The labels have always maintained that copyright protection was about protecting the artists (at least publicly) Now those very same artists are wondering where that protection is. Seems like all that settlement money that the labels have extracted out of lawsuits against Napster and the like has not exactly been handed back to the musos. Maybe they just forgot? Or is it as the article suggests:
Manager Irving Azoff, whose clients included The Eagles and Jewel, said it was a struggle to get money from settlements out of record companies like EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music.
29 February, 2008
Music 2.0 the Book
No, it's not ours. Gert Leonard (who cowrote The Future of Music) has managed to snaffle the title for a collection of essays on the next generation of music companies. Using the Radiohead model, send him forty euro for the print version, or download the ebook and pay what you want.
itunes is number 2
This is all over the web. itunes is now the number 2 music retailer in the US, behind only Walmart. Given amazon's moves into the downloaded music marketplace, it seems that there really *has* been a shift in music buying culture.
21 February, 2008
Music downloads to surpass CD sales by 2012
According to Forrester Research Inc. music downloads will account for half of US music sales by 2011 and will exceed CD sales by 2012. Whilst this sounds like exciting news, you have to consider the source of the information: These projections are derived from surveying 5,000 consumers in the US and Canada.
Although The Guardian (UK) is reporting that album download sales are on the up.
Although The Guardian (UK) is reporting that album download sales are on the up.
20 February, 2008
Apologies to Radiohead
When "In Rainbows" came out it was during a period of music industry history I'm hereby dubbing "the big turnaround". Radiohead's decsion to release online and receive payment via arbitrary donation appeared to be exemplary of Music 2.0 . . . that is until news broke that a CD box set was being released. At the time a lot of bands were annoyed and I may have dissed the band a bit. I read this yesterday which reports that the decision was the label's and not the band's.
This is an example, and a typical one at that, of the separation of authorship and ownership that is fostered by copyright industries. I remember when Fields of the Nephilim's "Fallen" was released a few years back - it had been over a decade since any new recorded material came out and I eagerly awaited my pre-ordered copy. Imagine my disgust when it arrived, was promptly ripped to my iPod and listened to. The track "Hollow Doll" opens up as a mono mix, until you can clearly hear singer Carl McCoy say "turn me up" and the whole mix suddenly becomes a stereo picture. A bit of Googling later, I discover that "Fallen" was a collection of half-finished tracks and demos. An official statement from Carl pointed out that this release came out without his permission, was completely the work of Jungle (the record label) and was not to be considered part of the Neph canon.
This is an example, and a typical one at that, of the separation of authorship and ownership that is fostered by copyright industries. I remember when Fields of the Nephilim's "Fallen" was released a few years back - it had been over a decade since any new recorded material came out and I eagerly awaited my pre-ordered copy. Imagine my disgust when it arrived, was promptly ripped to my iPod and listened to. The track "Hollow Doll" opens up as a mono mix, until you can clearly hear singer Carl McCoy say "turn me up" and the whole mix suddenly becomes a stereo picture. A bit of Googling later, I discover that "Fallen" was a collection of half-finished tracks and demos. An official statement from Carl pointed out that this release came out without his permission, was completely the work of Jungle (the record label) and was not to be considered part of the Neph canon.
19 February, 2008
iband
This is either way cool. Or just too geeky for words. I'm downloading the required apps as we speak!! W6A801 in ten minutes steve?
18 February, 2008
Ad to your music
Ars Technica reports that the labels are quite taken by the idea of ad-supported music, but it isn't clear whether the labels are aiming for downloads or streaming music.
More to come on this
http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-draft-news-corp-working-on-music-hulu-for-myspace/
(sorry, I'm in bit of a rush)
(sorry, I'm in bit of a rush)
REM asks for your video mixes
REM have released a bunch of music videos in mp4 format under Artistic License 2.0 and are inviting remixes. More on O'Reilly Radar and because over at REMHQ:
In a joint effort, Vincent and the band have launched a web site for Supernatural Superserious which offers visitors a truly unique opportunity to download all 10 takes of the video in High Definition and edit their own version of the video.
17 February, 2008
Mixing up social networking with live music info
I just found Sonic Living - currently only applicable to those living in the US, it mixes up social networking (Pandora, Last.FM) with live music info and appears to link to iTunes. Will be worth keeping an eye on.
Linking Video Games and Music Sales
USA Today reports that Guitar Hero is providing another promotional means for bands to generate sales. Dragonforce say that their sales via CDs and digital downloads have increased. The interesting thing, is that Dragonforce are not a mainstream band, but they are just one of several bands reporting an increase of sales due to Guitar Hero.
Video games, it seems, provide a new way for bands to get heard by a wider audience. Perhaps the increasing interest is stemming from consumers being exposed to bands outside of their usual consumption patterns.
Video games, it seems, provide a new way for bands to get heard by a wider audience. Perhaps the increasing interest is stemming from consumers being exposed to bands outside of their usual consumption patterns.
Extending Copyright (again)
The European Commission is suggesting that the copyright in sound recordings be extended from 50 years to 95 years. One has to wonder whether or not this is really necessary. Once again, we see the old author-centric rhetoric about how musicians ability to profit from recorded works should be pulled in line with other forms of works.
Some of the Beatles' early works are nearing that time when the recordings become public domain as are works by artists including The Who, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Bowie.
Some of the Beatles' early works are nearing that time when the recordings become public domain as are works by artists including The Who, Rolling Stones, Elton John and Bowie.
15 February, 2008
Bands like Football Teams??
According to the article Branded Bands, EMI announced the implementation of corporate sponsorships agreements for individual bands in order to help out decreasing revenues.
