- ArtistshouseMusic -

¾ Of Major Labels Ink A 360 Deal With MySpace

tessa — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:52:32 -0700

¾ Of Major Labels Ink A 360 Deal With MySpace

Article:

Well, there’s certainly no shortage of news from the major labels lately. Following recent announcements from Warner (who are presenting a vague idea to charge people a flat fee for all the music they care to download from peer-to-peer sites), and Sony/BMG (whose head, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, revealed that he supports the idea of a DRM-free unlimited music service), The New York Times today reported that three of the four major labels (EMI is rumored to join soon) have struck a deal with MySpace to launch "MySpace Music." The deal will be set up as a joint venture, where the labels will receive an equity stake, and MySpace will control and operate the organization.

Some interesting points:

The major’s entire catalogs would be available.
The labels will stream their music for free, and be paid through advertising dollars (MySpace apparently currently makes $70 million a month in advertising revenue).
Tracks will be available for download DRM-free, so they can play on any MP3 player.
The labels will also use the outlet to sell artist’s merch, ringtones, and tickets (which, thanks to the 360 deals the majors are going for now, will provide additional revenue streams for them).
There is also a possibility of a subscription-based component that would allow users to pay a monthly amount for unlimited downloads (likely through subscription DRM).

It looks to be a real win-win situation for the labels (as well as consumers), apparently made possible through Universal settling their 2006 lawsuit against MySpace for roughly $100 million (which is rumored to be part of the deal).

The only wild card is if folks can be convinced to actually purchase music through MySpace. Shawn Fanning’s Snocap, which folks can currently use to create an online store on MySpace, has not been popular (check out what Derek Sivers, CEO of CD Baby, said about their past arrangement here).

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Why I love Tunecore

tessa — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:23:51 -0800

Why I love Tunecore

Article:

I’ve talked a lot about how TuneCore and CD Baby are great online distribution options for independent bands. The two are set up differently, with CD Baby taking 9% of sales, and TuneCore making money on a $19.98 annual fee plus $.99 per store per record upfront costs. At low sales, there is very little difference between the two services. But at higher sales figures, there’s quite a bit of difference.

Eliot Van Buskirk at Wired’s great music blog just wrote a quick piece on what Trent Reznor likely paid to distribute his new record, ‘Ghosts I-V’ to Amazon. It’s really pretty amazing:

Trent Reznor found a great deal for distributing his comprehensive new Nine Inch Nails album to the Amazon MP3 store: going through TuneCore, while keeping ownership of the master recordings and 100 percent of royalties. Now we can see why he was so eager to leave his record label.

This is assuming TuneCore charged Reznor its standard for delivering a 36-song album on the Amazon MP3 store for the first year; I have a question in with TuneCore to try to confirm:

$35.64 ($0.99 per track)
$ 0.99 to put one album in one online music store
$19.98 charge per album
------------------
$56.61: Total cost to distribute Ghosts I-V to Amazon MP3

That's not the only efficient aspect of Reznor's plan. He's using BitTorrent to distribute the first 8-song volume of the album to fans for free, and the innovative aspect of the release generated lots of (deserved) press attention.

Trent is using a Creative Commons license with this current release, which I also think is noteworthy.

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Yet another "reason"

tessa — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 07:03:11 -0800

Yet another "reason"

Article:

A new Harris Interactive executive omnibus poll of senior business leaders shows a positive association between music education with career advancement. Overall, nearly three-quarters of executives (73 percent) were involved in some type of music program while in school.

The October 2007 Harris Poll that I referenced in my previous post showed music education at an early age greatly increases the likelihood that a child will grow up to seek higher education and ultimately earn a higher salary. This new poll, looking specifically at executives in top companies across the nation, confirms the October poll findings demonstrating music education provides skills and attributes that can lead to success in careers later in life.

Seventy-two percent of executives with music education feel music education equips people to be better team players in their careers and 71 percent feel music education provides you with a disciplined approach to problem solving.

Dr. Elliot W. Eisner of Stanford University reports the arts have cognitive effects, aiding in the preparation for entry into the workforce of the 21st century. Specifically, he cites the following key competencies as being developed through arts education: perception of relationships, skills in finding multiple solutions to problems; attention to nuance; adaptability; decision making skills; and visualization of goals and outcomes.

As stated in my "Do We Really Need a Reason" post, I celebrate music making for very different reasons than the information stated in these Harris Polls. However, in this era of arts program budget cuts, it's good to have more advocacy tools, such these studies, to fight for what we know is important to educating the whole child.... arts education. If we need it, thanks to this most recent study, we have "yet another reason."

For a wealth of additional advocacy resources on ArtistsHouseMusic, click here

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On The Corner

tessa — Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:38:02 -0800

On The Corner

Article:

I’m loving the promo video that Sony made to support the Miles Davis On The Corner box set (the 8th, and last, in an incredible series of high-end sets designed for Miles completists). The 12 minute video, which Sony has provided to Amazon to help sell the $140 set, contains footage from Miles’s On The Corner band playing in Vienna in 1973, as well as a recent interview with the core members of that band (bassist Michael Henderson, guitarist Pete Cosey and alto sax player Dave Liebman) in Miles’s former backyard on W.77th in NYC!

Watch it here

Although Bitches Brew is considered the real departure (from traditional jazz) album, On The Corner is the record that I continue to go back to. What Miles was doing 35 years ago would not seem out of place at all if it was released today. Truly a timeless record.

A lot of the credit has to go to producer Teo Macero, who edited and compiled On The Corner. We interviewed Teo in 2004. Watch him talk about his experience working with Miles here.

