Opinion

By admin • September 3rd, 2010

guardian.co.uk

Pop does intuitively what brand managers work years to learn – create vivid images and distil ideas into single hits of feeling.Earlier this year, Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am gave an interview to the Wall Street Journal about his group’s success. “I consider us a brand,” he said, adding such observations as: “Here’s how the [...]

karmsundbk

Before I start, Here is a breakdown of the players involved in radio airplay (Pay For Play). *Record Company: A company that makes and sells musical recordings *Radio Promoter:The main function is to get airplay for the performer’s latest release. This is usually accomplished by contacting primary and secondary radio stations in each market, making [...]

npr

Today on Pop Off we talk about the new single by Jazmine Sullivan, a Philadelphia R&B singer whose new single “Holding You Down (Goin’ In Circles)” eschews the technological gloss that so many of today’s pop hits have in favor of the grittier, more distortion-filled production techniques used on R&B and hip-hop songs popular 20 [...]

guardian.co.uk

Indie likes to pride itself on having an enlightened sense of gender relations. But that doesn’t stop female audience members from being groped at shows. Without a doubt, indie has a more enlightened sense of gender relations than many musical genres. You can see this in a number of areas, such as pioneering co-ed bands [...]

winnipegfreepress

THAT tireless troubadour Neil Young, I see, has earned the wrath of cut­ting- edge music pundits over the release strategy of his forthcom­ing solo album. Le Noise, as it’s now being called (wasn’t the work­ing title Twisted Road when Young played here a month ago?), will hit stores in CD and vinyl, as well as [...]

huffingtonpost

While the appetite for music is stronger than ever, a new successful business model for the industry continues to be elusive. Each year, a new favored solution appears…and disappoints. So where is the new successful model going to come from, and can it truly gain enough traction to compensate for the huge decline in physical [...]

billboard

Ticked off by a rash of fake Twitter accounts created in his name, Kanye West turned to his blog in May 2009 to unleash an expletive-laden rant against the microblogging site. “I DON’T HAVE A F**KING TWITTER,” West wrote. “WHY WOULD I USE TWITTER???” But with a new album scheduled to drop this fall, West [...]

techdirt

We recently showed a graphic description of the ridiculous licensing spiderweb any new music startup needs to go through these days. That was a UK depiction, but it’s quite similar in the US and other parts of the world as well. What’s not seen in the graphic, however, is just what some of the [...]

musiciancoaching

I was able to ask my friend Howie Schnee the Co-Owner of Creative Entertainment Group and Co-Owner of Sullivan Hall and Sullivan Room in New York a few questions about what his job is like and what helps influence his decisions in booking bands into his clubs. I have known Howie since the early [...]

vinylrecording

Illegal downloading of songs is all the rage these days but should the record companies be up in arms? In the beginning there was Thomas Edison’s phonograph with the cylindrical records that, although amazing for their time, sounded awful. There was no electronic amplification and the player had to cranked by hand to produce sound. [...]

neowin

Today two articles have been published by different, reputable websites regarding both Apple’s future music distribution service efforts and how Google plans to enter the music distribution market.
Apple is due to hold an event on September 1st where many people expect the company to announce a new line up of iPods and the long [...]

futureofmusicbook

Believe it or not, the National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America have announced that they want new digital devices like cellphones, iPods and music players to be legally required to incorporate FM radio receivers. This appears to be a twisted bargain to get the radio broadcasters to agree [...]

blogs.forrester

Following my post about EMI’s financial results’ risk guidance for Apple’s dominance of the download market, there has been some questioning about whether this is actually a big deal or not. The likes of Warner Music and Google make similar risk warnings in their results, so no big deal then? Wrong. This is in fact [...]

news.cnet

The Internet is a killer of art–at least that’s how a couple of former rock ‘n’ roll gods see it. John Mellencamp, known for such ’80s hits as “Jack and Diane” and “Hurts So Good,” last week said the Web is the most dangerous creation since the atomic bomb. Stevie Nicks, the Fleetwood Mac songstress, [...]

diymusician.cdbaby

John Mellencamp and Stevie Nicks are the latest aging music stars to publicly express their distaste for the way the internet has changed the music industry. Mellencamp equated the web’s effect on music to “the atomic bomb,” and stated that it “destroyed the music business.” Nicks has recently claimed that “The internet has destroyed rock,” [...]

