More Music Industry News: Last.fm, Rolling Stone, Music Comics, “N” Words, Zune Hacks & More
Last.fm turns the volume up – David Goodman, Last.fm's chief, talks to Emma Barnett about how the music site is going back to its roots, having terminated on-demand streaming, with a renewed focus on scrobbling and personalized internet radio. (Telegraph UK)- Not sure we need copyright reform? RT @dubber: 6 out of 13 number 1 songs in the US in 2009 were sample-based.
- Much of Rolling Stone Magazine's content will go behind a pay wall soon. (Media Memo)
- Musicians experiment with graphic novels and comics. (Financial Times)
- So who runs the record labels now? Stars like Jack White, and Kings of Leon, and many cult acts, are starting labels. Why? Are their signings better than those to traditional companies? Elisa Bray looks at the small print. (Independent)
- Def Jam Rapstar: when keeping it real gets real awkward. (ars) White rappers and the "N' word.
- Zune Hackers Create Toolkit to Make Apps, Games (Gadget Lab)
- Apple elbows Google aside to become Silicon Valley's most valuable company. (Mercury News) Plus a graphic look at Apple vs. Microsoft vs. Google.
- The 17 Coolest Record Stores in America (Paste)
- MUST READ: What If More Money Makes People Less Inclined To Create? (Mike Masnick @ Techdirt)
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On the story about acts starting labels: I think the idea of an artist-curated collection has merit. It certainly worked for me: the article mentioned Jack White’s backing of the Smoke Fairies, and after playing through their MySpace tracks I’m excited, I’m sold. Will buy everything they have for Amazon and iTunes download as soon as ‘puter gets back from the repair shop. I’m considering driving some distance to see them as an opening act on their US tour in May. ((So, thanks for the pointer!!!))
What I found interesting is that the Smoke Fairies seem to have done a full-length release around 2006 but it has vanished leaving little to no trace anywhere — there are a few mentions of it on the web but nobody has copies, new or used. So is Jack White’s endorsement what could push them through to a noticable audience?
In the late 1990s, Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains had a boutique label Wicklow, run through BMG. Moloney must have great ears, because Wicklow, a world music label, had a 100% artistic success rate on their dozen (?) releases. I don’t know how well Wicklow did business-wise, and it didn’t matter; the imprint had been assigned to BMG’s classical music division and so Wicklow was killed off when BMG classical music was gutted.