Music Industry News

A CD Label That Plays to Sounds of Chicago

Source: AAJ Staff
December 12, 2010

When the pianist Bradley Parker released his first LP in 1979, he went to the Chicago Tattooing and Piercing Company parlor on Belmont Avenue and had the album title, “Latin Black," inked across his left forearm. This was novel among artists in the '80s, when tattoos belonged primarily to sailors and biker gangs. Mr. Parker—also known as Bradley Parker-Sparrow, or just Sparrow to friends, associates and detractors —did the same for his next three albums, all recorded for Southport Records, ...

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MidemNet Lab Names Top Digital Music Sartups

Source: HypeBot
December 11, 2010

MidemNet Lab has announced its 2011 class of top digital music start-ups. For this 2nd edition, the companies with the strongest potential in mobile apps, B2B and B2C music services were chosen by UK consulting firm Music Ally to take part in a showcase during MIDEM January 22-26 in Cannes. Here are the finalists:

Mobile applications:

Airbuzz (France)—music discovery Amidio (Russia)—music making tool Bounce Mobile (UK)—remix tool Jammbox (Australia)—music news aggregator Khu.sh (USA)—music making tool Mix Me In (USA)—cloud music ...

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Facebook Exec Says: "We Are in the Music Space"

Source: HypeBot
December 11, 2010

(UPDATED) When asked if Facebook would use it's social platform to reinvent the music industry like Zynga changed gaming, Ethan Beard, the Director of the Facebook Developer platform, replied “ We are in the music space."  Beard was referring to Connect and the ability for outside music companies to tap into Facebook's social network, and as proof he shared how Facebook helped grow Spotify. Video & How Facebook Grew Spotify Traffic: According to Beard, when Spotify integrated Facebook into it's ...

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Music is Now a "Public Good" Like Street Lighting.

Source: HypeBot
December 11, 2010

How do you punish someone that doesn't believe what they're doing is wrong? Better yet, how do you tell someone that file sharing is immortal when they don't think that it should be illegal in the first place? These are the questions that Joe Cox, an economist from the University of Portsmouth Business School, found himself grappling with after he conducted his recent study. In it, he attempted to connect the dots between the motivations of file sharers and determine ...

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What Can You Learn from Brett Domino?

Source: We All Make Music
December 10, 2010

In this age of instant gratification and short attention spans, online videos have become a staple of entertainment and discovery, with millions of options at your fingertips. Video gives musicians many different kinds of chances to stand out, either through covers, unorthodox instrumentation, or displaying their senses of humor or out-sized personae.

Brett Domino has used all of these approaches, and it has helped him become a YouTube phenomenon. A look at some of our favorite Domino videos shows how ...

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See Steve Martin's Royalty Checks: Total $.13

Source: HypeBot
December 10, 2010

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Still Not Taking This Seriously? Spotify Hits 750,000...

Source: Digital Music News
December 9, 2010

Ahead of Halloween, Spotify was careening past 650,000 paying subscribers—of which, 90 percent were paying the highest tier. Now, that number is 750,000, according to word from CEO Daniel Ek. But the prospects of entering the US this year are slim-to-zilch, and Ek conceded as much during a recent D:Dive Into Mobile chit-chat. Bigger numbers, same old story! Still, a few more details emerged. Ek wants to charge $10 a month in the US, a loose translation from the 10 ...

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Music Marketing: Is It Really Just Like Exercise?

Source: Digital Music News
December 9, 2010

Bad advice is oftentimes free advice. But at a music conference, you're actually paying for the privilege. And, attempting to sort and sift through what will actually help your career or company, versus what won't. And oftentimes, it won't. Is that worth the price of admission? This was a serious concern at CMJ in New York, where hopeful bands were getting endless DIY tips-and-tricks, with nearly-zero discussion of the realities of actually making it. And even worse, almost no discussion ...

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