Posts categorized "Daily Industry Briefing"

2009.07.04

REWIND: New Music Industry Week In Review

Hypebot Favicon It was a holiday week in the US, but we kept coverage going all week long.  It was a good thing too, because some interesting things happened:

2009.07.03

Friday's Music Brief: Band Metrics, More Networking, UK Independents Day, Dada Free & More

Hypebot Favicon It's a holiday here in the US, but that doesn't keep the news from happening or me from writing about it.  Also grinding it out today (and all last night) are Duncan Freeman and his Band Metrics crew.  Congrats to them on a their new features and private beta expansion.  And don't forget to stop in and say hello as our Hypebot online networking party continues.  You'll find a wonderfully diverse crew there already.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • July 4th marks the start of the second annual UK Independents Day indie music celebration.
  • Ioda logo More on the Sony IODA hookup: Sony Buys Part of the Long Tail (Epicenter)
  • Mobile Firm Dada Cuts Staff  (Billboard)
  • How the net saved live music. (Sydney Morning Herald)
  • If you're in the UK or is some how lucky enough to have a Spotify account, Chris Anderson's new offering "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" is up an audiobook a week prior to release.  I've been reading an advance copy and it really broadens the discussion on the power of free (goods, services, music, etc.) and how to make it work.
  • Andrew Dubber inspired a short but (I think) important post "Music As Lone Works Of Genius vs. Music As Culture" on the MIDEM(Net) blog.

2009.07.02

Thursday's Music Brief: Hype Machine Fraud, Hypebot Networking, Usenet Looses, PRS & More

Hypebot Favicon Tomorrow is a holiday in the US, but Hypebot will be watching music industry developments worldwide and publishing on Friday and throughout the weekend.  Be sure to get involved in networking with other Hypebot readers here and encourage others to do the same, For those of us on this side of the pond, have a great long weekend!

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • RIAA A federal judge threw the book at Usenet.com in an RIAA lawsuit. The court found newsgroup provider Usenet liable for copyright infringement. "Advertising to file-sharers, putting "warez" in your site's meta tags, and tampering with evidence don't amuse federal judges." (ars)
  • An in depth and critical look at the PRS performance rights collection organization. (RouteNote)
  • More Amanda Palmer: "Lessons Learned From Twitter Windfalls". (Billboard)
  • Facebook Will Give Users More Control Over Who Sees What. (NY Times)
  • Suspicions of Insider Trading Surround Pirate Bay Buyers (TorrentFreak)
  • Michael Jackson First Artist to Sell Over 1 Million Downloads in a Single Week (Epicenter)

2009.07.01

Wednesday's Music Brief: Pandora's Response, Sony + IODA, Lawsuits, MJ, Vibe Shutters & More

Hypebot Favicon First, a big thanks to Tim Westergen of Pandora for writing a thoughtful response to the mini-firestorm caused by yesterday's "Pandora Forces $29.95 Payments From Indie Bands" post and poll. And I made my reservations yesterday to participate in the resurection of the grandaddy of all music conferences The New Music Seminar on July 21st in NYC.  I hope to see some of you there. $99 discount registration ends July 5th.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDSUTRY NEWS:

  • Legal Microsoft, Yahoo And Real sued for failing to get all the necessary licenses. (Techdirt) TD's Mike Masnick is right again on his analysis. The real story here is how stupidly complex it is to license music.
  • Michael Jackson airplay & album sales skyrocket. (FMQB) I have not seen the full charts yet but @coolfer tweeted from Billboard that "Michael Jackson wreaked havoc on top albums last week. No top 100 new release gained over the previous week. Total album sales down 8%" and "Michael Jackson catalog albums outsold the Black Eyed Peas' new album. 241,000 (58%) of MJ's album sales last week were digital". Amazing. And how down would the sales have been without MJ?
  • EMI is refusing to stream music at the new PRS rates. (P2Pnet)
  • Sony struggling as Walkman hits 30th anniversary (AP)
  • Vibe Magazine is closing down leaving The Source the only major hip hop magazine standing. (NY Times)  Some rumors have Quincy Jones buying back and relaunching.
  • Here Comes the Video Shakeout: Joost Scales Down, CEO Mike Volpi Steps Out (Media Memo)
  • Dell to make iPod Touch-like gadget. (PC World)

