The music business as we know it is dying a fast death and gone are those days of pressing up and selling CDs. That's bad news for those still playing the same old music game but definitely not bad news for those artists and labels willing to ride the new wave. But all is not lost with the music industry. Emerging trends in online marketing and social media optimization has created new opportunities to market to a larger audience. Those who survive will see the need to step outside of the traditional label relationship and be more cost effective while still being able to make money and have longevity in the business. Those who fail will continue to do what they've been doing. Nevertheless, there are some hot new trends to jump start any music promotion campaign in 2008.
8 MUSIC PROMOTION TRENDS FOR 2008
Viral Videos: We saw what it did for Soulja Boy. Imagine what a little creativity could do in your online promotions.
Digital Sales: It's killed CD sales but created new sales opportunities (i.e. ringtones, mobile marketing, etc). Combine your digital sales with your Myspace, Facebook, & social media marketing strategy.
Free Music: It's not completely free but funded by advertisers and sponsors. Heard of RCRD LBL or Spiral Frog? Find out how Puma & other advertisers are helping their artists promote their songs.
Online PR: Print media is always a great source of publicity but notice how magazines are shrinking in size and becoming less content & way too much ads. Besides, online PR gets your message out quicker and to a larger audience.
Blog, Blog, & Blog: Besides being a great tool to stay in touch with your audience, blogging also helps to optimize your search engine rank.
Guerilla Marketing: Nothing beats in your face marketing that you can't seem to avoid.
Control at the Hands of Your Audience: It worked for Radiohead when they let their fans name the price of their CD. It could work for you.
New media technologies: Myspace, Facebook, Ning, Bebo, Joost TV, Goodstorm Mixtapes. Need I say more.
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Death-of-the-Music-Industry-in-2008&id=940600
dinsdag 6 januari 2009
The End of the Music Industry in 2008
Perhaps I’m searching for validation for my sweeping hyperbole about the “death” of the music industry associations, or perhaps the writing on the wall I’m reading is in a language that others can understand as well. Either way, the pro-artist and pro-p2p non-profit Downhill Battle published their very short and simple predictions yesterday regarding the mainstream music business. Nick of DHB predicts the near-death of all four major music labels in 2008:
“Variety reported last week that “overall music sales during the Christmas shopping season were down an astounding 21% from last year.” No industry can survive a drop like that, especially on the heels of a similarly terrible year and decade. [...] Expect to see the four major labels slashing their operations over the next few months. These labels will probably make a some last gasp moves: dramatic online music giveaways and desperate attempts to get artists to sign over their tour and merchandise revenue. But the trend towards decentralization, self-publishing, and direct artist-fan relationships is simply too strong. There will continue to be a role for online music stores and companies that offer promotional services for artists…”
I’ve been following the work of Downhill Battle for years, and they’ve been pushing for and predicting the eventual demise of the Old Media music business. Their sometimes unconventional forms of activism always push the line of legality, and they’ve been advocating for the legality (and inevitability of file sharing) since before it was cool to do so.
As such, a lot of times their expositions on the industry and goings on of the music industry and file-sharing seem sometimes inconceivable, or at least difficult to support. They are, however, an organization that backs up their words with actions (like the highly successful Save BetaMAX campaign). What’s more, they are usually right in their wild claims and predictions, though sometimes it takes years for public opinion to fall in line with their own.
So when they say something like the death of the music industry is nigh, it is a fair bet they are right, and is worthy of note.
[note: when I started writing the article, the dhb servers were up. they now appear to be having some sort of site issue. in the event they are still down when you read this, Google's cache of DHB - here]
“Variety reported last week that “overall music sales during the Christmas shopping season were down an astounding 21% from last year.” No industry can survive a drop like that, especially on the heels of a similarly terrible year and decade. [...] Expect to see the four major labels slashing their operations over the next few months. These labels will probably make a some last gasp moves: dramatic online music giveaways and desperate attempts to get artists to sign over their tour and merchandise revenue. But the trend towards decentralization, self-publishing, and direct artist-fan relationships is simply too strong. There will continue to be a role for online music stores and companies that offer promotional services for artists…”
I’ve been following the work of Downhill Battle for years, and they’ve been pushing for and predicting the eventual demise of the Old Media music business. Their sometimes unconventional forms of activism always push the line of legality, and they’ve been advocating for the legality (and inevitability of file sharing) since before it was cool to do so.
