A2IM shows that independent artists and labels are still being shut out of broadcast radio. According to 61 indie labels who responded to the survey:

• Over 92% of independent labels report no change in their relationship with commercial radio since the settlement
• 41% reported that payola remains a determining factor in commercial radio airplay
• 47% said indie promotion companies are still a factor
• Asked if that had asked for payola since the FCC settlement, only 39 labels answered and 1 in 4 of those said that they had

Radio Performance Rights Act Passes Committee

The U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on the Courts, the Internet and Intellectual Property today approved the Performance Rights Act (H.R. 4789).  While considering the bill, several members commented on further additions that may be considered including a “platform parity” amendment that would extend the legislation to digital broadcasting.

If enacted the Performance Rights Act amends federal copyright law to:

Ludwig Adds 50 Channels To FM Stations

A new technology that attaches 50 digital channels to an existing FM radio signal could bring an unprecedented level of diversity to the broadcast dial. Ludwig Enterprises says the technology will allow it to acquire the rights to currently issued FM spectrum with minimal regulatory requirements and hit the airwaves in the top 50 markets.

Ludwig's plan is for a...