2009.06.30

Tuesday's Music Brief: Pirate Bay Sold, Pandora Problems, Spotify's Future, Limewire Exec & More

Hypebot Favicon Lot's of great stuff today and a few things already on deck for tomorrow.  So much for a holiday/summer slowdown.  And be sure to vote in the Pandora indie poll.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Spotify Spotify founder hints at video, P2P sharing, world domination. (Register)
  • Big music label foe LimeWire’s newest executive is Jason Hersowitz, a big label veteran. (MediaMemo)
  • Licensing Issues Shut Down Pandora Outside US. (Slashdot)
  • The Bandwidth Music | Technology Conference 2009 to be held August 27-28 in San Francisco has added Cory Ondrejka, EVP of Digital Marketing at EMI Music for a keynote conversation. (press release)
  • See how the Michael Jackson phenomena continues to dominate the sales charts with this up to these up to the minute iTunes single and album charts.
  • Study: Radio Is Still Top Teen Source For Music (FMQB)
  • imeem and eMusic: If You're Taking Away Features From Users, Don't Tell Them It's For Their Own Benefit (Techdirt)
  • ubroadcast Details Cooperation Agreement With PurePlayMusic.com(press release)

2009.06.29

Overloaded With Data? Trendrr Launches Pro

 A First Look & How It Compares

Trendrr_logo Information and trends spread across the global net with lightening speed. Bloggers and fans love a show, hate a single, publish a photo, share an impression.  Each of these "events", whether they are on the riseArrow up and down red or decline and where they are coming from all come together to create buzz.

Digital marketing agency Wiredset, who works with Last.FM, Capital, Sony BMG and Universal, as well as, tv networks, book publishers and brands, created a tool to track this activity and shared a piece of it with a free public service dubbed Trendrr that I've written about previously.

Today the company launched Trendrr Pro, a more sophisticated paid version which tracks and graphs consumption trends and activity across the digital spectrum, including social networks, blogs, torrents, Amazon, Craigslist, Twitter, Google, MySpace, and leading video sites.

I got an advance look under the hood of last week and saw the improvements:

Continue reading "Overloaded With Data? Trendrr Launches Pro" »

2009.06.27

REWIND: New Music Industry's Week In Review

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2009.06.26

Friday's Music Brief: YouTube Mobile Jump, FriendFeed, Spotify Pennies, Pirate Bay Troubles

Hypebot Favicon Lots of social networking news and a touch of Michael Jackson today. Have a great weekend! And thanks everyone for the #FollowFriday plugs.  Keep 'em comin'.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:Spotify

  • Leaked ad revenue statements appear to show that Spotify collected a mere 14P (23 cents) per user for the Month of May in ad revenue. (Guardian)  Give it time fellas
  • Pirate Bay retrial denied and judge declared "unbiased" (ars)
  • eMusic Also Took Away Right To Download Songs Already Purchased (Techdirt)
  • Danny Goldberg on the Digital Music Revolution (truthdig)
  • National Music Publishers’ Association has named a new Board of Directors. Officers include: Chairman - Irwin Robinson, Paramount Allegra Music; Vice President - Martin Bandier, Sony/ATV Music Publishing; Vice President - Bob Doyle, Major Bob Music; Vice President - John Eastman, MPL Communications, Inc.; Vice President - Ralph Peer II, peermusic; Secretary - Leeds Levy, One Four Three Music; Treasurer - Evan Medow, Secret Sauce Music Group.(press release)
  • Peter Jenner: Delayed thoughts on the latest Digital Britain P2P consultation. (MidemNet Blog)
  • Mouse WORTHY CLICK:  Orba Squara (who you may remember from his 2007 debut which included "Perfect Timing (This Morning)" that Apple used as the theme to the iPhone TV ads) has created an intriguing graphic documentary to help promote his new "The Trouble With Flying" release.  View it here.

