MySpace Targeted Advertising Spells Opportunity for Bands
MySpace is now planning a targeted advertising initiative that spells opportunity for bands and music companies. The initiative, called SelfServe, allows smaller advertisers to create and target their ads across the network. Bands are an obvious fit for the platform, though MySpace is also pitching the concept to politicians, small businesses, and other groups. "Targeting is for everyone — from the smallest band to the biggest brand — now MySpace provides a solution for anyone looking to advertise on the most trafficked site in the country," said Michael Barrett, chief revenue officer for Fox Interactive Media.
The new concept, slated for release early next year, was recently disclosed at the ad:tech conference in New York.
Story by news analyst Alexandra Osorio.
Source: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/110607myspace/view
donderdag 8 november 2007
dinsdag 6 november 2007
The piracy debate
The Piracy Debate
The debate over piracy is one that has no end. One one side you have Capgemeni's recent "value gap" study pegged piracy's impact on the U.K. music industry at 18% of its decline from its 2004 level. The majority of the decline, Capgemini estimated, was due to the unbundling of the album, or the substitution of a small number of digital tracks for an album.
But wait. A new Canadian study by academians Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz found that online piracy has no impact on CD purchases. (Download a PDF of the report here.) However, in the subset of Canadians who do use P2P services, file-sharing was found to increase CD purchasing (by 0.44 CDs per album download). The study assumes 29% of Canadians are P2P downloaders.
"In the aggregate, we are unable to discover any direct relationship between P2P filesharing and CD purchases in Canada. The analysis of the entire Canadian population does not uncover either a positive or negative relationship between the number of files downloaded from P2P networks and CDs purchased. That is, we find no direct evidence to suggest that the net effect of P2P file-sharing on CD purchasing is either positive or negative for Canada as a whole. ...
However, our analysis of the Canadian P2P file-sharing subpopulation suggests that there is a strong positive relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchasing. That is, among Canadians actually engaged in it, P2P file-sharing increases CD purchasing. We estimate that the effect of one additional P2P download per month is to increase music purchasing by 0.44 CDs per year."
Professor Stanley Liebowitz, who has studied the relationship between file-sharing and CD sales, commented on the Canadian study at his website (he refers to the authors as A/F):
"With these seemingly innocuous assumptions, the results of A/F imply that obtaining music illicitly should have increased record sales by 50% (since each illicit album increases sales by half a unit and there are as many illicit albums as legitimate sales). Contrary to the large increase in album sales predicted by A/F, album sales in Canada have fallen considerably since 1999. According to IFPI statistics unit sales were down 30% by 2005 whereas CRIA statistics indicate that unit sales were down by 20%. ...
To believe the results of A/F you must accept that sales have dropped by half in 6 years, due to some factor that no one can identify. Does this seem even remotely plausible? This would be such a steep decline in such a short period of time that it would seem impossible to not have a clearly identified cause. And A/F’s results rule out the possibility of other entertainment activities siphoning off record listeners."
So is online piracy a problem or isn't it? Judging from FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate's speech last week at Vanderbilt University, Washington D.C.'s perception is still that online piracy is a major problem. Commissioner Tate talked almost entirely about piracy -- online and physical -- and laid out numerous examples of piracy's negative impact on the entertainment industry and the economy as a whole. (Of course, Commissioner Tate knows what topic to focus on when in Music City.) Even though most of the figures could be questionable (e.g., sourced from trade groups like the RIAA and the IFPI), it was obvious that Commissioner Tate is dedicated to helping content owners fight online piracy.
Bonus reading: An April 2004 article at the New York Times about the well known Harvard/UNC study that found no link between file-sharing and CD sales.
Posted by glenn on November 5, 2007
Source: http://www.coolfer.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_piracy_dile.php
The debate over piracy is one that has no end. One one side you have Capgemeni's recent "value gap" study pegged piracy's impact on the U.K. music industry at 18% of its decline from its 2004 level. The majority of the decline, Capgemini estimated, was due to the unbundling of the album, or the substitution of a small number of digital tracks for an album.
But wait. A new Canadian study by academians Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz found that online piracy has no impact on CD purchases. (Download a PDF of the report here.) However, in the subset of Canadians who do use P2P services, file-sharing was found to increase CD purchasing (by 0.44 CDs per album download). The study assumes 29% of Canadians are P2P downloaders.
"In the aggregate, we are unable to discover any direct relationship between P2P filesharing and CD purchases in Canada. The analysis of the entire Canadian population does not uncover either a positive or negative relationship between the number of files downloaded from P2P networks and CDs purchased. That is, we find no direct evidence to suggest that the net effect of P2P file-sharing on CD purchasing is either positive or negative for Canada as a whole. ...
However, our analysis of the Canadian P2P file-sharing subpopulation suggests that there is a strong positive relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchasing. That is, among Canadians actually engaged in it, P2P file-sharing increases CD purchasing. We estimate that the effect of one additional P2P download per month is to increase music purchasing by 0.44 CDs per year."
Professor Stanley Liebowitz, who has studied the relationship between file-sharing and CD sales, commented on the Canadian study at his website (he refers to the authors as A/F):
"With these seemingly innocuous assumptions, the results of A/F imply that obtaining music illicitly should have increased record sales by 50% (since each illicit album increases sales by half a unit and there are as many illicit albums as legitimate sales). Contrary to the large increase in album sales predicted by A/F, album sales in Canada have fallen considerably since 1999. According to IFPI statistics unit sales were down 30% by 2005 whereas CRIA statistics indicate that unit sales were down by 20%. ...
To believe the results of A/F you must accept that sales have dropped by half in 6 years, due to some factor that no one can identify. Does this seem even remotely plausible? This would be such a steep decline in such a short period of time that it would seem impossible to not have a clearly identified cause. And A/F’s results rule out the possibility of other entertainment activities siphoning off record listeners."
So is online piracy a problem or isn't it? Judging from FCC Commissioner Deborah Tate's speech last week at Vanderbilt University, Washington D.C.'s perception is still that online piracy is a major problem. Commissioner Tate talked almost entirely about piracy -- online and physical -- and laid out numerous examples of piracy's negative impact on the entertainment industry and the economy as a whole. (Of course, Commissioner Tate knows what topic to focus on when in Music City.) Even though most of the figures could be questionable (e.g., sourced from trade groups like the RIAA and the IFPI), it was obvious that Commissioner Tate is dedicated to helping content owners fight online piracy.
Bonus reading: An April 2004 article at the New York Times about the well known Harvard/UNC study that found no link between file-sharing and CD sales.
Posted by glenn on November 5, 2007
Source: http://www.coolfer.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_piracy_dile.php
maandag 5 november 2007
Laura Marling to release album in 'song box' format
Laura Marling to release album in 'song box' format
Package will contain CD, gig ticket and 'momentos'
4 hours ago
Rising star Laura Marling has announced that her as-yet-untitled debut album, released on February 4, 2008, will be released in a special 'song box' format.
The package will contain the CD album, entry to a gig in the form of a redeemable code, plus 'momentos' relating to each song on the album.
The package will sell for £19.99 and can be pre-ordered from Marling's official website.
The move is similar to that of Radiohead, who have made a deluxe version of their new album 'In Rainbows' available for £40, which features extra songs, artwork and vinyl and CD versions of the album.
Source:http://www.nme.com/news/laura-marling/32288
Package will contain CD, gig ticket and 'momentos'
4 hours ago
Rising star Laura Marling has announced that her as-yet-untitled debut album, released on February 4, 2008, will be released in a special 'song box' format.
The package will contain the CD album, entry to a gig in the form of a redeemable code, plus 'momentos' relating to each song on the album.
The package will sell for £19.99 and can be pre-ordered from Marling's official website.
The move is similar to that of Radiohead, who have made a deluxe version of their new album 'In Rainbows' available for £40, which features extra songs, artwork and vinyl and CD versions of the album.
Source:http://www.nme.com/news/laura-marling/32288
dinsdag 23 oktober 2007
Music Industry looks to new Models to boost Sales
By Yinka Adegoke
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. music industry is becoming more open-minded about working with online music stores from the tiniest start-up to Amazon.com, hoping to boost digital music sales and erode the dominance of Apple Inc's iTunes.
U.S. music companies, once paranoid about the wide-scale piracy enabled by Web-based companies like Napster and KaZaa, are now embracing new business models such as giving away free song downloads.
Their goal is: to increase digital revenue as CD sales drop more sharply than anticipated; and to create alternatives to iTunes to boost their negotiating power against Apple when licensing contracts are renewed.
"Any viable music discovery option is one we want to see out there," said a major music company executive who asked not to be identified.
"If done the right way, this leads to new revenues as some of them have pretty good built-in mechanisms to lead to direct purchases," he said, reflecting the view of other industry executives contacted by Reuters.
Many Web start-ups have proposed business models to take on iTunes, which has a 70 percent market share of digital music sales. Many have also failed as they get caught up in negotiations with the music companies.
One of the most difficult parts of getting a digital service started is obtaining the licenses to the music itself. In most cases, top music labels will not provide licenses unless the start-ups pay a hefty advance fee.
Amazon is expected to launch its iTunes rival this week, after signing deals with Universal Music Group and EMI.
Two smaller start-ups, Qtrax and Spiralfrog, are promising to offer music downloads for free to consumers supported by advertising sales that will be shared with music companies.
Whether these ad-supported models succeed remains to be seen, but Qtrax Chief Executive Allan Klepfisz said it will be an important way to compete with the free music still illegally available at peer-to-peer networks like Limewire.
"The idea is to make a better version of free," he said in an interview.
Klepfisz said Qtrax is due to launch in December after four years of building the business, during which it has managed to sign all the majors record companies except the biggest Universal Music, owned by French media giant Vivendi.
Spiralfrog said on Monday it launched its service, 13 months after the company signed rights to Universal's catalog. According to an exploratory public offering filing by the company last month, Spiralfrog will pay $4.4 million in nonrefundable fees to Universal by November 15.
"We have controlled content in an advertiser-friendly environment," said Spiralfrog founder and Chairman Joe Mohen, who appointed a new management team earlier this year after losing two senior executives, who are now consultants to Qtrax. "People were discovering music in one place and then downloading it somewhere else. Spiralfrog will change that."
Spiralfrog and Qtrax are not the first to support free and legal downloads with advertising. Ruckus Network Inc of Herndon, Virginia has been offering a similar service for three years and is now officially at 170 U.S. colleges and claims 700,000 members.
A big problem for these free download services is that they are incompatible with the most popular digital music player, Apple's iPod.
This is where Palo Alto, California start-up Lala.com comes in. It has been pushing a business model that allows fans to buy digital songs and upload them directly on to their iPods. Songs on an iPod can not be transferred elsewhere.
Yet, as a measure of how difficult it is to gain traction in this market, Lala only has one deal with a major label, Warner Music Group. Lala also offers to send fans free CDs of digital albums they buy from its site, and also plans to give them a chance to "return" downloads they do not like.
"There's a significant amount of trust involved," said Lala founder Bill Nguyen. "But it's unsustainable if we don't do it right," he said.
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.
Source: http://www.i4u.com/article11570.html
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. music industry is becoming more open-minded about working with online music stores from the tiniest start-up to Amazon.com, hoping to boost digital music sales and erode the dominance of Apple Inc's iTunes.
U.S. music companies, once paranoid about the wide-scale piracy enabled by Web-based companies like Napster and KaZaa, are now embracing new business models such as giving away free song downloads.
Their goal is: to increase digital revenue as CD sales drop more sharply than anticipated; and to create alternatives to iTunes to boost their negotiating power against Apple when licensing contracts are renewed.
"Any viable music discovery option is one we want to see out there," said a major music company executive who asked not to be identified.
"If done the right way, this leads to new revenues as some of them have pretty good built-in mechanisms to lead to direct purchases," he said, reflecting the view of other industry executives contacted by Reuters.
Many Web start-ups have proposed business models to take on iTunes, which has a 70 percent market share of digital music sales. Many have also failed as they get caught up in negotiations with the music companies.
One of the most difficult parts of getting a digital service started is obtaining the licenses to the music itself. In most cases, top music labels will not provide licenses unless the start-ups pay a hefty advance fee.
Amazon is expected to launch its iTunes rival this week, after signing deals with Universal Music Group and EMI.
Two smaller start-ups, Qtrax and Spiralfrog, are promising to offer music downloads for free to consumers supported by advertising sales that will be shared with music companies.
Whether these ad-supported models succeed remains to be seen, but Qtrax Chief Executive Allan Klepfisz said it will be an important way to compete with the free music still illegally available at peer-to-peer networks like Limewire.
"The idea is to make a better version of free," he said in an interview.
Klepfisz said Qtrax is due to launch in December after four years of building the business, during which it has managed to sign all the majors record companies except the biggest Universal Music, owned by French media giant Vivendi.
Spiralfrog said on Monday it launched its service, 13 months after the company signed rights to Universal's catalog. According to an exploratory public offering filing by the company last month, Spiralfrog will pay $4.4 million in nonrefundable fees to Universal by November 15.
"We have controlled content in an advertiser-friendly environment," said Spiralfrog founder and Chairman Joe Mohen, who appointed a new management team earlier this year after losing two senior executives, who are now consultants to Qtrax. "People were discovering music in one place and then downloading it somewhere else. Spiralfrog will change that."
Spiralfrog and Qtrax are not the first to support free and legal downloads with advertising. Ruckus Network Inc of Herndon, Virginia has been offering a similar service for three years and is now officially at 170 U.S. colleges and claims 700,000 members.
A big problem for these free download services is that they are incompatible with the most popular digital music player, Apple's iPod.
This is where Palo Alto, California start-up Lala.com comes in. It has been pushing a business model that allows fans to buy digital songs and upload them directly on to their iPods. Songs on an iPod can not be transferred elsewhere.
Yet, as a measure of how difficult it is to gain traction in this market, Lala only has one deal with a major label, Warner Music Group. Lala also offers to send fans free CDs of digital albums they buy from its site, and also plans to give them a chance to "return" downloads they do not like.
"There's a significant amount of trust involved," said Lala founder Bill Nguyen. "But it's unsustainable if we don't do it right," he said.
© Copyright 2007 Reuters.
Source: http://www.i4u.com/article11570.html
zaterdag 13 oktober 2007
Music business hits jackpot at casinos
(2007-10-13)
By Mitchell Peters
NEW YORK (Billboard) - The music industry is striking it rich at casinos.
As casino venues target concertgoers from all walks of life through creative artist bookings, the effort hasn't gone unnoticed by those in the business.
"If you're an agent, you love casinos," says Greg Oswald, a William Morris agent for such acts as Big & Rich, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd. As new casinos boomed in the past 15 years, "it's found money," he adds.
Most casinos are proactive in booking top-selling rock and pop acts, with the specific intent of drawing younger gamblers. But, as Oswald says, casinos appeal to a broad base of fans, therefore allowing booking opportunities for multiple genres.
For some country acts in particular, casino venues have proved to be a beneficial asset when routing a tour. "Frankly, for a lot of artists in the country business and other genres, it has saved their bacon," Oswald says, adding that many casinos still draw older crowds. In 2007, Kenny Rogers, whom Oswald books, will play 30 casino dates nationwide.
Tom Cantone, VP of sports and entertainment at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., says live music is a major component in modern-day casinos.
"You really have to get into the event business to drive traffic and revenue on a consistent basis," he says.
This summer alone, Mohegan Sun hosted 164 events across its three venues -- the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena, the 400-seat Wolf Den club and the 330-seat Cabaret Theatre. In 2006, 51 shows at the arena grossed $15 million and drew more than 387,000 fans, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Mohegan Sun recently broke ground on a $740 million project set to include a House of Blues, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant and store, and a 1,000-room hotel. Full completion is scheduled for 2010.
Steve Gietka, VP of entertainment for Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City, N.J., oversees booking at venues in Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina. He says that while live entertainment certainly helps sell hotel rooms and fill restaurants and nightclubs, there's a price to be paid.
"Because we're casinos, and agents, artists and managers believe that their artists help us drive gaming revenues, we typically pay premiums when compared to regular promoters," Gietka says.
Indeed, William Morris' Oswald says that casinos are in a good position to buy plenty of talent. "They have ancillary income in the form of bar, food and obviously, casinos," Oswald says. "So it's easier than the guy who is only going to make money from the box office."
But there are also challenges with casino venues, No. 1 being overbooking, according to Oswald. In some markets, casinos are bringing in act after act, which can sometimes exhaust the local fan base.
"They've made it real hard to sell tickets," Oswald says. "The fans are spoiled because they can go down to the casino on any Friday night and there will be a big act." As a result, promoters are forced to lower ticket prices to attract concertgoers, he adds.
But hosting too many concerts has never been a problem for Mohegan Sun, which is owned by the Mohegan Tribe. Arena concerts scheduled through October include such diverse acts as Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Big & Rich featuring Cowboy Troy, Van Halen, Mana, Maroon 5, Phil Lesh and Kelly Clarkson.
And with the 25-and-older demographic expanding, Cantone remains confident that casino bookings will reflect their tastes. "It used to be where an older market went to have their entertainment fix. But now the twentysomethings are going. If you're young, want to go out and play poker or blackjack, then catch a cool concert, where else can you go?"
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1165130
By Mitchell Peters
NEW YORK (Billboard) - The music industry is striking it rich at casinos.
As casino venues target concertgoers from all walks of life through creative artist bookings, the effort hasn't gone unnoticed by those in the business.
"If you're an agent, you love casinos," says Greg Oswald, a William Morris agent for such acts as Big & Rich, Hank Williams Jr. and Lynyrd Skynyrd. As new casinos boomed in the past 15 years, "it's found money," he adds.
Most casinos are proactive in booking top-selling rock and pop acts, with the specific intent of drawing younger gamblers. But, as Oswald says, casinos appeal to a broad base of fans, therefore allowing booking opportunities for multiple genres.
