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According to AllHipHop.com, Chuck D is launching BTN Eastlink [BTN = Bring The Noise] drawing together a wide range of services under one roof:
"Under the leadership of Chuck D, entertainment lawyer and digital media consultant Dan Lugo and producer Gary G-Wiz, BTNEastlink houses the SlamJamz Records label and divisions to handle artist management, marketing, consulting, video game scoring and other services."
Official Site:
BTN Eastlink
Adisa Banjoko interviewed Andre Nickatina back in 2000 but his points remain worth considering:
"One quick thing. I wanna talk to all you cats out there rappin' man. You givin' up...your children - meaning your ideas...You give it to these record companies who giggle in your face at the time. Then, as soon as you sign on the dotted line - it's war. You gotta fight for your money. You gotta fight for your rights. They know exactly what they are doing when they sign you. So, you gotta know WHY you are getting signed to them in the first place. Why you signing? Other than that, you just gonna give up classic stuff that you made and classics to come in the future that ain't even gonna be yours!"
"You goin' state to state, on the frontline. Goin' into all these hoods and running into all these gangstas, pranksters and thugs. While the record companies are sitting back on silk sheets sending their children to college! So all you rap cats man, you gonna have to dig into this technology. Know these books! I'm not gonna pretend that I read books all the time. But took licks for not knowin'!!...I'm not gonna tell you what to do to get there. If someone owe you five dollars, you want it back! Imagine if it was one hundred thousand dollars?! And you got no way of getting it back unless you bring firepower. And I don't mean guns...I mean lawyers or knowing the right way to get the money they owe you..."
"So, to all you rap cats, I love all rap cats that wanna BE rap cats. But there are new rules to the game. You gotta business man, and you gotta be a thug. You gotta be a business thug then!! You just can't be no ignorant thug. That time is gone."
Kaos Effect: Green Lantern says Pay to Play:
"At the end of the night I said what up to Green [Lantern] and made a move to get him some music for his Sirius Satellite Radio show. He looked at me and was like thats cool, but uh 'Ya'll got a check???' And then says cause 'You know brothas gotta pay the rent!'"
Though Katti Gray doesn't share any Chuck D quotes regarding speculations that he might become Def Jam president from his recent appearance at MidemNet and his comments on Jay-Z's tenure are chopped up to the point that you have to take her word for what he's actually saying, Chuck D's general perspective will always keep him out of the major label executive game. Fortunately, he's got a pretty good game of his own.
Chuck D on music industry execs at MidemNet:
"They were hovering around like buzzards, trying to figure out how they can dominate the space."
According to Gray, Chuck D said that exec attendance had doubled since last year as the music industry tries to figure out how to save what's left of their bottom line.
Chuck D on artists at SlamJamz:
"Simply wanting to get rich is the wrong road to take...I tell all my artists to keep their day job."
Chuck D did have this to say about Def Jam/Universal:
"The higher-ups at Universal are happy with their standard of Negro."
Wish those quotes hadn't gotten so chopped but it's nice to see Chuck D continuing to take a role as the music industry's conscious while still building for himself and for other artists.
Via Grand Good.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Chuck D & Just Blaze Team for NBA Ballers: Chosen One
Chuck D @ Guitar Center Sessions, Compares Russell Simmons to a Buzzard
As Terra Firma drops the bomb on EMI employees and "unproductive" artists, the big stars they're banking on are getting upset.
I wonder how long it will take for EMI to go from private equity to vulture capitalists?
Due to lack of contrast between the text and background Jack Davey's attack on the music industry is nearly unreadable but Couch Sessions has a readable version and a cosign.
Here's the opening line:
"this is intended for all of you lowly puppets who sit in your big offices in big buildings that will soon be out of business & thus, forced to hold vacant memories of an industry that once was."
Seriously, is any industry more hated by the people who produce its core product than the music industry?
Kevin Federline is said to be focused on production and developing new artists from his home studio as a possible alternate route into the music business.
If that was an option, would you take a deal involving Kevin Federline?
Michael Arrington looks at ways that Amazon is helping change the music industry including partnering with SellABand and investing in Amie Street.
