Music Industry News

Spotify: "URL Will Become Universal Music Format."

Source: HypeBot
January 5, 2011

Spotify's Jonathan Forster thinks 2011 will bring us one-step closer to this. The URL becoming the new universal format for music. We won't send out MP3s or links to YouTube videos, the URL itself will be the primary way that fans are exposed to music. You click it and music plays—not for thirty or ninety seconds, but the whole song—every time. Imagine reading to ebook for 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die and being able to click on ...

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Latest EMI News: Pink Floyd Resigns, but March Miracle Sill Needed

Source: HypeBot
January 5, 2011

Despite a recent court ruling that a deal signed in the pre-download age could be not applied to digital sales, Pink Floyd has dropped its lawsuit against EMI and resigned. “All legal disputes between the band and the company have been settled as a result of this new deal," EMI said in a statement. But EMI's troubles are far from over and an end of March deadline looms. The Pink Floyd deal is a major victory for EMI, who has ...

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The "Extremely Destructive Belief" That Artists Shouldn't Be Compensated...

Source: Digital Music News
January 4, 2011

The creative process takes hours, days, even years to complete. So why does the public feel that artists shouldn't be paid for their art? Earlier Monday morning, SoundExchange executive director John Simson officially announced his departure, but not without addressing that critical issue. Simson has been credited with growing SoundExchange from its inception, current accounting and artist payment problems notwithstanding. But maybe that's a mess best left for the next guy. In the grand scheme, this may be the bigger ...

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The Basics of Remixing, Part Four: Show Me the Money...Or Not!

Source: We All Make Music
January 4, 2011

Welcome to the latest installment of Production Tips, our new monthly feature offering, well, production tips, hosted by Simon Langford.

Last time we looked at ways in which you can get remix parts (most often vocal stems or a capellas) in order to start building your own showreel. This would then enable you to approach labels with concrete work to demonstrate what you are capable of. There is also another, less obvious, benefit.

The Benefits Of Free Market(ing) ...

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MySpace Eyes Massive Layoffs as News Corp Looks For a Buyer

Source: HypeBot
January 4, 2011

MySpace is considering massive layoffs that could cut as much as 50% of the struggling social network's 1100 person workforce according to a several sources. Parent company News Corp has been pushing MySpace to make this cuts for months even as it looks for ways to dump the division unless a miracle turnaround materializes. Almost all of the MySpace staff were given the last week of December off to save money, according to CNet, as executives decide where permanent cuts ...

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Aram Sinnreich: "Criminalizing File-Sharing Is... It's Literally Pathological; It's Insane."

Source: HypeBot
January 4, 2011

Aram Sinnreich, a professor at Rutgers University and author of the book Mashed Up, gave this speech at NYU in early December. It starts off a little slow, but it picks up speed as he breaks into music industry analysis. If you're looking for the quote that I pulled from the talk, you'll have to buffer to about an hour in. In this lecture, he gives a fascinating overview of the legislation that's being used in an attempt to hamper ...

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Rock and Roll (1949-2011)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
January 4, 2011

It's hard to spot a cultural shift. The start of one movement and the end of another isn't easy to identify because most people don't care much for change and prefer that the world they know remain constant. It's a comfort thing mixed with denial, and such feelings grow stronger as we age. Besides, change never announces itself, not that anyone would care if it did. Only when we notice that the art we once enjoyed is no longer being ...

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Ariel Hyatt: 7 Things I Hope for the New Music Industry in 2011

Source: HypeBot
January 1, 2011

Happy New Year everyone! I'm raising my glass to MORE! 1. More Support For Each Other. It takes a team to launch any effort, whether it's releasing an album, getting a song licensed or just getting more fans and followers. I see all too often artists going for it all alone without any help and support, some sadly don't even get support from fellow band mates, because they have made up a story that unless they have a professional full ...

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