For some country acts in particular, casino venues have proved to be a beneficial asset when routing a tour. "Frankly, for a lot of artists in the country business and other genres, it has saved their bacon," Oswald says, adding that many casinos still draw older crowds. In 2007, Kenny Rogers, whom Oswald books, will play 30 casino dates nationwide.
Tom Cantone, VP of sports and entertainment at the Mohegan Sun casino in Uncasville, Conn., says live music is a major component in modern-day casinos.
"You really have to get into the event business to drive traffic and revenue on a consistent basis," he says.
This summer alone, Mohegan Sun hosted 164 events across its three venues -- the 10,000-seat Mohegan Sun Arena, the 400-seat Wolf Den club and the 330-seat Cabaret Theatre. In 2006, 51 shows at the arena grossed $15 million and drew more than 387,000 fans, according to Billboard Boxscore.
Mohegan Sun recently broke ground on a $740 million project set to include a House of Blues, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville restaurant and store, and a 1,000-room hotel. Full completion is scheduled for 2010.
Steve Gietka, VP of entertainment for Trump Entertainment Resorts in Atlantic City, N.J., oversees booking at venues in Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza and Trump Marina. He says that while live entertainment certainly helps sell hotel rooms and fill restaurants and nightclubs, there's a price to be paid.
"Because we're casinos, and agents, artists and managers believe that their artists help us drive gaming revenues, we typically pay premiums when compared to regular promoters," Gietka says.
Indeed, William Morris' Oswald says that casinos are in a good position to buy plenty of talent. "They have ancillary income in the form of bar, food and obviously, casinos," Oswald says. "So it's easier than the guy who is only going to make money from the box office."
But there are also challenges with casino venues, No. 1 being overbooking, according to Oswald. In some markets, casinos are bringing in act after act, which can sometimes exhaust the local fan base.
"They've made it real hard to sell tickets," Oswald says. "The fans are spoiled because they can go down to the casino on any Friday night and there will be a big act." As a result, promoters are forced to lower ticket prices to attract concertgoers, he adds.
But hosting too many concerts has never been a problem for Mohegan Sun, which is owned by the Mohegan Tribe. Arena concerts scheduled through October include such diverse acts as Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Big & Rich featuring Cowboy Troy, Van Halen, Mana, Maroon 5, Phil Lesh and Kelly Clarkson.
And with the 25-and-older demographic expanding, Cantone remains confident that casino bookings will reflect their tastes. "It used to be where an older market went to have their entertainment fix. But now the twentysomethings are going. If you're young, want to go out and play poker or blackjack, then catch a cool concert, where else can you go?"
http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kuer/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1165130
Universal Music puts its faith in memory cure for sliding sales
October 13, 2007
Dan Sabbagh, Media Editor
Universal Music, the world’s biggest music company, is to release singles on USB memory sticks this month, in an attempt to arrest the decline in music sales.
The Vivendi-owned company plans to charge about £4.99 for USB singles starting on October 29 with releases from piano rock band Keane and Nicole, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. That compares with £2.99 for a typical CD single.
However, the hope is that fans will be willing to pay extra because the extra storage capacity on a USB allows the addition of videos and other multimedia.
Brian Rose, the commercial director for Universal UK, said: “This is aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be”.
Related Links
Music industry reaction to In Rainbows
Indies accuse Universal of gaining monopoly
Hurt hard by music piracy and legal downloads, sales of CDs are down by 19 per cent in the US and 10 per cent in the UK in the first half of the year.
But with physical music more profitable than downloads, the music business is eager to find formats that will keep consumers coming back to record stores.
Universal’s move is being gradually followed by the other three majors, although by contrast their efforts only amount to dipping their toe in the water, with EMI planning to release Pink Floyd’s studio albums on the format, while Warner Music is aiming squarely at the younger market with a November release of a part-album from electro-punk band Hadouken!
An agreement between the music companies and the Offical Charts Company, which runs the Top 40, means that USB sticks are eligible for inclusion in the chart. That now justifies making them available at the same time as a normal release.
Eric Daugan, vice-president, of digital business in Europe for Warner Music, said: “The CD is an old technology that has not evolved. Fortunately people still want to own a physical product, so with the extra storage, the idea is to offer a better consumer experience”.
Warner Music is hoping that Hadouken!’s USB will retail at £7.99. Promoted as being “halfway between a single and album” by the record company it includes six new songs and five old ones, with links to multimedia content on the internet, and an interface whose job it is to replace the look and feel of the paper album cover.
For Universal, the UK is the test market for the USB format worldwide, partly because it believes the UK is the last important market for singles.
The company hopes to release USB albums before the end of the year from acts such as Kanye West and Amy Winehouse – although rivals privately query its emphasis on the technology when there are alternatives such as MVI, a DVD-based format that combines music and video.
Mr Rose said: “We’re hoping that people will see USB singles as a piece of merchandise. There’s obviously a demand for collectable physical music the kind of format people want to stick up on their wall”.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article2648613.ece
Dan Sabbagh, Media Editor
Universal Music, the world’s biggest music company, is to release singles on USB memory sticks this month, in an attempt to arrest the decline in music sales.
The Vivendi-owned company plans to charge about £4.99 for USB singles starting on October 29 with releases from piano rock band Keane and Nicole, the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls. That compares with £2.99 for a typical CD single.
However, the hope is that fans will be willing to pay extra because the extra storage capacity on a USB allows the addition of videos and other multimedia.
Brian Rose, the commercial director for Universal UK, said: “This is aimed at the younger, 12 to 24 year olds, who no longer believe that the CD is as cool as it used to be”.
Related Links
Music industry reaction to In Rainbows
Indies accuse Universal of gaining monopoly
Hurt hard by music piracy and legal downloads, sales of CDs are down by 19 per cent in the US and 10 per cent in the UK in the first half of the year.
But with physical music more profitable than downloads, the music business is eager to find formats that will keep consumers coming back to record stores.
Universal’s move is being gradually followed by the other three majors, although by contrast their efforts only amount to dipping their toe in the water, with EMI planning to release Pink Floyd’s studio albums on the format, while Warner Music is aiming squarely at the younger market with a November release of a part-album from electro-punk band Hadouken!
An agreement between the music companies and the Offical Charts Company, which runs the Top 40, means that USB sticks are eligible for inclusion in the chart. That now justifies making them available at the same time as a normal release.
Eric Daugan, vice-president, of digital business in Europe for Warner Music, said: “The CD is an old technology that has not evolved. Fortunately people still want to own a physical product, so with the extra storage, the idea is to offer a better consumer experience”.
Warner Music is hoping that Hadouken!’s USB will retail at £7.99. Promoted as being “halfway between a single and album” by the record company it includes six new songs and five old ones, with links to multimedia content on the internet, and an interface whose job it is to replace the look and feel of the paper album cover.
For Universal, the UK is the test market for the USB format worldwide, partly because it believes the UK is the last important market for singles.
The company hopes to release USB albums before the end of the year from acts such as Kanye West and Amy Winehouse – although rivals privately query its emphasis on the technology when there are alternatives such as MVI, a DVD-based format that combines music and video.
Mr Rose said: “We’re hoping that people will see USB singles as a piece of merchandise. There’s obviously a demand for collectable physical music the kind of format people want to stick up on their wall”.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article2648613.ece
What Does the RIAA File-Sharing Verdict Imply for DRM?
October 11, 2007
By Bill Rosenblatt
RIAA's victory last week in court against Jammie Thomas, a Minnesota woman accused of uploading files to the Kazaa file-sharing network, has given rise to much speculation about the verdict's effect on DRM. The October 4 verdict of US $222,000, or $9250 per incident, was almost two orders of magnitude higher than the typical out-of-court settlements that the RIAA has been proffering to alleged online infringers -- yet far below the maximum statutory damages of $720,000 that the jury could have assigned.
One theory we have heard says that the major record companies are less likely to rely on DRM now that they have an actual verdict in hand to strengthen their legal anti-piracy strategy. We disagree with this theory, because it assumes that the majors run their anti-piracy efforts as if they were investment portfoilios. This has not really been the case. Instead, they tend to operate on the principle of "fight the battle on all fronts." We don't expect this verdict to cause the majors' attitudes about DRM to change. Revenue and file-sharing data from the DRM-free download experiments of EMI and UMG are much more likely to determine the future course of DRM in music.
Yet one aspect of the trial's outcome already has very interesting implications for the future of digital rights technologies for music. In his jury instructions, the trial judge told the jury to consider uploading to a P2P network to be infringement without any evidence that other people actually downloaded the tracks; this is known as the "making-available theory."
Different countries have taken different positions on whether uploading, downloading, or both are illegal. The making-available theory has legal precedent but is not considered settled law in the US. Therefore, Thomas is appealing the verdict in hopes of getting a higher court to disallow the theory, perhaps sending the case back to the original district court for a retrial.
If Thomas's appeal is successful, then the onus would be on the RIAA to provide evidence that someone actually downloaded the exact files that Thomas put up -- not some other copies of the same material. Without technologies for tracking sources of online content, such as certain types of digital watermarking, this would be much more difficult, thus doing serious damage to the RIAA's litigation strategy. Therefore, if the music industry is to think rationally about legal and technological ways to curb piracy, it ought to be thinking (even) more seriously about watermarking.
http://www.drmwatch.com/article.php/3704706
By Bill Rosenblatt
RIAA's victory last week in court against Jammie Thomas, a Minnesota woman accused of uploading files to the Kazaa file-sharing network, has given rise to much speculation about the verdict's effect on DRM. The October 4 verdict of US $222,000, or $9250 per incident, was almost two orders of magnitude higher than the typical out-of-court settlements that the RIAA has been proffering to alleged online infringers -- yet far below the maximum statutory damages of $720,000 that the jury could have assigned.
One theory we have heard says that the major record companies are less likely to rely on DRM now that they have an actual verdict in hand to strengthen their legal anti-piracy strategy. We disagree with this theory, because it assumes that the majors run their anti-piracy efforts as if they were investment portfoilios. This has not really been the case. Instead, they tend to operate on the principle of "fight the battle on all fronts." We don't expect this verdict to cause the majors' attitudes about DRM to change. Revenue and file-sharing data from the DRM-free download experiments of EMI and UMG are much more likely to determine the future course of DRM in music.
Yet one aspect of the trial's outcome already has very interesting implications for the future of digital rights technologies for music. In his jury instructions, the trial judge told the jury to consider uploading to a P2P network to be infringement without any evidence that other people actually downloaded the tracks; this is known as the "making-available theory."
Different countries have taken different positions on whether uploading, downloading, or both are illegal. The making-available theory has legal precedent but is not considered settled law in the US. Therefore, Thomas is appealing the verdict in hopes of getting a higher court to disallow the theory, perhaps sending the case back to the original district court for a retrial.
If Thomas's appeal is successful, then the onus would be on the RIAA to provide evidence that someone actually downloaded the exact files that Thomas put up -- not some other copies of the same material. Without technologies for tracking sources of online content, such as certain types of digital watermarking, this would be much more difficult, thus doing serious damage to the RIAA's litigation strategy. Therefore, if the music industry is to think rationally about legal and technological ways to curb piracy, it ought to be thinking (even) more seriously about watermarking.
http://www.drmwatch.com/article.php/3704706
Universal Music in Tune with Animation Collective
October 08, 2007
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) announced today the signing of Animation Collective to an exclusive worldwide publishing administration agreement.
Through the agreement, UMPG will administer Animation Collective's entire catalogue of original music created for its popular animated and live-action children's programming, including ELLEN'S ACRES and KAPPA MIKEY. The deal encompasses worldwide administration rights, as well as synchronization rights worldwide.
All of Animation Collective's series on-air, in development, or in production feature original pop and rock songs. Certain series episodes have also been produced as musicals. In February 2008, KAPPA MIKEY will premiere its much-anticipated two-part "Karaoke" episode featuring 10 original songs.
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=21100
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) announced today the signing of Animation Collective to an exclusive worldwide publishing administration agreement.
Through the agreement, UMPG will administer Animation Collective's entire catalogue of original music created for its popular animated and live-action children's programming, including ELLEN'S ACRES and KAPPA MIKEY. The deal encompasses worldwide administration rights, as well as synchronization rights worldwide.
All of Animation Collective's series on-air, in development, or in production feature original pop and rock songs. Certain series episodes have also been produced as musicals. In February 2008, KAPPA MIKEY will premiere its much-anticipated two-part "Karaoke" episode featuring 10 original songs.
http://news.awn.com/index.php?ltype=top&newsitem_no=21100
UK download sales 'reach £163m'
Digital downloads are worth just 4% of the total music and video market
More than £160m will be spent on music and video downloads in the UK this year, according to a forecast.
Market analysts Verdict said digital downloads will be worth £163m in 2007 - up 45.5% on last year.
And digital spending will continue to soar, reaching £600m a year by 2012, according to Verdict's UK Music and Video Retailers 2007 report.
But CD and DVD spending has slowed, it said, with the overall UK music and video market down 2.9% to £4bn in 2007.
Verdict analyst Nick Gladding said: "While piracy will continue and CD volumes will decline further, retailers generally are now better placed to cope with new market challenges."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7040134.stm
More than £160m will be spent on music and video downloads in the UK this year, according to a forecast.
Market analysts Verdict said digital downloads will be worth £163m in 2007 - up 45.5% on last year.
And digital spending will continue to soar, reaching £600m a year by 2012, according to Verdict's UK Music and Video Retailers 2007 report.
But CD and DVD spending has slowed, it said, with the overall UK music and video market down 2.9% to £4bn in 2007.
Verdict analyst Nick Gladding said: "While piracy will continue and CD volumes will decline further, retailers generally are now better placed to cope with new market challenges."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7040134.stm
Universal Music Takes on iTunes
OCTOBER 22, 2007
Universal chief Doug Morris is enlisting other big music players for a service to challenge the Jobs juggernaut
Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on Apple's iTunes Music Store. That's because Jobs wouldn't ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music.
Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world's most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together the three would control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S. Besides competing head-on with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL ) music store, Morris and his allies hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing the likes of Microsoft's Zune media player and Sony's PlayStation and by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse sliding sales, will be called Total Music. (Morris was unavailable for comment.)
This isn't only about Jobs; Morris badly needs to boost his business, and Apple is the one to beat. The iTunes store has grabbed about 70% of downloads in the U.S. And the iPod--well, what's left to say about that juggernaut? Plus, music companies have been here before. A few years ago they launched services with the aim of defeating Napster-style file-sharing--and failed miserably. And let's not forget that existing subscription services have signed up only a few million people, vs. hundreds of millions of iTunes software downloads.
While the details are in flux, insiders say Morris & Co. have an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Music companies would collect the subscription fee, while hardware makers theoretically would move many more players. "Doug is doing the right thing taking on Steve Jobs," says ex-MCA Records Chairman Irving Azoff, whose Azoff Music Management Group represents the Eagles, Journey, Christina Aguilera, and others. "The artists are behind him."
Morris and Jobs were once the best of allies. When Jobs began pushing his idea for a simple-to-use download store in 2003, Morris backed him. Industry insiders say Jobs felt that Morris, unlike many other music executives, understood that they had to adapt or die. And in the years that followed, Apple and Universal moved in near lockstep.
But before long, Morris realized he and his fellow music executives had ceded too much control to Jobs. "We got rolled like a bunch of puppies," he said during a recent meeting, according to people who were there. And though Morris hasn't publicly blasted Jobs, his boss at Universal parent Vivendi is not nearly so hesitant. The split with record labels--Apple takes 29 cents of the 99 cents--"is indecent," Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters in September. "Our contracts give too good a share to Apple."
After unilaterally breaking off talks with Apple in July, Morris continued offering Universal's roster--Eminem, 50 Cent, U2, and other artists--to Apple, but on a month-to-month basis. That freed Universal to cut special deals with other vendors, such as cell carriers eager to generate revenues. AT&T (T ) is packaging ringtones and music videos of Universal artists and is expected to start selling downloaded tracks with videos soon.
That's not all: In August, Morris announced a five-month test with Wal-Mart (WMT ), Google (GOOG ), and Best Buy (BBY ). The three companies will sell music downloads that can be played on any device--a freedom not available to buyers of iTunes songs, most of which play only on Apple devices and software. Morris wants to see if the downloads, which won't have copy protection, will help cut into piracy and hike sales. And of course he won't be upset if iPod owners bypass iTunes.
With the Total Music service, Morris and his allies are trying to hit reset on how digital music is consumed. In essence, Morris & Co. are telling consumers that music is a utility to which they are entitled, like water or gas. Buy one of the Total Music devices, and you've got it all. Ironically, the plan takes Jobs' basic strategy-- getting people to pay a few hundred bucks for a music player but a measly 99 cents for the music that gives it value--and pushes it to its extreme. After all, the Total Music subscriber pays only for the device--and never shells out a penny for the music. "You know that it's there, and it costs something," says one tech company executive who has seen Morris' presentation. "But you never write a check for it."
The big question is whether the makers of music players and phones can charge enough to cover the cost of baking in the subscription. Under one scenario industry insiders figure the cost per player would amount to about $90. They arrived at that number by assuming people hang on to a music player or phone for 18 months before upgrading. Eighteen times a $5 subscription fee equals $90. There is precedent here. When Microsoft was looking to launch a subscription service for Zune, Morris played hardball. He got the tech giant to fork over $1 for every player sold, plus royalties. Total Music would take that concept even further. "If the object is to wrest control of the market from Steve Jobs," says Gartner analyst Mike McGuire, "this is a credible way to try it."
Of course, Morris still needs Jobs. It's noteworthy that Universal has not pulled its music from iTunes--Morris simply can't afford to do that. Universal's earnings fell 25% in the first half. Jobs, of course, knows that and can afford to be magnanimous. "Doug's a very special guy," the Apple chief told BusinessWeek. "He's the last of the great music executives who came up through A&R. He's old school. I like him a lot."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055048.htm?chan=search
Universal chief Doug Morris is enlisting other big music players for a service to challenge the Jobs juggernaut
Relationships in the entertainment world can be famously fraught. And few are more so these days than the one between Steve Jobs and Universal Music chief Doug Morris. You may recall that Morris recently refused to re-up a multi-year contract to put his company's music on Apple's iTunes Music Store. That's because Jobs wouldn't ease his stringent terms, which limit how record companies can market their music.