Nah Right provides Termanology's take on The Music Industry.
MTV has a three-part series looking at the music industry in a time of volatile change:
Madonna Ditches Label, Radiohead Go Renegade: The Year The Music Industry Broke
In The Age Of Viral Video, Downloads And Plummeting CD Sales, What Makes A Star?
If The Old Music Business Is Dead, What's Next?
Fortune's Paul Sloan takes a look at Live Nation's 360 deals and future plans with a bit of historical context.
Universal's Island Def Jam Music Group is laying off employees and rumors are swirling regarding Jay-Z's plans.
Layoffs are also said to be about to hit Sony BMG.
Sarah Lewitinn at Stolen Transmission puts things in context and discusses life after Island/Def Jam which has already begun.
Jeff Leeds discusses the multiple rights or 360 deals that appear to be the last of the major label music industry's possibilities for sustaining innovation. Read The Innovator's Dilemma to see what comes next.
It was obvious that the move to 360 deals, in which labels basically attempt to profit from everything a musician does, signaled the emergence of a much harsher bargaining atmosphere for musicians hoping to sign with major labels just as the major labels will see a much harsher environment for bargaining with major stars.
But I had no idea major labels are claiming with a straight face to suddenly be committed to artist development. Hope whoever's bargaining with these people gets that in writing.
Point of interest: Maino's deal with Atlantic is described as a "360-style" contract.
On a Related Note:
When I first started to think through the implications of Madonna's Live Nation deal and the related move to 360 deals on the part of major labels, I focused in passing on the possibility that major labels could take more services in-house as they attempt to maximize profits. However it's probably more likely that, as major labels seek to maximize revenue streams, more rather than less outsourcing will result and create new opportunities for small firms.
Update:
Lefsetz [via Brown] goes on a rant inspired by 360 deals, for example:
If you’re contemplating a major label, and your success is not based on terrestrial radio play, if you don’t make pop music, YOU’RE A F*CKING IDIOT!
Have you been to the major label’s office recently? There’s nobody working there! They want more of YOUR money for doing less work. You’ve still got to hire a manager, an agent, pay them, and also pay the label which is doing no more than before, it’s just that it can’t make as much money because the landscape changed.
Chamillionaire Discussing 1st Week Numbers
Though The Ultimate Victory did not outperform, Chamillionaire is still on the grind because, as he points out, after working on an album for a year or so, why would you stop supporting it because the first week of sales didn't go as planned?
And he's right. There are certain things you can gauge from first week sales and you can certainly use them for a fun game of Kanye vs. Curtis, but using it to justify quitting after the first week?
That's a punk move on the part of record labels. Labels like that deserve the great pain that is still to come.
Chamillionaire Talks About Labels & Artists Doing Their Jobs
Chamillionaire really opens up and rants a bit but mostly makes solid, honest points every step of the way regarding the relationship between labels and artists.
Official Site:
Chamillionaire TV
Universal Music Group is exploring their USB options in the UK with USB singles that feature additional multimedia content at a higher price point than CD singles. U.S. introduction and albums to follow.
I guess this is a variation on the Ringle, a concept for which I may be the sole supportive blogger [having upgraded my previous fence sitting position], since it's basically a bundle of digital content distributed via storage media meant to replace traditional singles and EPs.
Lynne d Johnson makes a key point:
What's missing from this story is whether the content can be copied from the USB to a mobile device or your computer.
The Madonna/Live Nation deal has gotten a lot of attention following Radiohead's move with In Rainbows. However these are different sorts of changes and those that think the Madonna deal undermines the music industry need to realize that Live Nation's new Artist Nation division has simply positioned itself in the spot where the major labels are headed.
Major labels can't make the money they need off just the music so they want a part of everything the artist is doing. This is starting to manifest in new artist contracts but deals similar to Madonna's between the existing major labels and big stars will also emerge. So Artist Nation is an example of what the major labels might become.
That said, this description of Live Nation's new Artist Nation division suggests possible negative repercussions for small firms servicing major labels and for up and coming artists.