As such, a lot of times their expositions on the industry and goings on of the music industry and file-sharing seem sometimes inconceivable, or at least difficult to support. They are, however, an organization that backs up their words with actions (like the highly successful Save BetaMAX campaign). What’s more, they are usually right in their wild claims and predictions, though sometimes it takes years for public opinion to fall in line with their own.
So when they say something like the death of the music industry is nigh, it is a fair bet they are right, and is worthy of note.
[note: when I started writing the article, the dhb servers were up. they now appear to be having some sort of site issue. in the event they are still down when you read this, Google's cache of DHB - here]
Music sales boom, but albums fizzle for '08
Americans bought more music in 2008 than ever before, but album sales — the music industry's main source of revenue — dropped for a fourth year.
According to the Nielsen Co.'s year-end figures, music purchases — CD, vinyl, cassette and digital purchases of entire albums (grouped together as total albums), plus digital track downloads, singles and music videos — attained a new high of 1.5 billion, up 10.5% over 2007.
More than 70% of those transactions were digital track downloads, a record total of 1.07 billion that swamped 2007's previous high of 844.2 million by 27%. Last week's track downloads set a record of 47.7 million, and 71 songs exceeded 1 million downloads this year, compared with 41 last year (and just two in 2005). Track downloads outsold albums by a ratio of 2.5 to 1.
Total album sales dropped to 428.4 million, 14% fewer than in 2007, and have fallen 45% since 2000. Even combining album and track sales (by a formula that counts 10 track downloads as one album sale), the 535.4 million total is still down 8.5% from 2007 and more than 30% below 2000's physical album sales of 785.1 million.
Music purchases are "astronomically high," says Rob Sisco, Nielsen's president of music, "but it's a marketplace in transition from physical to digital." He sees promise in the rise of digital purchases of entire albums, which reached a high of 65.8 million in 2008. New albums by big acts bring the market up, he says, but "there hasn't been a steady stream of high-profile releases." Other '08 results:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: CDs | Beatles | Coldplay | Kid Rock | Girl | Death | Fab Four | Timbaland | Taylor Swift | Rainbows | Leona Lewis | Katy Perry | Viva | SoundScan | Fearless | Flo Rida | Kissed | Vida | OneRepublic | Black Ice | All His Friends | Apologize | Bleeding Love | Rob Sisco
•Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love was the year's top-selling digital song with 3.42 million downloads. Lil Wayne's Lollipop also topped 3 million, by 160,000. Rest of the top five: Flo Rida's Low, Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl, Coldplay's Viva la Vida.
•Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III was the No. 1 album, selling 2.87 million copies. Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Taylor Swift's Fearless and Kid Rock's Rock 'n' Roll Jesus were the only other albums to sell 2 million in 2008, compared with eight in 2007.
•Swift, whose self-titled first album was No. 6 for the year, behind AC/DC's Black Ice, sold 4 million albums overall, tops for any artist. Rihanna was the leader in track sales with 9.94 million.
•Low is the all-time best-selling digital song, with 4.53 million downloads. The only other track above 4 million is Timbaland & OneRepublic's Apologize, at 4.01 million.
•Garth Brooks lost ground to The Beatles but is still by far the best-selling artist of the SoundScan era (post-1991, when Nielsen began tracking album sales electronically), leading the Fab Four by a tally of 68.1 million to 57.1 million.
•Although vinyl albums gave way to CDs years before SoundScan launched, it's worth noting that vinyl sales hit a 17-year high in 2008 with 1.88 million, up dramatically from just under a million in 2007. Radiohead's In Rainbows was the top vinyl seller with 25,800 copies.
According to the Nielsen Co.'s year-end figures, music purchases — CD, vinyl, cassette and digital purchases of entire albums (grouped together as total albums), plus digital track downloads, singles and music videos — attained a new high of 1.5 billion, up 10.5% over 2007.
More than 70% of those transactions were digital track downloads, a record total of 1.07 billion that swamped 2007's previous high of 844.2 million by 27%. Last week's track downloads set a record of 47.7 million, and 71 songs exceeded 1 million downloads this year, compared with 41 last year (and just two in 2005). Track downloads outsold albums by a ratio of 2.5 to 1.