Now, Morris is going on the offensive. The world's most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service. BusinessWeek has learned that Morris has already enlisted Sony BMG Music Entertainment as a potential partner and is talking to Warner Music Group. Together the three would control about 75% of the music sold in the U.S. Besides competing head-on with Apple Inc.'s (AAPL ) music store, Morris and his allies hope to move digital music beyond the iPod-iTunes universe by nurturing the likes of Microsoft's Zune media player and Sony's PlayStation and by working with the wireless carriers. The service, which is one of several initiatives the music majors are considering to help reverse sliding sales, will be called Total Music. (Morris was unavailable for comment.)
This isn't only about Jobs; Morris badly needs to boost his business, and Apple is the one to beat. The iTunes store has grabbed about 70% of downloads in the U.S. And the iPod--well, what's left to say about that juggernaut? Plus, music companies have been here before. A few years ago they launched services with the aim of defeating Napster-style file-sharing--and failed miserably. And let's not forget that existing subscription services have signed up only a few million people, vs. hundreds of millions of iTunes software downloads.
While the details are in flux, insiders say Morris & Co. have an intriguing business model: get hardware makers or cell carriers to absorb the cost of a roughly $5-per-month subscription fee so consumers get a device with all-you-can-eat music that's essentially free. Music companies would collect the subscription fee, while hardware makers theoretically would move many more players. "Doug is doing the right thing taking on Steve Jobs," says ex-MCA Records Chairman Irving Azoff, whose Azoff Music Management Group represents the Eagles, Journey, Christina Aguilera, and others. "The artists are behind him."
Morris and Jobs were once the best of allies. When Jobs began pushing his idea for a simple-to-use download store in 2003, Morris backed him. Industry insiders say Jobs felt that Morris, unlike many other music executives, understood that they had to adapt or die. And in the years that followed, Apple and Universal moved in near lockstep.
But before long, Morris realized he and his fellow music executives had ceded too much control to Jobs. "We got rolled like a bunch of puppies," he said during a recent meeting, according to people who were there. And though Morris hasn't publicly blasted Jobs, his boss at Universal parent Vivendi is not nearly so hesitant. The split with record labels--Apple takes 29 cents of the 99 cents--"is indecent," Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters in September. "Our contracts give too good a share to Apple."
After unilaterally breaking off talks with Apple in July, Morris continued offering Universal's roster--Eminem, 50 Cent, U2, and other artists--to Apple, but on a month-to-month basis. That freed Universal to cut special deals with other vendors, such as cell carriers eager to generate revenues. AT&T (T ) is packaging ringtones and music videos of Universal artists and is expected to start selling downloaded tracks with videos soon.
That's not all: In August, Morris announced a five-month test with Wal-Mart (WMT ), Google (GOOG ), and Best Buy (BBY ). The three companies will sell music downloads that can be played on any device--a freedom not available to buyers of iTunes songs, most of which play only on Apple devices and software. Morris wants to see if the downloads, which won't have copy protection, will help cut into piracy and hike sales. And of course he won't be upset if iPod owners bypass iTunes.
With the Total Music service, Morris and his allies are trying to hit reset on how digital music is consumed. In essence, Morris & Co. are telling consumers that music is a utility to which they are entitled, like water or gas. Buy one of the Total Music devices, and you've got it all. Ironically, the plan takes Jobs' basic strategy-- getting people to pay a few hundred bucks for a music player but a measly 99 cents for the music that gives it value--and pushes it to its extreme. After all, the Total Music subscriber pays only for the device--and never shells out a penny for the music. "You know that it's there, and it costs something," says one tech company executive who has seen Morris' presentation. "But you never write a check for it."
The big question is whether the makers of music players and phones can charge enough to cover the cost of baking in the subscription. Under one scenario industry insiders figure the cost per player would amount to about $90. They arrived at that number by assuming people hang on to a music player or phone for 18 months before upgrading. Eighteen times a $5 subscription fee equals $90. There is precedent here. When Microsoft was looking to launch a subscription service for Zune, Morris played hardball. He got the tech giant to fork over $1 for every player sold, plus royalties. Total Music would take that concept even further. "If the object is to wrest control of the market from Steve Jobs," says Gartner analyst Mike McGuire, "this is a credible way to try it."
Of course, Morris still needs Jobs. It's noteworthy that Universal has not pulled its music from iTunes--Morris simply can't afford to do that. Universal's earnings fell 25% in the first half. Jobs, of course, knows that and can afford to be magnanimous. "Doug's a very special guy," the Apple chief told BusinessWeek. "He's the last of the great music executives who came up through A&R. He's old school. I like him a lot."
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_43/b4055048.htm?chan=search
Tons of free music ... and other global injustices
RIAA vs P2P
By Andrew Orlowski
Ah, let's hear it for "consensus". These days, consensus is a splendid, many-sided thing that can mean anything you want it to mean - and whatever it is, you'll find the supporting evidence on the internet. Which is great news for hacks, who love to be soothsayers to the nation - and tell us what we're really thinking.
This week saw CNET's Greg Sandoval play the part of Mystic Meg. Looking into his crystal ball, Greg pronounced:
"Almost everybody agrees Jammie Thomas is thumping the recording industry in a battle for hearts and minds."
Ah, but not so fast. The part of the record industry that's represented by the RIAA is hardly more beloved today than it was a fortnight ago. The derisory settlement to its price-fixing case, one correspondent reminded me, is far short of what the lobby group cost consumers.
(And we should point out that the very significant, but always overlooked part of the industry called "songwriters and composers" hasn't filed suit.)
No, the fly in this particular oink-ment is that Jammie Thomas isn't quite the heroic victim she's made out to be. She may even be the World's Dumbest File Sharer.
It just took a bit of plain, blue-collar Mid Western common sense to point out this out.
CNET's Sandoval was doubtless scouring message boards, blogs and even Comments sections like ours, where people whipped themselves into a right old frenzy about the first P2P file sharing trial. But away from the ritual spleen-letting, a few readers beg to differ.
Through bad advice and bad judgement, Jammie Thomas was persuaded to put the matter to a jury trial. Instead of the paying the RIAA tax of a couple of thousand dollars, she was landed with a bill for $220,000.
The jury took five minutes to establish her guilt, and then five hours deciding to punish her for wasting their time. Quite simply: she was insulting her fellow citizens by trying it on.
All of which means its entirely her own fault, say readers.
Writes Kevin Hall:
It really does beggar belief why anyone would try appealing this one. She has almost no chance of winning - I can only assume she is hoping the eye-watering fine might be reduced; on the other hand the appeal court might increase it as she is simply being belligerent in bringing it to them.
The facts of the matter are incontestable and there is really no point of law you can pick a part; I'm no lawyer but this really is a black and white case. The EFF embarrass us all in taking this case on; this isn't about freedom in any sensible way. She broke the law and has to face the consequences of doing that. There is nothing wrong in fighting an unjust law (God knows there's loads of them) but she deliberately lied to the court and was patently dishonest. Freedom comes with a responsibility to be honest and to show integrity which she hasn't.
The problem is the EFF are just making this worse. They're trying to pull this apart in a game of semantics which always make the law an ass. If they're trying to the defence of "no physical objects" then they're into the ridiculous area of the "victim-less crime" which is pretty much indefensible.
The message is simple - as the law stands what she did is illegal and trying to both appeal and to re-categorise it as some kind fight for freedom is totally ridiculous. If you want to make a stand against tyrannical copyright law then by all means, but this kind of action is futile. Freedom has to stand for something more than being able to bootleg CDs with impunity...
He adds:
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the problem is the sense of entitlement; the arguments being put forward are absolutely feeble and the anger and hostility of the people extremely strange. What facinates and at the same annoys me is that these people aren't even pretentious enough to even be advocating a political point of view; these people aren't old Marxists or left-wingers who have some central dispute with property rights. The downloaders are really just greedy juvenilles who simply just don't want to pay for anything.
They also never let the facts get in the way of a good argument; CD prices have historically never been lower, 15 years ago you would never, ever have paid £7.50 for a top 10 album, it would have been double that. Their argument is fundamentally selective, yes a CD probably costs about 30p to make but this same argument can be applied to any high-margin business which they don't do. Starbucks mark drinks up by 400%; T-shirts sold in supermarkets cost 5p to make and are sold for £3.00 and the staff are paid minimum wage to sell them. Practically every area of feudal capitalism is hallmarked by examples of extreme inequity but none of these downloaders seem at all concerned about it.
They just want the latest U2 CD for free or a download of Revenge of the Sith and they rationalise by saying they're "fighting against the system" whilst never actually taking a stand for anything noble.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD prices are appalling, and yes, RIAA is a group of morons. But that doesn't justify theft.
What worries me slightly is that my son is now getting ripped DVDs from his friends' parents. Works out well for the industry though - every time he shows up with one I can choose between buying the legit edition or coping with a screaming child who is still too young to understand why this is wrong...
Keep up the good work,
Edwin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for a sensible article about music filesharing. While I believe that the RIAA are being very heavy handed with people caught with files that they are offering for download, I just can't see how filesharers think that it's an acceptable thing to do. "Oh I just wanted to try it out before I bought it", "it only harms very big companies", "the music they put out is dreadful bublegum pop tat anyway" seem to be a clarion calls, but it's not the people who are downloading and trying it out who are (in general at least) being prosecuted, it's people offering for upload thousands of files.
I wish the music industry would stop dishing out tens of millions of pounds to dreadful artists such as Robbie Williams or Mariah Carey (who inevitably turn out to be expensive, egotistical embarrassments), when the money dished out to them would have developed tens or hundreds of new bands. I long for the days of the early nineties when the indie labels ruled, maybe that's more to do with being thirtysomething though.
Fraser
Was the ultimate fine proportionate? Thomas had made just 24 songs available, which as reader M. pointed out was 10,000 times the retail value of each song.The penalty was designed with industrial-scale bootleggers in mind, and a pirate CD facility can knock out thousands of copies an hour.
But the settlement costs of an RIAA lawsuit are actually one hundreth of that, and the chances of being caught remain far lower than for any other illegal activity.
Small wonder P2P file sharing is carrying on as normal. Not paying for art remains terrific value.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/riaa_mailbag/
By Andrew Orlowski
Ah, let's hear it for "consensus". These days, consensus is a splendid, many-sided thing that can mean anything you want it to mean - and whatever it is, you'll find the supporting evidence on the internet. Which is great news for hacks, who love to be soothsayers to the nation - and tell us what we're really thinking.
This week saw CNET's Greg Sandoval play the part of Mystic Meg. Looking into his crystal ball, Greg pronounced:
"Almost everybody agrees Jammie Thomas is thumping the recording industry in a battle for hearts and minds."
Ah, but not so fast. The part of the record industry that's represented by the RIAA is hardly more beloved today than it was a fortnight ago. The derisory settlement to its price-fixing case, one correspondent reminded me, is far short of what the lobby group cost consumers.
(And we should point out that the very significant, but always overlooked part of the industry called "songwriters and composers" hasn't filed suit.)
No, the fly in this particular oink-ment is that Jammie Thomas isn't quite the heroic victim she's made out to be. She may even be the World's Dumbest File Sharer.
It just took a bit of plain, blue-collar Mid Western common sense to point out this out.
CNET's Sandoval was doubtless scouring message boards, blogs and even Comments sections like ours, where people whipped themselves into a right old frenzy about the first P2P file sharing trial. But away from the ritual spleen-letting, a few readers beg to differ.
Through bad advice and bad judgement, Jammie Thomas was persuaded to put the matter to a jury trial. Instead of the paying the RIAA tax of a couple of thousand dollars, she was landed with a bill for $220,000.
The jury took five minutes to establish her guilt, and then five hours deciding to punish her for wasting their time. Quite simply: she was insulting her fellow citizens by trying it on.
All of which means its entirely her own fault, say readers.
Writes Kevin Hall:
It really does beggar belief why anyone would try appealing this one. She has almost no chance of winning - I can only assume she is hoping the eye-watering fine might be reduced; on the other hand the appeal court might increase it as she is simply being belligerent in bringing it to them.
The facts of the matter are incontestable and there is really no point of law you can pick a part; I'm no lawyer but this really is a black and white case. The EFF embarrass us all in taking this case on; this isn't about freedom in any sensible way. She broke the law and has to face the consequences of doing that. There is nothing wrong in fighting an unjust law (God knows there's loads of them) but she deliberately lied to the court and was patently dishonest. Freedom comes with a responsibility to be honest and to show integrity which she hasn't.
The problem is the EFF are just making this worse. They're trying to pull this apart in a game of semantics which always make the law an ass. If they're trying to the defence of "no physical objects" then they're into the ridiculous area of the "victim-less crime" which is pretty much indefensible.
The message is simple - as the law stands what she did is illegal and trying to both appeal and to re-categorise it as some kind fight for freedom is totally ridiculous. If you want to make a stand against tyrannical copyright law then by all means, but this kind of action is futile. Freedom has to stand for something more than being able to bootleg CDs with impunity...
He adds:
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said the problem is the sense of entitlement; the arguments being put forward are absolutely feeble and the anger and hostility of the people extremely strange. What facinates and at the same annoys me is that these people aren't even pretentious enough to even be advocating a political point of view; these people aren't old Marxists or left-wingers who have some central dispute with property rights. The downloaders are really just greedy juvenilles who simply just don't want to pay for anything.
They also never let the facts get in the way of a good argument; CD prices have historically never been lower, 15 years ago you would never, ever have paid £7.50 for a top 10 album, it would have been double that. Their argument is fundamentally selective, yes a CD probably costs about 30p to make but this same argument can be applied to any high-margin business which they don't do. Starbucks mark drinks up by 400%; T-shirts sold in supermarkets cost 5p to make and are sold for £3.00 and the staff are paid minimum wage to sell them. Practically every area of feudal capitalism is hallmarked by examples of extreme inequity but none of these downloaders seem at all concerned about it.
They just want the latest U2 CD for free or a download of Revenge of the Sith and they rationalise by saying they're "fighting against the system" whilst never actually taking a stand for anything noble.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD prices are appalling, and yes, RIAA is a group of morons. But that doesn't justify theft.
What worries me slightly is that my son is now getting ripped DVDs from his friends' parents. Works out well for the industry though - every time he shows up with one I can choose between buying the legit edition or coping with a screaming child who is still too young to understand why this is wrong...
Keep up the good work,
Edwin
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for a sensible article about music filesharing. While I believe that the RIAA are being very heavy handed with people caught with files that they are offering for download, I just can't see how filesharers think that it's an acceptable thing to do. "Oh I just wanted to try it out before I bought it", "it only harms very big companies", "the music they put out is dreadful bublegum pop tat anyway" seem to be a clarion calls, but it's not the people who are downloading and trying it out who are (in general at least) being prosecuted, it's people offering for upload thousands of files.
I wish the music industry would stop dishing out tens of millions of pounds to dreadful artists such as Robbie Williams or Mariah Carey (who inevitably turn out to be expensive, egotistical embarrassments), when the money dished out to them would have developed tens or hundreds of new bands. I long for the days of the early nineties when the indie labels ruled, maybe that's more to do with being thirtysomething though.
Fraser
Was the ultimate fine proportionate? Thomas had made just 24 songs available, which as reader M. pointed out was 10,000 times the retail value of each song.The penalty was designed with industrial-scale bootleggers in mind, and a pirate CD facility can knock out thousands of copies an hour.
But the settlement costs of an RIAA lawsuit are actually one hundreth of that, and the chances of being caught remain far lower than for any other illegal activity.
Small wonder P2P file sharing is carrying on as normal. Not paying for art remains terrific value.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/riaa_mailbag/
Digital downloads get pop-tastic applause
Musical deathmatch with Queen of Pop as ring master
By Kelly Fiveash
Unless you've been living under a rock recently you'll have noticed that the digital music industry has been flip-flopping all over the place this week.
First up, music licensing company Snocap today confirmed that it had reduced its staff headcount by 60 per cent.
The San Francisco-based firm, which had been the latest e-commerce venture from Napster founder Shawn Fanning alongside biz partners Jordan Mendelson, and Ron Conway, is said to be up for sale according to a blog post on ValleyWag.
It was created in 2002 in a, some might say, ambitious attempt to legally sell copy-protected music files on P2P networks by taking care of licensing and copyright issues on behalf of artists wanting to punt their musical wares online.
As ValleyWag points out, however, the firm's apparent decline could in part be attributed to the fact that there is less call for such a business model in a music industry fast moving towards a DRM-free future.
Elsewhere, Madonna has decided to ditch her long-running relationship with record label Warner Music Group (WMG) in a move that many commentators have, perhaps prematurely, seen as the nail in the coffin for the old way of doing business with record companies.
The pop Queen's latest reinvention will see her leave WMG after a quarter of a decade with the firm. Various reports say Madonna is expected to sign a $120m ten-year deal with concert promotion firm Live Nation.
It's a move that doesn't take much working out. Apparently, Madonna's album sales have continued to decline while her live, pricey shows have proved extremely popular among her fans.
Of course, Radiohead had already declared a touchy-feely attitude of "who needs them anyway?" The label-less band recently asked its army of fans to name the price for digital downloads of its latest CD.
And we've not even got on to talking about everyone's favourite media punchbag Britney Spears, yet. But what the hell, it is a Friday.
The troubled star's music label, in a bid to stop the party getting started, yesterday said it had filed a copyright infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against gossip website Perez Hilton.
According to Reuters, Jive Records, which is a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Zomba Label Group, has accused the popular site, and its owner Mario Lavandeira, of posting illegal recordings during the past three months of our Brit's forthcoming album, the somewhat aptly named Blackout. No pathos intended.