2009.06.25

Thursday's Music Brief: Amana Palmer, Niche Power, India, Echo Nest and Kyte

Hypebot Favicon A surprising bit of reaction from a vocal few to the ReverbNation Micorsoft promotion.  I can't see how any of it is not be good. After all, it's optional and acts that are used to giving tracks away free are now getting paid.  Be sure to click on the screen shot of 1 illegal download = 3 1/3 dead relatives to see it full size in all its glory.  And Kyle is continuing the discussion on Killing Itself to Live.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • An 'accepted' culture of mobile-related music piracy in India is forcing network operators and the music industry to act. (Guardian)
  • The Echo Nest, a music intelligence platform has launched its Fanalytics platform that applies "web crawling, machine learning and semantic web technology to help artists and labels better understand, locate and build their online fan base". (press release)
  • Spain's copyright lobby abandoned it's fight for a three-strikes P2P policy. (DMW)
  • The Future of Used MP3 Sales (Dallas Observer)
  • ArtistRise.com launches free online community for concert Industry. (press release)
  • EFF: ASCAP and Copyright Doublespeak
  • Tangerine creates iTunes playlists based on tempo (MacWorld)
  • Jonas Brothers are guinea pigs for Ustream/Facebook partnership (Music Ally)
  • How the entertainment industry launders policy pronouncements. (Techdirt)
  • Kyte has just released its new $4.99 Mobile Producer video app into the App Store. "While it doesn’t require you have an iPhone 3GS, if you want to take advantage of its best feature, video, then you must have one. And if you do, I think you’ll be pretty pleased with how well it works." (TechCrunch) Short test video after the jump.

Continue reading "Thursday's Music Brief: Amana Palmer, Niche Power, India, Echo Nest and Kyte" »

2009.06.24

Wednesday's Music Brief: MTV Cuts, Twitter Study, 3 Strikes, Free Fest, Free Downloads & More

Hypebot Favicon I feel (almost) like Peres Hilton minus a few bruises.  How often does Hypebot get to spout off about Beyonce, Jessica Simpson and Twitter all in the same day? Oh yeah, and I also wrote about an innovative venture capitalist that's still interested in the music industry.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC NEWS:

  • Virgin Virgin Mobile “FreeFest”  - Forgot discounted tickets or discounted merch – this summer’s unbeatable deal comes courtesy of the Virgin Mobile Festival as tickets to this year’s event are absolutely free. Free. That’s right. It will cost you zip, zero, nada, nothing to get in. (Pollstar)
  • UK's PRS For Music Tour Income Up 30% (Billboard)
  • France's Sarkozy Talks About 3 Strikes As Defending Freedom, But Only Freedom For The Industry. (TechDirt)
  • Free downloads damage Britain's musical diversity and creativity. "We want to work with music fans - but have them use legal, licensed services". writes Feargal Sharkey
  • Court rules against German file-sharing site RapidShare. Fines the $34 million. (Hollywood Reporter)

2009.06.23

Tuesday's Music Brief: More MySpace Cuts, Bylin's Best, Irish Troubles, Flamming Lips, LiveStub & More

Hypebot Favicon Kyle Bylin weighs in today with what is probably his best post to date Killing Itself to Live: How the Record Industry Conceived It’s Own Demise. It's a must read and worth sharing with your peers. I also think you'll find that the Ian Roger's NARM video is a must watch. Ian & Co. understand the shift of power from the labels to the artists and fans and are building the tools to support it. And does anyone know the folks behind #MusicMondays. I'd like to interview them and help spread the word. That info and any juicy news tips are always welcome via hypebot (at) skylineonline (dot) com. Onward to a great day!  - Bruce Houghton

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Even as the major labels are suing Irish ISP's to get them to enforce a three strikes policy, others in the industry are asking the broader question of where is digital music headed in the country. (Silicon Republic)
  • Fans that buy tickets online to this summer's Flaming Lips tour will get a free three song download teaser of an upcoming release. (press release)
  • Ticket marketplace LiveStub closes its doors but hopes to restructure in the future (Ticket News)
  • First look at music startup Tunezee: Looking to make music search and discovery more effective. (Vator News)
  • Ticketmaster Fires Back At Springsteen (FMQB)
  • The UK cracks down on pre-release leaks with an early morning raid. (TorrentFreak)
  • 2.0 Chinese music label MicroMu is celebrating a 1 year anniversary (Outdustry)
  • Connecting With Fans, Offering A Reason To Buy Works For Movies As Well. (Techdirt)
  • Fluid Music Canada's Trusonic has signed a deal with US mall owner General Growth Properties to deploy in-mall music and messaging solutions. (press release)
  • MusicHackday is coming to the UK. (Music Machinery)