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Critical Metrics

tessa — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 15:08:58 -0700

Critical Metrics

Article:

Critical Metrics is a very interesting (if unfortunately named) site focused on dealing with a problem I've been wrestling with forever; basically that the algorithms that iLike and last.fm and amazon, et al. use sort of suck. BusinessWeek's story on CM puts it this way:

Current CM competition, like iLike and Last.fm, are dominated by what Anuff terms "social metrics": They mostly point out what other music the fans of your favorite band dig. "I don't think they're garbage," says Anuff, but "I don't believe [social metrics] have the same level of authority" as critics' opinions. For this reason, he says, they do a poor job of solving "the programming problem every single purveyor has: How do you turn anyone on to new music?"

This is the holy grail for music in some respects, and I'm frustrated that it's taking so damn long to figure it out. I think CM brings us a step closer. [found via my favorite new blog, fistfulayen]

best,
George

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iMix for Promotion

tessa — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 09:35:42 -0700

iMix for Promotion

Article:

How can you put your music in front of people who are searching for better-known artists of your genre? Create an iMix with their music and yours combined!

What is an iMix? Think of it as a playlist that you share with the entire iTunes community. It's designed to help the listener, but it is also a wonderful promotional vehicle for artists.

I am a children's music artist under the name of Debbie and Friends and have a new CD that needs some buzz. Part of my marketing strategy includes creating iMixes that combine my music with better established, highly-searched children's music artists that, like me, cater to the pre-school demographic.

Here is my first iMix:

Higher-rated iMixes get more visibility, so it's important to send it to as many folks as possible! For example, promote the iMix link on your blog… ; )

I'll report back on the results after a few weeks. In the meantime, I'd love to know how some of you are planning to use iMixes to promote your music.

Good luck!

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TI:ME for Music Educators

tessa — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 11:06:37 -0700

TI:ME for Music Educators

Article:

Music Educators, I am writing to tell you about one of the music education industry's best kept secrets called TI:ME (Technology Institute for Music Educators).

The mission of TI:ME is to assist music educators in applying technology to improve teaching and learning in music. Celebrating its 12th year in existence, TI:ME offers a number of state and national conferences each year with practical workshops and presentations on the use of technology in music instruction.

TI:ME conference presentations are conducted by some the best-known luminaries in the field of music education and technology including David Mash, Tom Rudolph, Stefani Langol, Bill Purse, Lynne Purse, and Lee Whitmore just to name a few.

The member benefits are manifold including including lesson plans, grant resources, articles, Web resources, discussion forums, and certificate-level training courses in music education and technology at dozens of universities around the country each summer.

Whether you teach primary, secondary or college-level music instruction, TI:ME has the practical resources to help you integrate the tools of technology into your music instruction.

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RIAA Wins a Key Suit

Gah650 — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 18:26:24 -0700

RIAA Wins a Key Suit

Article:

The verdict is in for the first unauthorized peer-to-peer file sharing suit to have reached trial. While all other suits of this kind have either been dropped, settled, or are still pending, Jammie Thomas – a single mother – who decided to fight the suit brought by the RIAA on behalf of the four major labels has lost.

The jury found Thomas liable for copyright infringement, and ordered her to pay $9,250 for each of the 24 songs that were the subject of the lawsuit. The total penalty Thomas must pay is $220,000.

While this verdict is certainly a victory for the labels, and, as RIAA attorney Richard Gabriel announced after the verdict, “This is what can happen if you don’t settle,” the jury is still very much out with regards to the overall efficacy of the approach of the RIAA. According to research group Big Champagne, the number of peer-to-peer users unlawfully swapping files has nearly tripled since the RIAA began filing lawsuits against individuals.

That said, we now have legal precedent on the books awarding the labels a hefty dollar figure from an individual, as well as some defined elements – such as the fact that the RIAA does not have to prove that anyone downloads the files that one shares on p2p networks, only that they’re shared – which will likely lead to quicker turnaround on future cases.

Examining the Radiohead move

Gah650 — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 11:14:19 -0700

Examining the Radiohead move

Article:

Updating an earlier story, according to a Radiohead spokesman, the majority of people pre-ordering the new Radiohead record at what he describes, “normal retail price.” Very few people, the spokesman continues are opting to purchase Radiohead’s new release, In Rainbows, for a penny.

While it’s still very early days, it appears that from a financial perspective, and certainly from a publicity perspective, Radiohead’s pay-what-you-will gambit is wildly successful.

There are, however, wider-reaching implications. It’s important to remember that Radiohead can bypass major label and publishing deals at this point in their career precisely because they reaped the benefits of the efforts of these major labels and publishers for many years.

It is too easy to blame the majors and the RIAA for all that ails the music business; even though they certainly are to blame for much of it, and are feeling the consequences of their mistakes. But, as pointed out in an earlier news report, the idea of customer-selected pricing is not new. It’s getting the attention it is now because it’s Radiohead opting for this route and not some independent artist whom no one has ever heard of.

While it is clear that Radiohead’s move will establish a model for many established artists moving forward, and that this model will present another death-blow to the majors, many, many artists need and rely upon the majors to establish the type of fan base required to pull a move like Radiohead has. Think of the amount of money, time and effort that was (and continues to be) put into a major-label artists such as Modest Mouse. Without this major-label push it’s unlikely that a band like Modest Mouse would have ever attained the level of success they have.

This is not an argument for major labels. The issue is really one of concern over how many new artists will be able to pull off a Radiohead move with any degree of success, without first having been marketed and promoted by a major label. In other words, while an important step, I'm not sure how instructive Radiohead's move is to the masses.

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New Radiohead Record: Pay What You Want For It

tessa — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 17:30:07 -0700

New Radiohead Record: Pay What You Want For It

Article:

Yow!

Radiohead (who fulfilled their Capital Records contract with their last release, and are presently “unsigned”) have apparently set up a Web page where one could purchase their new record in digital form at whatever price one wants to pay for it. A physical release is also available, for 40GBP.

