Opinion News

Weigh in - 5 Thinkers Share Thoughts on Topspin

Source: HypeBot
February 26, 2011

Yesterday, Hypebot wrote a post about Topspin in an attempt to offer a balanced view on what people think of the direct-to-fan platform. Many readers and music industry thinkers took the time to weigh in too and share their thoughts on Topspin. The main theme expressed runs along the lines of just because you have a TypePad account doesn't mean that you're a blogger. It takes months of practice and the advice of a few experts to get in and ...

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Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is - Steve Stoute Spent $40,000 to Bash Grammys in Nyt Ad Buy

Source: HypeBot
February 24, 2011

As you read, music exec Steve Stoute took out a full-page ad in the New YorkTimes last Sunday. But what did it cost and why did he do it? According to an estimate made by Hollywood Reporter, it may have cost Stoute upwards of $40,000 to bash the Grammys. And his thoughts? Worth it. Stoute thinks it's unfair that the Grammys used Justin Bieber and Eminem to sell the show and garner higher ratings, yet praised Arcade Fire and Esperanza ...

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The Future of Free Music Culture

Source: HypeBot
February 24, 2011

This post is by Alison McCarthy (@aliiimac). She's an intern at Hypebot. This weekend I attended The Students for Free Culture Conference (#sfcnyc), a gathering of student activists, intellectuals, artists, hackers, and generally interested people to discuss the latest issues in the free cultural world. This year the conference hosted a panel on Remix Culture, Music, and the Arts, which explored issues surrounding the politics, ethics, and purpose of sampling and remix. Panel participants included mixed-media artist and Bennett Williamson, electronic musician ...

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An Open Letter to Neil Portnow, NARAS and the Grammy Awards...

Source: Digital Music News
February 21, 2011

The following open letter to the Grammys was written by hip-hop entrepreneur, manager, and marketing expert Steve Stoute. It was published in a full-page advertisement in the New York Times, Sunday Styles section, page 9 (newstand price of $6 in Los Angeles, but that's another story). Stoute also subsequently published the letter in the Huffington Post to guarantee broader uptake. The verbatim transcription follows.

February 20, 2011

An Open Letter to Neil Portnow, NARAS and the GRAMMY Awards: ...

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If Only More Cities Took Music Tourism Seriously...

Source: Digital Music News
February 19, 2011

Let's say you decide to create an absolutely amazing music festival. How can you get your city to pitch in? Well, it's very, very difficult, at least according to those in the trenches in Europe. “It's bloody hard," Anna Hildur Hildibrandsdóttir, managing director of Iceland Music Export, told an audience in Norway at by:Larm this week. Hildibrandsdóttir is a major figure behind Iceland Airwaves, and tiny Iceland is a huge musical hotbed (think Bjork and Sigur Ros for starters). Sounds ...

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How To: Take the Music Business Back from Apple

Source: HypeBot
February 19, 2011

Apple has the music business cornered. Or does it? Chris Holmes has a radical idea that would help the music business free itself from Apple's stranglehold and reward the real influencers that distribute music. Apple might sell music, but it's the blogs and music pirates that distribute it. They're the ones that create the buzz that leads music fans to their storefront. Yet, while often viewed as parasites, these entities do produce enormous amounts of value. Rather than decry them, Holmes ...

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B.S. Chart of the Weak: Propaganda by the Tech Industry Gets Dumber as They Get More Desperate

Source: Moses Supposes
February 18, 2011

Boy, it pains me to have to agree with Bob Lefsetz, but his take on this “Chart of the Day" business is on the money. The chart is pure nonsense. And no, my use of the pun “Weak" in the banner is not one of my common misspellings. For those catching up, a chart on Silicon Alley Insider, of un-specific authorship titled, “The Death of the Music Industry" has gone viral. Most of the sites re-posting and reTweeting it as ...

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The New Music Business is for Grown-Ups

Source: HypeBot
February 19, 2011

This post is by Robin Davey of The Hoax and The Bastard Fairies.  Interview. Although the accessibility of YouTube has opened up avenues to exploit the seemingly prophetic abilities of Justin Bieber and his ilk, the truth is, the only people that are mesmerized by his skills are the young and naive. The rest of us, consciously or subconsciously, equate it to the same entertainment value as a dancing monkey, or a robot that can successfully navigate a flight of stairs. This is because there is entertainment ...

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