2009.06.22

Monday's Music Brief: Indie Ties, Inspiration, ASCAP Demands, UK Charts, Twitter $'s, iTunes & More

Hypebot Favicon Happy Monday! This is already shaping up to be a busy and eventful week. Be sure to get involved in helping us build a database of artists that have "made it" without the help of a major label. Now, lets get to it...PS: Don't miss the two videos below.

UPDATE: Watch on Tuesday for Kyle Bylin's latest post: Killing Itself to Live: How the Record Industry Conceived It’s Own Demise.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC NEWS:

  • ASCAP wants to get paid every time your phone rings according to a court filing in a lawsuit with AT&T. (EFF, pdf of filing)
  • Howard Stringer takes over Sony as part of a new ownership structure. (FMQB)
  • What's next for Jammie Thomas-Russert after the $1.92 million file sharing conviction? (ars)
  • New UK indie charts "bound to" recognize free online streaming like We7 and Spotify. (Guardian) This is overdue. Are you reading this Billboard?
  • Universities Struggling To Deal With Law Requiring Them To Fight File Sharing (TechDirt)
  • Reportedly, the record industry does not plan more lawsuits. (FT)
  • Twitter plans to offer shopping advice and easy purchasing. (NY Times) Mmmm...think there's an opportunity here for the music industry?
  • Variable iTunes pricing a moneymaker for artists. (Billboard)
  • Indian digital music distribution is experimenting with an unlimited download service. (Hungama)

2009.06.20

REWIND: The Music Industry Week In Review

Hypebot Favicon It was another big news week in the music industry and I've pick the top stories below. I'm particularly excited by the response to a request for help building a database of music 2.0 success stories to help show that artists don't need big labels to "make it". Please contribute. It was a sad week at MySpace as they let go of hundreds of staffers, but a Hypebot poll showed the service is still alive and kicking.

2009.06.18

Thursday's Music Brief: EMI Sues Grooveshark, P2P Trial Circus, GameSoundCon, Startup $'s & More

Hypebot Favicon HYPEBOT FEATTURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Clowns Tenenbaum P2P circus: judge's "indulgence is at an end".  In the high-profile file-sharing against Boston grad student Joel Tenenbaum, the judge has demanded that Harvard Law prof Charles Nesson stop violating the law and start following her orders. (ars)
  • Amazon MP3 goes live in France with 500+ album downloads at 2,99 EU each. (Amazon.fr)
  • New "official" BPI UK indie only charts to debut later this month. (Aalrab) And indie labels react. (Guardian)
  • GameSoundCon is a new video game music and sound conference featureing two days of seminars and panels teaching game audio creation and production. The inaugural events will be held in on September 24 -25 in Los Angeles and then November 13 and 14 in San Francisco. (press release)
  • Need startup cash? Add Twitter. $23.3 million in VC love and counting...  (ChubbyBrain)
  • Brands Should Be Wired Into Music Discovery (Ad Age)
  • When the Music Industry Screws You, 2009 edition (or My Man Van) Hunt. (Limits Of Science via Topspin)
  • iTunes warns against the use of unsupported media players like the (unamed) Palm Pre. (Apple)
  • College radio stations are holding their own as world turns digital. (Chicago Daily Herald)

2009.06.17

Wednesday's Music Brief: MySpace, Jelli, Thomas Trial, Subscriptions, Tapulous & More

Hypebot Favicon HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

2009.06.15

Monday's Music Brief: Facebook Snag, iPhone Stats, Torrent Cloaks, IFPI Follies, Pirate Parties & More

Hypebot Favicon The industry is back from NARM and we'll have video interviews that Virgil did there all week including today's  with the owner of indie store Park Avenue. Meanwhile a lot of artists are pissed off that they couldn't grab a custom URL for there Facebook pages this weekend. And don't miss some surprising iPhone stats or my CD Baby podcast. PS: Kyle promises an essay later in the week tentatively called, "Killing Itself to Live: How the Record Industry Conceived It’s Own Demise".

