Music Industry News

Mark Mulligan: "Most Fans Don't Use Many Devices"

Source: HypeBot
July 14, 2010

The thinking behind cloud-based music services tends to go something like this:  fans want to access their song libraries across as many devices as possible.  The problem?  Mark Mulligan from Forrester has posted a new study that suggests “most consumers don't use many devices to listen to music."  But, the problems don't just stop there. In addition, there are the many more rights, connectivity, and interoperability issues that would need to be sorted out.  That is, of course, if ...

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Notes from the Net: John Zorn's Montreal Controversy, Kevin Eubanks Unbound, Plus News, Reviews, Interviews and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
July 14, 2010

Here's the latest compilation of assorted news briefs and links related to jazz, improvisation, and creative music in St. Louis, including news of musicians originally from the Gateway City, recent visitors, and coming attractions, plus assorted other items of interest:* In the latest Miles Davis-related news, Michael Bourne reviewed the “We Want Miles" exhibit in Montreal for DownBeat magazine. Coincidentally enough, there's a new live DVD just out of a 1985 Davis concert at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

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Matmos on Unlikely Collaboration, and Embracing the Talents of Others

Source: We All Make Music
July 13, 2010

Matmos. Photo by AJ Farkas.

Drew Daniel and Martin “M.C." Schmidt, who comprise the electronic music duo Matmos, are not what you would consider classically trained musicians.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, of course (how many classically-trained pop musicians do you know?) and in this case, it doesn't really matter; Matmos's music, a mixture of bizarre samples (the noises of a plastic surgery operation, field recordings of Civil War-era songs, the movements of live snails), drum machines ...

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Adam Singer: Fighting the Future at Every Turn

Source: HypeBot
July 13, 2010

In response to post on on WSJ's All Things Digital blog by Kara Swisher, where she laments about a lack of business models for the entertainment industry in the digital age, PR strategist Adam Singer has written a great critique of her piece--that's worth the read and full of quotable lines.  He  finds it to be surprising that Kara “let herself get influenced by an industry that has been disrupted by technology, but refuses to change."  Here's an excerpt:

Tommy Silverman: "Hobbyists... Clutter the Music Environment with Crap."

Source: HypeBot
July 13, 2010

Over at Wired, there's an intriguing interview piece where the ever curious Eliot Van Buskirk talks with Tommy Silverman, founder of Tommy Boy Records, about “What's Wrong With Music Biz."  As expected, there are some rather controversial things said in relation to what it means to “break" an artist in the music industry these days, and it leaves the reader to question whether or not Silverman's criteria match that of the emerging musical middle class dynamic. Silverman also shares his ...

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Inspiration is a Two-Way Street

Source: One Working Musician by Jason Parker
July 12, 2010

As I mentioned here I've recently started to share what I've learned about getting my music out to a wider audience with my good friend Katy Bourne. Truth be told, I've been sharing things in a piecemeal fashion with my friends, colleagues and anyone who asked for as long as I can remember. I've always loved talking about what we do, how we do it, and what works and what doesn't. But what I'm doing with Katy is more methodical ...

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Why Music Should Never Be Given Away for "Free"

Source: HypeBot
July 12, 2010

Over at our sister blog Music Think Tank, there are two new posts up.  One is from  Chris Bracco, editor of Tight Mix, on how to track the results of your attempts to get your music on blogs. The other, from Jon Ostrow, a co-founder of MicControl, is on the why music should never be given away for free.

From The Essay: [Giving music away] is only ideal for artists who have successfully converted people from fans to loyalists--those ...

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Glenn Peoples: The Freemium Debate

Source: HypeBot
July 12, 2010

In response to an article in the Guardian on Clay Shirky and his opinion on news paywalls, Glenn Peoples  over at Billboard has written a great summary of how the music industy's digital dilemma relates to that of the newspaper industry's.  As well, he frames the discussion around the freemium debate:

“One of the big questions in digital music today is whether or not free, ad-supported versions of services should exist alongside paid, ad-free versions. In a freemium model, free ...

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