And finally, a new study has revealed that music-buying trends continue to point to a surge in sales online.
Market analysts Verdict said that UK digital downloads will be up more than 45 per cent on last year, worth £163m to the music and video industry in 2007.
Verdict, in its UK Music and Video Retailers 2007 report, also predicted that digital spending will continue to rise and that it could reach £600m a year by 2012.
It said: "While piracy will continue and CD volumes will decline further, most retailers are better placed to cope with market challenges... Digital downloading is starting to pick up pace and has much potential."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/madonna_snocap_britney_downloads/
By Kelly Fiveash
Unless you've been living under a rock recently you'll have noticed that the digital music industry has been flip-flopping all over the place this week.
First up, music licensing company Snocap today confirmed that it had reduced its staff headcount by 60 per cent.
The San Francisco-based firm, which had been the latest e-commerce venture from Napster founder Shawn Fanning alongside biz partners Jordan Mendelson, and Ron Conway, is said to be up for sale according to a blog post on ValleyWag.
It was created in 2002 in a, some might say, ambitious attempt to legally sell copy-protected music files on P2P networks by taking care of licensing and copyright issues on behalf of artists wanting to punt their musical wares online.
As ValleyWag points out, however, the firm's apparent decline could in part be attributed to the fact that there is less call for such a business model in a music industry fast moving towards a DRM-free future.
Elsewhere, Madonna has decided to ditch her long-running relationship with record label Warner Music Group (WMG) in a move that many commentators have, perhaps prematurely, seen as the nail in the coffin for the old way of doing business with record companies.
The pop Queen's latest reinvention will see her leave WMG after a quarter of a decade with the firm. Various reports say Madonna is expected to sign a $120m ten-year deal with concert promotion firm Live Nation.
It's a move that doesn't take much working out. Apparently, Madonna's album sales have continued to decline while her live, pricey shows have proved extremely popular among her fans.
Of course, Radiohead had already declared a touchy-feely attitude of "who needs them anyway?" The label-less band recently asked its army of fans to name the price for digital downloads of its latest CD.
And we've not even got on to talking about everyone's favourite media punchbag Britney Spears, yet. But what the hell, it is a Friday.
The troubled star's music label, in a bid to stop the party getting started, yesterday said it had filed a copyright infringement suit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles against gossip website Perez Hilton.
According to Reuters, Jive Records, which is a division of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Zomba Label Group, has accused the popular site, and its owner Mario Lavandeira, of posting illegal recordings during the past three months of our Brit's forthcoming album, the somewhat aptly named Blackout. No pathos intended.
And finally, a new study has revealed that music-buying trends continue to point to a surge in sales online.
Market analysts Verdict said that UK digital downloads will be up more than 45 per cent on last year, worth £163m to the music and video industry in 2007.
Verdict, in its UK Music and Video Retailers 2007 report, also predicted that digital spending will continue to rise and that it could reach £600m a year by 2012.
It said: "While piracy will continue and CD volumes will decline further, most retailers are better placed to cope with market challenges... Digital downloading is starting to pick up pace and has much potential."
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/madonna_snocap_britney_downloads/
EMI 'goes indie'
When financiers do A&R
By Andrew Orlowski
A memo from EMI's new owner has got the music digerati very excited. In recent years they've been hoping some of the lovely lolly that's been lubricating the City of London would flow their way. Now their wish is coming true - and it might not be what they wanted after all.
Guy Hands, whose private capital investment company Terra Firma acquired the label earlier this year, says he wants EMI to "act more like venture capitalists", according to a memo "leaked" earlier this week.
In our experience, acting like VCs means throwing money at hopeless dot.com start-ups - pick a card, any card! - while convincing the press that there's a New Economic Paradigm just around the corner. This might be "Pen Computing", or "Web 2.0" - it doesn't really matter. The trick lies in creating the demand - then making a sharp exit. They're really PR companies spending someone else's money.
But this doesn't map onto business models that fulfill a demand for cultural goods - especially not a large 21st century "entertainment" company. Did major record labels invent punk or acid house? Of course not - the best they could do was fulfill demand that already existed - usually with a load of cheesy ripoffs. Culture always remains a few steps ahead of the entrepreneurs who try and monetise it.
So the VC model is a lousy one for music: so long as sound recordings have value, record companies need artists they can milk for decades. Dead or alive, it doesn't really matter.
The most surprising part of Hands' memo is where he indicates that EMI should be prepared to let these prize assets go.
"Why should [established acts] subsidise their label's new talent roster — or for that matter their record company's excessive expenditures and advances?" he asks.
One of EMI's most bankable outfits has already done so. Radiohead released its new album Ten More B-Sides this week, clocking up more than one million downloads. Radiohead's bag of riffs and tropes varies little more than Status Quo's, it's just as dependable - and there's nothing wrong with that - for businesses it's what makes them so attractive. But if Hands is to allay fears that he's not just a quick turnaround merchant, he needs to keep them in the stable for longer. Perhaps giving these acts the kind of deal Madonna won with LiveNation this week - where she bags revenue from concert tickets, merchandise, as well as the sales of sound recordings.
From this memo, Terra Firma doesn't so much look like an asset stripper, as someone shooing the assets out of the window, as if they're flight-fearful pigeons.
A-ha, you're thinking. The money men have been in charge of the major labels for years now, and acting like it. The recent tendancy to cut their losses and ditch promising acts after their first album undermines the boast that major labels have a "nurturing" role.
But we're about to find out what happens when real financiers are in control - at which point major label executives might start to look back nostalgically at the frying pan they've just jumped out of.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/emi_hands_memo/
By Andrew Orlowski
A memo from EMI's new owner has got the music digerati very excited. In recent years they've been hoping some of the lovely lolly that's been lubricating the City of London would flow their way. Now their wish is coming true - and it might not be what they wanted after all.
Guy Hands, whose private capital investment company Terra Firma acquired the label earlier this year, says he wants EMI to "act more like venture capitalists", according to a memo "leaked" earlier this week.
In our experience, acting like VCs means throwing money at hopeless dot.com start-ups - pick a card, any card! - while convincing the press that there's a New Economic Paradigm just around the corner. This might be "Pen Computing", or "Web 2.0" - it doesn't really matter. The trick lies in creating the demand - then making a sharp exit. They're really PR companies spending someone else's money.
But this doesn't map onto business models that fulfill a demand for cultural goods - especially not a large 21st century "entertainment" company. Did major record labels invent punk or acid house? Of course not - the best they could do was fulfill demand that already existed - usually with a load of cheesy ripoffs. Culture always remains a few steps ahead of the entrepreneurs who try and monetise it.
So the VC model is a lousy one for music: so long as sound recordings have value, record companies need artists they can milk for decades. Dead or alive, it doesn't really matter.
The most surprising part of Hands' memo is where he indicates that EMI should be prepared to let these prize assets go.
"Why should [established acts] subsidise their label's new talent roster — or for that matter their record company's excessive expenditures and advances?" he asks.
One of EMI's most bankable outfits has already done so. Radiohead released its new album Ten More B-Sides this week, clocking up more than one million downloads. Radiohead's bag of riffs and tropes varies little more than Status Quo's, it's just as dependable - and there's nothing wrong with that - for businesses it's what makes them so attractive. But if Hands is to allay fears that he's not just a quick turnaround merchant, he needs to keep them in the stable for longer. Perhaps giving these acts the kind of deal Madonna won with LiveNation this week - where she bags revenue from concert tickets, merchandise, as well as the sales of sound recordings.
From this memo, Terra Firma doesn't so much look like an asset stripper, as someone shooing the assets out of the window, as if they're flight-fearful pigeons.
A-ha, you're thinking. The money men have been in charge of the major labels for years now, and acting like it. The recent tendancy to cut their losses and ditch promising acts after their first album undermines the boast that major labels have a "nurturing" role.
But we're about to find out what happens when real financiers are in control - at which point major label executives might start to look back nostalgically at the frying pan they've just jumped out of.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/12/emi_hands_memo/
Electronic Frontier Foundation To Support Thomas In RIAA Appeal
October 12th, 2007
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has publicly sided with Jammie Thomas, the single mother from Minnesota who lost a jury verdict against the RIAA for copyright infringement. Thomas, who received almost a quarter of a million dollars in fines for making a few dozen songs available for download on a Peer-To-Peer (P2P) file sharing service, has stated that she will appeal the verdict. The EFF’s involvement is certainly good news to Thomas, who was obviously guilty according to jurors interviewed after the trial. Now her financial future may rest on a technicality.
The EFF has a new strategy that hinges on challenging a jury instruction that associates making tracks available on P2P networks with active distribution. Here’s what the Jury was told:
Jury Instruction #15: The act of making copyrighted sound recordings available for electronic distribution on a peer-to-peer network, without license from the copyright owners, violates the copyright owners’ exclusive right of distribution, regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown.
According to the EFF, there are two distinct things wrong with this instruction…
First, the “distribution right” set out in Section 106(3) of the Copyright Act simply does not extend to Internet transmissions. It may sound odd, but “distribution” as defined in the Copyright Act requires that a physical object change hands (remember, this is a law that was written in 1976). EFF laid out this argument in its amicus brief in the Elektra v. Barker case, building on a 2001 article by University of Texas copyright law professor R. Anthony Reese.
Second, even if the “distribution right” reached Internet transmissions, a copyright owner must prove that a distribution actually took place (i.e., that someone actually downloaded from Ms. Thomas’ computer). As a result, Jury Instruction #15 is wrong when it asserts that the record companies can prevail “regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown.” For more on this issue, read the amicus brief filed by CCIA in Elektra v. Barker, as well as the 2005 ruling by Judge Patel in the Napster case.
If 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejects that jury instruction, the verdict against Jammie Thomas will have to be tossed and the case re-tried, if the RIAA is willing to get back into the ring.
http://www.futuremusic.com/blog/
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has publicly sided with Jammie Thomas, the single mother from Minnesota who lost a jury verdict against the RIAA for copyright infringement. Thomas, who received almost a quarter of a million dollars in fines for making a few dozen songs available for download on a Peer-To-Peer (P2P) file sharing service, has stated that she will appeal the verdict. The EFF’s involvement is certainly good news to Thomas, who was obviously guilty according to jurors interviewed after the trial. Now her financial future may rest on a technicality.
The EFF has a new strategy that hinges on challenging a jury instruction that associates making tracks available on P2P networks with active distribution. Here’s what the Jury was told:
Jury Instruction #15: The act of making copyrighted sound recordings available for electronic distribution on a peer-to-peer network, without license from the copyright owners, violates the copyright owners’ exclusive right of distribution, regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown.
According to the EFF, there are two distinct things wrong with this instruction…
First, the “distribution right” set out in Section 106(3) of the Copyright Act simply does not extend to Internet transmissions. It may sound odd, but “distribution” as defined in the Copyright Act requires that a physical object change hands (remember, this is a law that was written in 1976). EFF laid out this argument in its amicus brief in the Elektra v. Barker case, building on a 2001 article by University of Texas copyright law professor R. Anthony Reese.
Second, even if the “distribution right” reached Internet transmissions, a copyright owner must prove that a distribution actually took place (i.e., that someone actually downloaded from Ms. Thomas’ computer). As a result, Jury Instruction #15 is wrong when it asserts that the record companies can prevail “regardless of whether actual distribution has been shown.” For more on this issue, read the amicus brief filed by CCIA in Elektra v. Barker, as well as the 2005 ruling by Judge Patel in the Napster case.
If 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals rejects that jury instruction, the verdict against Jammie Thomas will have to be tossed and the case re-tried, if the RIAA is willing to get back into the ring.
http://www.futuremusic.com/blog/
Defecting from Music1.0 - what Radiohead, Madonna, Prince, The Charlatans, Korn, Jane Sibbery, Ani De Franco and The Eagles have in common
I don't buy a lot of printed newspapers (why... well, you should see the inbox of my google reader ;) but something made me pick up a copy of the International Herald Tribune (IHT) today. The IHT is indeed my favorite international newspaper; with consistently great writing and sharp opinions.
I was delighted to find at least 2 major stories on the music industry in this edition: one on Radiohead and one on Madonna (this was the only cached IHT link I could find, but here are other details). I was happy to see that at least one of them is already available in their entirety (maybe they know a little but something about The End of Control...?) - but where is the Madonna feature I have in my print version?
So what is happening here?
Basically, faster, nimbler, less-control-obsessed and less-conflicted players are doing what the major record labels should have done five years ago: offering partnerships to artists and their managers, real profit (and responsibility) sharing, engaging with artists on all levels, not just on selling copies of plastic (or zeros and ones, for that matter). As the IHT puts it when talking about the Madonna-Live Nation deal: this is a "wide-ranging partnership", not a mid-term 'plantation agreement' (the latter expression is mine, not theirs).
And by and large, major record labels will not be welcome in this game, because:
they have little expertise in it
they have none or few people that could run something like this
by and large, they have a monopolist's mindset (which is not going to work here)
they have aptly and with great dedication eradicated trust across the board: with the artists, the managers, the producers AND the users
they don't like deals that create a level playing field
Here are some quotes from the IHT features which I like a lot:
"Radiohead couldn't be in a better position to market itself online, without middlemen. It has a huge and loyal, if contentious, fan base that has sold out arena concerts for more than a decade. Unlike Prince, who chose to go independent at a much earlier, slower stage of the Internet, Radiohead can count on broadband access from much of the world."
My comment: indeed. If Todd Rundgren and Prince would have had broadband-enabled fans instead of a dial-up crowd it would been all over for the major labels a few years ago.
"...Radiohead records and tours on its own budget and timetable, plays new songs before they're recorded, lets listeners hear its music with a click or two and sustains itself primarily through performing and direct sales"
My comment: I like that thought, too, yet I think they will indeed need very strong managers, smart advisers, hot branding teams, and cutting-edge service providers to make this work because large financial success is still a question of SCALE. That is, of course, what the major labels have indeed provided and maybe that is what they can provide in the future? But now, guess what, there are hundreds of companies gearing up to provide just that: scale, and access to very large audiences. Another tough reality check for the majors - as far access to large numbers of people goes, they will be competing with the likes of myspace, youtube, google, facebook, AOL, Yahoo etc, and a gazillion of startups such as Kyte, Blip.tv, iLike, Jamendo, Reverbnation, Sonific (woho knows;) etc.
"Historically, middlemen are expensive. Under typical major-label contracts, musicians have paid handsomely for market access. The luckiest ones receive perhaps 15 percent of what their albums earn after a label's expenses are recouped - as opposed to the 100 percent of revenues that Radiohead is getting from "In Rainbows" online...."
I think these, below are the driving factors behind all of this:
http://www.mediafuturist.com/
I was delighted to find at least 2 major stories on the music industry in this edition: one on Radiohead and one on Madonna (this was the only cached IHT link I could find, but here are other details). I was happy to see that at least one of them is already available in their entirety (maybe they know a little but something about The End of Control...?) - but where is the Madonna feature I have in my print version?
So what is happening here?
Basically, faster, nimbler, less-control-obsessed and less-conflicted players are doing what the major record labels should have done five years ago: offering partnerships to artists and their managers, real profit (and responsibility) sharing, engaging with artists on all levels, not just on selling copies of plastic (or zeros and ones, for that matter). As the IHT puts it when talking about the Madonna-Live Nation deal: this is a "wide-ranging partnership", not a mid-term 'plantation agreement' (the latter expression is mine, not theirs).
And by and large, major record labels will not be welcome in this game, because:
they have little expertise in it
they have none or few people that could run something like this
by and large, they have a monopolist's mindset (which is not going to work here)
they have aptly and with great dedication eradicated trust across the board: with the artists, the managers, the producers AND the users
they don't like deals that create a level playing field
Here are some quotes from the IHT features which I like a lot:
"Radiohead couldn't be in a better position to market itself online, without middlemen. It has a huge and loyal, if contentious, fan base that has sold out arena concerts for more than a decade. Unlike Prince, who chose to go independent at a much earlier, slower stage of the Internet, Radiohead can count on broadband access from much of the world."
My comment: indeed. If Todd Rundgren and Prince would have had broadband-enabled fans instead of a dial-up crowd it would been all over for the major labels a few years ago.
"...Radiohead records and tours on its own budget and timetable, plays new songs before they're recorded, lets listeners hear its music with a click or two and sustains itself primarily through performing and direct sales"
My comment: I like that thought, too, yet I think they will indeed need very strong managers, smart advisers, hot branding teams, and cutting-edge service providers to make this work because large financial success is still a question of SCALE. That is, of course, what the major labels have indeed provided and maybe that is what they can provide in the future? But now, guess what, there are hundreds of companies gearing up to provide just that: scale, and access to very large audiences. Another tough reality check for the majors - as far access to large numbers of people goes, they will be competing with the likes of myspace, youtube, google, facebook, AOL, Yahoo etc, and a gazillion of startups such as Kyte, Blip.tv, iLike, Jamendo, Reverbnation, Sonific (woho knows;) etc.
"Historically, middlemen are expensive. Under typical major-label contracts, musicians have paid handsomely for market access. The luckiest ones receive perhaps 15 percent of what their albums earn after a label's expenses are recouped - as opposed to the 100 percent of revenues that Radiohead is getting from "In Rainbows" online...."
I think these, below are the driving factors behind all of this:
http://www.mediafuturist.com/
vrijdag 12 oktober 2007
Beyonce-Phone Among New Devices Hitting The Market
A host of new multimedia mobile phones are poised to hit retail shelves, just in time for the holiday sales season.
Just a week after Verizon unveiled a touch-screen iPhone competitor as part of its fall device lineup, Sprint pulled the curtain back on a pair of new devices as well. The biggest splash in the music department is a Beyonce-branded version of the UpStage music phone, originally introduced earlier this year.