Check it out: http://www.inrainbows.com/Store/index.html

A couple of interesting things to consider:

1) The proper physical release streets in December with tons of bonus material:

From www.inrainbows.com:

This consists of the new album, in rainbows, on cd And on 2 x 12 inch heavyweight vinyl records. A second, enhanced cd contains more new songs, along with digital photographs and artwork. The discbox also includes artwork and lyric booklets. All are encased in a hardback book and slipcase.

The package sounds amazing, but thanks to the weak USD, I’d be paying more than $80 for it.

2) The digital release (with less music) is available two months prior to the physical release.

I love the idea from a band in Radiohead’s position. They make the bulk of their income on stadium shows and merch, and they have the name recognition and reputation to pull off a 40GBP package (which has a much higher margin for them as they do not need to split any proceeds with a label). It takes the Stars experiment of breaking street date with their digital release a step further by dropping the financial component.

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SongVault.fm

tessa — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:03:48 -0700

SongVault.fm

Article:

SongVault.fm, is the largest radio network for independent artists. This online radio station places artists on stations specific to their genre, which include four tiers of radio stations, where listeners can vote to determine who makes it to the top and in the SongVault Directory and radio stations. Additionally, SongVault.fm will start offering daily podcasts starting Oct 1. These podcasts will feature artists that have made it through their certification process and into the SongVault. The daily podcasts featuring artists in every genre will be available on iTunes, Yahoo and on MySpace.

SongVault.fm was created to help level independent artists that have great music to get the attention they deserve. Artists can join, create an account, and upload three tracks for free, and up to 18 tracks for $9.95 US per year. Artists can also link to their e-commerce site and receive public opinion on new tracks.

As an artist, I was able to set up my free SongVault account in a matter of minutes: http://www.songvault.fm/artists/debbie_and_friends.htm

As a listener, you can quickly access your preferred genre of music and view your history and favorite artist and song selections. There are also listener prizes for voting on new music.

Here's an example of how I can promote my music with SongVault and encourage fans to vote for my music, with html banner code provided by SongVault.

To learn more about SongVault.fm, click here.

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Excellent Run down of the Ringtone Situation

admin — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:12:28 -0700

Excellent Run down of the Ringtone Situation

Article:

Macworld presents one of the best articles I've seen recently on the issues surrounding ringtones. Read it Here,

Obviously ringtones are a massively important issue for the music business. They've been one of the few bright spots for the majors. Now, with the massive success of the iPhone, and the integration of ringtones into the iTunes store, it's even more of a heated issue.

As with so many issues in the record business, this one revolves around publishing. Are ringtones covered by fair use? How about a compulsory license?

Macworld does a fine job of not only providing context with regards to this issue, but also in presenting a good summary of publishing laws in general.

Of course, we cover publishing in serious depth here on Artists House, so, for further reading, check out our articles, videos, and essential questions on this always-important topic.

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Prince and the devolution?

tessa — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 09:56:45 -0700

Prince and the devolution?

Article:

Prince has always been a bit of an enigma to me. Although I was a relatively early adopter (Purple Rain was one of the first cassettes I ever bought, right after Duran Duran Rio), I sort of lost interest by the early 90s. But even when I wasn’t listening to his music, I was always keenly aware of Prince’s marketing and chops. The slave//symbol thing might have been a little out there, but great marketing - it kept Prince in the public eye when there was a bit of a lull due to a fight with his label.

That being said, I jumped back on the Prince train with his 2004 Musicology release and subsequent tour. The music was impressive, but even more impressive was Prince’s tour sales strategy. Prince gave away a copy of his new record with every ticket sold on his arena tour, and SoundScanned every one (meaning that every CD that he gave away with the price of the ticket was counted as a sale by SoundScan, the company the record industry uses to account for retail or show sales). It was a brilliant idea for a couple reasons. First, his record reached #1 based on these show sales, which generated even more press for him. Second, it shows that Prince understands the power of “word of mouth” to sell his music.

At least that is what I thought. I was surprised to read today that Prince took a page from Metallica’s playbook by personally fighting YouTube and demanding that his footage be removed. Prince has hired a firm, appropriately named Web Sheriff, to remove the offensive videos. I found the description of their difficulties to be pretty funny:

"In the last couple of weeks we have directly removed approximately 2,000 Prince videos from YouTube," said Web Sheriff managing director John Giacobbi. "The problem is that one can reduce it to zero and then the next day there will be 100 or 500 or whatever…" he told Reuters.

Seems like an exercise in futility to me.

Perhaps this is another brilliant press move on Prince’s part. It doesn’t seem right to me that someone who would spit in the eye of his record label by bundling his CD in with newspapers in England would fight such a powerful promotional vehicle.

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Free Promotion for Family Shows!

tessa — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:21:28 -0700

Free Promotion for Family Shows!

Article:

I just discovered a free resource to promote family-friendly shows and concerts online and wanted to share it with the Artists House Music community. GoCityKids.com has been serving city families since 2000 and has been nominated for multiple Webby Awards several years running. Their Web-based resources give families shortcuts to their city at its best — its parks, stores, professional services, restaurants, babysitters, places to stay, and entertainment, among other things. For entertainers targeting families with their music, GoCityKids is free advertising and promotion for your concerts, shows and tour schedule!

The other day, I posted my first Go City Kids family concert entry using their online interface for a show I have coming up soon. The Web form was very simple to use and only required email authentication to post; I did not have to become a registered member of their site. After a couple of days processing and a few minor edits on their end, the post is now live:

http://www.gocitykids.com/calendar/?area=194&month=5&day=4

GoCityKids is currently serving 22 major cities around the country: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington D.C. If you are working these markets with family concerts, I encourage you to give GoCityKids a try.

For more information, check out:

http://www.gocitykids.com and www.myspace.com/gocitykids

I hope it proves to be a helpful resource to those of you serving children and families with your music. Please let us know how it works out!

