Music Industry News

Warner Music CEO Changes Tune About Spotify

Source: HypeBot
February 10, 2011

Thus far, Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. has gone on the record as being against Spotify and others like it because they are “clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as Warner Music is concerned will not be licensed." In yesterday's earnings call, Bronfman changed his tune, saying that, “We do see Spotify, and services like Spotify, as ever-more meaningful for our results." This is quite the switch. Bronfman's change of heart comes as a ...

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Yikes: Is This Where Publishing is Headed?

Source: Digital Music News
February 9, 2011

Of the two, publishing is the more solid counterpart to recordings. But publishing is battling its own disruptive demons, and that became even more obvious today. During its morning financial review, Warner Music Group revealed a surprising, 14.9 percent quarterly drop in publishing revenues, one that featured declines across various licensing segments.

It looks like everything is getting the squeeze, and there's a story behind each one. On a constant-currency basis, mechanical revenue dropped 15.2% for the quarter, performance revenue ...

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Quarterly Losses Widen at Warner Music Group

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

While not as bad as some analysts had expected,  there was not much to smile about in Burbank as Warner Music Group filed its 1Q report with Wall Street this morning. For the quarter ending Dec. 31, WMG posted a loss of $18 million or 12 cents a share on $789 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $17 million or 11 cents a share a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast a loss of 19 ...

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How Do You Treat Your Biggest Fans?

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

Seth Godin has done it again. In few words, he has reframed how businesses should treat and view their best customers. Godin argues that most businesses just take the money of their best customers. Worse yet, they judge their loyalty by how much more money they're willing to pay than others. When businesses view their best customers in this way, their knee-jerk reaction is to just charge them more. After all, they'll be happy to pay. Right? This applies to artists ...

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Creative Leadership Absent in Major Labels - Or Why the Record Industry is Fucked Nowadays

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

A new study suggests that people who express creative ideas are less likely to be identified as having leadership potential. In other words, when staff members in major label boardroom meetings talk about ways to move the record industry in profitable new directions, questions about their suitability for roles of higher leadership arise. Even though the record industry knows that it needs creative leadership to get it out of the mess that it's in now, the fact is that thinking ...

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Read the Letter CEO Roger Faxon Sent to EMI Staff After the Citigroup Takeover

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

CEO Roger Faxon has to be given credit for trying to move EMI forward in very difficult times. Amid staff cuts, lawsuits and now a forced shift in ownership to its banker, Faxon has sought to portray EMI as a music group in transition rather than one in crisis. Keeping his EMI team, buoyed by a few chart victories and yet frightened by an uncertain future, focused and motivated may be Faxon's greatest challenge. In this letter,  he sought to ...

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5 Ways Artists Can Use Foursquare to Engage Fans

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

This post is by Alison McCarthy. She's an intern at Hypebot. In an interview at MIDEM, Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai said the location-based social network is now valued at more than $250 million with over 6 million users, potentially increasing to 10 million by June. Though Foursquare is now seeing increased competition from Facebook and Twitter which have both recently integrated their own location-based services, Foursquare's staggering growth in 2010 looks like it will continue to flourish into 2011. Where's The Music? ...

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Hurry up and Wait For Legal Cloud-Stored Music - EMI vs. MP3tunes Decision 2-6 Months Away

Source: HypeBot
February 9, 2011

Is cloud-stored music legal? Do labels deserve an extra payment? We'll see. EMI's lawsuit against Michael Robertson's MP3tunes has winded down. A ruling, however, may be 2-6 months away. If won, MP3tunes will be deemed legal and Google can store user's songs in the cloud whether the major labels like it or not. Right now, labels are referring to MP3tunes and Sideload as “3G music piracy"—whatever that means, Robertson quips. Rather than publish an analysis of the case and where ...

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