Music Industry News

Lack of Passion and Caring About Music at Majors

Source: HypeBot
November 19, 2010

In an interview with the Village Voice, DJ Premier shared his thoughts on the record industry. Mainly, what has changed in it since he first came out. What Premier says isn't surprising. But it's worth sharing. Is the passion gone? “I'm 44-years-old so I remember when the majors had passion and cared about music. That's gone now..." More below: “which is why they crumbled so tremendously. They want to blame the internet but that's not the main culprit—it's the lack ...

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Get More Mileage out of Your Projects by Bringing Your Fans into Your World

Source: We All Make Music
November 18, 2010

There's a very good reason people do things like take pictures, write journals (or, these days, blogs), and collect souvenirs. We want to capture a moment in time and hold on to it, reflect on it later and possibly share it with others, make them feel like they were there. The David Crowder*Band have just released a great example of how bands should do that, too. It came time for the group to make a music video for their song ...

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Activity, Not Passivity: Raising Cultural Awareness

Source: HypeBot
November 20, 2010

Lately, I've had the pleasure of getting into in-depth discussions with the thinkers behind Songkick, We7, and Slacker. It's been a great experience. One of the things that I've been bringing up in each of these talks is the nature of the mechanisms through which we consume music and the set of behaviors they promote. My fear has always been that as fans become overwhelmed music choices they'll become ever more passive participants in their cultural lives. This concern dates ...

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The Sad State of Music Industry Coverage

Source: HypeBot
November 18, 2010

The echo chamber of the blogosphere consumes us. News breaks everywhere. But what does it mean? There seems to be so few interested in saying something, expressing their opinion, and engaging in the deeper discourse. Writing is hard. It isn't for everyone. However, there are plenty of big questions to be asked about the state of the music industry and there aren't nearly enough people asking them. Practically matters. There are number of writers that are pursuing actionable insight and ...

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Beggars Group on Why They Left eMusic

Source: HypeBot
November 18, 2010

In an official statement, UK based indie power house Beggars Group, which includes the popular Matador and 4AD labels, explained why, like several other indie labels, it's leaving eMusic on the eve of the subscription service's addition of tracks from UMG and major relaunch: “As those of you who buy our music from eMusic will know by now, our music will very shortly no longer be available from that site. We wish this hadn't happened, but as eMusic has brought ...

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Is Google Buying Rhapsody?

Source: HypeBot
November 18, 2010

I can't call it anything more than a persistent rumor, but I've heard it now from more than one decent source: Google is (or at least thinking about) buying Rhapsody.  To bolster his case, one source added that Google had put out strong feelers to a number of key digital music executives for its announced Google Music initiatives and now they've stopped calling. I've heard that from others, too. Of course, it could mean that Google's found different executives to ...

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The Top 11 Most Powerful People in the Music Industry...

Source: Digital Music News
November 17, 2010

(1) Lucian Grainge, CEO, Universal Music Group Grainge is now twiddling the knobs on the largest label group in the land, one whose fate is not being twisted by covenants or Wall Street traders. (2) Irving Azoff, Executive Chairman, Live Nation Entertainment; Chairman and CEO, Frontline Management Group. Azoff's been a mess on Twitter, but there's no messing with his immense influence across touring, television, and other formats. Or, with his Frontline roster, for that matter. These big channels still ...

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Get off Your Computer and Talk to Someone!

Source: We All Make Music
November 17, 2010

I have a new favorite YouTube video (see above), in which a guy named Peter Malkin sits in front of a camera, and in 4:46, mentions over 125 websites that bands are using to promote, market, and manage their music:

“To expose your music to fans, go to these sites....to get your music distributed digitally, check out these sites...if you are cool with giving your music out for free, go to ...

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