Debbie Cavalier

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State of the Business: I See the Future

Gah650 — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:35:25 -0700

State of the Business: I See the Future

Article:

Somewhat buried in today's release of new Apple product is what I believe will be - in hindsight - viewed as the defining moment of when the music industry changed.

While it's great that the cost of iPods has gone down while the storage has gone up; and, certainly, the iPhone is now pretty irresistibly priced; and the unfortunately-named iTouch is a great device for people who want a bang-up PDA/music player, but are reluctant to switch service providers/phones, this isn't the news.

Rather, it's the Starbucks news that really, truly - not joking - is the real one-more-thing humdinger.

While initially it seemed like not such a big deal: sure, purchasing the music you hear while sipping your over-priced caffeinated milkshake might appeal to some, but it's not that big a deal.

Well slow down, Virginia. Think it through.

This isn't about Starbucks. It's about anyone with a point of view and a constituency being able to frictionlessly distribute music to their customers. All of a sudden, anyone can become a music retailer...without the bothersome issues of...oh...actually having inventory, a distributor, etc.

It will take a while, but, mark my words, over the next several years we'll begin to see "purchase the music you're listening to now" popping up. It won't just be retailers either. Perhaps you're watching Gray's Anatomy, and there's some compelling music being played during a scene. An icon pops up on the TV and/or your iThing device, you click the button...bam. You've got the song, the artist gets a royalty, the TV show gets their piece, and the label (if such a thing still exists) gets their cut.

Why not embed this tech in DVDs? Movies in theaters (as if people aren't using their Blackberries in the theater)?

What about at concerts? Rather than fans having to wait in line after a show to buy a CD, why wouldn't the performer just inform their audience that they have new material available on iTunes (or wherever), and their fans click the button, and - once again - bam. [Thanks to Greg Rodrigue for this contribution to my little theory.]

It doesn't take long to see it stretch to someone walking up to you with their iWhatever and exhorting you to check out this new track that they love. You like it, so you zap it on to your device. However, because it was a pass-along from your friend to you, your friend gets a little piece of the action. Maybe it's only $.05 per song shared, and Apple, the artist, label, etc. get to split the rest of the plunder. This $.05 is a powerful incentive for people to share music.

Clearly, the further out we get the shakier the ground becomes, but it seems very clear that this Starbucks/Apple venture is only the opening salvo in what, in my opinion, is the revolucion we've all been waiting for.

Funny how with this one gesture, in all its simplicity, trumps the 10k or so words that issued forth from the Zen-like presence of Rick Rubin in this week's NYT Magazine piece .

While I have nothing but respect for Mr. Rubin, quotes such as this one don't offer me a lot of reassurance that he really has much of a plan:

Until a new model is agreed upon and rolling, we can be the best at the
existing paradigm, but until the paradigm shifts, it's going to be a
declining business. This model is done.

Um...maybe I'm missing something, but shouldn't the president of one of the most venerable record labels in the world be the one deciding what the "new model" is, rather than waiting for some type of consensus? From whom will this consensus come? I mean, come on! Doesn't that sort of sum it up. I can't help but recall, Peter Senge's line in The Fifth Discipline :

Today's problems come from yesterday's solutions.

Waiting around for someone else to agree on the course of the record industry strikes me as very much "yesterday's solution."

Of course, in what now seems a very prescient quote if you buy into my theory about the Apple/Starbucks nexus being the future, Rubin states:

Either all the record companies will get together or the industry will fall apart and someone like Microsoft will come in and buy one of the companies at wholesale and do what needs to be done," he said. "The future technology companies will either wait for the record companies to smarten up, or they'll let them sink until they can buy them for 10 cents on the dollar and own the whole thing.

He's right, of course, though I think the wait was likely shorter than he imagined, and that there's no reason to buy anything (even at 10 cents on the dollar) when you can just leverage it for free for your own profit. The only thing he got really wrong was which tech company he thought would do this.

The fact that he really thought it would be, Zune-creator, Microsoft instead of Apple who would be the tech company that took advantage of the label's addiction to yesterday's solutions sort of says it all.

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State of the Music Business 8/27/07

Gah650 — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 14:40:32 -0700

State of the Music Business 8/27/07

Article:

It's important to situate yourselves in the context of the music industry in order to move forward with any purpose. It's as if - God forbid - you're at a mall, and you look at one of their maps with the little arrow and red dot that says, "You are here."

The reason you have to do this - now more than ever - is because the landscape is changing so quickly that in order to capitalize on the opportunities that emerge from disruption, you must know where you are.

Secondly, knowing where you are in the context of the music business allows you to heed the important idea Jim Collins presents in his book, Good to Great. What Collins says is that you must "confront the brutal truth, while never losing faith that you will succeed." If you don't confront the brutal facts, you can't create strategies for success; instead, you'll simply flail around waiting for some miracle to occur. Importantly, it's not just confronting the brutal facts that will lead to success. Rather, it's this combination of honestly looking at your situation, and having absolute conviction that you will attain your goals.

It's not as simple as it sounds, but when you start accurately assessing your situation, while still absolutely believing in your long-term success, you will create the appropriate strategies.

So, what is the brutal truth of the record industry right now. Let's have a look:

•To date, album sales from traditional retail for the year are 14% less than they were at this time last year. Digital sales for the year are 48% higher than they were this time last year.

•The best-selling record (and the only record selling more than 100k copies) this week is Disney's High School Musical.

•Shares of Warner Music Group's (WMG) stock are hovering around the $10 a share mark. WMG is, in some respects, a perceived proxy for the record industry in general because it is so visible.

This cross-sampling of information presents us with something of an overview. The data are a a way of beginning to confront the brutal truth. And according to these data, things ain't looking too good.