Total album sales dropped to 428.4 million, 14% fewer than in 2007, and have fallen 45% since 2000. Even combining album and track sales (by a formula that counts 10 track downloads as one album sale), the 535.4 million total is still down 8.5% from 2007 and more than 30% below 2000's physical album sales of 785.1 million.
Music purchases are "astronomically high," says Rob Sisco, Nielsen's president of music, "but it's a marketplace in transition from physical to digital." He sees promise in the rise of digital purchases of entire albums, which reached a high of 65.8 million in 2008. New albums by big acts bring the market up, he says, but "there hasn't been a steady stream of high-profile releases." Other '08 results:
FIND MORE STORIES IN: CDs | Beatles | Coldplay | Kid Rock | Girl | Death | Fab Four | Timbaland | Taylor Swift | Rainbows | Leona Lewis | Katy Perry | Viva | SoundScan | Fearless | Flo Rida | Kissed | Vida | OneRepublic | Black Ice | All His Friends | Apologize | Bleeding Love | Rob Sisco
•Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love was the year's top-selling digital song with 3.42 million downloads. Lil Wayne's Lollipop also topped 3 million, by 160,000. Rest of the top five: Flo Rida's Low, Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl, Coldplay's Viva la Vida.
•Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III was the No. 1 album, selling 2.87 million copies. Coldplay's Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Taylor Swift's Fearless and Kid Rock's Rock 'n' Roll Jesus were the only other albums to sell 2 million in 2008, compared with eight in 2007.
•Swift, whose self-titled first album was No. 6 for the year, behind AC/DC's Black Ice, sold 4 million albums overall, tops for any artist. Rihanna was the leader in track sales with 9.94 million.
•Low is the all-time best-selling digital song, with 4.53 million downloads. The only other track above 4 million is Timbaland & OneRepublic's Apologize, at 4.01 million.
•Garth Brooks lost ground to The Beatles but is still by far the best-selling artist of the SoundScan era (post-1991, when Nielsen began tracking album sales electronically), leading the Fab Four by a tally of 68.1 million to 57.1 million.
•Although vinyl albums gave way to CDs years before SoundScan launched, it's worth noting that vinyl sales hit a 17-year high in 2008 with 1.88 million, up dramatically from just under a million in 2007. Radiohead's In Rainbows was the top vinyl seller with 25,800 copies.
Music downloads hit 1 billion mark
Digital revenue doesn't make up for decline in CD sales.
Digital music downloads reached a milestone in 2008, exceeding 1 billion songs bought online during the year, according to a report from Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales. That represents a 27 percent rise over a year ago.
But the popularity of the download is not enough to offset continued declines in CD sales, which still account for the bulk of the music industry's revenue.
Disc sales fell nearly 20 percent, to 362.6 million, the seventh decline in eight years, according to SoundScan's report, which was released Wednesday.
Overall album sales, including CDs and the digital equivalent, dropped 8.5 percent compared with 2007.
Every musical genre reported across-the-board declines in album sales, and holiday sales were off by 19 percent.
In an effort to cope with changing technology and the threat of Internet piracy, the music industry has been exploring new sources of revenue.
Royalties from satellite and Internet radio and "360" deals with artists, in which the record label shares in concert ticket and merchandise sales, contribute to the labels' bottom line. Video games also generate licensing fees.
Nielsen doesn't track those alternative revenue streams, although they are not yet large enough to offset the decline in CD sales.
Universal Music Group remained the industry's big dog, with a nearly 32 percent share of the album market, followed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, at 25 percent. Warner Music Group claimed 21 percent of sales, and the smallest of the major labels, EMI Music, had a market share of 9 percent.
Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" was the best-selling album of the year. The rock group AC/DC was the best-selling group.
Digital music downloads reached a milestone in 2008, exceeding 1 billion songs bought online during the year, according to a report from Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks music sales. That represents a 27 percent rise over a year ago.
But the popularity of the download is not enough to offset continued declines in CD sales, which still account for the bulk of the music industry's revenue.
Disc sales fell nearly 20 percent, to 362.6 million, the seventh decline in eight years, according to SoundScan's report, which was released Wednesday.
Overall album sales, including CDs and the digital equivalent, dropped 8.5 percent compared with 2007.
Every musical genre reported across-the-board declines in album sales, and holiday sales were off by 19 percent.
In an effort to cope with changing technology and the threat of Internet piracy, the music industry has been exploring new sources of revenue.
