The Master Plan

"One of today’s most groundbreaking online music services was created by, and for some time operated..."

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:32:39 -0700

“One of today’s most groundbreaking online music services was created by, and for some time operated by, just one man: Anthony Volodkin. In 2005, when he was all of 19, Volodkin created Hype Machine, a real-time index of music streaming on more than 600 MP3 blogs at any time. With music blogs overtaking professional critics as the primary source of music recommendation, Hype Machine is emerging as a juggernaut of growing influence. What’s more, the now-22-year-old Russian immigrant focused on monetizing music from the start, providing “buy” links to first iTunes, then Amazon. Volodkin now has a
few friends helping him with the site, which has spawned imitators and interested investors.”

- This month’s Billboard likes The Hype Machine! I’d link to something but it’s behind a pay wall. (via fascinated)

"Yet the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse, according to its founder, and so may be..."

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 16:08:48 -0700

“Yet the burgeoning company may be on the verge of collapse, according to its founder, and so may be others like it. “We’re approaching a pull-the-plug kind of decision,” said Tim Westergren, who founded Pandora. “This is like a last stand for webcasting.””

- Giant of Internet Radio Nears Its ‘Last Stand’

The first song off Goh Nakamura’s new album,...

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:34:36 -0700

The first song off Goh Nakamura’s new album, Ulysses.

Release show at Cafe Du Nord next wednesday:
http://gohnakamura.com/ulysses/san-francisco

Album art by Nathalie Roland. Design by Brian Kobashikawa

hypebot: 100 Free & Affordable High & Low Tech Music Promotion Tips

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:54:48 -0700

hypebot: 100 Free & Affordable High & Low Tech Music Promotion Tips: (via yvynyl)

"MySpace Music will include a digital-rights-management-free music store intended to compete with..."

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:36:21 -0700

“MySpace Music will include a digital-rights-management-free music store intended to compete with Apple Inc.’s [AAPL] iTunes, and will also offer a library of full-length streaming songs. The joint venture is majority-owned by MySpace Inc., with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Inc. and Warner Music Group Corp. [WMG] also holding equity stakes. The music industry’s fourth major label, EMI Group plc, is expected to come on board eventually. Independent labels may contribute music to the service but have not received equity, causing some consternation.”

-
MySpace faces rejection, internal dissent in hiring music venture CEO (Tech Confidential - The Note)

CNN Money: Music blogs appeal to advertisers, record labels.

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 07:21:35 -0700

CNN Money: Music blogs appeal to advertisers, record labels.:

yvynyl:

An interesting nugget:

“The Fader guys say RCRD LBL chief executive Peter Rojas is talking to a big act about releasing its next album for free on his site. The band would put out two tracks a month. A single advertiser would sponsor the album and probably pay a hefty sum for the honor. (Rojas declined to comment.)”

"Last year Rubin told the New York Times that Apple’s iTunes and iPod would one day be..."

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:53:49 -0700

“Last year Rubin told the New York Times that Apple’s iTunes and iPod would one day be obsolete. The future? A music subscription model could save the music industry, a view shared by others. “There would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home,” he said. “You’ll say, ‘Today I want to listen to … Simon and Garfunkel,’ and there they are.” At Columbia, he apparently has set up a “word of mouth” department to spread excitement about an artist.”

- Rick Rubin goes digital, joins MOG board | Technology | Los Angeles Times

bigcrush: Yes, I’m a music snob, I’ll admit it.

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:46:33 -0700

bigcrush:

Yes, I’m a music snob, I’ll admit it.

"As the industry changes, we are looking for more different models for growing bands,” said..."

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:42:10 -0700

““As the industry changes, we are looking for more different models for growing bands,” said Jonny Kaps, owner of the + 1 Records company. “It’s really hard to get people to spend money on music, but going to sites like Imeem is a good way to learn about the band before you … buy tickets.””

- Music site Imeem dials up volume of traffic

And, so it begins. Goh Nakamura Record Release Show with...

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 02:12:28 -0700

And, so it begins.

Goh Nakamura Record Release Show with Scrabbel and Michelle Amador

"Technology has always shaped music,” he says, “be it 78s, 45s, LPs or CDs, it changes the shape of..."

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:12:16 -0700

““Technology has always shaped music,” he says, “be it 78s, 45s, LPs or CDs, it changes the shape of the music. With downloading, the artistic change hasn’t really hit yet. But it’s turned the economic model on its head. The major record companies have some smart people looking at digital models. But the question is, will the people at the top be willing to turn the business upside down?””

- An Old Rocker Gets Digital

"Frequently, music industry professionals suggest that an increase in legitimate sales must..."

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:32:59 -0700

“Frequently, music industry professionals suggest that an increase in legitimate sales must necessarily coincide with a commensurate reduction in piracy, as if this were a fact… Rather, it finds that piracy rates follow awareness and interest. In other words, if you do a good job cultivating a legitimate sales story, you must also expect a similar up-tick in grey market activity. The biggest selling albums and songs are nearly always the most widely-pirated, regardless of all the ‘anti-piracy’ tactics employed by music companies.”

- Could ‘legal free’ displace ‘illegal free’?

