Long-time readers of this blog will know that I’m a supporter of Last.fm, even though I only discovered it when Pandora was shut off from non-US listeners. Although music streaming radio has had a rocky start, it seems that things are looking up now that Last.fm has begun paying out royalties to artists…
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Reinforcing the online media distribution revolution, the latest spate of music/video websites includes a promising Irish company that has secured partnerships with Sony BMG, Ninja Tune, Ministry of Sound and more…
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When Twitter first emerged, I was one of many people who greeted it with significant scepticism. After all, why should anyone want to sift through an endless array of comments about how satisfied a complete stranger was by their breakfast/shower/airbag? However, now that Twitter has gained a larger audience, it seems to be an ideal platform for bands to connect with potential fans…
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Illegal downloading of music has been one of the most contentious issues in the music industry over the past few years. Major labels and distributors have invested a lot of effort into preventing such piracy, but draconian DRM and sporadic lawsuits seem to have had little (if any) positive impact. The question now should not be how to stop people downloading albums for free, but whether such activity can actually be good for music…
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Naming your band is a very important decision, for a number of reasons. First of all, your band is your brand, and having a memorable or interesting name might give you a slight edge in a very saturated market. Also, it’s important to ensure that nobody else is using your name already, as this can lead to legal troubles should you ever rise to prominence later on. But if you’re stuck in a creative rut trying to come up with that memorable moniker, here are a couple of suggestions…
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There has been much speculation about how the music industry can effectively monetise its products in the digital age. Many suggestions centre on licensing deals and royalties, and the decline in overall CD sales has led to suggestions that music will not be a viable physical product of any kind in the future. The folks over at SanDisk, however, have a different idea…
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Third Eye Blind are the latest band to jump on the stem remix, er, bandwagon. Although many high-profile acts have previously released individual instrument tracks (called stems) to the public for remixing, Radiohead were the first to create a significant buzz with this tactic…
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Derek Sivers recently handed over control of the mighty CD Baby independent music outlet to Disc Makers, primarily to allow himself time to work on new musical ventures. He is already heading in interesting directions, as his interview with Tim Ferriss (author of the infamous Four-Hour Workweek) shows…
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In the old days of the record industry, major labels made a loss on 90% of the artists that they signed. Even to the most fiscally obtuse observer, this was clearly an inefficient model, and now that music distribution is either free or extensively affordable, this approach has become non-viable. Thankfully, a new business model has emerged that promises to remove this investment risk - get the fans to pay for the record before it has even been recorded…
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I first became aware of Topspin when Ian Rogers left Yahoo Music earlier this year to become the CEO of this mysterious startup. Some of the suspense has been lifted now that Topspin has come out of stealth beta - but is this the new music marketing model that so many of us have been waiting for?
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