Home » Jazz News
Music Industry News
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.
Too Much Choice Overwhelms More Casual Fans
Source:
HypeBot
I've written extensively about how abundant musical choice may not always be a good thing for fans. This video by Sheena Iyengar, one of the leading researchers in choice theory and author of the now famous jam-study, makes a point about the difference between novice and expert users. In music, casual fans may find too much choice overwhelming while more involved fans have an easier time eliminating options. It's hard to say how vast the chasm is between casual fans ...
Continue Reading
Will T-Shirts Save Music? Results of Hypebot's Merchandise Sales Survey
Source:
HypeBot
(Updated) Are increased merchandise sales helping to offset lower revenue from recorded music sales? Or is that just another bit of new music industry wishful thinking? Just 34% of those that took Hypebot's recent poll thought merchandise was helping all that much. But the poll, while not a scientific survey, did offer insights and a bit of hope for musicians and labels working to develop new income streams. Of the respondents, 34% described themselves as musicians and 22% each said ...
Continue Reading
Wow: Looks Like Indies Just Got Third-Class Treatment from Apple...
Source:
Digital Music News
Yesterday, we reported that Apple was negotiating through various details with publishers over its expanded iTunes previews. Looks like they gave the brush-off to big publishers initially, though everything's now moving towards an amicable resolution.
But just moments after filing that story, we started hearing from unhappy indies. The reason is that Apple negotiated the 90-second clips with the majors first, then 'remembered' to negotiate with the publishers, and then essentially told the indies what was happening. But many of ...
Continue Reading
Getting Your Music into China, Part Two: What's Popular There, and Why
Source:
We All Make Music
Yesterday, our Getting Your Music Into China series began with an interview with Music Dish founder Eric de Fontenay. Eric explained why China, which for decades had been closed off to Western sounds and artists, has recently begun to open itself up to outside influences again.
Today, our conversation with de Fontenay continues, this time centering on what kinds of resources are available to westerners who want to learn more about this growing, evolving market.
Let's talk about the issue ...
Continue Reading
More Legal Services Needed to Counter Piracy
Source:
HypeBot
According to a report by James Myring at BDRC Continental, the best way to counter music piracy is to create more legal services. At the Media Research Group conference in Malta, Myring said that, “If piracy is to be reduced, it can't be through threats and sanctioning. Carrot and stick need to work together." His research suggests that legal alternatives like Spotify and other streaming sites have reduced piracy. The more ways that fans have to access music the better. ...
Continue Reading
How Hollerado Stayed Full-Time Musicians, Avoided Real Jobs, and Sold Records in Zip-Lock Bags
Source:
HypeBot
Recently, I spoke with Dean Baxter, who is the bassist for the Canadian indie rock group Hollerado. In this interview Baxter talks about the various guerilla marketing tactics that his group used to sell their music; their twenty-eight day residency tour; and how they've created a sustainable career out of making records in a bag, connecting with fans, and giving them reasons to support the music they make. Instead of waiting to get booked, what are some of the ways ...
Continue Reading
Getting Your Music into China, Part One: Why China? Why Now?
Source:
We All Make Music
Next week, the good people at Music Dish will be hosting a panel discussion entitled “Breaking Into International Markets, From China to MIDEM." Though the discussion will likely be about quite a lot of different things, we figured this would be the perfect opportunity to delve into the world's biggest, and arguably most interesting, music market: China's.
This is the first of a four part series that will go over everything from Chinese tastes to distribution and promotion, all things ...
Continue Reading
Don't Be Afraid to Get "Squishy" with Your Marketing
Source:
We All Make Music
Igor Stravinsky once famously said that “a good composer does not imitate; he steals." And today, with most musicians in charge of their own brands, it's important to note that Stravinsky's wisdom applies to marketing, too. Over the weekend, the veteran French Touch production duo known as Cassius released the above video teaser for their new EP, The Rawkers, their first for Ed Banger Records. To the average viewer, the video's juxtaposition of blabbing mouths on club-going faces is little ...
Continue Reading