The B'Phone, as it is called, features gold-and-burgundy colors designed by Beyonce, a Beyonce-themed startup screen, and the ability to download exclusive Beyonce photos, videos and a childhood song she recorded when she was 10.
"When I was 10, I recorded a song called '632-5792' - a phone number. It's a little embarrassing but it's cute. There's a recording of that song on the phone exclusively for my fans," said Beyonce.
The company also introduced the Rumor from LG, pitched as a "social networking" device based on various text messaging and IM functions. A "text tones" feature allows users to assign specific alerts for incoming text messages from different people, much like is done with ringtones today.
Additionally, Sony/Ericsson announced its new Walkman branded phone will be on store shelves this month. The W910 lets users shake the device to skip between music tracks and has a SensMe music recommendation feature. The company also introduced a line of portable Bluetooth speakers that can be used to stream music from a Walkman phone.
SOURCE
Just a week after Verizon unveiled a touch-screen iPhone competitor as part of its fall device lineup, Sprint pulled the curtain back on a pair of new devices as well. The biggest splash in the music department is a Beyonce-branded version of the UpStage music phone, originally introduced earlier this year.
The B'Phone, as it is called, features gold-and-burgundy colors designed by Beyonce, a Beyonce-themed startup screen, and the ability to download exclusive Beyonce photos, videos and a childhood song she recorded when she was 10.
"When I was 10, I recorded a song called '632-5792' - a phone number. It's a little embarrassing but it's cute. There's a recording of that song on the phone exclusively for my fans," said Beyonce.
The company also introduced the Rumor from LG, pitched as a "social networking" device based on various text messaging and IM functions. A "text tones" feature allows users to assign specific alerts for incoming text messages from different people, much like is done with ringtones today.
Additionally, Sony/Ericsson announced its new Walkman branded phone will be on store shelves this month. The W910 lets users shake the device to skip between music tracks and has a SensMe music recommendation feature. The company also introduced a line of portable Bluetooth speakers that can be used to stream music from a Walkman phone.
SOURCE
Report: Teens Moving From P2P To Paid Services
The results of a teen survey, conducted by financial analyst firm Piper Jaffray, revealed young music fans are slowly accepting paid online music sources over P2P filetrading. P2P is still the primary way they acquire music, but its market share fell to 64% from 72% last fall. Meanwhile, 36% of teens said they now buy music from online services, up from 28% last year.
Of the paid services used, iTunes remains the primary resource, but it's market share is slipping at 79% from 91% last year. However it's not Rhapsody or Napster making up the difference, which each hold a 2% share of attention. Instead, the "other" category is now 16% of combines usage -- which includes sources like eMusic, Amazon.com and mobile music stores.
Exactly which of these service is making up the lag in iTunes' share is not clear, as the company did not ask the teen users to identify their alternative sources.
SOURCE
Of the paid services used, iTunes remains the primary resource, but it's market share is slipping at 79% from 91% last year. However it's not Rhapsody or Napster making up the difference, which each hold a 2% share of attention. Instead, the "other" category is now 16% of combines usage -- which includes sources like eMusic, Amazon.com and mobile music stores.
Exactly which of these service is making up the lag in iTunes' share is not clear, as the company did not ask the teen users to identify their alternative sources.
SOURCE
Ad-Supported Service Deezer Signs With Sony BMG
Sony BMG France has signed an agreement which will provide users of French ad-supported on-demand streaming service Deezer with unlimited free access to 165,000 titles.
In a press release issued by Deezer, Sony BMG France chairman and CEO Christophe Lameignère said the agreement was "a first step towards a new form of music usage, respectful of copyright in the digital environment." Sony BMG was unavailable for comments at press time.
"Deezer is a digital jukebox," explains co-founder Jonathan Benassaya. End-users, he says, upload their own music, which is then scanned via U.S. fingerprinting solution Music IP.
While the business model is currently based on advertising, Benassaya says Deezer is considering launching an unlimited download service, which would be based on paid subscriptions.
While he would not unveil the details of the deal, Benassaya says Sony BMG's remuneration is mainly based on a percentage of Deezer's advertising revenue.
In August, French authors, composers and publishers collecting society Sacem signed an agreement with Deezer, which was also based on an undisclosed share of its advertising revenues, with a minimum set per streaming packages.
"Deezer is a practical answer to piracy," says Benassaya, who adds that the firm is currently in talks with several European ISPs to integrate the music service in their offer. In August, France's third ISP Free added a permanent link to Deezer on its homepage. Benassaya says a new version of the service will arrive by the end of October, which will include a social network and music news features.
Named Blogmusik until last August, the service had actually closed in March 2007 after an action taken by Sacem and by independent record labels collecting society SPPF. The service vowed to go legal and re-launched in April. However, Universal Music France issued a press release in August protesting against the use of its catalog without their agreement.
Sony BMG is the first record company to grant their rights. Deezer's offering to date has included 250,000 titles from the four major companies and from many independent labels, many of which are uncleared. While acknowledging this, Benassaya says negotiations are ongoing with the remaining major companies. An agreement with SPPF is close, he says.
Deezer claims a million registered members to date, up from 300,000 a month ago.
SOURCE
In a press release issued by Deezer, Sony BMG France chairman and CEO Christophe Lameignère said the agreement was "a first step towards a new form of music usage, respectful of copyright in the digital environment." Sony BMG was unavailable for comments at press time.
"Deezer is a digital jukebox," explains co-founder Jonathan Benassaya. End-users, he says, upload their own music, which is then scanned via U.S. fingerprinting solution Music IP.
While the business model is currently based on advertising, Benassaya says Deezer is considering launching an unlimited download service, which would be based on paid subscriptions.
While he would not unveil the details of the deal, Benassaya says Sony BMG's remuneration is mainly based on a percentage of Deezer's advertising revenue.
In August, French authors, composers and publishers collecting society Sacem signed an agreement with Deezer, which was also based on an undisclosed share of its advertising revenues, with a minimum set per streaming packages.
"Deezer is a practical answer to piracy," says Benassaya, who adds that the firm is currently in talks with several European ISPs to integrate the music service in their offer. In August, France's third ISP Free added a permanent link to Deezer on its homepage. Benassaya says a new version of the service will arrive by the end of October, which will include a social network and music news features.
Named Blogmusik until last August, the service had actually closed in March 2007 after an action taken by Sacem and by independent record labels collecting society SPPF. The service vowed to go legal and re-launched in April. However, Universal Music France issued a press release in August protesting against the use of its catalog without their agreement.
Sony BMG is the first record company to grant their rights. Deezer's offering to date has included 250,000 titles from the four major companies and from many independent labels, many of which are uncleared. While acknowledging this, Benassaya says negotiations are ongoing with the remaining major companies. An agreement with SPPF is close, he says.
Deezer claims a million registered members to date, up from 300,000 a month ago.
SOURCE
ZUNE'S NEW TUNE
Microsoft's introduction of three new Zune devices, combined with an updated version of the Zune digital music service, suggests that the relatively lackluster response to the initial Zune offering has not fazed the computing giant from advancing its digital music agenda.
The key to what Microsoft is calling "Zune round two" is not so much the features of the new devices—such as the touch pad and flash memory—but rather the added social networking elements the company is integrating into the broader service, especially via a development that Microsoft is calling Zune Social.
The service will automatically list songs that Zune users have most recently played, allow members to customize their own list of favorite artists and let visitors stream full versions of each song. Additionally, each Zune Social profile (called a Zune Card) can be added, much like a widget, to other social network sites, blogs and Web sites.
Together with the elimination of the three-day limit on songs shared from one Zune to another and the new ability for users to forward shared songs to others, Microsoft's latest Zune effort attempts to combine pieces of other existing digital music initiatives into one offering.
"We've got the hardware, the software, and now we have community," Zune GM of global marketing Chris Stephenson says. "We think we can pull all three exciting areas together and create one improved consumer experience."
That's easier said than done. Such music communities as Last.fm and MOG have already attracted millions of users, and such initiatives as Imeem are embracing ad-supported models that allow users to stream full songs discovered on other users' profiles. Combined with the move toward digital rights management-free tracks and widget-based sales, an interoperable community of music discovery and distribution is already in development while Microsoft works to build a self-contained version.
Microsoft has sold 1.2 million units of the original Zune, snagging the No. 2 market-share position for hard-drive-based MP3 players. It wants to achieve the same with its new flash-based devices on the back of its social sharing and networking strategy, but faces strong incumbents and equally innovative newcomers. Sandisk is second in flash-based-device market share at about 10%, behind Apple's 74%, and is integrated with such services as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Rhapsody. Additionally, new Wi-Fi-enabled devices are expected to hit the market this holiday season, particularly the Slacker model—which comes integrated with an online personal radio service.
SOURCE
The key to what Microsoft is calling "Zune round two" is not so much the features of the new devices—such as the touch pad and flash memory—but rather the added social networking elements the company is integrating into the broader service, especially via a development that Microsoft is calling Zune Social.
The service will automatically list songs that Zune users have most recently played, allow members to customize their own list of favorite artists and let visitors stream full versions of each song. Additionally, each Zune Social profile (called a Zune Card) can be added, much like a widget, to other social network sites, blogs and Web sites.
Together with the elimination of the three-day limit on songs shared from one Zune to another and the new ability for users to forward shared songs to others, Microsoft's latest Zune effort attempts to combine pieces of other existing digital music initiatives into one offering.
"We've got the hardware, the software, and now we have community," Zune GM of global marketing Chris Stephenson says. "We think we can pull all three exciting areas together and create one improved consumer experience."
That's easier said than done. Such music communities as Last.fm and MOG have already attracted millions of users, and such initiatives as Imeem are embracing ad-supported models that allow users to stream full songs discovered on other users' profiles. Combined with the move toward digital rights management-free tracks and widget-based sales, an interoperable community of music discovery and distribution is already in development while Microsoft works to build a self-contained version.
Microsoft has sold 1.2 million units of the original Zune, snagging the No. 2 market-share position for hard-drive-based MP3 players. It wants to achieve the same with its new flash-based devices on the back of its social sharing and networking strategy, but faces strong incumbents and equally innovative newcomers. Sandisk is second in flash-based-device market share at about 10%, behind Apple's 74%, and is integrated with such services as Yahoo Music Unlimited and Rhapsody. Additionally, new Wi-Fi-enabled devices are expected to hit the market this holiday season, particularly the Slacker model—which comes integrated with an online personal radio service.
SOURCE
Mexico's Somexfon Shuts Down Digital Jukeboxes
As part of a continued push to combat piracy at different levels, Mexico's Society of Video, Multimedia and Phonogram Producers (Somexfon), has seized 15 digital jukeboxes in Mexico City and Jalisco.
Over the past few months, Somexfon has asked jukeboxes owners across the country to monitor their content and ensure that all tracks, whether in CDR or digital format, are legally obtained.
Those who don't comply have been told their jukeboxes will be seized by authorities. Acting together with local authorities, Somexfon seized 12 jukeboxes in Mexico City and 3 in Jalisco.
SOURCE
Over the past few months, Somexfon has asked jukeboxes owners across the country to monitor their content and ensure that all tracks, whether in CDR or digital format, are legally obtained.
Those who don't comply have been told their jukeboxes will be seized by authorities. Acting together with local authorities, Somexfon seized 12 jukeboxes in Mexico City and 3 in Jalisco.
SOURCE
Widget Enables Web Site Publishing On Social Sites
Reverbnation.com launched TuneWidget, an application that allows bands to post a miniature version of their Web site on social networking sites and blogs. TuneWidgets can also copied and shared, and Reverbnation will track each posting of the widget.
ReverbNation is a Web site that provides social networking tools for musicians and real time statistics on the uses of those tools.
SOURCE
ReverbNation is a Web site that provides social networking tools for musicians and real time statistics on the uses of those tools.
SOURCE
Melody Tunes Ramps Up Arab World Campaign
Melody Tunes brings modern Western music to the Arab world.
Does the Arab world want its Melody Tunes? More precisely, does it want an all-English channel playing Western music by artists such as 50 Cent and Madonna?
Melody Tunes, a channel that launched in the Middle East in September, is betting that it does and launched an integrated campaign from ad agency Leo Burnett in Cairo, Egypt, to prove that there was a viable market for such music.
The campaign, which consists of six television commercials, five radio spots and print ads, plays off the idea of non-native English speakers singing along phonetically to songs by artists such as Akon and 50 Cent.
In the 30-second "Akon" spot, one teenager is seen writing on his living room wall while his friend watches him. The drawer's mother discovers him in mid-graffiti and smacks him to the ground. As he lies there, stunned, his friend begins singing and acting out Akon's hit "Smack That" over his prone body.
"The idea came from people in the country. Lots of them speak English and [the work is] targeted at them," said Mohamed Hamdalla, creative director, Burnett, Cairo, who also directed the spots. "Everyone on the street tries to throw English into conversations to make themselves seem educated even when they're not. We thought it would be fun to make fun of that."
Melody Tunes, which launched in September, is part of Melody, a media company similar to Viacom with several other channels focused on Arabic films and music. It is not the first media outlet to present Western music, but it will be the first all-English music channel. MTV, in November, will begin MTV Arabia, the company said. Similar to channels such as Rotana and Mazzika, it will air a mix of Western and Arab music.
Presenting Western music in the Arab world is not a guarantee of success. This summer MuchMusic's "Arab-yeah" failed to make a go of it and went off the air after only a few months. The Arab equivalent of Canada's Much Music styled itself as an Arab version of MTV and played a mix of Western and Arab music.
The campaign establishes Melody Tunes as an anti-authority, rebellious channel targeted at Arab youth.
"The target audience is young people who are very influenced by the West yet have had their own culture embedded in them growing up," said Gamal Marwan, CEO and chairman of Melody. "We wanted the campaign to be light and catchy and for Melody to be known as always pushing the envelope."
The spots, which are up on YouTube, have proven so successful that Burnett's Cairo office is developing the next round, which it plans to air in the next month or so. (The six spots average around 75,000 views apiece.) Melody, per sources, is spending between $7-8 million on the campaign.
"One of the things I've learned is that if you give an agency the creative freedom, this is what they'll give you," said Marwan. "With our next round of spots, since the formula is working, we'll stick with it."
SOURCE
Does the Arab world want its Melody Tunes? More precisely, does it want an all-English channel playing Western music by artists such as 50 Cent and Madonna?
Melody Tunes, a channel that launched in the Middle East in September, is betting that it does and launched an integrated campaign from ad agency Leo Burnett in Cairo, Egypt, to prove that there was a viable market for such music.
The campaign, which consists of six television commercials, five radio spots and print ads, plays off the idea of non-native English speakers singing along phonetically to songs by artists such as Akon and 50 Cent.
In the 30-second "Akon" spot, one teenager is seen writing on his living room wall while his friend watches him. The drawer's mother discovers him in mid-graffiti and smacks him to the ground. As he lies there, stunned, his friend begins singing and acting out Akon's hit "Smack That" over his prone body.
"The idea came from people in the country. Lots of them speak English and [the work is] targeted at them," said Mohamed Hamdalla, creative director, Burnett, Cairo, who also directed the spots. "Everyone on the street tries to throw English into conversations to make themselves seem educated even when they're not. We thought it would be fun to make fun of that."
Melody Tunes, which launched in September, is part of Melody, a media company similar to Viacom with several other channels focused on Arabic films and music. It is not the first media outlet to present Western music, but it will be the first all-English music channel. MTV, in November, will begin MTV Arabia, the company said. Similar to channels such as Rotana and Mazzika, it will air a mix of Western and Arab music.
Presenting Western music in the Arab world is not a guarantee of success. This summer MuchMusic's "Arab-yeah" failed to make a go of it and went off the air after only a few months. The Arab equivalent of Canada's Much Music styled itself as an Arab version of MTV and played a mix of Western and Arab music.
The campaign establishes Melody Tunes as an anti-authority, rebellious channel targeted at Arab youth.
"The target audience is young people who are very influenced by the West yet have had their own culture embedded in them growing up," said Gamal Marwan, CEO and chairman of Melody. "We wanted the campaign to be light and catchy and for Melody to be known as always pushing the envelope."
The spots, which are up on YouTube, have proven so successful that Burnett's Cairo office is developing the next round, which it plans to air in the next month or so. (The six spots average around 75,000 views apiece.) Melody, per sources, is spending between $7-8 million on the campaign.
"One of the things I've learned is that if you give an agency the creative freedom, this is what they'll give you," said Marwan. "With our next round of spots, since the formula is working, we'll stick with it."
SOURCE
Loud Launches Beverage Line
Loud Records, founded by music mogul Steve Rifkind, has partnered with industry veteran Ron Urban for the launch of Loud Beverage Corp. A line of energy drinks will be the first to hit the market.
"This company's rich musical history has its roots in marketing, and that's the same approach we are taking with Loud Energy Drinks. We will launch this product market by market in the manner of breaking records," says Rifkind in a statement. "In addition to traditional beverage marketing, we utilize radio, DJs, mixtapes, club nights and promotions with non-traditional entertainment and lifestyle accounts."
Loud Energy Drinks currently come in two flavors (Classic Mix and Sitrus Stunner) with a third (Grapple Sauce) in production and a fourth (the sugar-free Pomberry Zero) completing formulation. The company also has several other lines in development.
Loud Energy Drinks are available in various cities nationwide, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Local promotions are planned with partner Universal Music Group at over 200 independent indie retail outlets.
SOURCE
"This company's rich musical history has its roots in marketing, and that's the same approach we are taking with Loud Energy Drinks. We will launch this product market by market in the manner of breaking records," says Rifkind in a statement. "In addition to traditional beverage marketing, we utilize radio, DJs, mixtapes, club nights and promotions with non-traditional entertainment and lifestyle accounts."
Loud Energy Drinks currently come in two flavors (Classic Mix and Sitrus Stunner) with a third (Grapple Sauce) in production and a fourth (the sugar-free Pomberry Zero) completing formulation. The company also has several other lines in development.