In breaking down the resources gathered together by Artist Nation the press release reveals that, while the major labels have a serious new competitor that beat them to an implementation of a major piece of their business plan for the future, it's the smaller independent firms that have been servicing the labels that should be seriously reassessing that future. I'm not sure how large a sector of the industry that would be but I certainly see major labels and media companies marketing simultaneously through in-house and outsourced services on a regular basis.
If you're a small firm servicing major labels in any of the areas covered by the Artist Nation division, you should be seriously concerned about the possibility of competing with those very labels if they take such services in-house.
On the bright side, this shift does open up new exit possibilities if major labels start acquiring such firms in order to jump start their capabilities. It also opens up the possibility of leveraging the relationships you've built with major artists and their core partners as they strike out on their own and benefit from moves like that of Radiohead.
Biggest downside I can currently envision:
Once these deals become a more normal part of the major label way of doing business, many indies may follow suit leading to a horrifying world for new artists who will not only have to worry about shady small labels putting them in the studio and staking a claim to all their early work without bothering to promote them but also about bad deals that can affect previously independent revenue streams.
In a post titled "Artist Empowerment", kanYeWest : Blog links to a roundup of In Rainbows sales news at The Daily Swarm.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Amp Live's Rainydayz Remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows Now Available
Albums: Radiohead's In Rainbows No. 1 in US/UK
Should Rappers Emulate Radiohead?
In Rainbows: Radiohead's New Album Pricing
Induces Blogger Visions of a Beautiful New World
last100 looks at five alternative business models for the music industry:
Free (loss leader)
Pay what you want
Pay by Popularity
Subscription
A music tax
If you've been following things you'll have a good sense of this already but it's nice to see it sketched out.
Plus, the post mentions some interesting services some of which I had yet to encounter including Jamendo, Magnatune and AmieStreet.
Bob Lefsetz at the 2007 Digital Music Forum West
At the start of this clip Bob Lefsetz of The Lefsetz Letter is finishing up a tale so don't worry that he's talking even faster than he writes.
His closing comments on the music industry quickly cover some interesting ground but he does slow down a tiny bit as he makes multiple suggestions and offers some great insights.
Bob Lefsetz says: "The money is in the filter."
ProHipHop's take: He's talking about humans, not algorithms or corporate content by committee, that's why bloggers can win.
Bonus Lefsetz Quote:
"All the usual stuff, that's irrelevant."
Via Hypebot.
Michael Arrington has a great post on the perspective of Yahoo Music VP of Product Development Ian Rogers who points out that the music industry has forced Yahoo! to create unpleasant consumer experiences.
His disregard for DRM even leads him to describe his great experience at Amazon's new DRM-free MP3 store in comparison to what consumers experience at Yahoo!.
But here's the best part:
I won’t let Yahoo! invest any more money in consumer inconvenience. I will tell Yahoo! to give the money they were going to give me to build awesome media applications to Yahoo! Mail or Answers or some other deserving endeavor. I personally don’t have any more time to give and can’t bear to see any more money spent on pathetic attempts for control instead of building consumer value. Life’s too short. I want to delight consumers, not bum them out.
Here's Ian Rogers post that includes his presentation.
Busta Rhymes Breaks Down the 21st Century Music Game
Busta Rhymes breaks down how the Internet has undermined his game. He's actually quite concise and very funny both when he's describing how they can't get as much money out of the labels for album budgets (can't scam 'em like they used to) or talking about how kids on the computer now think they're the stars!
Don't know when this happened but it's a rare moment of clarity for a hip hop talk video.
On the first day of proceedings Tuesday in the first file-sharing case to go to trial, Jennifer Pariser, "head of litigation for Sony BMG", says that making personal copies of cds for personal use is theft:
When questioned by Richard Gabriel, lead counsel for the record labels, Pariser suggested that what millions of music fans do is actually theft. The dirty deed? Ripping your own CDs or downloading songs you already own.
Gabriel asked if it was wrong for consumers to make copies of music which they have purchased, even just one copy. Pariser replied, "When an individual makes a copy of a song for himself, I suppose we can say he stole a song." Making "a copy" of a purchased song is just "a nice way of saying 'steals just one copy'," she said.
