Another techdirt rant...

Another techdirt rant that has some internet success stories worth following up...

"Freakomendations'

I just came across this blog which mainly talks about music discovery and recommendations.



If you are interested in recommendation systems and how well they really work it's worth to check it out.



I liked the "freakomendations" posts (a new word made up by the Author Paul Lamere to describe strange recommendations that are often made by recommendations systems) and this Power Point Presentation.

So what about this?

An old post from techdirt suggesting a business model for new bands. 

Naaaaaaapster!

Auntie Beeb reports that Napster has just opened the world's largest online DRM-free MP3 store. It'll directly compete with Amazon, which is the only other comparable DRM-free store. Sure, iTunes offers the iTunes+ selection, but it's limited. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out. What I find interesting is that on the one hand the recording industry is trying to fight unauthorised sharing of MP3s but is now simultaneously putting unprotected content out there in the market place. I guess that if nothing else it'll take the DMCA and Digital Agenda's TPM controls out of the game.

Telling Lies

This is bit of a fanboy post admittedly, but I was just looking for an entry on Wikipedia for the movie "Telling Lies" and instead came across the entry for David Bowie's song by the same name.

According to Wikipedia (and I paraphrase Sherm here with an "I know, I know") "Telling Lies" (from the "Earthling" album) was the first freely downloadable single from a major artist.

Three versions of "Telling Lies" were released on Bowie's official website beginning September 11, 1996 — one version was released for each of three weeks — constituting the first ever downloadable single by a major artist. According to issued press releases, over 300,000 people downloaded the original Internet-only release. Two months later it was released as a single by BMG in Europe.

Venture Capital and Music 2.0

There is another interesting Hypebot post summarizing Venture Capital talks at the MusicTech Summit happened in San Francisco last week.



Apparently Venture Capitalists seem a bit reluctant in investing in music 2.0 companies because of the few revenues generated within the industry and the dubious legality of many of their models.



You can read more here



From what emerged in these talks, it looks like the future of music 2.0 companies doesn't look very promising.

Music 2.0 top 10 issues

Hypebot posted an interesting list of what they think are the top 10 issues in Music 2.0.

How this issues will be developed will characterize the future of the music industry.

You can read them here.

The CD's not dead?

There's an interesting article over at Coolfer rebutting Wired's proclamation that the CD is dead. As it's only a click away I won't bother reiterating the details here, but I strongly recommend that you read it because it provides some important reminders.

Combining Music and Art...on stage

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article about a band called Cloud Cult. They combine music with live painting onstage. Instead of making revenues from merchandising, the band sells paintings and other souvenirs.



"In the crowded genre of indie rock, in which bands typically earn more by touring than selling albums, the painters have helped Cloud Cult's stage show stand out. While the paintings offer a glimpse into the economics of a working-class rock band, they're also intimately tied to Cloud Cult's music."

They also spent $15,000 for their CDs (double the price of a typical rate) since they used non-toxic inks and recycled packaging instead of the standard plastic cases.

Admirable idea but I wonder if these extra costs will be transfered to the final consumer.

Tricky

The fabulous Tricky is also on the "let your fans remix your music" bandwagon.

http://www.knowlewestboy.com/

This is one that I just might have a go at myself.

And for the second time tonight I've come across another term that's new to me. It appears that the "let your fans remix your music" trend that has been sweeping the Net is known as "crowdsourcing" - I'm guessing that's a play on "crowdsurfing" with both terms referring to different way that fans can get close to the recording artist :)

What's interesting about this particular instance is (and this is as I understand it from Wired) that remixers will be rewarded with the payment of one pound sterling, but that payment buys your rights in the remix. I'm unsure at this stage how I feel about that.

Tumblelogs

Just when I thought that there was nothing going on in the Music 2.0 world I came across a new term - "tumblelog".

From Wikipedia:

A tumblelog (or tlog) is a variation of a blog that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, tumblelogs are frequently used to share the author's creations, discoveries, or experiences while providing little or no commentary.

Wired has this short, but interesting article about Joseph Arthur's work. It seems that tlogs offer the digital equivalent of a working artist's CV. They may also provide a useful means to engage fans, not necessarily through bi-directional communication but in terms of distributing content (finished and in progress).

Merlin . . . the 5th major?

Twelve thousand indie labels have banded together to form Voltron! Ahem, no . . . they've banded together to form a virtual label called Merlin in order to gain some heavy bargaining power with the majors. According to Ars Technica indies produce 80 percent of the world's music, which is strange, because I was always under the impression that the majors owned about 80 percent of the world's recorded music.

GTA

The music supervisor for Grand Theft Auto IV has stated that GTA soundtracks help individuals to discover new music:

"GTA" soundtracks are a big deal."

'GTA,' more than any game, helps people discover new music and become aware of old music and break bands and all that," Pavlovich said. Those who've been bingeing on the game this week, hearing many of its tunes in their heads, would find that hard to dispute.

Blowback from In-tune Australia Video

MIPI recently launched a video (called In-Tune Australia) featuring a whole bunch of Australian musicians talking about how it's not a rock-star life. Of course, it's nothing less than a more mannered anti-piracy/anti-download campaign, funded by the record industry.

Now, one of the musicians in the video has squealed. Lindsay McDougall from Frenzal Rhomb claims he was never told about the motives for the video, and would never have taken part if he knew:

He said he was told the 10-minute film, which is being distributed for free to all high schools in Australia, was about trying to survive as an Australian musician and no one mentioned the video would be used as part of an anti-piracy campaign.