Loud Energy Drinks are available in various cities nationwide, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Local promotions are planned with partner Universal Music Group at over 200 independent indie retail outlets.
SOURCE
Madonna morphs again; The mistress of reinvention leaves an old label for a new kind of distributor.
Pop star Madonna's greatest talent may be her ability to provoke, but the one that has served her best is her keen eye (and ear) for trends. Her career has been one of constant reinvention, with the Material Girl adopting a new dance-pop style with almost every release. Now she has joined the vanguard of a new movement, becoming the latest big-name act to dump her label in favor of a new kind of distributor.
Madonna's managers reportedly told her longtime label, Warner Music Group, that she would sign a 10-year, $120-million deal with Live Nation -- a top concert promoter and venue owner that handled some of her previous tours.
That kind of money isn't unheard of for a star of her magnitude; two years ago, Sony BMG signed Bruce Springsteen to a deal reportedly worth almost as much (a move that precipitated Chief Executive Andy Lack's demotion to non-executive chairman). But it's easier for Live Nation to make a nine-figure offer because it doesn't have to rely solely on the 49-year-old singer's ability to sell $16 CDs. Instead, it can count on her track record selling far more expensive concert tickets. Her last tour grossed $86 million in North America alone and was expected to collect twice that amount worldwide, with an average ticket price of more than $180.
The deal has risks for Live Nation too, and yet it exemplifies the power shift in the music industry.
Overall CD sales have fallen sharply since 2000, and even the top-selling acts aren't putting up the numbers they did in the 1990s. Not so long ago, top acts routinely sold a million copies of a new CD the first week it was on the market. Now, the No. 1 spot often goes to artists selling a few hundred thousand discs.
The slump has put a crimp in the major labels' high-risk, high-reward business model, which counted on a handful of artists racking up hits big enough to offset the losses incurred by the rest of the roster. That's why top executives at Warner Music and EMI have talked for months about the need for a new model that gives artists a larger percentage of their CD sales in exchange for a share of the revenue from tours, fan clubs and T-shirt sales, all of which have been off-limits to the labels.
But as Madonna's deal demonstrates, artists increasingly have other partners willing to shoulder some of the risk. Retailers are stepping up to promote and distribute CDs, as Wal-Mart did for Garth Brooks and will soon do for the Eagles, and as Starbucks has done for Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell.
Meanwhile, a growing number of artists in their prime are forgoing record contracts and releasing songs through their own websites. The list includes Radiohead -- which invited fans to pay whatever they wished to download its new album -- Oasis and Nine Inch Nails.
The news isn't all bad for the major labels. They recently won a $222,000 judgment against a single mother in Minnesota for sharing two dozen songs online through Kazaa. But an uncollectable judgment is cold comfort for an industry that's losing support on both ends of its business.
Not only are customers finding other ways to fill their musical needs, so are the musicians.
SOURCE
Madonna's managers reportedly told her longtime label, Warner Music Group, that she would sign a 10-year, $120-million deal with Live Nation -- a top concert promoter and venue owner that handled some of her previous tours.
That kind of money isn't unheard of for a star of her magnitude; two years ago, Sony BMG signed Bruce Springsteen to a deal reportedly worth almost as much (a move that precipitated Chief Executive Andy Lack's demotion to non-executive chairman). But it's easier for Live Nation to make a nine-figure offer because it doesn't have to rely solely on the 49-year-old singer's ability to sell $16 CDs. Instead, it can count on her track record selling far more expensive concert tickets. Her last tour grossed $86 million in North America alone and was expected to collect twice that amount worldwide, with an average ticket price of more than $180.
The deal has risks for Live Nation too, and yet it exemplifies the power shift in the music industry.
Overall CD sales have fallen sharply since 2000, and even the top-selling acts aren't putting up the numbers they did in the 1990s. Not so long ago, top acts routinely sold a million copies of a new CD the first week it was on the market. Now, the No. 1 spot often goes to artists selling a few hundred thousand discs.
The slump has put a crimp in the major labels' high-risk, high-reward business model, which counted on a handful of artists racking up hits big enough to offset the losses incurred by the rest of the roster. That's why top executives at Warner Music and EMI have talked for months about the need for a new model that gives artists a larger percentage of their CD sales in exchange for a share of the revenue from tours, fan clubs and T-shirt sales, all of which have been off-limits to the labels.
But as Madonna's deal demonstrates, artists increasingly have other partners willing to shoulder some of the risk. Retailers are stepping up to promote and distribute CDs, as Wal-Mart did for Garth Brooks and will soon do for the Eagles, and as Starbucks has done for Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell.
Meanwhile, a growing number of artists in their prime are forgoing record contracts and releasing songs through their own websites. The list includes Radiohead -- which invited fans to pay whatever they wished to download its new album -- Oasis and Nine Inch Nails.
The news isn't all bad for the major labels. They recently won a $222,000 judgment against a single mother in Minnesota for sharing two dozen songs online through Kazaa. But an uncollectable judgment is cold comfort for an industry that's losing support on both ends of its business.
Not only are customers finding other ways to fill their musical needs, so are the musicians.
SOURCE
Island Def Jam To Launch Mobile Music Offering
Island Def Jam Music Group is launching a mobile music subscription service dubbed IDJ Radio.
The service will feature six streaming "radio" stations and on-demand music videos featuring hip-hop/R&B, old school classics, and Reggaeton/Latin hip-hop from both Island Def Jam artists and those of other labels.
Mobile content firm mSpot is providing the technology behind the service. The company says one mobile operator will have an exclusive to the content, but did not name which one, nor did it reveal pricing. Details will emerge in the coming weeks according to mSpot.
Sprint is one of mSpot's biggest carrier partners, offering the company's various radio services and other applications.
SOURCE
The service will feature six streaming "radio" stations and on-demand music videos featuring hip-hop/R&B, old school classics, and Reggaeton/Latin hip-hop from both Island Def Jam artists and those of other labels.
Mobile content firm mSpot is providing the technology behind the service. The company says one mobile operator will have an exclusive to the content, but did not name which one, nor did it reveal pricing. Details will emerge in the coming weeks according to mSpot.
Sprint is one of mSpot's biggest carrier partners, offering the company's various radio services and other applications.
SOURCE
maandag 8 oktober 2007
Commission Confirms Approval Of Recorded Music Joint Venture Between Sony And Bertelsmann
Commission Confirms Approval Of Recorded Music Joint Venture Between Sony And Bertelsmann
The European Commission has confirmed clearance under EU merger control rules for the creation of Sony BMG, a joint venture combining the recorded music businesses of Sony and Bertelsmann after concluding that the transaction would not create or strengthen a dominant or collectively dominant position in the music markets in the EEA (as regards EU Member States, restricted to the 15 countries who were members before 1 May 2004). The merger had first been approved by the Commission in 2004 (see IP/04/959). Following the annulment of this approval by the Court of First Instance in 2006, the Commission has conducted an in-depth re-assessment of the merger.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented: "This investigation represents one of the most thorough analyses of complex information ever undertaken by the Commission in a merger procedure. It clearly shows that the merger would not raise competition concerns in any of the affected markets."
Before its absorption by the joint venture, Bertelsmann Music Group was a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, a German-based international media company whose activities also include television and radio production, broadcasting and book and magazine publishing. BMG's music labels included Arista and Jive.
Sony Corp of America belongs to the Japanese Sony group whose activities include consumer electronics and the entertainment industry besides the music recording and publishing business. In recorded music it acted through Sony Music Entertainment which owns the Columbia, Epic and Sony Classical, among other labels.
The 2004 decision
On 20 July 2004 (see IP/04/959), the Commission authorised under the then in force 1989 EU Merger Regulation the creation of the joint venture Sony BMG, combining the recorded music divisions of Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG (BMG). After examining the proposed transaction, the Commission found that it would not create or reinforce a dominant position for the involved firms alone or collectively with the other music majors (Universal, Warner and EMI).
The Court decision
In its 13th July 2006 ruling on case T-464/04 (see CFI press release n° 60/2006), the Court of First Instance however considered that the Commission made manifest errors of assessment and that the evidence relied on by the Commission was insufficient to justify the clearance decision and annulled it.
The second investigation
Following this annulment, the case was re-notified to the Commission on 31 January 2007 and the Commission started a new assessment of the transaction. On 1 March 2007, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation (see IP/07/272).
The new investigation was carried out under the previous Merger Regulation (EEC 4064/89), applicable to merger agreements signed before 1 May 2004, under which the Commission had to check whether a proposed merger would strengthen or create a dominant or collectively dominant market position in the territory of the European Economic Area as it stood before 1 May 2004 (including the 15 EU Member States at the time) or a substantial part thereof. However, the Commission re-evaluated the transaction in the light of current market conditions, taking into account developments since 2004, including the developments in the sale of online music. This means that the Commission was able to evaluate the actual impact of the merger on the market since 2004 and was not limited, as is usually the case, to an analysis of likely effects on the market in the future.
As a reminder, a merger in a concentrated market may significantly impede effective competition through the creation or reinforcement of a dominant position because it increases the likelihood that firms are able to collectively coordinate their behaviour to the detriment of consumers, notably through increasing prices, limiting production or dividing the market, for instance by geographic area or other customer characteristics.
In this investigation, the Commission examined in great detail all national markets for recorded music in physical format and for the licensing of recorded music in digital format. The investigation has focused in assessing the likelihood of the merger creating or reinforcing a collective dominant position of the major record producers, following the three criteria set in the Airtours judgment of the Court of First Instance (case T-342/99). These criteria are whether there is sufficient transparency in the market in order to spot deviations to the collusion, whether there is a credible retaliation mechanism by the companies on the market against any companies who would not collude, and whether there is any possibility for competitors or customers to undermine the effects of the collusion.
In particular, the Commission performed one of its largest and most complex econometric analysis so far in the context of a merger investigation, analysing all net prices, discounts and wholesale prices for all CD chart albums sold by all major record companies to all of their customers in the European Economic Area between 2002 and 2006 (equivalent to millions of data points) in order to find evidence of any possible collusion between record companies. In addition, the market for the licensing of recorded music in digital format, which was nascent at the time of the Commission 2004 investigation, has now been fully analysed in the light of its development since 2004.
The Commission also investigated all the various theories of price and non-price related coordination between major record companies provided by other market players. These theories included alleged coordination on budgets, on the pricing of each title, on pricing policy, on chart album prices, on access to retailers, on access to airplay, on chart rules, on release date, on coordination at the level of publishing activities and alleged negative impact on cultural diversity.
Taking into account the points raised by the CFI, the in-depth analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of the markets and third-party submissions provided in all instances, the in-depth investigation has provided no evidence of coordinated behaviour prior to the merger or as a result of it. This finding relates to both the markets for music in physical format and in digital format.
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103993
The European Commission has confirmed clearance under EU merger control rules for the creation of Sony BMG, a joint venture combining the recorded music businesses of Sony and Bertelsmann after concluding that the transaction would not create or strengthen a dominant or collectively dominant position in the music markets in the EEA (as regards EU Member States, restricted to the 15 countries who were members before 1 May 2004). The merger had first been approved by the Commission in 2004 (see IP/04/959). Following the annulment of this approval by the Court of First Instance in 2006, the Commission has conducted an in-depth re-assessment of the merger.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes commented: "This investigation represents one of the most thorough analyses of complex information ever undertaken by the Commission in a merger procedure. It clearly shows that the merger would not raise competition concerns in any of the affected markets."
Before its absorption by the joint venture, Bertelsmann Music Group was a subsidiary of Bertelsmann AG, a German-based international media company whose activities also include television and radio production, broadcasting and book and magazine publishing. BMG's music labels included Arista and Jive.
Sony Corp of America belongs to the Japanese Sony group whose activities include consumer electronics and the entertainment industry besides the music recording and publishing business. In recorded music it acted through Sony Music Entertainment which owns the Columbia, Epic and Sony Classical, among other labels.
The 2004 decision
On 20 July 2004 (see IP/04/959), the Commission authorised under the then in force 1989 EU Merger Regulation the creation of the joint venture Sony BMG, combining the recorded music divisions of Sony Corporation and Bertelsmann AG (BMG). After examining the proposed transaction, the Commission found that it would not create or reinforce a dominant position for the involved firms alone or collectively with the other music majors (Universal, Warner and EMI).
The Court decision
In its 13th July 2006 ruling on case T-464/04 (see CFI press release n° 60/2006), the Court of First Instance however considered that the Commission made manifest errors of assessment and that the evidence relied on by the Commission was insufficient to justify the clearance decision and annulled it.
The second investigation
Following this annulment, the case was re-notified to the Commission on 31 January 2007 and the Commission started a new assessment of the transaction. On 1 March 2007, the Commission opened an in-depth investigation (see IP/07/272).
The new investigation was carried out under the previous Merger Regulation (EEC 4064/89), applicable to merger agreements signed before 1 May 2004, under which the Commission had to check whether a proposed merger would strengthen or create a dominant or collectively dominant market position in the territory of the European Economic Area as it stood before 1 May 2004 (including the 15 EU Member States at the time) or a substantial part thereof. However, the Commission re-evaluated the transaction in the light of current market conditions, taking into account developments since 2004, including the developments in the sale of online music. This means that the Commission was able to evaluate the actual impact of the merger on the market since 2004 and was not limited, as is usually the case, to an analysis of likely effects on the market in the future.
As a reminder, a merger in a concentrated market may significantly impede effective competition through the creation or reinforcement of a dominant position because it increases the likelihood that firms are able to collectively coordinate their behaviour to the detriment of consumers, notably through increasing prices, limiting production or dividing the market, for instance by geographic area or other customer characteristics.
In this investigation, the Commission examined in great detail all national markets for recorded music in physical format and for the licensing of recorded music in digital format. The investigation has focused in assessing the likelihood of the merger creating or reinforcing a collective dominant position of the major record producers, following the three criteria set in the Airtours judgment of the Court of First Instance (case T-342/99). These criteria are whether there is sufficient transparency in the market in order to spot deviations to the collusion, whether there is a credible retaliation mechanism by the companies on the market against any companies who would not collude, and whether there is any possibility for competitors or customers to undermine the effects of the collusion.
In particular, the Commission performed one of its largest and most complex econometric analysis so far in the context of a merger investigation, analysing all net prices, discounts and wholesale prices for all CD chart albums sold by all major record companies to all of their customers in the European Economic Area between 2002 and 2006 (equivalent to millions of data points) in order to find evidence of any possible collusion between record companies. In addition, the market for the licensing of recorded music in digital format, which was nascent at the time of the Commission 2004 investigation, has now been fully analysed in the light of its development since 2004.
The Commission also investigated all the various theories of price and non-price related coordination between major record companies provided by other market players. These theories included alleged coordination on budgets, on the pricing of each title, on pricing policy, on chart album prices, on access to retailers, on access to airplay, on chart rules, on release date, on coordination at the level of publishing activities and alleged negative impact on cultural diversity.
Taking into account the points raised by the CFI, the in-depth analysis of qualitative as well as quantitative aspects of the markets and third-party submissions provided in all instances, the in-depth investigation has provided no evidence of coordinated behaviour prior to the merger or as a result of it. This finding relates to both the markets for music in physical format and in digital format.
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103993
From The Rolling Stones To Joss Stone, PlayPhone Distributes EMI Music Ringtones
From The Rolling Stones To Joss Stone, PlayPhone Distributes EMI Music Ringtones
Mobile entertainment company PlayPhone, Inc. (http://www.playphone.com) has entered into an agreement with EMI Music to distribute music ringtones from its extensive catalogue to PlayPhone.com and the far-reaching network of mobile entertainment destinations that are powered by PlayPhone (http://www.playphone.com/Company.aspx). Starting today, consumers can customize their mobile phones with all kinds of music ringtones -- from classics such as The Beach Boys and David Bowie to current chart-topping artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall, MIMs and Lenny Kravitz.
"The mobile entertainment platform is a powerful way for music lovers to connect with our artists," said Lauren Berkowitz, senior vice president of digital for EMI Music North America. "The team at PlayPhone has the know-how, technology and experience to ensure a consumer-friendly user download experience so that anyone with a mobile phone can have access to some of the best-known musical talent on the planet."
"We couldn't be more honored to give our users access to such a legendary catalogue of artists," said Ron Czerny, chief executive officer at PlayPhone. "Having an organization such as EMI choose us as their distribution partner is further validation of our ability to put entertainment companies in touch with today's savvy mobile content consumer."
Bron:http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103967
Mobile entertainment company PlayPhone, Inc. (http://www.playphone.com) has entered into an agreement with EMI Music to distribute music ringtones from its extensive catalogue to PlayPhone.com and the far-reaching network of mobile entertainment destinations that are powered by PlayPhone (http://www.playphone.com/Company.aspx). Starting today, consumers can customize their mobile phones with all kinds of music ringtones -- from classics such as The Beach Boys and David Bowie to current chart-topping artists such as Coldplay, Norah Jones, KT Tunstall, MIMs and Lenny Kravitz.
"The mobile entertainment platform is a powerful way for music lovers to connect with our artists," said Lauren Berkowitz, senior vice president of digital for EMI Music North America. "The team at PlayPhone has the know-how, technology and experience to ensure a consumer-friendly user download experience so that anyone with a mobile phone can have access to some of the best-known musical talent on the planet."
"We couldn't be more honored to give our users access to such a legendary catalogue of artists," said Ron Czerny, chief executive officer at PlayPhone. "Having an organization such as EMI choose us as their distribution partner is further validation of our ability to put entertainment companies in touch with today's savvy mobile content consumer."
Bron:http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103967
the New Music Model
the New Music Model
The new music model is based off of the general cirumstances under which i will buy music. i download songs for free and if i like them i buy them or the album to support that artist in making more music that i will hopefully enjoy as well. Giving away your music (full versions of entire releases) via the internet and inviting people to support by either purchasing an actual cd, merchandise or just by making a donation is the basic outline. For new artists this gives exposure and a non-corporate fan-friendly image as well as an opportunity for fans to support with any amount they are able to or feel like giving. The music and concept speak for themselves and hopefully fans will step up and support. It is an alternative to the current standard business model for music that sacrafices the variety and quality of the artistic content to focus more on image and sales. Unfortunately there is a lot more of the ‘image and sales’ being pushed (both legally and illegally) over music based on it’s content.