33Jones takes these comments pretty seriously, given that they do come from Sony BMG's head of litigation, and looks back at Sony's prior history of taking the opposite stance when it was "more focused on being a technology company than a content provider/record label".
That would be back when they were making money. Die, Sony, Die!!!
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
RIAA Beats Jammie Thomas in 1st Consumer P2P Trial
The Rap Up wonders if rappers should emulate Radiohead with a set-your-own pricing model.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Amp Live's Rainydayz Remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows Now Available
Albums: Radiohead's In Rainbows No. 1 in US/UK
Kanye West Labels Radiohead Move "Artist Empowerment"
In Rainbows: Radiohead's New Album Pricing
Induces Blogger Visions of a Beautiful New World
Free of label restrictions, rich and incredibly famous, Radiohead lets fans price early downloads of their new album and some music bloggers see heaven.
The basic concept is that you can name your own price for the digital download of the album available Oct. 10th. The name your own pricing may end at that point though that's unclear. You can get a bunch of stuff with the hardback book-sized box set including vinyl for $80 due out Dec. 3rd.
And there's no major label involvement.
The news seems to be slowing but not crashing radiohead.com which is currently redirecting to the In Rainbows store where there have been some sales glitches.
Such problems aside, this announcement has caught a lot of folks' attention and is even inducing moments of giddiness.
Boing Boing:
This is major, and it's such a slap in the record industry's face. An unsigned superband, treating loyal fans and customers like loyal fans and customers instead of thieves -- what a revolutionary concept.
The Lefsetz Letter:
This is big news. This says the major labels are f*cked. Untrustworthy with a worthless business model. Radiohead doesn’t seem to care if the music is free. Not that they believe it will be. Because believers will give you ALL THEIR MONEY!
Good Weather For Airstrikes:
RADIOHEAD SAVE MUSIC
The Couch Sessions:
The End of the Record Industry
IndieHQ 2.0:
Radiohead Has Changed The Game
hypebot:
By avoiding all label machinery and going direct to fans with this unique pricing model, Radiohead is maintaining renegade credibility while still monetizing their relationship with an increasingly savvy and fickle indie fanbase that has come to expect music for free. They've also turned their fans and the entire blogosphere into their free promotion machine.
As many bloggers have noted, Radiohead can experiment as radically as they wish because they're rich and well established. But many are in that situation and few choose to push forward into new territory of their own accord so this is certainly a great experiment even more radical than Prince's cd giveaway.
I think it's a cool thing and I look forward to seeing how it turns out but I'm not ready for a kool-aid party just yet. Bob Lefsetz's rant about believers has got me thinking about a new industry built on post-modern tribal cults of creative personality.
Heavenly.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Amp Live's Rainydayz Remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows Now Available
Albums: Radiohead's In Rainbows No. 1 in US/UK
Kanye West Labels Radiohead Move "Artist Empowerment"
Should Rappers Emulate Radiohead?
Damon Brown considers the business of music sampling for Conde Nast Portfolio.com.
A session of the Future of Music Policy Summit focuses on artists making a living by directly connecting with fans and using readily available services.
The Freakonomics Blog gathers some opinions on the Future of the Music Industry.
Jay Smooth Speaks With NYOil On the Future of Music
Jay Smooth has a two part interview with NYOil about the music industry but more for fans hoping for change than for folks seeking industry insights.
Part 1 looks at the disarray of the music industry as a good thing. NYOil claims it will get harder but that the lack of easy money will cause great content to return.
I appreciate the hopefulness but great art comes when it comes. I think there are some hopeful trends emerging but I've been hearing variations on how good it's going to get when things get bad since the early 80s and none of that held true in any area where I heard it. [Sidenote: especially when it involved "increasing the contradictions".]
Part 2 focuses on NYOil's use of MySpace and YouTube to attain his current status and his thoughts on the breakthrough track Y'all Should All Get Lynched.
