Economics News

Is This Working? 95% of the Top-Charting iTunes Singles Are $1.29...

Source: Digital Music News
January 29, 2011

Is this strategy screaming for change? We just took a look at the top 100 singles on the iTunes Store (for Friday afternoon), and found that 95 of them were priced at $1.29. The remaining 5 were $0.99, and none were $0.69. Meanwhile, paid downloads are flattening (up just 1% in the US in 2010 last year according to Nielsen Soundscan).

So what happens when you expand the list? Apple actually posts the top 200 singles, so we expanded the ...
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The State of Music Monetization: January, 2011...

Source: Digital Music News
January 24, 2011

(#midem) Who's paying for what? We've been getting hit with a lot of subscriber updates here and there, including a few at MidemNet this weekend. So here's the latest monetization intelligence, please share if we've missed something!

(1) Spotify Paying Subscribers: 750,000 (per Spotify, shared immediately after Sony Music US signing this month.) Subscriber Mix: 90% paying full premiums (source: Digital Music News, citing European partner sources late last year) Royalty Payouts: 43 million ($58.5 million) in 2010 (source: Spotify, ...
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Music Retail Can Be Saved - If We Act Fast

Source: HypeBot
January 18, 2011

Music retail can be saved. The way to save it is to encourage more outlets to open up. We're not talking about starting more digital download stores like Amazon MP3, Wal-Mart, or the up-and-coming Google Music. No, we're talking about allowing more independent outlets to emerge. To save music retail, as many niche sites as possible need to be allowed to open, experiment, and ultimately fail too. That way, we can learn from their mistakes. And more stores will be in ...
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Intuit Gopayment Lowers Cost of Selling Merch

Source: HypeBot
January 13, 2011

Selling merch at gigs is an essential source of income for many bands and Intuit made it more profitable by lowering both startup and transaction costs for mobile credit card processing. Intuit now offers free card readers compatible with most mobile devices and is waiving monthly fees for most customers who sign up for GoPayment by mid-February. Even better, the deal actually favors artists who don't sell big quantities: More & A Demo Video Bands doing a smaller or intermittent credit ...
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Official: Myspace Cuts 500, 47% of Staff

Source: HypeBot
January 12, 2011

In an official statement today, MySpace CEO Mike Jones confirmed that about 500 employees will be cut globally. “With our recent relaunch as an entertainment destination for Gen Y, we introduced a much tighter focus, a significantly streamlined product and an updated technology platform," according to Jones. The cuts come at the same time that parent NewsCorp has been publicly searching for a buyer for MySpace. “Today's tough but necessary changes were taken in order to provide the company with ...
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SoundCloud Raises $10 Million in Venture Funding to Scale Faster and Expand in U.S.

Source: HypeBot
January 11, 2011

Last week, RootMusic received $2.3 million to help musicians build better Facebook pages and trueAnthem raised $2.9 million to take another shot at making ad-supported music market work. Then, X5 Music, a Swedish digital-only record label, landed $9 million in funding to help them expand into the U.S. market. Now, SoundCloud has announced receiving $10 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures and Union Square Ventures.* Interviews with Fred Wilson and Mike Volpi below:  The company intends to use this money to scale ...
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Digital Only Label X5 Music Gets $9 Million Venture Funding for U.S. Expansion

Source: HypeBot
January 8, 2011

Who says venture capitalists don't love music? In the last few days alone, RootMusic received $2.3 million to help musicians build better Facebook pages and trueAnthem grabbed $2.9 million to take yet another stab at the unproven ad supported music market. Now Swedish digital-only record label X5 Music has landed $9.09 million USD from Northzone Ventures, who also happened to be the lead investor in another of the country's music exports, Spotify. Why Invest In A Label & Who Should Be ...
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Chart: How Amazon Can Afford to Lose Money Selling Music Plus Why Facebook and Google Won't

Source: HypeBot
January 7, 2011

(UPDATE 2) Amazon offers some great deals on music downloads, often selling hit albums for $3.99—$5.00.  Sometimes the labels participate with lower wholesale pricing, but often Amazon sells downloads at a loss.  Loss leaders are common, but how can Amazon afford to lose money so consistently, and why are Facebook or Google with its pending music service unlikely to follow Amazon's lead? Glenn Peoples points to a Business Insider chart based on public filings and estimates that provides the answer. ...
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