MySpace launches its new music service in September

According to a Fortune article (through Hypebot) of few days ago, it finally seems that MySpace will launch its new music service next september.

The new service will include free streaming, songs purchase, ringtones, t-shirts and concert tickets.

MySpace hopes that this move will increase its competitive advantage towards Facebook which, despite has less users than MySpace, is growing at a faster rate.

What the millenials are saying

In summary: technological advancement will promote further diversification in the music industry, in terms of business models, content and mechanisms for artistfan interaction. No single approach is ‘the next big thing’, and experimentation is strongly encouraged. No-one can afford to wait for proof of concept when the next big innovation is always just around the corner. Millennials are constantly experimenting with and evaluating their experience as consumers: we suggest the music business does the same. (source)

Isn't this what everyone has been telling the record industry for a while?

The Hard Graft

There was a refreshing article in the NYTimes over the weekend about rappers selling their own CDs themselves on the streets. This appears to be one of the more difficult ways of distributing music, yet one street peddler has shifted over 65,000 in four years. Sure, that doesn't sound a lot compared to a major artist, but still, given the distribution method, it's quite impressive.

What is Live Nation up to now?

Live Nation are on the move again snagging more big names.

Indies

Interesting post over at Coolfer about what exactly "indie" means in music 2.0. Once you get past the definitional stuff, there's a couple of interesting paragraphs about the necessary intermediaries for success (which is another contested term, but that's a whole different post, or paper).

Artists can succeed without a major label, but a decent career is going to be hard to achieve without the other traditional components: manager, lawyer, booking agent, publisher, web designer and maybe indie label. As you can see, an indie artist is independent only of a major label contract, not of agents, consultants, representation or standard expenses that take up their share of the artist's income.

I get the impression that people think any ol' Tom, Dick or Harry can call up the music supervisor of "Grey's Anatomy" and get a song into an episode, or that those handful of career-changing music supervisors are always serendipitously stumbling across complete unknowns and placing songs in their series. But even though one facet of a career may have changed -- the type of record label -- the name of the game is still relationships and getting your phone calls returned. Major labels have relationships with the most brick-and-mortar retailers. They cornered the market and are a requisite for wide distribution. Music distribution has changed, obviously, but there are still plenty of gatekeepers to get through.

Rhapsody adopts MP3

Rhapsody has gone MP3. It looks as though the major have completed dropped the DRM idea and have embraced open playback.