Part 2 is nice on the artist end but the "strategy aspect" is cursory at best. Not a slam on Jay Smooth or NYOil but certainly a reminder that I need to do a ProHipHop interview with the man on what he did on MySpace and YouTube besides drop a startling, hot track.
It's kind of funny that other people complain about writers not writing about the art and I complain about the lack of business insights! Oddly enough that comes from my own background as an artist and my long held belief that critics were mostly beside the point.
It's not quite standing in line for the iPhone but some hip hop bloggers did in fact go out and buy a cd or two yesterday.
Status Ain't Hood has a rather odd opener about his choice to buy Kanye West's Graduation that explores the psychological aspects of his decision making process.
Altrap.com had a pro-Fiddy, I mean, 50 Experience.
CD buying: a dying capitalist folk art.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Kanye West to Outsell 50 Cent & Kenny Chesney
Lefsetz has issues with the idea that Rick Rubin can save the industry, big issues.
Hip Hop, the executive not the art form per se, has joined Columbia as part of a Rubin initiative.
Related ProHipHop Coverage:
Rick Rubin to Save Columbia Records? No, the Whole Industry!
Most of the bloggers that had something to say about Ringles seem to think they're a bad idea:
Each ringle is expected to contain three songs -- one hit and maybe one remix and an older track -- and one ringtone, on a CD with a slip-sleeve cover.
The Boy Genius Report
Universal Music NOT pulling out of iTunes. Their answer? A RINGLE!
The Megatron Don
Ringtone Rappers...that crap’ll (really) never survive.
MissInfo.tv
Ringles...not a nutritious snack
RADIOKILLS
Delicious Ringles for me
TechCrunch
Record Industry Proves Again How Much They’ve Lost The Plot
The ProHipHop Thinktank Sez:
Let's see how it does in the marketplace. I can think of too many reasons for and against to call this one though I think they'll have to work pretty hard to make it work.
Houston So Real says it's ok if you don't understand cause he's just venting but I think we all understand:
Man hold up, even though you can get the Grit Boys album in stores and on websites in Germany, it's not out here in the states yet. (Way to go TVT! Is your distribution department in the same room as your accounting office? You can't pay a man for a Twisted Black bio, and you can't coordinate a release as dope as this so that it comes out in the U.S. before it comes out in Germany? Good job TVT! I take my hat off to the entire music industry. You're all doing such a great job and have a wonderful future to look forward to! Im so proud of you.)
Click through to his post for links to the following free mixtapes:
Grit Boys - the hood's last hope [Mixed by DJ Rapid Ric]
Black Mike - Mixed Emotions Vol. 1 [Mixed by Wes Sanders]
Rhymefest - Poppin' My Blue Collar [Mixed by Dj Fader Pilot]
Lengthy piece in the NY Times Magazine on Rick Rubin and his efforts to not only save Columbia Records as co-chair but to save the major labels as art/business guru. Over the course of the article the main ideas Rubin seems to have to pull off that feat are:
1) Emphasize that they're in the business of art rather than other stuff.
2) Make great records.
3) Use word of mouth marketing.
4) Offer music subscriptions that would get you everything from everybody.
I say he's out to save the all the major labels because his ideas for a subscription service would require them to come together and share power and money. Check page 5 for the details, cause it is a more interesting idea for a subscription service than I've heard before, and then decide for yourself if it sounds at all likely that the major labels will work together on such a thing.
To be honest, I'm almost finished reading The Innovator's Dilemma and it's leading me to a variation on Rubin's alternate vision if the labels don't work together:
"Either all the record companies will get together or the industry will fall apart and someone like Microsoft will come in and buy one of the companies at wholesale and do what needs to be done," he said. "The future technology companies will either wait for the record companies to smarten up, or they'll let them sink until they can buy them for 10 cents on the dollar and own the whole thing."
I'm not saying it will go down exactly like that but I find it unlikely that the major labels have the capacity to transform to the extent necessary to survive the combined disruptive technologies of the Internet, the Web and digital music. However, a project Columbia Records calls Big Red shows a little promise:
The company invited 20 college students from Harvard, Penn State and the University of Miami to work on various music projects. The interns concentrated mostly on the digital marketing and promotions departments in Columbia's offices in Midtown Manhattan...
