New Music Business Briefing: Live Nation’s New Ticket Moves, Crowley Upped At Koch, Lennon On iTunes & Much More.
>>> LIve Nation now offers fans a widget and other web tools to find concerts and buy tickets directly from personal web pages. (press release, widgets) Is this part of a broader move to take over their own ticketing when their Ticketmaster contract expires next year?
>>> CHANGES: David Crowley has been upped to VP heading an expanded new media, mobile and digital division at KOCH. David Agnew now heads Disney Records.
>>> Limewire is opening a legit music store with tracks from IRIS and Nettwerk. (TechWeb)
>>> The US has asked the World Trade Organization to mediate piracy disputes with China. (DMW)
>>> iTunes is now selling John Lennon solo tracks. (AP)
>>> Online music licensing marketplace YouLicense.com has launched in public beta. (press release) We’ll publish an interview with one of the founders in the next few days.
>>> One rock print journalist explains why his craft matters in the digital age.(GuitarSite via Wired)
>>> Virtual world Doppleganger has boosted its music offerings. (Billboard)
>>> NFT partners with FMQB to enable emerging artists to broadcast live in the net. (FMQB)
>>> Folk indie Appleseed readies an agressive release schedule to celebrate its 10th Anniversary. (Billboard)
Is having Beatles or ex-Beatles on the ITMS such a big deal? I used to be a huge Beatles fan, but the prospect of buying these recordings again in yet another format doesn’t really excite me the way it seems to some news people and industry folk.
I would think it’s a bigger deal for people who don’t already own the albums – like, say, middle and high school kids who could just as easily download the records for free. (Not that the surviving members of the Beatles or their families are hurting for cash or anything.)
Remember, buying your music online instead of just downloading for free is about training people that are first starting to discover music now, not necessarily getting to people who already don’t care.