Steal This Hook? Girl Talk Flouts Copyright Law

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:19:17 -0700

Steal This Hook? Girl Talk Flouts Copyright Law

sympathyfortheartgallery: artistspaid: Popcuts Pays You To...

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:11:03 -0700

sympathyfortheartgallery:

artistspaid:

Popcuts Pays You To Find Good New Music

From Techcrunch:

The web is full of hipsters scouring the indie music scene for the next big thing. And while there is no shortage of communities where these trendsetters can share their picks, they’ve never stood to gain anything from being ahead of the crowd (aside from a slight sense of superiority). Popcuts, a Y Combinator-funded music store that launches today in public beta, is looking to reward these early adopters by paying store credit to the first people who buy a song that later goes on to become popular.

When an artist signs on to the store, they allocate a certain portion of the revenue generated by their songs to go back to their fans. This money is then distributed according to how early each user purchased a song (the earlier you buy, the more you make). For example, the band My First Earthquake has decided to pay out 30% of its revenues to its fans. The earliest adopters (say, the first dozen people to buy the song) will break even after the song has been purchased by around 25 other people. Fans buying the song later on will still earn credit, but it will be earned at a much slower rate (the site will tell you how quickly you’ll be earning credit before you buy a song).

Great concept!

"Ad-supported music has some bright spots and some low points. I’m not sure where trueAnthem ranks,..."

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:24:08 -0700

“Ad-supported music has some bright spots and some low points. I’m not sure where trueAnthem ranks, but I like its business model. The startup raised $2 million and added Adidas as a sponsor. Unlike most free ad-supported music, songs from trueAnthem are available as MP3 files (the ones I downloaded were 128kbps) and begin with brief audio advertisements. There is also an ad at the bottom of each widget from which songs are streamed and downloaded. The press release says ad-free tracks can be purchased for $0.99 apiece, but I have not found a widget with this option.”

- Ad-Supported Music Startup trueAnthem Raises $2 Million, Coolfer. agreed: this model gets a check in the yes column from me. worth a look and a resume perhaps as well. (via sadbear)

"The band’s latest freebie, “Fresh Born,” the first track from their upcoming..."

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:58:05 -0700

“The band’s latest freebie, “Fresh Born,” the first track from their upcoming full-length Offend Maggie, takes a decidedly steampunk approach to copy protection — they’ve posted the track’s sheet music in PDF format and encouraged fans to submit MP3s of themselves covering a song they’ve never actually heard”

- Deerhoof Tests Their Fans’ Music-Reading Abilities; Vulture Keeps Score — Vulture — Entertainment & Culture Blog — New York Magazine

"Will this stop kids from trading infringing files? Kids are time-rich and cash-poor and have an..."

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:26:16 -0700

“Will this stop kids from trading infringing files? Kids are time-rich and cash-poor and have an infinite supply of ingenuity and impecuniousness to apply to the job of getting music for free. Last year, my freshman university students in Los Angeles regaled me with stories of “hard-drive parties” where everyone would gather with guitars, beers and whopping great hard drives that cost less than either the guitars or the beers. While the students jammed, sang and danced, they simply synchronised their drives using whatever laptops were lying around, transferring hundreds of gigabytes’ worth of music while composing and recording songs of their own. It made me wish I was a teenager again: that sounded a lot more fun than painstakingly recording my vinyl to 90-minute cassettes and shyly giving them to girls in the hope of impressing them.”

- Cory Doctorow: Filesharing deal will drive swapping underground

Broken Record: Four Mistakes That Killed the Record Indstry Before File Sharing

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:58:14 -0700

Broken Record: Four Mistakes That Killed the Record Indstry Before File Sharing:

somethingchanged:

artistspaid:(via yvynyl)

"Creating an advertising campaign and “extending it digitally” usually ends up as a checklist...."

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 09:52:38 -0700

“

Creating an advertising campaign and “extending it digitally” usually ends up as a checklist. Micro-site? Check. Online banners? Check. Social media? Check. Mobile? Check.

…Old habits die hard. While consumers are out there spending countless hours on social networks, file-sharing applications, chat, community sites, buying stuff, selling stuff and using multiple devices, some of us tradigital old fogies are still reaching for our beloved toolbox of the past in the hopes of getting their attention.

”

- Why Digital Marketing Needs a Reboot: Advertising Age (via somethingchanged)

artistspaid: Apricado: Selling Your Music Has Never Been This...

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:49:23 -0700

artistspaid:

Apricado: Selling Your Music Has Never Been This Easy

From Techcrunch:

Apricado makes the music submission process ridiculous easy (perhaps to a fault): After uploading a song, the site will automatically detect the artist name and generate a music store (for example, a song by Mika would generate www.apricado.com/Mika). Each song sold will be distributed without DRM, and the site will only take a 20% cut of the revenues (industry standards are usually 30% or more). Visitors who navigate to this site will be presented with a list of available songs. After entering their credit card information on the same page, the selected songs as downloaded as a single .zip file. Artists can also get embed codes for their stores, so they can offer a mini-marketplace on their blogs or MySpace (a Facebook app is on the way).