At the end of their paid internships, the students took part in focus groups that were closely observed by Steve Barnett, Rubin's co-head at the label, and Mark DiDia, whom Rubin brought in as head of operations, as well as by other Columbia executives..."The Big Red focus groups were both depressing and informative, and they confirmed what I — and Rick — already knew," DiDia told me afterward. "The kids all said that a) no one listens to the radio anymore, b) they mostly steal music, but they don't consider it stealing, and c) they get most of their music from iTunes on their iPod. They told us that MySpace is over, it's just not cool anymore; Facebook is still cool, but that might not last much longer; and the biggest thing in their life is word of mouth. That's how they hear about music, bands, everything."
This project led to Rubin planning a word of mouth department:
The "word of mouth" department will function as a publicity-promotional arm of the company, spreading commissioned buzz through chat rooms across the planet and through old-fashioned human interaction. "They tell all their friends about a band," Barnett explained. "Their job is to create interest."
Of course, such a department is a good idea in the most obvious way and one that all major corporations should be doing, though they may be hiding the fact by outsourcing such activities. One wonders about the effectiveness of doing word of mouth when not just record labels but all the major corporations come in and start flooding those channels.
For those of you hoping for a return to great music with artist/businessmen like Rick Rubin in charge, keep your hopes up and don't let the disappointment of Executive Jay-Z throw you. Art will win! Hasn't it always?
On a personal note, if I didn't make minor amounts of money writing about hip hop business, I wouldn't even have to pay much attention to bad art. I had a nice run before hip hop blogging forced me to follow the art of fools, as do all mass media watchers, and I will return to that state before all is said and done.
There's always good art out there and you can find it through friends and niche networks, especially if you turn off the tv and radio and start paying attention to the art you care about rather than the art that's making money by being forced on you through marketing and distribution channels. One of the fun parts is that every now and then something you really care about will sweep the masses and, for a brief period, you'll get to enjoy the presence of good art in mass media contexts.
Via hiphopmusic.com.
Update:
Late last month The Times ran an interesting piece on Simone Dinnerstein, a classical pianist who bypassed all the advice she got and made it much bigger than many of those who suggested she simply not try.
Chris Elliott's Mac vs. PC Commercial
I'm so glad CBS posted this video clip of a Chris Elliot film shown on David Letterman without ads. I probably wouldn't have posted it otherwise.
However, besides the relevant music industry theme regarding filesharing and snitching, it follows up on my Rat Patrol post as a trip down memory lane.
I worked with Chris Elliott one summer many years ago in an outdoor drama called The Lost Colony. I'm pretty sure it was 1979 but it could have been '80 or '82.
We weren't close friends but he was a very funny, nice young man who everybody liked. I was lucky enough to work with him as a movement coach for his role in our cast production of Equus. He was very serious about his acting and a fine actor in that role. I'm sorry I didn't keep up with him after that but it's been great to see him on Letterman and all sorts of other places.
I don't know if he's done any serious acting since but I would be interested to see it if he did.
Ok, time for granddad to stop name dropping and take a little break. I've got more Rat Patrol to watch!
Nekesa Mumbi Moody addresses the return of the single in digital form and an interesting twist of fate:
Almost a decade after virtually eliminating 45s and cassette singles, thereby forcing fans to spend more money on whole albums, the digital single is largely responsible for the industry's woes.
Except, of course, that what's really happening is that digital media and the Internet are carving out the guts of big media who, unless they get the outsize profits they're used to, are headed for collapse.
But digital singles are a big part of the story:
The single...was virtually phased out at a time of huge industry profits..."We tried to stop selling a commercial single because people were making great, great records and albums were selling like hot cakes," says longtime music industry executive Steve Rifkind, founder Street Records Corporation, home to platinum singer/producer Akon, and Loud.com.
But removing the option of purchasing a single may not have helped the album much, either -- and may have actually boosted the original illegal downloading services like Napster, says Mayfield.