musicians-resources.suite101

Social media has changed the way businesses do business. It has changed the way that people find out about news, events and various other social happenings. Social media, or social networking sites, such as Myspace’s social network, YouTube’s video community and network, Facebook’s social network and micro blogging site Twitter have even busted open the [...]

nbcchicago

Rock goddess Stevie Nicks isn’t exactly thrilled about what has happened to the music industry these days and fears that younger artists’ careers are going to be impacted as a result. “The Internet has destroyed rock,” the 62-year-old singer told The Daily News. “Children no longer develop social graces. They don’t hang out anymore. [...]

knowthemusicbiz

Since co-founding Bloodshot Records in Chicago in 1994, co-owner Rob Miller has dirtied his hands in all aspects of keeping an independent label afloat in a world beset by American Idol, illegal downloading and a collapsing economy. Before that he lived in and around Detroit where he was a middling music writer, college [...]

fashionista

Late last Thursday, apparel manufacturer L.A. Triumph Inc., filed suit against Madonna, claiming that her “Material Girl” line for Macy’s threatens their own “Material Girl” clothing line that they have been selling since 1997. L.A. Triumph is hoping a judge will rule that Madonna’s new tween line creates confusion among consumers (“deception in the marketplace” [...]

pitchfork

A is for Architecture: What rock writers dance about, of course. What began as a quip– probably not by Elvis Costello, though he’s most often credited– is now used as a supposedly match-winning argument by people looking to decry the pointlessness of music criticism. Whoever said it had probably never been clubbing– in reality [...]

npr

Musicians say social media is part of their job, just like touring is, but that it takes time away from their real work or writing, rehearsing and recording songs. Musicians say social media is part of their job, just like touring is, but that it takes time away from their real work or writing, rehearsing [...]

kleerstreemmusic.posterous

Maybe you should stop whining and adjust your business model. Explain this to me. I got to a store and they have CDs and DVDS for sale. They are both similarly priced. However, one cost the creator let’s say 100,000 and the other 100 million. What is the better value for my entertainment? Obviously that’s [...]

midtntoday

With the music business evolving constantly, colleges and universities that offer a music industry curriculum are particularly challenged. Unlike just a few years ago, when standards and practices were somewhat steadfast and dependable, today’s market is like the Wild, Wild West — uncharted territory that is being explored and defined as we move through it. [...]

ilikemusic

Last month godfather of grime Wiley caused quite a kerfuffle by giving away just over 200 of his tracks for free, including the entirety of what was supposed to be his forthcoming Island-released album, The Elusive. Though characteristic of Wiley to react to a disagreement with manager and label in such a drastic fashion, the [...]

musicsupportedhere

Paul McGuinness, the manager of one of the most successful bands on the planet U2, has just published a thoughtful and well reasoned article in British GQ on the topic of “free content” and the effect it is having on the music industry. In the article McGuiness discusses some key points: Backlash from bloggers – [...]

theindielaunchpad

The introduction of social media was such a success because it gave people the platform that they needed to connect with ANYONE. No longer are people held back by the constraints of geography or even the fact that they don’t know someone. With the proper introduction anyone can connect with anyone. Most importantly it gave [...]

emusician

There’s a story I have heard about the-artist-formerly-known-as-and-now-once-again-known-as-Prince. It suggests that during the past 30 years, he has commissioned several documentaries about his life and work from major filmmakers. Each one has been filmed and edited at great expense, only to be consigned to Prince’s vault for his own viewing pleasure, a glorified home movie [...]

starpulse

Rocker-turned-filmmaker Rob Zombie has predicted the death of the CD album, insisting music fans will soon stop paying for music altogether. The former White Zombie frontman insists the album format is outdated and bands will have to adapt to keep fans interested.
He tells AOL’s Noisecreep, “Truthfully, when you make a new album… you go, ‘OK [...]

rossmichelpublishing

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY is on its death bed. The music sucks. Many of the artists are mediocre. And the record sales are down. When the industry needs a boost, it always pulls “the (fill-in-the-blank) is the next Michael Jackson” card. The latest fill in the blank artist is Lady Gaga.
Is Lady Gaga the next Michael [...]

johnniemoore

I guess most of us, growing up, had the grouchy-old-man neighbour? In Bishop’s Avenue, he lived a few doors along in the white bungalow hidden behind large bushes. He was known to all of us as the nasty man who hated children. Truth and myth became hard to separate, and a few summer’s evenings would [...]