Royalties from satellite and Internet radio and "360" deals with artists, in which the record label shares in concert ticket and merchandise sales, contribute to the labels' bottom line. Video games also generate licensing fees.
Nielsen doesn't track those alternative revenue streams, although they are not yet large enough to offset the decline in CD sales.
Universal Music Group remained the industry's big dog, with a nearly 32 percent share of the album market, followed by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, at 25 percent. Warner Music Group claimed 21 percent of sales, and the smallest of the major labels, EMI Music, had a market share of 9 percent.
Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" was the best-selling album of the year. The rock group AC/DC was the best-selling group.
Vinyl records making a comeback
TORONTO - A music-buying public enamoured with digital downloads may be abandoning the compact disc in droves, but one physical medium is staging a tiny comeback.
Amid otherwise gloomy music sales numbers released by Nielsen Co. this week, vinyl record sales doubled compared with the year before.
The number of long-play vinyl records sold in the United States rose to 1.88 million units, compared with 990,000 the year before.
While vinyl records represent just a fraction of total music sales, their resurgence could not come at a better time for another under-fire segment of the music industry, the independent record store.
Nielsen said almost two-thirds of the vinyl albums sold last year were from independent shops.
Harmik Grigorian, co-owner of L'Atelier Grigorian music store in Toronto's trendy Yorkville district, said he plans to begin selling new vinyl releases next year because more and more people are coming in asking for them.
"A lot of people are coming in looking to buy or experiment," said Mr. Grigorian. "And now you can see a lot of hardware stores are selling affordable turntables."
Smaller, independent shops are being squeezed by competition from digital music sales and big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart.
Higher sales of vinyl products buck a trend in the music industry, with major labels trying to combat shifting consumption patterns on the part of consumers.
However, an uptick in vinyl record sales will not save labels such as Universal Music Group from the precipitous decline in the sale of compact discs, by far their main money maker. CD sales fell almost 20% last year.
Over the important holiday period, album sales in all formats were down almost 20%.
Last year, sales of digital albums rose 32% to 66 million units from 50 million in 2007. Over the same period, CD sales fell almost 20% to 361 million units from 450 million, Nielsen said.
Figures for Canada will be released later this month, a spokesperson for Soundscan Canada said Friday.
Artists such as Madonna, U2 and R.E.M. have opted to release their latest albums in the vinyl format as well.
The top selling vinyl album in 2008 was Radiohead's In Rainbows, followed by the Beatles' Abbey Road, at 16,500 units.
"From what I'm gathering, strangely enough, it's the younger generation that are really kind of going back to [vinyl]," said Roy Trakin, editor of the U.S. music industry Web site Hits. "It's a nostalgic throwback to listening to music in a traditional way."
Amid otherwise gloomy music sales numbers released by Nielsen Co. this week, vinyl record sales doubled compared with the year before.
The number of long-play vinyl records sold in the United States rose to 1.88 million units, compared with 990,000 the year before.
While vinyl records represent just a fraction of total music sales, their resurgence could not come at a better time for another under-fire segment of the music industry, the independent record store.
Nielsen said almost two-thirds of the vinyl albums sold last year were from independent shops.
Harmik Grigorian, co-owner of L'Atelier Grigorian music store in Toronto's trendy Yorkville district, said he plans to begin selling new vinyl releases next year because more and more people are coming in asking for them.
"A lot of people are coming in looking to buy or experiment," said Mr. Grigorian. "And now you can see a lot of hardware stores are selling affordable turntables."
Smaller, independent shops are being squeezed by competition from digital music sales and big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart.
Higher sales of vinyl products buck a trend in the music industry, with major labels trying to combat shifting consumption patterns on the part of consumers.
However, an uptick in vinyl record sales will not save labels such as Universal Music Group from the precipitous decline in the sale of compact discs, by far their main money maker. CD sales fell almost 20% last year.
Over the important holiday period, album sales in all formats were down almost 20%.
Last year, sales of digital albums rose 32% to 66 million units from 50 million in 2007. Over the same period, CD sales fell almost 20% to 361 million units from 450 million, Nielsen said.
Figures for Canada will be released later this month, a spokesperson for Soundscan Canada said Friday.
Artists such as Madonna, U2 and R.E.M. have opted to release their latest albums in the vinyl format as well.
The top selling vinyl album in 2008 was Radiohead's In Rainbows, followed by the Beatles' Abbey Road, at 16,500 units.
