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A Graphic Look at 25 Years of Music Sales
Source:
HypeBot
There's something particularly sad about this chart. Whatever the format-track, LP, cassette, CD—every one has its day and then sales decline as it is replaced by new formats. Then in 2005 comes digital music, which according to the stats from the RIAA as interpreted by Bain show how, for the first time in 25 years, a new format has not sparked increased interest in music. The declines can't just be blamed on the digital format, but it does lead to ...
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Rdio CEO Says New Apple Tax Makes It "Untenable" for Them to Exist on Ios Devices
Source:
HypeBot
One by one, executives behind leading subscription music companies are speaking out against the new Apple Tax. CEO Steve Jobs has made it clear that when Apple brings new subscribers to apps he expects them to let Apple handle the billing process and for providing that service, he believes his company is entitled to a 30% cut of the profits. This has not yet been rolled out to music apps but the move is likely. If Jobs requests that services ...
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Redigi Says They'll Sell Your Used MP3's Legally
Source:
HypeBot
Startup ReDigi will be opening “the world's first online marketplace to legally recycle, buy and sell, used digital music files" this summer. On the ReDigi Marketplace, music “owners" can “manage their music libraries by selling their unwanted digital music, or purchasing the music they do want, at drastically discounted prices." Exactly how ReDigi will identify ownership or navigate the legal objections that labels have thrown at previous attempts (like Bopaboo) to resell digtal music is unclear; but there are a few ...
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2 Out of 4 - Spotify Signs U.S. Deal with EMI
Source:
HypeBot
Reports reveal that Spotify finalized a U.S. distribution deal with EMI Music. This gives the company approval from two of the big four major labels. Sony closed a deal with Spotify last month. While Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman has changed his tune about Spotify, it doesn't mean they'll sign on. So too, Spotify still needs approval from the largest the label, Universal, before a launch can be certain. The company will also have to navigate the Apple Tax and ...
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Something Else! Reviews on the 2011 Blues Hall of Fame Honorees
Source:
Something Else!
By Something Else! Reviews Robert Cray tops this year's class of inductees into the Blues Hall of Fame. He's joined by acoustic bluesman John Hammond; soul-blues belter Denise LaSalle, 1950s singing star Big Maybelle, and singer/songwriters Alberta Hunter and J.B. Lenoir. Also to be recognized: Vivian Carter and Jimmy Bracken (the “Vee" and “Jay" in Vee-Jay Records), noted African-American educator John W. Work III, writer Samuel Charters and producer Bruce Bromberg, who's worked with Cray and Joe Louis Walker, among ...
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The Friday Morning Listen
Source:
Something Else!
Wait, you're thinking...that's not Justin Bieber...it's Esperanza Spalding! Yeah, I just couldn't resist a little GrammySmugness2011 ...except that I'm really listening to Pizzicato Five! I've been thinking about this year's Grammy awards. Specifically, the “shock" of jazz bassist/singer Esperanza Spalding receiving the award for Best New Artist. I was certainly shocked, especially when thinking back to some of the incredibly odd people who have taken home the award: Milli Vanilli, Starland Vocal Band (Confession: I used to have that record. ...
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New Apple App Rules Could Kill Subscription Music
Source:
HypeBot
Check and mate. There's no other way to make sense of what just happened. As far as subscription music is concerned, Apple has now cornered the king of every subscription music service. If any of them moves an inch, in any direction, Apple takes/kills their king. Up until now, every subscription service has played a strategy game—against Apple and each other—and in a spilt second, Apple has changed the game and reminded them that it owns the board beneath them. Once Apple introduced ...
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Rhapsody CEO Blasts Apple: New App Store Terms "Economically Untenable"
Source:
HypeBot
After Apple announced new 30% commission rates that, as Kyle Bylin wrote, could kill subscription music, I wondered who would risk Apple's legendary rath and speak up. Yesterday, John Erwin, the President of Rhapsody, America's biggest subscription music service with 750,000 subscribers, weighed in bravely calling Apple's new app store terms “economically untenable" and hinting at future legal action. Here's the full text of President John Erwin's statement: “Rhapsody is the leading digital music subscription service in the U.S.,with 750,000 ...
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