Let's keep digging a little. The Times reports that YouTube is to begin putting advertising into video clips. Advertisers will pay $20 per thousand views, with the revenue split between YouTube and the content provider. The great music business blog Coolfer does the math and states that a Linkin Park video, which has been viewed over 19 million times would represent revenue of $119,000 for both YouTube and Linkin Park's content provider...wait for it...Warner Music Group.

Turning to the state of Hip Hop, we still see some very innovative marketing, even as music becomes an increasingly small component of the overall "lifestyle" that is being sold. Observe.

Forbes features an article titled "Hip-Hop Cash Kings" that shows, for example, that while Jay-Z made some money by selling 2 million copies of his Kingdom Come record, this was lunch money when compared to what he earned from his stake in the 40/40 Club sports bar franchise, his stake in the Nets, and endorsements from, you know, typically Hip-Hop friendly companies like Hewlett-Packard and General Motors. Remember, this is the guy who used to dribble down in VA.

It really is the endorsements that are making the money for these artists. To wit, Chamillionare is endorsing Energizer; The Game: Skechers (Skechers?!?!); 50 Cent: VitaminWater.

Prior to cashing in on things like VitaminWater and Skechers (again...Skechers?!?!), you need to build quite a fan base of people who will be compelled to purchase the things (like Skechers) that you endorse. Historically, Hip Hop leveraged such ideas as mix tapes to begin spreading the word. But, as with all marketing fads, methods grow tired and result in diminishing returns.

Tom combat this fatigue, As SOHH.com reports , innovators taking new approaches to introducing new artists, such as Less Resnick's concept of...it's easier to let him explain:

"I created this network of barbershops, 350 barbershops in 36 states... I do monthly compilations hosted by artists, send them to my barbershops and they play them. They reach 360,000 viewers a month and I gather feedback that goes back to the labels."

As someone who has done a lot of work marketing and selling music in non-traditional outlets, I'd say Mr. Resnick is on to something.

As Trans World's earning report shows, the traditional outlets ain't doing so good. Trans World, who is the parent company for stores like FYE, Coconuts, and Wherehouse, Strawberries, Spec's, Sam Goody, and Suncoast, saw there music sales fall 19% for the quarter. Unsurprisingly, they're planning to close about 80 of their 963 stores this year.

So, what does this all tell us in terms of confronting the brutal truth with respect to where we are right now in the music business? Certainly, we're continuing to see confusion and disruption, and the major labels and retailers are getting slaughtered. Additionally, we're seeing savvy artists leveraging their music profiles in order to generate new revenue streams which are not contingent upon things like major labels and major retailers.

While the above is interesting from a broad perspective, it's also instructive for emerging artists. The same issues that are causing the problems that the major players are having exist at the indie level too.

While you, sadly, may never get that call from Skechers asking you to endorse their quality footwear, you must begin thinking in terms of alternative streams of revenue. Certainly, with very, very limited exceptions, you can not be focused on getting a record deal.

Instead, you must be focused on attracting and retaining fans in innovative ways, such as creating DVDs of your music for barbershops. While you can't replicate that exact formula, you can be inspired by it, and begin thinking about how you can identify your potential fans, and find ways to get your music in front of them without relying on a corporate entity's help.

This is the brutal truth. However, once confronted, you should be even more encouraged about your chance for success.

From this article, you should have a sense of where the music business is circa Summer 2007. Now it's time to determine where you are with relation to the business. If you're an artist who, for instance, has some great songs but has not played out very frequently and is yet to develop a fan base in your hometown, there are certain things you will need to do. Similarly, if you've got a couple of CDs under your belt, and have a decent local following, but now are unsure what the next steps are, you too have a unique set of issues to confront.

The Artists House site provides strategy for artists irrespective of where they are in their path. the first step is identifying both where you are, and where you fit into the larger picture of the music business.

This "State of the Music Business" column will be a regular one. The goal is to provide you with a context of the industry, so that you can better confront the brutal truth, while never doubting that you will succeed.

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Does Street Date Still Matter?

tessa — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 12:12:36 -0700

Does Street Date Still Matter?

Article:

The Arts and Crafts label is a good example of a label that understands the importance of a brand. Much the same as Stones Throw, I know that 9 times out of 10 I’ll be into what the label puts out. Maybe it’s the fact that more than half the bands on the label have members who play with Broken Social Scene (who are great), but I like to think that they have a particular aesthetic and musical taste that mirrors mine. It makes me want to support them and buy their records/downloads.

Which leads me to the unorthodox release of the new Stars record. Days after the record was mastered, the label released it online, months prior to its retail street date. The following was posted on the bands Website:

Traditional music business practice says we are to begin sending out copies of this album now. We give advance copies to print publications in hopes of securing features that coincide with our September date. We meet with radio stations in hopes of securing airplay. etc, etc.

Inevitably someone will leak the album.

Throughout this process, the most important people in this value chain, the fans, are given only two options - wait until September 25th to legally purchase the new album or choose from a variety of sources and download the album for free, at any time.

We hope you'll choose to support the band, and choose to pay for their album. However we don't think it's fair you should have to wait until September 25th to do so.

We believe that the line between the media and the public is now completely grey.

What is the difference between a writer for a big glossy music magazine and a student writing about their favourite bands on their blog? What differentiates a commercial radio station from someone adding a song to their lastfm channel? or their myspace page?

As such, we are making the new Stars album available for legal download today, four days after its completion. The CD and double vinyl versions of the album will still be released on our official release date, September 25th. We hope you will continue to support music retailers should a physical album in all its packaged glory be your choice of format.

It's our hope that given a clear, legal alternative to downloading music for free, you will choose to support the creators.