‘The radio companies…control thousands of stations nationwide, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Infinity which now operates as CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Cox Radio Inc., Cumulus Broadcasting Inc., Pamal Broadcasting, and Entercom, Emmis Communications Corp. and ABC’
Under a tentative settlement with the Federal Communications Commission, four of the largest radio station owners have agreed to pay a total of $12.5 million to resolve claims that they accepted cash and other incentives in exchange for playing songs.
Some people i’m sure wouldn’t care if a bribe was all it took for them to become ‘famous!’, but making money and making art are completely seperate things and i think the art deserves the airwaves more than the money.
Record companies are obsolete when it comes to the music. They base music releases on business models. Why are we allowing businessmen to dictate the artistic content of our creative mediums? Who needs a record contract/company in order to write, record, and distribute music throughout the world with all the technological advancements of recent years? Let the music and what the artist is saying stand on it’s own. More and more people are downloading their music, legal or not. Support independent art and pirate corporate releases. Attend shows at venues that do not require pay-to-play. We need to take back control of the corporate domination of public airwaves.
Bron:http://groovemanifest.wordpress.com/category/blogging/
The new music model is based off of the general cirumstances under which i will buy music. i download songs for free and if i like them i buy them or the album to support that artist in making more music that i will hopefully enjoy as well. Giving away your music (full versions of entire releases) via the internet and inviting people to support by either purchasing an actual cd, merchandise or just by making a donation is the basic outline. For new artists this gives exposure and a non-corporate fan-friendly image as well as an opportunity for fans to support with any amount they are able to or feel like giving. The music and concept speak for themselves and hopefully fans will step up and support. It is an alternative to the current standard business model for music that sacrafices the variety and quality of the artistic content to focus more on image and sales. Unfortunately there is a lot more of the ‘image and sales’ being pushed (both legally and illegally) over music based on it’s content.
‘The radio companies…control thousands of stations nationwide, including Clear Channel Communications Inc., Infinity which now operates as CBS Radio, Citadel Broadcasting Corp., Cox Radio Inc., Cumulus Broadcasting Inc., Pamal Broadcasting, and Entercom, Emmis Communications Corp. and ABC’
Under a tentative settlement with the Federal Communications Commission, four of the largest radio station owners have agreed to pay a total of $12.5 million to resolve claims that they accepted cash and other incentives in exchange for playing songs.
Some people i’m sure wouldn’t care if a bribe was all it took for them to become ‘famous!’, but making money and making art are completely seperate things and i think the art deserves the airwaves more than the money.
Record companies are obsolete when it comes to the music. They base music releases on business models. Why are we allowing businessmen to dictate the artistic content of our creative mediums? Who needs a record contract/company in order to write, record, and distribute music throughout the world with all the technological advancements of recent years? Let the music and what the artist is saying stand on it’s own. More and more people are downloading their music, legal or not. Support independent art and pirate corporate releases. Attend shows at venues that do not require pay-to-play. We need to take back control of the corporate domination of public airwaves.
Bron:http://groovemanifest.wordpress.com/category/blogging/
Microsoft Music Store Goes DRM-Free
Microsoft Music Store Goes DRM-Free
Sending shockwaves through the industry and the crowd of the Digital Music Conference in Los Angeles today, Microsoft became the latest and largest music retailer to offer DRM-free digital music. Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after Amazon.com launched its own DRM-free digital music store. The Microsoft Music Store will offer consumers more than one million DRM-free songs.
"The industry standard has shifted in the past six months and the tide has turned in favor of consumers," Maura Corbett, a spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign said. "The number of digital music retailers offering DRM-free music will soon out number those that do not, and consumers will soon live in a world where they can listen to legally purchased music when, how, and where they want. We congratulate Microsoft for joining the growing number of retailers and labels that have realized the best way to increase the sales of digital music, is to listen to their customers."
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103991
Sending shockwaves through the industry and the crowd of the Digital Music Conference in Los Angeles today, Microsoft became the latest and largest music retailer to offer DRM-free digital music. Today's announcement comes less than two weeks after Amazon.com launched its own DRM-free digital music store. The Microsoft Music Store will offer consumers more than one million DRM-free songs.
"The industry standard has shifted in the past six months and the tide has turned in favor of consumers," Maura Corbett, a spokesperson for the Digital Freedom Campaign said. "The number of digital music retailers offering DRM-free music will soon out number those that do not, and consumers will soon live in a world where they can listen to legally purchased music when, how, and where they want. We congratulate Microsoft for joining the growing number of retailers and labels that have realized the best way to increase the sales of digital music, is to listen to their customers."
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103991
Viagogo And Live Nation Announce Secondary Ticketing Deal In The Netherlands
Viagogo And Live Nation Announce Secondary Ticketing Deal In The Netherlands
viagogo (http://www.viagogo.com), Europe's leading online secondary ticketing company, has announced a landmark strategic partnership with the Dutch arm of Live Nation, Mojo Concerts to become the concert producer's official secondary ticketing partner in the Netherlands. The deal also sees the launch of viagogo's Dutch-language website, establishing a dedicated online presence for the Dutch market to complement the company's existing English and German websites. Live Nation, the world's largest live music company, recently announced the extension of its successful web platform LiveNation.com into the Netherlands (www.livenation.nl)
The agreement sees viagogo become the official secondary ticketing partner of Live Nation in the Netherlands. A co-branded internet page has been developed, called Live Nation Ticket Trade powered by viagogo, which provides Dutch fans with a way to resell and buy concert tickets in a totally safe, secure and guaranteed environment. Consumers seeking to resell or buy tickets no longer available through Live Nation's primary market will be directed to viagogo with the assurance that they are using the promoters' only official outlet for ticket resale. All tickets traded on this platform are checked if they are valid, cancelled and new tickets are sent to the new owner.
Eric Baker, CEO of viagogo, said: "We applaud Live Nation Netherland's commitment to creating a market-leading partnership that will deliver benefits for fans and both companies alike. Thanks to this agreement, fans now have the most secure access to the widest range of live events in the Netherlands."
Roberto Traxel, Chief Marketing Officer from Mojo Concerts agreed: "It is clear that fans want a convenient, safe and secure way to purchase tickets on the secondary market. This partnership with viagogo ensures that music fans can confidently purchase tickets for our events in the Netherlands through Live Nation Ticket Trade that are 100% guaranteed to be valid. Viagogo is a market leader in secondary ticketing and with their infrastructure we are confident that we will successfully deliver a much needed service to fans throughout the Netherlands."
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103978
viagogo (http://www.viagogo.com), Europe's leading online secondary ticketing company, has announced a landmark strategic partnership with the Dutch arm of Live Nation, Mojo Concerts to become the concert producer's official secondary ticketing partner in the Netherlands. The deal also sees the launch of viagogo's Dutch-language website, establishing a dedicated online presence for the Dutch market to complement the company's existing English and German websites. Live Nation, the world's largest live music company, recently announced the extension of its successful web platform LiveNation.com into the Netherlands (www.livenation.nl)
The agreement sees viagogo become the official secondary ticketing partner of Live Nation in the Netherlands. A co-branded internet page has been developed, called Live Nation Ticket Trade powered by viagogo, which provides Dutch fans with a way to resell and buy concert tickets in a totally safe, secure and guaranteed environment. Consumers seeking to resell or buy tickets no longer available through Live Nation's primary market will be directed to viagogo with the assurance that they are using the promoters' only official outlet for ticket resale. All tickets traded on this platform are checked if they are valid, cancelled and new tickets are sent to the new owner.
Eric Baker, CEO of viagogo, said: "We applaud Live Nation Netherland's commitment to creating a market-leading partnership that will deliver benefits for fans and both companies alike. Thanks to this agreement, fans now have the most secure access to the widest range of live events in the Netherlands."
Roberto Traxel, Chief Marketing Officer from Mojo Concerts agreed: "It is clear that fans want a convenient, safe and secure way to purchase tickets on the secondary market. This partnership with viagogo ensures that music fans can confidently purchase tickets for our events in the Netherlands through Live Nation Ticket Trade that are 100% guaranteed to be valid. Viagogo is a market leader in secondary ticketing and with their infrastructure we are confident that we will successfully deliver a much needed service to fans throughout the Netherlands."
Bron: http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=103978
Sex Pistols aim for Number One spot this week
Sex Pistols aim for Number One spot this week
Could 'God Save The Queen' make a return to charts after 30 years?
57 minutes ago
The campaign to get Sex Pistols' classic punk anthem 'God Save The Queen' to Number One kicks off in earnest today (October 8).
The song is re-released today and NME.COM is calling on fans to help get it to the top of the charts on Sunday (October 14) by buying the track all week.
When the punk anthem was first released in 1977 it made it to Number Two in the singles charts - however, there was suspicion that the authorities had banned the track from topping the charts in the wake of the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
Strong rumours that the song's anti-authoritarian message was deemed unacceptable to 'the Establishment' have continued to this day.
Those responsible for collating the chart refused to deny the track had been banned from Number One, but Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has told NME.COM he firmly believes the band were victims of a conspiracy.
"Let's be honest it, was Number One anyway," he declared. "They were taking us as a serious threat to an establishment and an industry. We were discussed in the Houses Of Parliament under the Treason Act!"
Well, now there's a chance to right that historical wrong and NME and NME.COM are calling on all music fans to send 'God Save The Queen' to the Number One spot in the UK.
The song will be re-released on special seven-inch vinyl and with downloads now counting towards the singles' chart, we want YOU to head down to the shops or download the track in your droves all of next week.
You can buy the song now from 7digital.com. Alternatively, downloaders like iTunes, etc, will also count towards the final chart placing.
You'll be in good company - practically every band we've mentioned the 'God Save The Queen' Number One campaign to has started gushing like a superfan about how much they love the song and how relevant it still is today.
From now until the chart is announced on October 14 we'll be running daily tributes from the likes of Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Blondie, Beastie Boys, Klaxons and many more who are backing the campaign.
Bron: http://www.nme.com/news/sex-pistols/31627
Could 'God Save The Queen' make a return to charts after 30 years?
57 minutes ago
The campaign to get Sex Pistols' classic punk anthem 'God Save The Queen' to Number One kicks off in earnest today (October 8).
The song is re-released today and NME.COM is calling on fans to help get it to the top of the charts on Sunday (October 14) by buying the track all week.
When the punk anthem was first released in 1977 it made it to Number Two in the singles charts - however, there was suspicion that the authorities had banned the track from topping the charts in the wake of the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
Strong rumours that the song's anti-authoritarian message was deemed unacceptable to 'the Establishment' have continued to this day.
Those responsible for collating the chart refused to deny the track had been banned from Number One, but Sex Pistols frontman John Lydon has told NME.COM he firmly believes the band were victims of a conspiracy.
"Let's be honest it, was Number One anyway," he declared. "They were taking us as a serious threat to an establishment and an industry. We were discussed in the Houses Of Parliament under the Treason Act!"
Well, now there's a chance to right that historical wrong and NME and NME.COM are calling on all music fans to send 'God Save The Queen' to the Number One spot in the UK.
The song will be re-released on special seven-inch vinyl and with downloads now counting towards the singles' chart, we want YOU to head down to the shops or download the track in your droves all of next week.
You can buy the song now from 7digital.com. Alternatively, downloaders like iTunes, etc, will also count towards the final chart placing.
You'll be in good company - practically every band we've mentioned the 'God Save The Queen' Number One campaign to has started gushing like a superfan about how much they love the song and how relevant it still is today.
From now until the chart is announced on October 14 we'll be running daily tributes from the likes of Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, Blondie, Beastie Boys, Klaxons and many more who are backing the campaign.
Bron: http://www.nme.com/news/sex-pistols/31627
This week's releases: October 8 2007
This week's releases: October 8 2007
Albums and singles released in the UK today
1 hour ago
The Sex Pistols re-release 'God Save The Queen' today (October 8).
NME.COM is campaigning to send the record to Number One after it was cheated out of the top spot back in 1977.
'God Save The Queen' was denied its rightful place at Number One because the authorities feared the punk anthem would spoil the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations 30 years ago.
We want to right that wrong by encouraging everyone to buy the record from today.
Either head down to your local record shop today or pre-order it now from 7digital.com/nme.
The Hives also release their new single 'Tick Tick Boom' today.
On the albums front Jack Penate releases 'Matinee' and Sugababes' new album 'Change' comes out.
Album releases :
Jack Penate - 'Matinee'
Sugababes - 'Change'
Pet Shop Boys - 'Disco 4'
Ed Harcourt - 'Until Tomorrow Then'
Band Of Horses - 'Cease To Begin'
Colbie Caillat - 'Coco'
The Fiery Furnaces - 'Widow City'
Jennifer Lopez - 'Brave'
Single releases:
Sex Pistols - 'God Save The Queen'
Metronomy - 'Radio Ladio Need Now Future'
The Hives - 'Tick Tick Boom'
Nine Black Alps - 'Bitter End'
Dave Gahan - 'Kingdom'
Natasha Bedingfield - 'Say It Again'
Bron: http://www.nme.com/news/this-week-releases/31594
Albums and singles released in the UK today
1 hour ago
The Sex Pistols re-release 'God Save The Queen' today (October 8).
NME.COM is campaigning to send the record to Number One after it was cheated out of the top spot back in 1977.
'God Save The Queen' was denied its rightful place at Number One because the authorities feared the punk anthem would spoil the Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations 30 years ago.
We want to right that wrong by encouraging everyone to buy the record from today.
Either head down to your local record shop today or pre-order it now from 7digital.com/nme.
The Hives also release their new single 'Tick Tick Boom' today.
On the albums front Jack Penate releases 'Matinee' and Sugababes' new album 'Change' comes out.
Album releases :
Jack Penate - 'Matinee'
Sugababes - 'Change'
Pet Shop Boys - 'Disco 4'
Ed Harcourt - 'Until Tomorrow Then'
Band Of Horses - 'Cease To Begin'
Colbie Caillat - 'Coco'
The Fiery Furnaces - 'Widow City'
Jennifer Lopez - 'Brave'
Single releases:
Sex Pistols - 'God Save The Queen'
Metronomy - 'Radio Ladio Need Now Future'
The Hives - 'Tick Tick Boom'
Nine Black Alps - 'Bitter End'
Dave Gahan - 'Kingdom'
Natasha Bedingfield - 'Say It Again'
Bron: http://www.nme.com/news/this-week-releases/31594
Sony BMG Continues Digital, Mobile Push; Remains Protected
Sony BMG Continues Digital, Mobile Push; Remains Protected
Sony BMG digital chief Thomas Hesse pointed to ramping digital sales during discussions last week, and offered little indication of a protection-free move. Hesse, an ardent backer of content protection, has remained rather quiet alongside DRM-free moves by both EMI Music and Universal Music Group. During a keynote discussion at the Digital Music Forum in Los Angeles, Hesse noted that US-based digital assets recently pushed past 30 percent, and projected a 40 percent ratio next year. But global digital sales are lower - 17 percent according to Hesse - and broader CD sales declines are dragging the larger average considerably.
During the chat, Hesse acknowledged a "disappointing year," a rather understated assessment of a near 15-percent drop in US-based recorded industry sales this year. But the executive assumed a rather optimistic tone, and pointed to massive potential across mobile formats - despite a softening ringtone. "We have seen a flattening of growth in the ringtone business this year, but we see much potential in ringback tones," Hesse said. "Ultimately, all-you-can-eat music services on the phone and sales of phones preloaded with music I think are the winning formulas," the executive said.
Bron: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100707sony
Sony BMG digital chief Thomas Hesse pointed to ramping digital sales during discussions last week, and offered little indication of a protection-free move. Hesse, an ardent backer of content protection, has remained rather quiet alongside DRM-free moves by both EMI Music and Universal Music Group. During a keynote discussion at the Digital Music Forum in Los Angeles, Hesse noted that US-based digital assets recently pushed past 30 percent, and projected a 40 percent ratio next year. But global digital sales are lower - 17 percent according to Hesse - and broader CD sales declines are dragging the larger average considerably.
During the chat, Hesse acknowledged a "disappointing year," a rather understated assessment of a near 15-percent drop in US-based recorded industry sales this year. But the executive assumed a rather optimistic tone, and pointed to massive potential across mobile formats - despite a softening ringtone. "We have seen a flattening of growth in the ringtone business this year, but we see much potential in ringback tones," Hesse said. "Ultimately, all-you-can-eat music services on the phone and sales of phones preloaded with music I think are the winning formulas," the executive said.
Bron: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100707sony
As Recording Revenues Shrink, Artists Shift Accordingly
As Recording Revenues Shrink, Artists Shift Accordingly
Recording labels are diversifying into related revenue streams like merchandising, advertising, and touring. Artists, on the other hand, have always viewed the market from a broader perspective. Still, it remains unclear just what role - if any - recorded assets will play in future artist revenue streams.
The question is important for artists at every level. Superstars are experiencing lowered recorded sales volumes, and many are experimenting heavily. Prince for example, has been using his albums as bait for bigger revenue opportunities, most recently by brokering a paid inclusion deal with the London-based Mail on Sunday. The unorthodox covermount concept yielded sales of more than three million.
Others are concentrating on bigger revenue sources like touring, a move that shifts the emphasis away from the studio and onto the road. "Where you really make your money is out on tour," said Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA) during a recent discussion at the Digital Music Forum in Los Angeles. "The record is the presale for the concert - Bruce is making his money when you pay $400 for a concert ticket."
