New Music Business Briefing: EU Twarts RIAA Efforts, Amazon Fund AimeeStreet, Music On TV & Much More
>>> The music industry has been thwarted across Europe in its efforts to identify file sharers. (Register) Dang, they’re going to have to find a real revenue model.
>>> Amazon is leading first round funding for Aimee Street, a digital music site that
prices songs of new artists according to their popularity. Read the full press release after the jump.
>>> Shopping Channels are turning on to musical acts. (LA Times) Its win-win marketing for everyone concerned, but it still seemed sad when Paul McCartney hucked his new Starbucks release on a home shopping network. Please tell me Joni Mitchell won’t be doing the same.
>>> European download provider 24-7 Music Shop is adding movies and video and re-branding itself as 24-7 Entertainment.com. (press release)
>>> At Universal, Aaron Harrison has been upped to Senior Director of Business & Legal Affairs for the music group’s digital division Elbas.
>>> Just because we don’t want you to miss anything important that happened last week, don’t forget Hyperbola’s New Music Business Week In Review.
>>> Molotov.com offers channels and revenue sharing for music videos. (media or)
>>> A look inside digital royalty tracking service Royalty Share. (Union Tribune)
>>> In video from the Music Mashup pre-conference Eric Garland, CEO of Big Champagne talks about what teens are listening to, offer some analysis on how much is being consumed illegally vs. legally as well as how teens obtain music. (here)
>>> Billboard revamps Hot 100 Chart to include dates from AOL and Yahoo! (press release)
>>> R.I.P – Lee Hazelwood. Country legend and Nancy Sinatra collaborator.
>>> Our sister blog TheRockDose delivers a daily dose of rock wisdom.
AmieStreet.com Announces Series A Financing Led By Amazon.com NEW YORK, NY—August 6, 2007—
AmieStreet.com, a fast-growing digital music store with a unique demand-based pricing system, announced today the completion of its Series A financing led by Amazon.com, Inc.
(NASDAQ: AMZN). The amount of Amazon’s investment and the terms are not disclosed.
"Amie Street has a very smart and innovative team," said Jeff Blackburn, Senior Vice President for Business Development, Amazon.com.
"The idea of having customers directly influence the price of songs is an interesting and novel approach to selling digital music."
AmieStreet.com is the first digital music store propelled by social networking, where members of the community drive the discovery, promotion and pricing of music. All songs on AmieStreet.com start at a price of zero cents. As more people download a song the price rises, capping at $0.98.
For recommending their favorite songs to their friends, members are rewarded by receiving credit for the purchase of additional music on AmieStreet.com. The more popular a song becomes after a member has recommended it, the more credit he or she receives to spend on music.
The recommendation system brings the music discovery process and the dynamic of social networking full circle, giving members the incentive and the means to continually discover and share new music.
AmieStreet.com is a music network where people’s passion for music, and their desire to share it with one another, generates commerce that benefits the entire community.
"AmieStreet.com grew from the idea that we needed to make buying music social and fun," said AmieStreet.com’s co-founder and CEO Elliott Breece. "The Amie Street community took over from there, driving a shift toward a music marketplace where consumers decide what is popular and what music is worth. We’re thrilled to have Amazon.com’s support in empowering music consumers."
Anyone can upload their music to AmieStreet.com, and all songs are downloadable in DRM-free mp3 format.
In conjunction with the announcement of its Series A, AmieStreet.com is debuting releases from Audio Bee, Daptone Records, Nettwerk Music Group, United For Opportunity (UFO), Dualtone Music Group, Royalty Share and INgrooves. As always, all songs start free!