We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Sincerely,

Stars and Arts&Crafts

Whether these motives are indeed true, or this was just a really shrewd marketing move by the label…I’m not sure. Arts and Crafts may have a point…I do know that the press are eating the record up, with positive reviews in Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stylus and about a hundred million music blogs. Press may be propelled to cover this release more thoroughly as it’s the first time this tactic has been taken. But if every artist did the same, would press be so kind? What if your fan base is less computer savvy than Stars? Will they still be able to find the record if there is no retail or radio coverage? Independent retail definitely holds a grudge when they think they have been wronged (see the Smashing Pumpkins commentary). Does this even matter anymore? I guess we have to wait until September 25th to see.

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The (growing) Cost of Doing Business

tessa — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:08:36 -0700

The (growing) Cost of Doing Business

Article:

There may be more music produced now than ever, but it certainly is not getting any cheaper to promote it to traditional outlets. David from Digital Audio Insider has written a great piece about the realities of servicing your record to press and radio. College radio is relatively untainted by the consolidation and lack of diversity that haunts commercial radio, and is a good option for independent bands that appeal to the 18-24 demographic. The same can be said for press, who generally review records and concerts based on buzz and quality, rather than ad dollars (unlike commercial radio and most retail visibility).

As David points out in his piece, press and radio do not react well to emails containing links to MP3s to review. They need the proper CD in a package, with a one sheet. The financial realities of this break out like this:

$1.81 per CD package

There are about 1000 college stations which are eligible to send their playlists to CMJ (College Music Journal). Say you are in a hip-hop band and want to get added to the Hip-Hop chart on CMJ. 300 stations report to this.

+ 300 CDs

If you are sending CDs to CMJ, then you are likely touring as well. If you are touring, you want to support your dates by getting press visibility in key markets, as well as try for some national hip-hop pubs. Let’s say you do a press mailing to 300 outlets to cover all major regional papers and targeted national media.

+ 300 CDs

= $1,086 for mailing costs.

Of course, you are going to want to hire an indie to help you at press and radio. Dependent on your goals, how long your campaign is, and who you use, this could cost you anywhere from $1,000-$4,000 for a radio campaign, and between $1000-$5000 a month for three months for publicity coverage.

Based on these numbers, bands are looking at $12,000-$15,000 on the low end to do an effective campaign to press and college radio.

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Record Keeping with IRENE

tessa — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 19:51:30 -0700

Record Keeping with IRENE

Article:

Those of us who grew up with vinyl records know how very delicate they are. The shelf life degrades with every touchdown of the arm and needle. Preserving a record meant not playing it. Scratched and broken records were simply of no use. But now, thanks to the genius of physicist Carl Haber, the rules have changed... Meet IRENE!

IRENE uses a camera and scanning system to reconstruct classic recordings from the original version, without ever touching the record. According to a recent story on NPR, Carl Haber got the idea for this setup a few years ago. He was driving to work, listening to NPR, and heard a report on how historic audio recordings can be so fragile that they risk being damaged if someone plays them by dragging a needle over their surfaces. It made Haber wonder if he could get the sound off old recordings without touching their delicate surfaces. He worked with a colleague, Vitaliy Fadeyev, and they managed to reconstruct sound on a 1950 recording of "Goodnight, Irene" performed by the Weavers.

The process — known as IRENE (Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, etc.) — is rather ingenious according to a recent post in the Library of Congress Blog. Here’s how it works: first, IRENE makes a high-resolution digital image of a disc record. The key is found in creating a digital audio file from the analog information in the disc’s grooves. IRENE can efficiently extract sound from an image of a fragile or damaged disc, “heal” scratches or digitally “reassemble” a broken phonograph record. The extracted sound is converted to standard digital files and stored for purposes of digital access and preservation.

IRENE will no doubt play a significant role preserving the recorded music of our time.

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Smashing Pumpkins and Independent Retail

amosher — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 10:47:43 -0700

Smashing Pumpkins and Independent Retail

Article:

So the great ‘indie’ band The Smashing Pumpkins is back to form with a record that mimics the sounds of their classic Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie records. Excellent news for fans of Billy Corgan, who have had the misfortune of only receiving relatively dismal solo and super group (Zwan) offerings from Corgan and Co. for the past 10 years.

However, all is not good in the land of the great pumpkin. Even though Billy attempted play the local card in a full page ad in the Chicago Tribune for his last solo record (“For 17 years I have been proud to represent Chicago as an artist…”), to the public, he is certainly not supporting the local Chicago retailers with the release of his new record Zeitgeist.

Billy’s new label, Reprise, has decided that they will release different exclusive releases of this record to three large big-box retailers: Target, Best Buy, and iTunes (largest online distributor, and third largest music store out there). While Billy has done some really great things for his community online (offering demos and unreleased records online for free), this move really looks to be alienating his fanbase as well as independent retailers.

Eric Levin (whom I interviewed a while back for Artists House), runs an influential coalition of Independent Music Stores called A.I.M.S. In his latest e mail update, he talks about the Pumpkins decision and how it effects independent retail:

What's wrong with Billy Corgan? The Smashing Pumpkins didn't even play at Live Earth. It seems like some of the indie-record stores and our customers out there felt a little screwed by the roll out of their new release. I even read about it on the interweb.

Mighty A.I.M.S. retailer Stinkweeds in Tempe, AZ, received this letter from one Smashing Pumpkins fan:

    “In early 2006, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, having recorded a glut of new material, decided that a three-disc Stadium Arcadium would be too much to release at once. So they devised a plan: release a two- disc set, but release the extra songs as bonus tracks. These bonus tracks would be dispersed as chain exclusives. Each retail outlet, including the big-box retailers and (supposedly) a smattering of indie stores, would get a different bonus track. There would have been something like twelve bonus tracks, or twelve official versions of the album. Anthony Keidis promoted this as a service to all the different stores that carried his product.”

    Thankfully, they never went through with it. Instead of servicing the chains, what it really would have done is rip off the fans. Music collecting is something people can get really passionate about. I once knew a guy with over 200 Björk CD's, and this was in 1996, when Björk only had two albums out. Likewise, RHCP still has some old-school, hardcore fans, but asking anyone to spend roughly $200 for all the new tracks is simply too much. The move would have either disappointed real fans who would never hear all those new songs, or it would have driven them to the file-sharing networks.

