Trends News

Disrupt.FM: This Song is "Free" - If You Tell 130 of Your Friends About It on Facebook [launch]

Source: HypeBot
January 21, 2011

How much is a song really worth? If you're Katy Perry, “Fireworks" might be worth $1.29 to someone. But if you're an indie act, trying to get the word out, maybe a Facebook share is also worth something to you. This is a philosophy behind a new music site called Disrupt.fm. They figure that a Facebook share is equal to the price of a song when you factor in the social benefits. The average user has 130 friends. Thus, why ...

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RIAA Thinks .Music Domains Will Be Piracy Havens

Source: HypeBot
January 20, 2011

The RIAA is lowering it's horns and taking the .music initiative head-on. Even though the .music domain extension hasn't seen the light of day yet, the RIAA is already challenging ICANN to ensure that, if approved, this top-level domain won't be used to encourage music piracy. The RIAA would like to work closely with ICANN and others to “ensure that best practices are developed and used to ensure this type of malicious behavior does not occur."  As you may know, ...

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Waiting: It's Not Something Music Fans Understand Anymore...

Source: Digital Music News
January 18, 2011

You'll wait for the headliner to hit the stage. But are you willing to wait for a download? Looks like the days of windowing and withholding are totally over, and the majors are sadly still getting the memo.

Just recently, both Universal Music Group and Sony Music in the UK decided to release digital singles on the same day as radio release. That is, instead of attempting to build anticipation, a old-school trick that's almost impossible to achieve these days. ...

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10 Business Models That Rocked 2010

Source: HypeBot
January 13, 2011

Nick De May from Board of Innovation published this presentation. It outlines ten business models that rocked in 2010. Six of these models are related to the music industry such as Spotify, PayWithATweet, Kickstarter, and Flattr. If you've ever wanted to see a straightforward graphic outline of how companies like these make money - watch this slideshow. De May has done a great job at making sense of what the business model from these companies entail. Take a look:

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Sign of the Times: Sony Closes Major CD-Manufacturing Plant in New Jersey

Source: HypeBot
January 13, 2011

After 50 years in operation, Sony is closing a major CD-manufacturing plant in New Jersey. The killer: the shift to digital music downloads and a soft economy. Surprise. Once the Sony DADC plant in Pitman ceases manufacturing operations, about 300 workers will lose their jobs. Sorry guys. In the early days, the Sony DADC plant produced vinyl music albums for Columbia Records. The label opened the Pitman Plant in May of 1961. Then Sony acquired it in 1987 when it bought Columbia Records. ...

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The 5 Stages of Grief - A Tale of Major Label Decline

Source: HypeBot
January 13, 2011

This TEDx Talk gives an overview of the decline of the major labels through the lens of the five stages of grief. The lecture is a little dated, as it came out in August of 2009. But the content is great. Jeremy Silver, a digital media thought-leader and blogger, gives a very thoughtful take on the digital revolution and the decline in sales of recorded music. It's like a refresher course, we all know the story and have read through ...

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How Artists Can Profit from File Sharing and Give Back to Their Fans Along the Way

Source: HypeBot
January 12, 2011

This week on Music Think Tank started out with a post by Chris Bracco on 6 ways to give back to your fans. He delves into strategies that artists can use to keep their fans interested and coming back for more. Next, Jim Grobecker, a new author, presents a post on how artists can profit from file sharing. He provides insight into how artists can optimize their free download page and gain numerous inbound links as a result. To which ...

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US Music Sales Drop Again in 2010, Digital Flat

Source: HypeBot
January 7, 2011

According to Nielsen SoundScan, total album sales in the US were down 13% in 2010. 326 million albums were sold in all formats vs. 374 million in 2009.  Overall music sales (albums, singles, music videos and digital tracks) fell 2.5%.  Digital track sales inched up just 1% to 1.17 billion units in 2010 compared to digital growth of 8% in 2009 and 27% in 2008. Label Stats: Universal Music Group captured 30.84% of album market share, followed by Sony Music Entertainment ...

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