For smaller artists, the question is framed a bit differently. Music fans are used to free stuff, especially when it comes to unfamiliar content. In that light, recording assets are better as promotional tools, and lures towards other revenue generators. "If I develop five ways around the music to make money, then if I eventually get paid for the music itself, then I just found a sixth," said Timmy Grins, cofounder and vice president of Content at OnLoq.com.
Story by editor Paul Resnikoff in Los Angeles.
Bron:http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407artists/view
Recording labels are diversifying into related revenue streams like merchandising, advertising, and touring. Artists, on the other hand, have always viewed the market from a broader perspective. Still, it remains unclear just what role - if any - recorded assets will play in future artist revenue streams.
The question is important for artists at every level. Superstars are experiencing lowered recorded sales volumes, and many are experimenting heavily. Prince for example, has been using his albums as bait for bigger revenue opportunities, most recently by brokering a paid inclusion deal with the London-based Mail on Sunday. The unorthodox covermount concept yielded sales of more than three million.
Others are concentrating on bigger revenue sources like touring, a move that shifts the emphasis away from the studio and onto the road. "Where you really make your money is out on tour," said Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital Media Association (DiMA) during a recent discussion at the Digital Music Forum in Los Angeles. "The record is the presale for the concert - Bruce is making his money when you pay $400 for a concert ticket."
For smaller artists, the question is framed a bit differently. Music fans are used to free stuff, especially when it comes to unfamiliar content. In that light, recording assets are better as promotional tools, and lures towards other revenue generators. "If I develop five ways around the music to make money, then if I eventually get paid for the music itself, then I just found a sixth," said Timmy Grins, cofounder and vice president of Content at OnLoq.com.
Story by editor Paul Resnikoff in Los Angeles.
Bron:http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407artists/view
zaterdag 6 oktober 2007
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Physical piracy has slumped in Spain over the last year, but illegal music downloading via the Internet is soaring, according to a new report.
The Spanish government's Ministry of Culture report on "cultural practices and habits in Spain 2006-2007" was released Oct. 1. The survey of 16,000 people aged over 15 shows that the "favourite cultural activity" of most Spaniards -- 87.9% of those interviewed -- is listening to music, followed by reading and visiting the cinema.
13.1% of those surveyed said they downloaded free music from the Internet -- a steep rise from the 3.6% who admitted illegal downloading one year ago. The ministry says this indicates some 4.9 million Spaniards have downloaded illegally.
The number of people who use a computer to listen to music has increased from 3.8% in the 2005-2006 ministry report to 20.3%, according to the latest survey. Some 38.3% of people have MP3-compatible music equipment in their homes, 28.9% have a mobile phone with a music player, and 13.7% of those surveyed use computers to watch videos.
With regards to physical recorded music, 22.5% of those surveyed said they had bought music in the previous quarter, most of them in bricks and mortar stores. Only 1.5% acknowledged they had bought pirated physical CDs or tapes in street markets or bars where people sell illegal music. The culture ministry report said that, although this figure is down on the 4.1% who recognised buying pirated music a year ago, it implies that some 578,000 Spaniards still purchase pirated physical music.
SOURCE
The Spanish government's Ministry of Culture report on "cultural practices and habits in Spain 2006-2007" was released Oct. 1. The survey of 16,000 people aged over 15 shows that the "favourite cultural activity" of most Spaniards -- 87.9% of those interviewed -- is listening to music, followed by reading and visiting the cinema.
13.1% of those surveyed said they downloaded free music from the Internet -- a steep rise from the 3.6% who admitted illegal downloading one year ago. The ministry says this indicates some 4.9 million Spaniards have downloaded illegally.
The number of people who use a computer to listen to music has increased from 3.8% in the 2005-2006 ministry report to 20.3%, according to the latest survey. Some 38.3% of people have MP3-compatible music equipment in their homes, 28.9% have a mobile phone with a music player, and 13.7% of those surveyed use computers to watch videos.
With regards to physical recorded music, 22.5% of those surveyed said they had bought music in the previous quarter, most of them in bricks and mortar stores. Only 1.5% acknowledged they had bought pirated physical CDs or tapes in street markets or bars where people sell illegal music. The culture ministry report said that, although this figure is down on the 4.1% who recognised buying pirated music a year ago, it implies that some 578,000 Spaniards still purchase pirated physical music.
SOURCE
THIS YEAR'S MODELS
The traditional label model took a beating this week in the United Kingdom, with three of Britain's most established bands announcing digital-only, no-label releases.
Together, Radiohead, Oasis and the Charlatans have accounted for U.K. and U.S. album sales of more than 33 million copies, according to the Official U.K. Charts Co. (OCC) and Nielsen SoundScan.
Radiohead's announcement that its much-anticipated new album, "In Rainbows," would be initially released Oct. 10 as a download from radiohead.com—with consumers able to name their own price—caused an instant frenzy among fans (see story, below).
But, coupled with the news that Oasis' new single, "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," would be a self-released, digital-only track, and that the Charlatans will give away their as-yet-untitled 10th album as a free download via modern rock radio network Xfm's Web site, industry execs were left contemplating the potential meltdown of their existing business model.
"This signals another nail in the coffin of the traditional music business," digital music expert/author Gerd Leonhard says. "Managers will take their acts directly to market, and they will do it in a way that will cut out middlemen that don't provide significant values."
But brick-and-mortar retailers remain philosophical about Radiohead cutting them out of the sales picture—at least until 2008, when a traditional CD release is planned. "If they come out with the CD, Newbury Comics will carry it," says Brighton, Mass.-based Mike Dreese, CEO of the 27-unit specialist chain. "I am not resentful for artists taking things under their own control."
U.K. market-leading retailer HMV will be selling the album when it is eventually made available, says its head of music Rudy Osorio. "The only frustration is that it gives a misleading signal to the media that this is the end of the music industry as we know it, which is patently not the case."
One precedent for consumers choosing their own price point is Canadian singer/songwriter Jane Siberry, now recording under the name Issa. Siberry suggests 99 cents per track, but according to statistics published on her Web site sheeba.ca, fans actually pay an average $1.18, with 14% opting to pay more than the suggested rate.
"In Rainbows" will not appear on The Billboard 200, although it will be eligible for the Top Digital Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts if the site reports its data to Nielsen SoundScan.
OCC chart director Omar Maskatiya explains that the album is not eligible to chart in the United Kingdom, as "Radiohead's store is not part of our reporting panel." To qualify, an album must also have a published net dealer price of at least £3.75 ($7.66).
No one in the Oasis camp would comment on the band's plans after this single, although Billboard understands the group is in negotiations with several majors and is ultimately likely to return to the label system.
But Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess says there's no turning back for his band. "A major label is not for us now," he says. The band hasn't received a fee from Xfm, he adds, but he estimates other income will increase as a result of the exposure. "Giving it away was us accepting the inevitable—people don't buy CDs anymore," he says. "Why let a record company get in the way of people getting the music?" ••••
SOURCE
Together, Radiohead, Oasis and the Charlatans have accounted for U.K. and U.S. album sales of more than 33 million copies, according to the Official U.K. Charts Co. (OCC) and Nielsen SoundScan.
Radiohead's announcement that its much-anticipated new album, "In Rainbows," would be initially released Oct. 10 as a download from radiohead.com—with consumers able to name their own price—caused an instant frenzy among fans (see story, below).
But, coupled with the news that Oasis' new single, "Lord Don't Slow Me Down," would be a self-released, digital-only track, and that the Charlatans will give away their as-yet-untitled 10th album as a free download via modern rock radio network Xfm's Web site, industry execs were left contemplating the potential meltdown of their existing business model.
"This signals another nail in the coffin of the traditional music business," digital music expert/author Gerd Leonhard says. "Managers will take their acts directly to market, and they will do it in a way that will cut out middlemen that don't provide significant values."
But brick-and-mortar retailers remain philosophical about Radiohead cutting them out of the sales picture—at least until 2008, when a traditional CD release is planned. "If they come out with the CD, Newbury Comics will carry it," says Brighton, Mass.-based Mike Dreese, CEO of the 27-unit specialist chain. "I am not resentful for artists taking things under their own control."
U.K. market-leading retailer HMV will be selling the album when it is eventually made available, says its head of music Rudy Osorio. "The only frustration is that it gives a misleading signal to the media that this is the end of the music industry as we know it, which is patently not the case."
One precedent for consumers choosing their own price point is Canadian singer/songwriter Jane Siberry, now recording under the name Issa. Siberry suggests 99 cents per track, but according to statistics published on her Web site sheeba.ca, fans actually pay an average $1.18, with 14% opting to pay more than the suggested rate.
"In Rainbows" will not appear on The Billboard 200, although it will be eligible for the Top Digital Albums and Top Comprehensive Albums charts if the site reports its data to Nielsen SoundScan.
OCC chart director Omar Maskatiya explains that the album is not eligible to chart in the United Kingdom, as "Radiohead's store is not part of our reporting panel." To qualify, an album must also have a published net dealer price of at least £3.75 ($7.66).
No one in the Oasis camp would comment on the band's plans after this single, although Billboard understands the group is in negotiations with several majors and is ultimately likely to return to the label system.
But Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess says there's no turning back for his band. "A major label is not for us now," he says. The band hasn't received a fee from Xfm, he adds, but he estimates other income will increase as a result of the exposure. "Giving it away was us accepting the inevitable—people don't buy CDs anymore," he says. "Why let a record company get in the way of people getting the music?" ••••
SOURCE
Time Warner Cable Pushes Music Offering, Taps MusicNet
Time Warner Cable is now pushing a digital music offering, and tapping MusicNet on the backend. The cable giant is unveiling Road Runner Music today, a subscription and download store, and offering compatibility components as well.
That means easy music access and centralized billing, a major competitive advantage. "I have spent the better part of my career in the cable business, and to see the advances made in providing consumers with such broad access to music is very satisfying," said Alan McGlade, president and chief executive of MediaNet Digital, of which MusicNet is now a division.
In total, Road Runner Music carries a catalog of 3 million tracks, a healthy collection that leaves few gaps. In terms of pricing, subscribers will face a $9.95 monthly charge, a sum that also includes access to streaming radio channels and music videos. Portability on three different devices is allowed for an extra $5 charge. Details on content protection were not discussed, though the offering most likely features WMA-protected tracks - and iPod incompatibility.
Time Warner most recently reported a subscriber volume of 14.7 across its video, high-speed data and residential telephone properties. The launch also involves Synacor, a technology company that frequently partners with MusicNet.
Story by news analyst Alexandra Osorio.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407musicnet/view
That means easy music access and centralized billing, a major competitive advantage. "I have spent the better part of my career in the cable business, and to see the advances made in providing consumers with such broad access to music is very satisfying," said Alan McGlade, president and chief executive of MediaNet Digital, of which MusicNet is now a division.
In total, Road Runner Music carries a catalog of 3 million tracks, a healthy collection that leaves few gaps. In terms of pricing, subscribers will face a $9.95 monthly charge, a sum that also includes access to streaming radio channels and music videos. Portability on three different devices is allowed for an extra $5 charge. Details on content protection were not discussed, though the offering most likely features WMA-protected tracks - and iPod incompatibility.
Time Warner most recently reported a subscriber volume of 14.7 across its video, high-speed data and residential telephone properties. The launch also involves Synacor, a technology company that frequently partners with MusicNet.
Story by news analyst Alexandra Osorio.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407musicnet/view
Resnikoff's Parting Shot: Why Major Labels Just Lost
The RIAA scored a quick victory on Thursday, and cooled future challenges in the process. Predictably, Cary Sherman underscored the illegalities of file-sharing, and the penalties that violators face. But that message has failed to resonate with music fans - young and old - no matter how resounding the ruling.
In fact, if the RIAA had lost this challenge, major labels would be better off. Why? In the face of a negative precedent, majors would be forced to craft more consumer-friendly approaches, accelerate their shift away from content protection, and adopt radically different access and pricing models. And they would stop committing valuable financial and legal resources towards an incredibly unsuccessful product preservation strategy.
Of course, deeper changes are happening in this market, and file-sharing is only one symptom. The underlying problem is that labels are simply having trouble selling recording assets - whether CDs, paid downloads, or even ringtones. Part of the problem is piracy, but a much larger issue surrounds increased competition for entertainment dollars, antiquated pricing strategies, and an incredibly hostile stance towards consumers.
Sure, everyone is a critic, especially when it comes to major labels. And to their credit, the big four are beefing new media departments and investing more heavily in digital initiatives. But RIAA-driven lawsuits are dragging progress, and generating serious consumer problems in the process. And labels are paying for this, despite the obvious and recurring problems.
If suing file-swappers curbed illegal sharing, propped CD sales, and directed traffic towards paid digital channels, then the strategy would make sense. But the exact opposite is happening. For starters, file-sharing volumes have been multiplying for years. And morality trips have had little effect on music fans - in fact, many consumers are hostile towards major labels as a result. Meanwhile, CD sales are dropping precipitously - more than 18 percent this year in the United States alone.
And paid channels are failing to patch the wound. Instead, they are mostly missing the target by charging higher prices and restricting access and usage (most downloads are still DRM-protected).
Some analysts wonder whether a market for recorded music will exist in a future marketplace. Certainly, a world of discrete, product-based recording purchases seems closer to obsolescence everyday. The internet is incredibly friendly towards open acquisition - and incredibly unfriendly towards controlled content strategies. The result is that music fans now have thousands of songs in their pockets, and most acquired these collections for free.
In that context, are any digital music sales strategies truly viable? Can Rhapsody ever gain traction alongside a 160GB iPod classic? Will OTA downloads ever compete against sideloaded content from a massive, PC-based collection of MP3s? Music fans are already stuffed on a oversupply of ubiquitous content - do they now need to buy more? Would you pay for a Big Mac after a gorging on a free buffet?
Most agree that if labels are to survive, it will only happen through massive transformation. The Universal Music Group of 2012 - if there is such a thing - will not be drawing its bread-and-butter from CD sales. Perhaps a successful transition is simply impossible, yet diversified revenue streams, mobile-based models, and broader licensing approaches offer hope.
But time is running out, and so are major label resources. The sobering reality is that labels can only endure so many years of double-digit declines - simple mathematics dictates it. And if labels are hoping to survive this massive market disruption, resources must flow out of money-losing, resource-draining strategies like individual infringement lawsuits.
Paul Resnikoff, Editor
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407parting/view
In fact, if the RIAA had lost this challenge, major labels would be better off. Why? In the face of a negative precedent, majors would be forced to craft more consumer-friendly approaches, accelerate their shift away from content protection, and adopt radically different access and pricing models. And they would stop committing valuable financial and legal resources towards an incredibly unsuccessful product preservation strategy.
Of course, deeper changes are happening in this market, and file-sharing is only one symptom. The underlying problem is that labels are simply having trouble selling recording assets - whether CDs, paid downloads, or even ringtones. Part of the problem is piracy, but a much larger issue surrounds increased competition for entertainment dollars, antiquated pricing strategies, and an incredibly hostile stance towards consumers.
Sure, everyone is a critic, especially when it comes to major labels. And to their credit, the big four are beefing new media departments and investing more heavily in digital initiatives. But RIAA-driven lawsuits are dragging progress, and generating serious consumer problems in the process. And labels are paying for this, despite the obvious and recurring problems.
If suing file-swappers curbed illegal sharing, propped CD sales, and directed traffic towards paid digital channels, then the strategy would make sense. But the exact opposite is happening. For starters, file-sharing volumes have been multiplying for years. And morality trips have had little effect on music fans - in fact, many consumers are hostile towards major labels as a result. Meanwhile, CD sales are dropping precipitously - more than 18 percent this year in the United States alone.
And paid channels are failing to patch the wound. Instead, they are mostly missing the target by charging higher prices and restricting access and usage (most downloads are still DRM-protected).
Some analysts wonder whether a market for recorded music will exist in a future marketplace. Certainly, a world of discrete, product-based recording purchases seems closer to obsolescence everyday. The internet is incredibly friendly towards open acquisition - and incredibly unfriendly towards controlled content strategies. The result is that music fans now have thousands of songs in their pockets, and most acquired these collections for free.
In that context, are any digital music sales strategies truly viable? Can Rhapsody ever gain traction alongside a 160GB iPod classic? Will OTA downloads ever compete against sideloaded content from a massive, PC-based collection of MP3s? Music fans are already stuffed on a oversupply of ubiquitous content - do they now need to buy more? Would you pay for a Big Mac after a gorging on a free buffet?
Most agree that if labels are to survive, it will only happen through massive transformation. The Universal Music Group of 2012 - if there is such a thing - will not be drawing its bread-and-butter from CD sales. Perhaps a successful transition is simply impossible, yet diversified revenue streams, mobile-based models, and broader licensing approaches offer hope.
But time is running out, and so are major label resources. The sobering reality is that labels can only endure so many years of double-digit declines - simple mathematics dictates it. And if labels are hoping to survive this massive market disruption, resources must flow out of money-losing, resource-draining strategies like individual infringement lawsuits.
Paul Resnikoff, Editor
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407parting/view
AOL Instant Messenger Upgrade Enables Shared Playlists
AOL is now offering an instant messenger upgrade that enables shared, streaming playlists. AIM 6.5 allows a plug-in, AIM Tunes, which shares the collections of friends. The Windows-based release allows streaming on unprotected tracks only, a non-issue for many music fans. The result is a private channel, and a highly-customized streaming radio station.
The music enhancement is just one of several upgrades, including a number of messaging enhancements. AIM 6.5 allows text messaging from the chat client, and users can also broadcast messages to groups of friends. Of course, AIM remains incompatible with rival systems like Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, as well as a recently-launched instant messenger from MySpace.
Story by news analyst Alexandra Osorio.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407lala
The music enhancement is just one of several upgrades, including a number of messaging enhancements. AIM 6.5 allows text messaging from the chat client, and users can also broadcast messages to groups of friends. Of course, AIM remains incompatible with rival systems like Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo Messenger, as well as a recently-launched instant messenger from MySpace.
Story by news analyst Alexandra Osorio.
http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100407lala
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