    Having not thought through any of this, Billy Corgan, in his infinite hubris, decided that he'd pull the same stunt with four versions of Zeitgeist, three with bonus tracks. The versions with bonus tracks are available at a handful of global chains only, each with its own bonus track. Indie record stores such as Stinkweeds will not have the bonus tracks for sale.

    This is really nothing new. Many obscure tracks are only published overseas, while EU artists like A Band of Bees and Stina Nordenstam have bonus tracks in North America, to encourage sales of an unknown, foreign artist. So sometimes we benefit from this. Not only that, but the Pumpkins usually bundle and re-release their b-sides and rarities (Pisces Iscariot, The Aeroplane Flies High, Judas O, etc.), so the tracks will probably surface again.

    Does Corgan think you'll buy four versions of Zeitgeist? Probably not. But he is encouraging you to spend your Pumpkins money at the big-box retailers instead of their friendly neighborhood record store. And he probably got a ton of cash up-front. But this move signifies the desire to move music fans away from establishments dedicated to feeding the need for new and experimental music. It encourages moving business to large-scale retailers who sell CD's at low or negative profit in order to get you into the store to buy high-margin items such as software and display accessories. Their shareholders can't handle the financial risk of stocking new and unproven music.

In a capitalist society, your dollar is a vote. That dollar says, "I support the practices of this business. Please continue." Therefore, your music dollar at Best Buy is a vote for unknowledgeable clerks. Your music dollar at Target is a vote for two aisles of Top 40 and '70s funk comps. "Hey, Wal-Mart! Please, give us more censorship and Toby Keith records! Here's my $12.88 for the cause!" If everybody keeps buying CD's at Wal-Mart, soon enough, that will be all we have left. However, your music dollar at a local independent record store will - guess what - help fund the development of independent music. If you choose to buy Zeitgeist, please, choose wisely.

Again, this is a move I’m sure Reprise has made to get buy in and promotion from these major retailers, but the effects of this decision are more far-reaching than they might expect…

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ROYALTY WEEK

mikeking — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 19:54:45 -0700

ROYALTY WEEK

Article:

I just came across a great resource for anyone looking to expand their knowledge and income potential with music royalties and wanted to share it with all of you. The resource is RoyaltyWeek.

RoyaltyWeek is a new weekly electronic magazine featuring industry news and information about music royalties, music intellectual property rights in the digital domain, music royalty collection and distribution, and the evolving world of music distribution in the digital space. RoyaltyWeek was established in February 2007 and already boasts well over 4,000 subscribers.

I spoke to Ben Newshouse, editor of RoyaltyWeek, who indicated the RoyaltyWeek subscriber base is made up primarily of music industry executives at record labels, music publishers, royalty collection societies, and entertainment law firms.

“Subscribers are using it primarily as a source of information,” states Newhouse. “It offers a quick, condensed overview of the news related to the music business, particularly in regards to finances. Our emphasis on the monetary aspects of music (royalties, mergers, financial reporting, etc.) has really struck a chord with our subscribers. The columnists add an element of personal experience and opinion to each issue.”

To receive a free subscription to RoyaltyWeek, enter your email address in the
subscribe box on www.royaltyweek.com. A PDF will be sent to your email each week. Archives of previous issues are readily available on their Web site as well.

RoyaltyWeek is published by Global Media Development Group, Inc. Based in Los Angeles, Global Media Development Group produces products and services for various segments of the film, television and music industries.

If you are looking for ways to expand your royalty income potential while keeping your finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the industry, RoyaltyWeek is a timesaving resource worth checking out!

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Online radio goes dark

Gah650 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 13:28:25 -0700

Online radio goes dark

Article:

The foreboding headline above is both true and, potentially, a portent of things to come. Today, June 26th, thousands of online radio stations (webcasters) have quieted their signals in a show of protest against the new webcasting royalty rates that loom over the industry like a guillotine, and, if carried out as planned, will soon put countless webcasters out of business. While there are thousands of small webcasters out there who are taking part in this protest, you might be surprised to realize that some of the larger players in this space are equally at risk, and are thus protesting. This accounts for the quiet heard from: KCRW, Pandora, BAGel, and WOXY. The silence is meant to spur awareness of this issue, and the call to action is to get listeners who are bothered by the rate hikes to sign petitions which will lobby congressman who may be able to change the legislation. For more info and to get involved, check out Save Radio.

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Performance Arrangements Online!

mikeking — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 08:57:12 -0700

Performance Arrangements Online!

Article:

Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music print publisher, is expanding their performance arrangement business through two ecommerce initiatives: BandMusicDirect.com and OrchestraMusicDirect.com. The launches add to their existing direct music Web site at sheetmusicdirect.com.

BandMusicDirect.com and OrchestraMusicDirect.com are web sites specializing in digital downloadable print music for concert band, jazz band, and marching band ensembles and orchestras. Music directors can browse content by ensemble type, difficulty level, and composer or arranger, see the score and parts, listen to audio files of the performance arrangements, purchase, download and, for the first time, purchase and print the arrangements for their ensembles. Finale Viewer, a plug in by MakeMusic, is required to use BandMusicDirect.com and OrchestraMusicDirect.com.

This new model for performance music distribution serves a great need for music educators with ensembles comprised of a variety of instrument combinations. As music education publishing industry veteran Danny Rocks states in his ArtistsHouse interview, music educators have historically had to jump through many hoops to obtain permission from publishers to make copies of arrangement parts to suit their school ensemble’s needs. “If it was easier to purchase the music digitally teachers wouldn't photocopy the music,” states Rocks. “If a student loses a reed, or a mouthpiece, they must purchase a new one, but when they come to the band room or choral room and are missing their music, people tend to photocopy the music. It would be much easier to purchase the music digitally.”

