Technology News

6 Ways to Fail at Promoting Music Online

Source: HypeBot
October 27, 2011

On the Culture Bully blog, Chris DeLine takes whack at almost every indie band, label and publicist that ever tried to get the attention of a music journalist. “How to Fail at Promoting Music Online" is both a chronicle of bad behavior and a roadmap to more successful pitches. Here is a summary of Deline's beefs:

Assume Interest - “So, you've found an email address? Perhaps you traded contact lists with another artist, blindly harvested information from sites indexed by ...

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HP Expands Music Influencer Program with Artist #talk Listening Parties

Source: HypeBot
October 26, 2011

Hewlett-Packard (HP) is refocusing its Music Influencer program on smaller, influencer-heavy events featuring Arjan Timmermans of ArjanWrites.com as host. Dubbed ARTIST #TALK, these listening parties feature musicians and help spread conversations about HP products and their work with Beats Audio. The new phase of HP's Music Influencer program, ARTIST #TALK, was actually conceived by Arjan Timmermans, who appears at both Grammy.com and on CNN, but built his reputation at his pop music blog ArjanWrites.com. According to Mashable's Brian Anthony Hernandez, ...

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Dream big and give us your best idea for the arts in Philadelphia

Source: All About Jazz
October 21, 2011

Applications open today for Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia PHILADELPHIA: The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is now accepting applications for the second year of the Knight Arts Challenge Philadelphia through Oct. 31. The three-year, $9 million community-wide contest seeks the most innovative ideas in the arts to engage and enrich Philadelphia's communities. In the Challenge's first year, Knight Foundation awarded $2.7 million to 36 winners representing a broad spectrum of the community—from individual artists and artist-driven organizations to ...

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Techdirt Opens New Media Biz-Models Message Board; Offers $10k for Best Case Examples

Source: HypeBot
October 18, 2011

Last week, media blog TechDirt launched a new message board  designed to pool the ideas and experiences of musicians, filmmakers, and writers experimenting with new ways to monetize and support their work. Additionally, TechDirt founder Mike Masnick is offering $10,000 to those who submit the best case studies and/or experiences they've had in building alternative business models. “In thinking about this, we realized that what's really missing out there is a true community to help people figure this stuff out," Masnick said. ...

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Sell Stuff, Straight from Your Youtube Channel...

Source: Digital Music News
October 17, 2011

YouTube is arguably the biggest and baddest platform for music consumption. So why not leverage that power-position further into ecommerce?

Glad you asked. YouTube is now sharing details on Merch Store, a build-out that will allow artists to layer downloads, merchandise, tickets, and other items into their channels. The formal announcement happens Thursday in New York. “With 800 million people per month coming to YouTube you have a pretty big stage to share your music, and now we're adding features ...

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exfm Expands from Browser Extension to Social Music Discovery Platform

Source: HypeBot
October 14, 2011

exfm began life as a Google Chrome extension called ExtensionFM. Now the open web MP3-fueled “social music discovery platform" has a nice website, mobile options, more browser extensions and an embeddable player. No, they can't play audio from YouTube or from your desktop, but, all in all, it's shaping up to be a great service. exfm has been growing steadily from a simple browser extension to a suite of offerings all designed to help you find and enjoy music and ...

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On Spotify, File-Sharing and Incomplete Statistics

Source: HypeBot
October 14, 2011

Since Spotify finally launched in the US, the discussion has reignited about what the benefits of it are for musicians. One recent conversation has involved people quoting diametrically opposite statistics about the influence of Spotify on file-sharing in Sweden. Some people quoting a stat that says file-sharing has dropped as Spotify has rolled out, and others saying that there's more file sharing with Spotify... The problem with both statistics is that there's no binary relationship between Spotify and file-sharing, and ...

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ReDigi Launches Used Digital Music Marketplace. Can It Be Legal? [video]

Source: HypeBot
October 14, 2011

When we wrote about ReDigi's plan to create a marketplace for used digital downloads, it caused quite a stir.  Could selling used downloads be legal? “A legal music download is generally issued as personal license to use," wrote attorney Rob Falk, “and I believe that by its terms, is non-transferable." Not so fast, countered the company who said they've created proprietary tech that makes resale possible and legal. With ReDigi's launch today, and the subsequent outcry that's certain to come ...

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