"From what I'm gathering, strangely enough, it's the younger generation that are really kind of going back to [vinyl]," said Roy Trakin, editor of the U.S. music industry Web site Hits. "It's a nostalgic throwback to listening to music in a traditional way."
From Bricks and Mortar to Digital Music Master
As music merchants struggle to adapt their business models, one New York shop is embracing the Web.
Josh Madell needs to invent a new business model, and soon. The 37-year-old co-owner of Other Music, a New York retailer specializing in obscure CDs and vinyl, has watched sales slip sharply as music buyers move online. While his company, in business since 1995, remains profitable, he and his staff of 15 are trying to find new ways to make money, using the same technologies and trends that upended their old business model to build a new one. He is thinking beyond Other Music's core retail business. "If we tell ourselves we have to make our living selling albums or even just selling music, we are bound to be passed over," he says.
The Internet has steamrolled music retailers (BusinessWeek.com, 10/10/07). As consumers fill their iPods with digital downloads—legal and otherwise—the ranks of CD buyers have dwindled. One in four U.S. record stores around in 2002 was gone by 2005, according to U.S. Census data—a net loss of 1,900 stores. But the data suggest that small retailers fared better than large ones. The number of stores with fewer than 100 employees shrank by 18.6% in that period, compared with 34.3% for stores with 100 or more workers.
Other Music noticed CD sales slipping as early as 2000, when free file-sharing programs such as Napster (NAPS) let anyone with a high-speed connection pull music files off a peer-to-peer network. But Madell says the wake-up call that his business would have to adapt quickly or close shop came only during the past two years, with CD sales shriveling fast as digital downloads exploded. Worldwide digital sales mushroomed to $2.9 billion in 2007, up from $20 million in 2003, according to IFPI, a London record industry group. It says online and mobile downloads accounted for 15% of all music sales last year, across more than 500 digital services.
Small Is Beautiful
Music industry experts say small shops have some advantages over chains. Used CDs and vinyl records have higher markups and attract collectors, giving independent stores an edge, says Aram Sinnreich, co-founder of Radar Research, a Los Angeles media and technology consultant. "These small retailers are the kinds of places that build musical communities in ways that Wal-Mart (WMT) and Best Buy (BBY) and even Tower Records never really could," Sinnreich says. Tower went bankrupt in 2006 and closed its U.S. retail stores, including one just a block from Other Music.
Madell says he expected the chains to go under before independent stores. Casual customers more interested in singles than albums can download their fix more easily than the fanatics who haunt places like Other Music. And the Internet exposes more fans to artists beyond those played on the radio or MTV. "I think the market for interesting, underground, cutting-edge music is bigger than it ever was," Madell says. "How to capitalize on that market and make it a real business is another question."
Small companies in many industries disrupted by technology face similar challenges, but Madell believes creative thinking and hard work will see entrepreneurs through. So what's his strategy? Madell wants to bring the experience of shopping at the hip record store to the Web.
Last year, Other Music launched a digital download store that now accounts for nearly a quarter of the company's sales. Labels and artists that aren't featured on iTunes (AAPL) and other digital stores turn up on Other Music Digital first. The company also sells vinyl rarities on eBay (EBAY) and mail-order albums through its Web site.
The company's first online venture began nearly a decade ago with an e-mail newsletter reviewing new releases. The update now reaches 25,000 subscribers, and Madell calls the blurbs his staff writes crucial to the store's role as a tastemaker in the music world. "The people who work at the independent record shops tend to be the specialists and really know what they're talking about, and that's a real advantage when it comes to being online," says Andrew Dubber, a music industry consultant in Britain and author of the blog New Music Strategies. Dubber says stores should try to capitalize on that expertise by helping consumers find what they like amid the near-boundless choice of the Internet (iTunes boasts 6 million songs).
Wooing the Aficionados
While Other Music expands its online presence, it is also trying to keep its brick-and-mortar operation relevant. The store sells tickets to local concerts and hosts free in-store shows. Both get customers in the door and build the Other Music brand as a place for aficionados. The in-store shows are recorded and archived on the store's Web site, along with artist interviews, which can boost sales online. Madell hopes to have sponsors underwrite the video series soon.
Using digital media to connect customers with music they like, and with other like-minded fans, may be the best bet for independent music shops, says Sinnreich. "I would be working hard to integrate tools like Meetup and Facebook into their site, so people could get together and have listening parties or set up ad hoc concerts," he says.