Oh, darn those unintended effects and people's unwillingness to buy weak ass albums for a couple of wack ass singles.
The Turtles Diagram Music Industry Hell
Since Slav is on a tear today, I thought this quirky presentation from two members of The Turtles about dealing with managers and business deals would be a welcome break!
Via Jason Feinberg.
Chuck D @ Guitar Center Sessions: Pt. 3
Chuck D recently appeared at the Guitar Center's GC Sessions in New York whose "goal is to help musicians further their musical aspirations and provide tools for career growth."
Chuck dropped some jewels recorded in a series of short videos including the above in which he describes folks like Russell Simmons as buzzards:
A buzzard is not a bad bird...it just takes advantage of the dead.
The gang at TuneCorner went and have photos of the event.
I just found out about TuneCorner which seems to be a company blog for TuneCore. Though it's not mentioned in the post, according to a nice write up of TuneCore in the Wall Street Journal, Guitar Center is an investor.
That said, TuneCore looks like a service worth checking out for artists and labels that want to sell digital tracks.
Gizmodo says it's time to show the RIAA consumers aren't punks and not buy any RIAA albums during the month of March. Gizmodo has more on the nuances though it's incredibly bizarre that there's no mention of digital downloads. For that matter, all products related to RIAA artists should be boycotted and all consumers honoring the boycott should inform the RIAA or this will be just another impassioned moment that leads nowhere.
If you're not sure if your darling underground keeping it real band is RIAA or not (yet), check RIAA Radar.
In related Gizmodo/RIAA news:
RIAA Wants to Kill Open WiFi, Puppies, Babies
SpiralFrog follows its deals with Universal, with Koch and with EMI, by bringing in BMI.
SpiralFrog launches sometime next year with ad-supported legal downloads of audio and video content focused on music. They've shown they can get the content and odds are they have the technology. The question remains as to whether or not a company offering ad-supported downloads can keep from totally ruining the whole experience with too many ads when they've got deals with demanding content owners.
Official Site:
SpiralFrog
Earlier this month, Napster announced two additions to their advertising sales team:
Evan Cowitt and Mike Owen have joined Napster's in-house ad sales team selling integrated marketing programs on the Company's recently launched web-based free music listening service. As vice president of Advertising Sales, Western United States, Cowitt reports directly to Napster president Brad Duea and is based in the Company's Los Angeles headquarters. Owen, also reporting directly to Duea, has assumed the role of director of Advertising Sales, Eastern United States, and is based out of the Company's office in New York City.
In addition to offering scalable, targeted advertising programs on Napster's Web site and in the associated Web-based music player, the Napster Ad Sales team is also working with potential advertisers to tailor campaigns through sponsored features, including custom playlists, co-branded music players, and Flash-in-Flash video. The team is also able to provide potential advertisers with strategic tools such as RSS feeds and an embedded music player that can be placed on Web sites across the Internet to enrich content and generate bounties through Napster's affiliate program. Promotion activations and other partner support are also available.
Official site: Napster
There's certainly a lot of interesting movement as old media gets new and the deal between Warner Music Group and YouTube seems like a big development for all concerned.
I actually read Mark Cuban's dismissal of YouTube's future before I read the announcement. He feels that YouTube's potential due to copyright violation issues is overwhelmingly negative and that companies like Universal will attack, one way or another.
But Warner Music Group's announcement is important because it not only provides for a legal use of Warner's music videos but, in some ways more radically, "YouTube users will be able to incorporate music from WMG's recorded music catalog into the videos they create and upload onto YouTube."
Like the deal that New Line Cinema made with Cafe Press for Snakes on a Plane licensing, opening up the vaults to lip syncers, living room dancers and unofficial video makers will help build community for WMG's artists.
Update:
Here are some key details:
A royalty-tracking system has been developed by YouTube to detect when videos on the site are using copyrighted material and work out how much Warner is owed in advertising revenue...The technology would also enable Warner to review homemade videos and decide whether to approve or reject them.
So they've got a way to get paid but what will they do with their approval power?
In a move showing that it's willing to explore some alternatives, Universal Music is partnering with SpiralFrog, a startup that will offer free ad-supported music and video downloads beginning in December in the U.S. and Canada.