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • RESISTANCE IS FUTILE: BitBlinder - a new open source project promises to cloak torrents, hide browsing and get round many obstructive filters. (TorrentFreak)
  • Ifpilogo190105 Despite setbacks in France and the UK, international music trade the IFPI still intends to push for "3 strikes" legislation. "I firmly believe in the 'three-strikes' approach," IFPI CEO John Kennedy told Billboard. "We need people to have incentives to migrate from free, both because there's a carrot [attractive legal services] and also the stick that there are consequences for going the illegal, free route. Spotify and We7 are obviously great [free ad-funded streaming] services that are available and there are more to come." That is, if the labels that fund the IFPI will license these services at reasonable rates.
  • After winning two seats in the EU Parliment, the support for the Swedish Pirate Party seems to be growing throughout Europe. (ZeroPaid)
  • A look inside EU ticketing fees. (Guardian)
  • Mouse WORTHY CLICK: Bandizmo.com is a free promo tool for indie artists offering high grade uploads, search features with highly detailed genres. With members from over 70 countries the site is growing fast. Check it out and share what you think.

2009.06.14

REWIND: The Music Industry's Week In Review

Hypebot Favicon We're another week closer to summer and I admit that I'm looking forward to a slower pace. But this week the news kept coming with another more understated NARM Convention and a big Midem announcement. Our man Virgil was at NARM and did some great video interviews (I'll run more next week) and Kyle unwrapped the duo behind the New Rock Star Philosophy blog and free e-book. I finally finished the Music & The Creative Class series (for now) and had fun watching my 10 Commandments Of Music 2.0 post  srpread across Twiterdom. Read on for all this and more...

2009.06.12

Friday's Music Brief: MySpace Layoffs, IODA, imeem Gets $2.4M, Choruss, $'s From Twitter & More

Hypebot Favicon Don't forget to grab your free custom URL on Facebook starting at midnight tonight. And today on the blog there is a report that some of our friends at MySpace may be loosing their jobs, Virgil's video interview with Kevin Arnold, the CEO of digital distributor IODA, a listing of Music & The Creative Class resources and much more. The response to our 10 Commandments Of Music 2.0 has been fun.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Imeem 330 logo imeem Raised About $2.4 Million; Still Looking For $4 Million More. (paidContent)
  • Tens of thousands of students have signed up to try legal P2P Choruss ahead of launch. (Register)
  • Jammie Thomas suffers two major pre-trial setbacks in RIAA copyright case. (cNet)
  • Twitter bird Twitter $$$: Dell says that it has earned $3 million from posting coupons via Twitter. (NY Times) Does anyone know about artists or labels with an effective Twitter sales strategy?
  • Video game sales still in a slump versus a year ago. (VentureBeat)
  • StubHub Says Ticket Resales Are Booming, Thanks To Lower Prices (Techdirt)
  • Yahoo Music debuts a free iPhone app streaming 250 Yahoo and CBS stations. (Yahoo!)
  • The World Copyright Summit - Rightsholders gathered in Washington this week to discuss copyright, but the event was essentially about one topic: How do we survive in a digital world? (ars)
  • A new Harvard Business School study says, "It Is Okay for Artists to Make Money…No, Really, It's Okay. (Harvard)
  • Execs optimistic about Asia's music market. (Hollywood Reporter)
  • Grey Partners With Stevie Van Zandt for in Music Seminar in Cannes during June ad summit (press release)

2009.06.11

Thursday's Music Brief: NARM, 10 Commandments, 3 Strikes, LN & TM Antitrust & More