Jack Horner, Frukt founder, says:
"You could well see a band like Coldplay being sponsored by Smirnoff Ice. The biggest challenge I think is that quite a lot of the EMI artists are very credible and very serious and they have built their careers up.
So whilst EMI may want to have Coldplay sponsored by that drink, you have got to question whether Chris Martin will let that happen.
If the artists are not selling enough music to justify the existence of a record label from their CD sales then other ways of generating reviews have got to be found".
I don't want even imagine my favorite band jumping on stage wearing t-shirts with a big MacDonald logo printed in the front.
Can this be considered a further step into the commodization of music???
Are bands slowly going to loose their reputation and artistic credibility??
Jack Horner, Frukt founder, says:
"You could well see a band like Coldplay being sponsored by Smirnoff Ice. The biggest challenge I think is that quite a lot of the EMI artists are very credible and very serious and they have built their careers up.
So whilst EMI may want to have Coldplay sponsored by that drink, you have got to question whether Chris Martin will let that happen.
If the artists are not selling enough music to justify the existence of a record label from their CD sales then other ways of generating reviews have got to be found".
I don't want even imagine my favorite band jumping on stage wearing t-shirts with a big MacDonald logo printed in the front.
Can this be considered a further step into the commodization of music???
Are bands slowly going to loose their reputation and artistic credibility??
13 February, 2008
From Starbucks to Verizon
Now that coffee shops can do the job of the record labels, it's a natural that mobile phone carriers should be in on the act as well. A piece from Billboard tells us that Timbaland has cut a deal with Verizon in the States to produce a 'mobile album':
Timbaland says the deal will let him reach more fans because "every place don't get a CD [but] everybody has a mobile phone."
The bloke must be a genius :-)
(Thanks for the link, Beatrice!)
12 February, 2008
Where Music Breaks
Some interesting comments from Jimmy Guterman in a post over on O'Reilly Radar today. But this snippet about discoverability caught my eye:
Until the 1980s, record companies looked to radio to break new artists. Until five years ago, the place to launch new performers was video. For most of this decade, the breakdown of traditional music channels has led to new songs being noticed via video games, television shows, and -- most of all - commercials. Whoever is programming the music for Apple's television commercials may be, right now, the most powerful talent scout in the record industry.
To prove his point, Guterman uses the example of the current top selling song on the US iTunes store being the song used in the MacBook Air commercial.
That was the moment we realised the game was up...
From The Economist a few weeks ago:
IN 2006 EMI, the world's fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there.
IN 2006 EMI, the world's fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there.
09 February, 2008
Filtering? That old chestnut?
Carey Sherman's latest suggestion on how to deal with music piracy isn't that original, I seem to remember this idea being banded about a few years back. Does he really expect users to sit by and have RIAA enforcement software installed on their machines just to listen to music? C'mon Carey, get a clue.
06 February, 2008
The Flashbulb - Pirated by iTunes?
Interesting story of the wonderful Benn Jordan (a.k.a. The Flashbulb) on TorrentFreak. The morale of the story seems to be that the so-called digital revolution has spawned numerous intermediaries - many of which don't seem to really be in control of what they're doing, which leads Jordan to his point about artists being control of their own music:
What I’m promoting is the artist’s freedom to choose what can and can’t be done with his/her music, and more importantly, the listener’s freedom to do what he/she wants with their own computer, MP3 player, or internet connection.
After a journey through miles and miles of bullshit in this industry, you learn one thing: If you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself. Whether you’re downloading my music to check it out, to accompany the CD, or even pirating it…I want you to have a version/rip of it that I’ve listened to and approved of.
**Edit:
Ben responded to the TorrentFreak interview on his own blog, and there's more interesting stuff about his approach to distribution and Apple here.
Even the old guys are doing it
As a fan of Gang of Four I'm pleased that there's a new album on the way, but what's interesting is that they "might be releasing the first single or four songs for free on the Internet, or on vinyl, or both, and just see what the marketplace is like".
(Ongoing) Online Music Shakeup
One of the things to watch is the ongoing rise and fall of online music provider wannabees. Last week's Q-Trax debacle is followed this week by Yahoo announcing its dumping of Yahoo! Music and has moved its subscribers over to RealNetwork's Rhapsody. I guess unless you're iTunes, it's pretty tough out there.
05 February, 2008
Kicking things off
The rhetoric of protecting creators' interests has been pulled out of the cupboard, dusted down and paraded in front of courts, authors, musicians, lawyers and the public since copyright began.
The RIAA and Apple are looking to have the royalty percentage that is owed to songwriters reduced. The mechanical copyright royalty is a major source of income for many musicians, because typically they earn very little from sales of recorded music. Collecting mechanical copyrights isn't a straightforward operation which is why most musicians sign up with a publisher who deals with all that, but takes (usually) 50% of the mechanical royalty as payment. As you can work out for yourself, if the mechanical royalty is reduced, then the amount due to the songwriters gets whittled down even further.
According to the report (see above link) the main complaint seems to be from the recording side of the industry who claim that the music publishing industry has "gotten fat" whilst the recording industry has suffered.
The RIAA and Apple are looking to have the royalty percentage that is owed to songwriters reduced. The mechanical copyright royalty is a major source of income for many musicians, because typically they earn very little from sales of recorded music. Collecting mechanical copyrights isn't a straightforward operation which is why most musicians sign up with a publisher who deals with all that, but takes (usually) 50% of the mechanical royalty as payment. As you can work out for yourself, if the mechanical royalty is reduced, then the amount due to the songwriters gets whittled down even further.
According to the report (see above link) the main complaint seems to be from the recording side of the industry who claim that the music publishing industry has "gotten fat" whilst the recording industry has suffered.
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