According to PaidContent:
Universal is making its entire catalogue available for the service, and will split revenues from contextual advertising with SpiralFrog.
One advertiser that's interested is Perry Ellis:
“We believe SpiralFrog will deliver an audience we highly desire and need to reach,” said Oscar Feldenkreis, Vice-Chairman, President and COO at Perry Ellis International, Inc. “Our audience is heavily into music and can be more easily reached on the web. We see SpiralFrog as an ideal place for us to communicate and build lasting relationships with our core audience and which give us unique new revenue opportunities.”
CMedford at Red Herring suggests that this move would allow for an alternative to RIAA aggressiveness and to Apple's domination of the download market. Although, I'm not convinced that this will resolve the issue of filesharing, it does potentially shift a lot of power back into a major label's hands.
An analyst expressed concern that there was no upsell announced:
“At first sight, SpiralFrog does not appear to have any plans to upsell a premium service to the end-user,” said Michele Mackenzie, an analyst with Ovum. “In our view the key value of the advertising model lies in using it to transition users to paid-for services.”
I think offering a premium product of some sort is certainly a good idea but the hot news is free ad-supported music and video downloads from Universal and the possibility that other major labels will follow suit.
Official site: SpiralFrog
Update:
SpiralFrog will use PlaysForSure digital rights management that was recently cracked. EMI is rumored to be in talks with SpiralFrog.
Update 2:
Apparently there are a variety of oddities emerging in the SpiralFrog story.
The RIAA and those who use them as a cover continue to show their cluelessness about their public image. Boing Boing, among others, has given some much needed attention to the RIAA's latest bizarre maneuver:
"Last week, we posted about the family of a recently deceased defendant in a lawsuit by the RIAA being given 60 days to grieve before the RIAA went on to depose the dead man's children in a renewed suit against his estate. In the intervening days, the publicity about this despicable act -- suing the family of a dead man -- has mounted. Today, an RIAA spokesperson, Jonathan Lamy, contacted me today with this statement:
Our hearts go out to the Scantleberry family for their loss. We had decided to temporarily suspend the productive settlement discussions we were having with the family. Mr. Scantleberry had admitted that the infringer was his stepson, and we were in the process settling with him shortly before his passing. Out of an abundance of sensitivity, we have elected to drop this particular case.
I wrote back to ask him this followup question:
Where was the "abundance of sensitivity" when the RIAA failed to initially drop its case against the Scantleberry family following the death of the named defendant in the case? Given that this "abundance" only materialized within 24 hours of this story hitting several large news outlets and blogs isn't it fair to say that the RIAA is demonstrating sensitivity to its public image, and not its sensitivity to the Scantleberry family?
To which he declined to further comment."
As someone who feels that intellectual property is worth defending, I'm really sad to see the whole concept of copyright protection being undermined in such a ridiculous manner.
On the one hand, I do know kids who would be otherwise filetrading if it wasn't for the lawsuits. On the other hand, it's one of those things they do because of the legal threat and doesn't seem to have affected their awareness of any of the deeper issues related to intellectual property.
What that means is that if filetrading systems emerge that can effectively protect the identity of those using them or if Internet personal security tools become more readily available, filetrading will just grow again among those who've been scared off. Not to mention the fact that super cheap MP3 companies in Russia seem to be doing a nice job of leveraging the situation by offering all sorts of unlicensed downloads.
To follow the disgraceful antics of the RIAA check for the blog Recording Industry vs The People that also has a Directory of Lawyers Defending Against RIAA Lawsuits.
I was reminded to write about this situation by an entry at Listening Post.
Adisa Banjoko guests at Melatone Music with a column discussing 6 Reasons Why Rappers Don't Need An Entourage.
Adisa shares solid biz advice in this one, including:
Security = Insecure
Seeing a rapper come 15 deep for something like a radio or TV interview does not imply strength. It implies weakness. Having one or two assistants with you always makes sense because everybody needs an extra pair of eyes with them in a public setting.
If you're in situations where you may need real security beca
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