Hypebot Favicon Finally, here is the promised Part 3 of Music & The Creative Class. Sorry for the delay. I also had a lot of fun writing The 10 Commandments Of Music 2.0. Please feel free to re-post it (with a link back) and consider giving it a Digg or Stumble.  Plus don't forget to add your own 11th Commandment.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Frenchflag Stern letters from ISPs not enough to stop P2P use: UK survey finds that only 1/3 of P2P file-sharers change their behavior after receiving a warning letter. If disconnection remains on the table it jumps to 80%. (ars)
  • France Declares Three Strikes Unconstitutional (EFF)
  • Ticketmaster, Live Nation: Obama's Antitrust Test (Time Magazine)
  • Universal Music Latin Entertainment (UMLE) Tops the Charts (press release)
  • Film, TV music composers urge copyright law change (Reuters)
  • Excerpt From Jessica Hopper's Book The Girls' Guide to Rocking (Daily Swarm)
  • Topspin graduates its first class of trained online music marketers. (Topspin)

2009.06.10

Wednesday's Music Brief: More NARM, Facebook URLs, JazzTimes Down, Tapulous + Universal & More

Hypebot Favicon More news from the NARM convention today and I'm expecting a second video interview from Virgil today.  But the biggest news may be Facebook's new custom urls. Grab yours before someone else does.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • JazzTimes suspends publication and furloughs staff. (JazzTimes) Another music magazine gone...
  • More bad news for ad supported music and music mags as ad sales continue to fall. (FT)
  • Tapulous Signs Deal With Universal Music To Make Games (mocoNews)
  • Naxos of America will add physical distribution of the Ondine label in the U.S. and Canada on July 1st.
  • Twitter is beta testing verified accounts where users must prove that they are in fact the major celebrity or brand whose Twitter ID they've grabbed. (Twitter)
  • Bopaboo: The business of selling used MP3s. (SF Weekly)
  • Radiohead opens their own download store. (prefix)
  • Bandwidth Music | Technology Conference 2009 to be held in SF in late August has announTypePad - Edit Postced speakers from Atlantic Records and TuneCore. (press release)
  • LimeWire has signed in a few more indie labels to its download store. (DMW)
  • Monetizing Social Media: Here, There, and Everywhere”  (Epicenter)
  • Watch the Webby Awards on YouTube.
  • National women's retailer Dots has launched a branded web radio station via PlayNetwork.(press release)

2009.06.09

Tuesday's Music Brief: NARM, iPhone Surprise, No A2IM VEVO Deal, DJ Schools, MOD & More

Hypebot Favicon More news from NARM is up and I expect more later today along with some exclusive video.  Be sure to check out part 2 of Kyle's interview with the New Rock Star Philosophy duo. Sorry, but I haven't finsihed Part 3 on the The Creative Class & Music. Soon, I promise.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Chinese flag Chinese online game publisher Shanda Interactive Entertainment has paid $46.2 million for a 51% stake in Hurray, an artist development, music production and wireless music distributor in China. (DMW)
  • Despite a report in Digital Music News, "There is no deal and I never said there was a deal,"  for A2IM to sign on with the majors to VEVO says A2IM president Richard Bengloff. In fact A2IM has no such authority to make deals for the labels. (Billboard)
  • Stockholm court: Pirate Bay judge wasn't biased. (ars)
  • Why Vevo could become the Hulu of music. (paidContent)
  • Alice In Chains has signed a worldwide deal with EMI's Virgin Records and are gearing up for the release of their first new studio album in more than 10 years.
  • Why Deejay Schools Are Thriving in a Recession. (Time)
  • Clear Channel radio touts digital growth. Still negotiating with problem lenders. (FMQB)
  • MOD Systems has completed deals with all four majors to sell mp3's via its retail kiosks. (press release)

2009.06.05

Friday's Music Brief: EMI Infighting, Sony Joins VEVO, NARM, Cohen On Spotify, ArtistData & More

Hypebot Favicon If you need a little Friday inspiration,check out today's two Hyebot essays: Virgil Dickerson finds some great lessons in a video on craft beer brewers and our pal from Sweden Martin J. Thörnkvist asks and partially answers "What Will A Record Label Look Like In 5 Years?". I wasn't able to finish the final parts of the Music & The Creative Class series. Look for it Monday along with Kyle Bylin's interview and Virgil's first day at NARM.