npr

Quick: without checking, what was the last album you bought, and which record label put it out? I’m wondering after reading a piece by critic Sasha Frere-Jones in this week’s New Yorker magazine on the how The Suburbs, the new release by Arcade Fire, coupled with the band’s two-night stint at Madison Square Garden, might [...]

dailymail.co.uk

The man who helped launch the career of Kylie Minogue yesterday condemned modern pop culture for ’sexualising’ youngsters. Mike Stock, one third of the legendary pop factory Stock, Aitken and Waterman, said: ‘The music industry has gone too far. It’s not about me being old fashioned. It’s about keeping values that are important in the [...]

techcrunch

Android 2.2, the latest version of Google’s mobile operating system that is now being deployed to popular devices like the Droid and Evo, is a speed demon. Unfortunately, it’s also tone-deaf: the OS comes with a strage flaw that makes your headphones sound like a pair of tin cans whenever you tune into a streaming [...]

huffingtonpost

My last blog was (hopefully) a humorous essay about which songs radio shouldn’t play anymore. There was a hearty response to that one. Not just about the music, but about radio itself. People are passionate about their tunes and the delivery system by which they receive them, always making for lively debate. So let’s dig [...]

nashvillescene

Ever wonder why P.R.O.s (performing rights’ organizations) like BMI and ASCAP have steadily rising profits, while the rest of the music industry has lost some 60 percent of its income in recent years? One reason: They embrace new technologies where others scoff or tremble. The same technologies that make it easier to listen to and [...]

thecynicalmusician

Graphomania – saith Wikipedia – is “a morbid mental condition characterized by the writing of long successions of unconnected meaningless words”. There is also a second, less clinical meaning: the impulsive inclination to write, in a literary sense.
Now, in some quarters, this creative impulse might be mistaken for talent. However, that presumes the writer’s work [...]

digitalmusicnews

MySpace Music has typically been a starting point for bands and fans online. But can this site actually jump-start an artist career? This is a concern for any artist battling the clutter, and it has also become a greater focus for the MySpace Music team. But… MySpace Music? Why focus too [...]

nytimes

There was the time her pet hamster, Herschel, died. There was the time she was run over by a car. Neither episode provoked tears. Not even close. And yet, on a recent Thursday, as Baker drove down Highway 60, about 55 miles northwest of Phoenix, she had to wonder, Is today one of those days [...]

invisibleoranges

Thou are a case study in running a band in a post-label world. They do three essential things for DIY bands today: (1) give music away for free, (2) interact with fans, and (3) tour. All these activities are related. The first maximizes the number of fans; the second maximizes the dedication of fans. [...]

lefsetz

In order to justify overpaying independent concert promoters for their companies, Robert Sillerman needed to find someone to buy SFX. That was always the plan, to find a mark who could be convinced the company was an endless money machine, and must be snapped up. That company ended up being Clear Channel. But where [...]

minyanville

What did I learn as a kid on Western? Don’t sell a guy one car. Sell him five cars over 15 years.”
– Dave Moss. Contrary to popular belief, Apple’s (AAPL) lifeblood isn’t the iPhone. It’s not the iPod, it’s not the new iMacs, and it’s certainly not the iPad.
What keeps Apple going is a little [...]

spinme

By the math in the article, the average “signed” musician makes $23.40 for every $1,000 of revenue earned by the label. Think about it in terms of downloads. Get signed to a label, and sell 1,000 downloads in your first week of release. That’s still pretty….

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allaboutjazz

This week’s interview with uPlaya’s CEO David Meredith put forth a pretty convincing argument as to why the company’s hit song science can help musicians. But while Mr. Meredith made a number of great points, skeptical musicians might be better convinced by one of their own.
To that end, I spoke at length with David Bell [...]

technology-digital

Internet or the online music have steered the music listeners and the sale of music album in the technological era. With online music and easy downloads, the musicians and the listeners share a new bond. Internet-Music Bond.
The collaboration of Internet and music has shared a bond pleasing musicians and their audience since its inception a [...]

ericbeall.berkleemusicblogs

I think the advertising tagline of the New Music Seminar, held last week in NYC, should have been changed from “The Revolution Starts Here” to “Welcome to the War Zone”. That seems to better capture the mood at the parts of the conference I attended— battered, beleaguered, angry and afraid. Very afraid. And for good [...]