There are four ways of purchasing the arrangements.

Standard Set: Full score and a set of parts for the arrangement that you are viewing.

Customized Set: Create a custom set of parts to your special instrumentation. This set includes a full score and a mix of parts of your choice. So, if you have 10 trumpet players and 2 clarinet players, you can purchase the parts that you need.

Extra Score: Buy additional scores for contest, for study, to have on hand as a backup or for replacement.

Single Part: Replacing or getting extra parts is quick and easy via digital download.

It appears that the time Mr. Rock’s idea has come! Thanks to the folks at Hal Leonard, performance music distribution has come on board with the 21st century!

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Music News & Commentary: June 4, 2007

Gah650 — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 07:32:08 -0700

Music News & Commentary: June 4, 2007

Article:

Yahoo (via Billboard) is reporting that Microsoft is starting a program called Ignition that is designed to "expose new artists and their music to consumers...by featuring exclusive content through Microsoft's multiple services — including MSN, Xbox, Live, and Zune."

While I'm all for promoting music in new and innovative ways, I've yet to see one of these types of things actually result in any tangible and sustained development for artists.

Basically, there are no short cuts in this business, and even the massive Microsoft with all of their "properties" can't generate emotional connections between an artist and a fan. Sure, they can expose people to music, but think about how much music you're exposed to on a daily basis via music in TV shows, commercials, video games, and on and on. How much of this music connects with you in a significant enough way that you want to hear more of the music?

Yet, artist after artist after artist seek out these short cuts; be they promotional "initiatives" such as this one from Microsoft, or services like Taxi, etc.

To be blunt: they don't work.

What works is writing original, creative songs, and then getting out and performing those songs in front of people, and doing all the hard work involved in maximizing these gigs (local radio, local press, local retail). And then strategically repeating the above over and over in ever-widening concentric circles, attracting and retaining fans throughout.

This takes time, it takes effort, it takes strategy, and it takes endurance, but it is the only way to increase your likliehood of success in this business.

Here at AHM we're dedicated to this philosophy, and have created a tremendous amount of material to help you get out there and build a real and sustained long-term career in which your music impacts people in a meaningful manner.

Check out, for instance, this video on maximizing the gig, as well as this video about how the gig is at the center of career development.

Be sure to look at the related comment that appears to the left of the videos.

Now, don't waste your time on contests, etc. - get out there and play strategically.

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News & Commentary: May 31, 2007

Gah650 — Thu, 31 May 2007 06:59:42 -0700

News & Commentary: May 31, 2007

Article:

Coolfer is reporting that music sales at Borders are, once again, down. It is likely that music will continue to play a smaller role at Borders and other similar retailers (B&N, etc.) in coming years.

While this should come as no surprise to anyone, it does necessitate continued thought on retail strategy. Clearly the center of this strategy must be to continue to focus on selling directly to your fans via downloads directly from your site, as well as selling directly to your fans via selling from the stage at shows.

However, it is premature to abandon a retail strategy altogether. There are, in fact, a number of retailers out there who are not only surviving but thriving.

For instance, check out the list of CIMS stores. CIMS stands for Coalition of Independent Music Stores, and is comprised of some of the finest music retailers in the country. They continue to know and provide value to their customers, and sell a lot of records.

As you're building your overall strategy for marketing and distributing your music, do be sure to consider retail. While Borders, and the other "Big Box" retailers (like Wal-Mart) will play a lesser role, other retailers (the CIMS stores, for example) continue to be very important.

For a profile on one of these retailers who will continue to be relevant, check out Mike King's interview with Eric Levin of the great Criminal Records.

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Music News & Commentary: May 30, 2007

Gah650 — Wed, 30 May 2007 06:50:25 -0700

Music News & Commentary: May 30, 2007

Article:

The Wall Stret Journal is reporting that Viacom will sell its Famous Music Publishing entity to Sony/ATV publishing for $370 million. The WSJ story is behind its pay-wall, but here is a link to Yahoo's reporting of the story.

This story is newsworthy for a number of reasons. First, Famous music was originally founded in the 1920s as a way to publish the music that was being released by its partner film company. So, here we sit, nearly 100 years later, and the idea of leveraging music in movies is perhaps more important than it's ever been.

This leads me to the second reason this story is newsworthy. Even as record sales plummet - and with them the value of labels - the value (and marketability) of publishing companies continues to increase.

Why? Publishing is at the center of the music business. It doesn't matter, for instance, if CDs disappear completely; it really doesn't even matter if labels disappear completely, whenever music is used in any manner (on radio, live, downloads, in movies/TV, etc.), publishing revenue is generated.

Publishing has always been at the center of the business, but it's been sort of an exclusive club. Outsiders have been unable to gain access because they've been intimidated by the arcane terms (controlled composition clause) and the - uh - math.

There's really no reason for this level of intimidation. Once you take the time to learn about 5 terms, and spend a few hours to understand how the math works - via understanding how the money flows - you can enter this club.

You should enter this club. It's the past, present, and future of the business. The barriers to entry with respect to publishing are much lower than for other parts of the music business; basically, either write or go out and find some songs, get them registered, and then hustle to get them used (on record, movies, etc.), and you're a publisher.

There's loads of info on the site to get you started.

Here's a video entitled Publishing 101 to get you started.

Managing Editor of the AHM site, Mike King, interviewed publisher and author Eric Beall to determine how to leverage publishing to make music make money. Check it out here.

To get a sense of how publishing companies work check out: About Publishing Companies .

If you decide you want to offer someone a deal (or if you're looking for a publishing deal yourself), check out this video on Types of Publishing Deals.

Finally, to see how publishing connects with the other elements of the business, check out my article entitled Royalty Streams.

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