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • NARM and NARM Connects start on Sunday in San Diego. In a new move for the music retail conference they're encouraging participation from the tech and mobile sectors and opening showcases to the public. (Variety) I've heard from more than one industry vet that this could be NARM's last confab. While the world could use one less conference, it would also be a loss if there was not a place in the US for music retail and wholesale, as well as indie record labels to gather and share concerns.
  • Steve Jobs recovered, set for timely return to Apple. (ars)
  • UK Minister warns illegal filesharers they face 'technical measures'. "But 3 strikes and you're off the net is too draconian" (Guardian UK)
  • Spotify The prolific and usually right Ted Cohen on The Spotify Effect. (MidemNet) "With the licensing of Spotify, along with Nokia’s Comes With Music mobile initiative, the music industry is finally acknowledging the inevitable. That consumers are now both empowered and entitled. They want it all, and not at $0.99 a bite...ACCESS TRUMPS OWNERSHIP."
  • I found out that IODA has redesigned its web site by following tis @iodamarketing Twitter feed.
  • Congrats to ArtistData on its 1st Anniversary of "connecting artists to fans without getting in the way."
  • Music In The Meltdown: What, then, will play on the soundtrack of the montage of the current crisis? What is the music of our meltdown? (New Republic)
  • Six months later, no ISPs are joining the RIAA piracy fight. (cNet)
  • Unknown bands are breaking into commercials. (Billboard)
  • Vodafone drops DRM restrictions in UK and elsewhere. (WebUser)
  • Saudi Arabia worst for music piracy in Gulf (Arabian Business)
  • Clear Channel Lenders May Reject Debt Exchange (FMQB)
  • Rumors abound that JazzTimes magazine is folding. (JazzBeyondJazz) via Daily Swarm)

2009.06.04

Thursday's Music Brief: Twitter Research, Sales Fall Fast, Live Nation Tickets, Ditto & More

Hypebot Favicon Our man Virgil is headed off to NARM. Try to say hello and share your NARM stories with us.  Twitter and Google continue to make music marketing headlines and 2 more music magazines have gone under. I should have Part 3 of the Music & Creative class series ready for tomorrow plus a great essay by Martin Thörnkvist (The Swedish Model) titled "What Will A Record Label Look Like In 5 Years?". Kyle tells me he's got an interview with the guys behind the New Rock Star Philosophy blog coming on Monday. Onward to a great day!

HYPEBOT FEATURES:

MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • Sirius-xm-merger Though Sirius XM is unable to raise its rates for a while as a condition of their radio merger, subscribers could see some additional fees starting this summer. Subscribers will likely see their bill upped $2 a month, as satellite radio royalty rate increases are be passed along to the consumer. (FMQB)
  • No Free Lunch For Ticket Fees: Live Nation's summer promotion may cut service fees on tickets to select shed shows this season, but that doesn't mean all other fees are pulling a disappearing act. (Pollstar)
  • EMI and Warner Music should simply bite the bullet and merge. It is the story that's been running for a decade and once again the "will they, won't they" talks between EMI and Warner Music have failed to reach a deal.Telegraph U. (Telegraph UK)
  • Innovative UK based indie and digital distributor Ditto (kind of like TuneCore on steroids) has added their catalog to Spotify. (press release) Ditto says that 7 of their distributed albums have reach the Top 40 in the UK and another 7 in Ireland.
  • MySpace has brought in Sam Wick from AOL as SVP of Strategy. He will be in charge of  trying to make money at MySpace Music.  Wick's previous poisitons included stints at AOL’s Userplane, MP3.com and Sony Music. 
  • Tips for Boosting Audio Quality on Digital Music Files (Cybergrass)
  • Cher's $5 Millin UMG Lawsuit Highlights How Record Labels Screw Over Artists. (Techdirt)
  • R.I.P. Blues legend Koko Taylor.

2009.06.03

Wednesday's Music Brief: Joss vs. EMI, Edgar To UK, Xbox Hub, Jamie Thomas & More

Hypebot Favicon Joss Stone is pissed at EMI and Edgar Bronfman Jr. is using some of his $3M bonus to move to London.  Who says the summer is slow for music news? Lots of rumors swirling about the eMusic Sony deal and I'm out their trying to find out the truth. Tips on this and other potential stories are always welcome (bruce @ skylineonline(dot)com). And note the new Twitter signup link in the upper right hand corner of le blog. Are the bird's flapping wings drving you crazy? I can't decide...

