Music Industry News

Jazz Artist Harold Rayford Opens Up about Private Moments

Source: Tracy Williamson
July 14, 2010

The world is getting ready to see a whole new side to Tyscot Records' gospel jazz artist, Harold Rayford. With the release of his Brand New CD, I am the Instrument on August 3rd, longtime fans and even newcomers will not only notice a higher level of musicianship but they'll get to learn more about the man behind the music. In his candid EPK video, which is available now on www.youtube.com, the gospel jazz veteran opens up about private moments ...

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Is Jazz a Young Person's Music After All?

Source: AAJ Staff
July 14, 2010

From Stereophile.com

Fred Kaplan Blog Is Jazz a Young Person's Music After All? By Fred Kaplan

A week ago, I went to see Chris Potter lead a top-notch quintet at the Jazz Standard. It was a great set. Potter's big tenor-sax sound keeps getting more swinging, more virtuosic, yet at the same time tonally subtler. Joining him were Steve Nelson on vibes, Paul Motian on drums, Craig Taborn on piano, and Scott Colley on bass. Potter was smiling ...

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Ioumusic: New Artist Crowdfunding App Launches

Source: HypeBot
July 14, 2010

How Does It Compare To Other Fan Funding Sites?

IOUmusic, in a similar vein as other grassroots, crowdfunding applications such as Kickstarter and RocketHub, is a new donation website that's focused on assisting musicians and providing them with alternative means to fund their creative projects. 

As well, they are positioning themselves as a way for fans to pay artists for music that they have obtained for free.  The founders of the company state that while this is their first incarnation, ...

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The Music Industry's Shift from Master to Equal

Source: HypeBot
July 14, 2010

“Animals, whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equal"

- Charles Darwin

Fans who were once at the mercy of a few men's musical tastes, pricing schemes and format changes have used the tools provided by the digital revolution to set themselves free. But for too many in the music industry, the answer to the digital revolution has been evolution. What the music industry needs is radical experimentation followed ...

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New Music Sales Reports Send Mixed Signal

Source: HypeBot
July 14, 2010

The U.S. single-track download market slipped 0.2% to 597.4 million tracks in the first half of the year according to Nielsen SoundScan. The data may suggest that the digital music singles market has reached a saturation point. Variable pricing, which has set top new releases at $1.29 rather than the more standard $.99, may have also contributed to flat sales.

On a more positive note, download sales of the more profitable album format grew by 12.7% to 42.2 million. ...

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More on How the Biggest Artists Use Social Media

Source: HypeBot
July 14, 2010

After Famecount published a chart of the top music artists on social networks, based on their friend and follower counts on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Stuart Dredge over at Sandbox followed-up and tried to understand what could be learned from what these artists are doing with their social media fame, and whether there are lessons to be learned by their peers. His findings are rather counter intuitive, yet maybe they aren't all that surprising.

“If these are the ...

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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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