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MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

2009.06.02

Tuesday Music Brief: New Elektra, eMusic Reaction & Pricing, Seatwave $'s, U2 & More

Hypebot Favicon More eMusic and Sony fallout info today. I'm hearing some interesting rumors and I'd love to hear your reaction and feedback in the comments section. Plus the majors bag some indie exec talent and you'lll want to read about the importance of offering high quality song samples and nominate your favorite email program in our Reader's Poll.

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Emusic
MORE INDUSTRY NEWS: 

  • A comprehensive look at new post-Sony eMusic subscription music pricing. (Swindleeee) Plus Hypebot's coverage of the addition of Sony to eMusic and the strong subscriber reaction that followed.
  • Online ticketing exchange Seatwave gets $17M 4th round funding. (Billboard)
  • Google May Take Music Downloads Beyond China (IDG)
  • When love leaves town: Like their New Labour fans and counterparts, U2 should take the hint of a dwindling support. (Guardian UK)
  • Book publishers look to music for lessons on digital content. (Reuters) Lessons or mistakes?
  • Pure Play Music Signs Deal to Revolutionize the Advertising Industry With the World's Leading Online Music Placement Company, Ricall (press release)

2009.06.01

Monday's Music Brief: Sony + eMusic, Ticket Sale, PT Barnum, BitTorrent, PlayStation Downloads & More

Hypebot Favicon Sorry for the delay in getting this summary online today. But I wanted to make sure it was up to the minute and I was out late last night at a great Willie Nelson show.  We talk about The Grateful Dead and NIN building tribes, but Willie too has built a tribe of his own. Also, big news today both from Live Nation and eMusic.  Read on and please share your thoughts.

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MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:

  • RIAA RIAA responds: Nesson more like P.T. Barnum than David. Op-ed: In this opinion piece, RIAA General Counsel Steven Marks takes on Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson. (ars) Just get this trial into court for God sakes, let us watch it online and judge for oursleves.
  • Nielsen Hugely Underestimates BitTorrent Traffic. (TorrentFreak)
  • In Music, Apple’s Strength Becomes a Vulnerability (Gigaom)
  • PaidContent: Sony Not Pursing Music Downloads For Its Playstation Network, For Now 
  • Rhapsody's exclusive TV ads target music consumers. (Reuters)
  • An interview with Will Smith of PRS on his recent controversial study reputing the theory of The Long Tail in music. (Outdustry)
  • Assessing Napster - 10 years later (SF Chronicle)
  • We wrote about indie band Chester French encouraging fans to burn copies of their CD to give to friends. Proving once again how smart they are, they linked to the article calling Hypebot "one of the most important blogs in the music industry - it’s read by all the movers, shakers (Editor: That's you.) and the movers and shakers’ assistants". Any band that pr savvy deserves another link. OK maybe two links here and here.

2009.05.30

REWIND: The Music Industry's Week In Review

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2009.05.29

Friday's Music Brief

Hypebot Favicon It was a busy week. The summer slow down certainly hasn't hit yet; at least on the music and digital news front. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of recording a CD Baby podcast and will let you know in a couple of weeks when its ready. Also expect big announcements from Live Nation and mSpot on Monday. - Bruce Houghton

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MORE MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS:EU logo

  • Europe Loosens Digital Downloading Rules While U.S. Suffers Audible Magic's Wire-Sniffing  (Fast Company)
  • Jay-Z To Strike Multiple Label Deals? (FMQB)
  • German Metal Label Declared Insolvent (Billboard)
  • ArtistRise.com Launches Free Online Community for Concert Industry (press release)
  • Filetwt I  wrote about Twitter file sharing tool Filetwt.com earlier in the week. Just got word they've upgraded to better servers and launched an updated site.
  • Seven million Brits are downloading illegally, claims report. (Music Ally, Register UK)
  • iTunes support confirmed for Palm Pre. (Engadget)
  • New Law In Korea Means Google Bans The Uploading Of Music On Any Blog. (Techdirt)


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