None of this is easy. Madell likens it to starting a new venture, and he says entrepreneurs struggling to revamp obsolete business models need to commit to the same kind of effort. But as grim as recent years have been for music retailers, Madell sees reason to hope. "I feel like there's a lot of opportunity if you're willing to shake up your way of thinking, and approach things in different ways and experiment and take chances," he says.
Flip through this slide show (BusinessWeek.com, 4/21/08) for a look at strategies Other Music is using to adapt to the Web that you could borrow for your own business.
Josh Madell needs to invent a new business model, and soon. The 37-year-old co-owner of Other Music, a New York retailer specializing in obscure CDs and vinyl, has watched sales slip sharply as music buyers move online. While his company, in business since 1995, remains profitable, he and his staff of 15 are trying to find new ways to make money, using the same technologies and trends that upended their old business model to build a new one. He is thinking beyond Other Music's core retail business. "If we tell ourselves we have to make our living selling albums or even just selling music, we are bound to be passed over," he says.
The Internet has steamrolled music retailers (BusinessWeek.com, 10/10/07). As consumers fill their iPods with digital downloads—legal and otherwise—the ranks of CD buyers have dwindled. One in four U.S. record stores around in 2002 was gone by 2005, according to U.S. Census data—a net loss of 1,900 stores. But the data suggest that small retailers fared better than large ones. The number of stores with fewer than 100 employees shrank by 18.6% in that period, compared with 34.3% for stores with 100 or more workers.
Other Music noticed CD sales slipping as early as 2000, when free file-sharing programs such as Napster (NAPS) let anyone with a high-speed connection pull music files off a peer-to-peer network. But Madell says the wake-up call that his business would have to adapt quickly or close shop came only during the past two years, with CD sales shriveling fast as digital downloads exploded. Worldwide digital sales mushroomed to $2.9 billion in 2007, up from $20 million in 2003, according to IFPI, a London record industry group. It says online and mobile downloads accounted for 15% of all music sales last year, across more than 500 digital services.
Small Is Beautiful
Music industry experts say small shops have some advantages over chains. Used CDs and vinyl records have higher markups and attract collectors, giving independent stores an edge, says Aram Sinnreich, co-founder of Radar Research, a Los Angeles media and technology consultant. "These small retailers are the kinds of places that build musical communities in ways that Wal-Mart (WMT) and Best Buy (BBY) and even Tower Records never really could," Sinnreich says. Tower went bankrupt in 2006 and closed its U.S. retail stores, including one just a block from Other Music.
Madell says he expected the chains to go under before independent stores. Casual customers more interested in singles than albums can download their fix more easily than the fanatics who haunt places like Other Music. And the Internet exposes more fans to artists beyond those played on the radio or MTV. "I think the market for interesting, underground, cutting-edge music is bigger than it ever was," Madell says. "How to capitalize on that market and make it a real business is another question."
Small companies in many industries disrupted by technology face similar challenges, but Madell believes creative thinking and hard work will see entrepreneurs through. So what's his strategy? Madell wants to bring the experience of shopping at the hip record store to the Web.
Last year, Other Music launched a digital download store that now accounts for nearly a quarter of the company's sales. Labels and artists that aren't featured on iTunes (AAPL) and other digital stores turn up on Other Music Digital first. The company also sells vinyl rarities on eBay (EBAY) and mail-order albums through its Web site.
The company's first online venture began nearly a decade ago with an e-mail newsletter reviewing new releases. The update now reaches 25,000 subscribers, and Madell calls the blurbs his staff writes crucial to the store's role as a tastemaker in the music world. "The people who work at the independent record shops tend to be the specialists and really know what they're talking about, and that's a real advantage when it comes to being online," says Andrew Dubber, a music industry consultant in Britain and author of the blog New Music Strategies. Dubber says stores should try to capitalize on that expertise by helping consumers find what they like amid the near-boundless choice of the Internet (iTunes boasts 6 million songs).
Wooing the Aficionados
While Other Music expands its online presence, it is also trying to keep its brick-and-mortar operation relevant. The store sells tickets to local concerts and hosts free in-store shows. Both get customers in the door and build the Other Music brand as a place for aficionados. The in-store shows are recorded and archived on the store's Web site, along with artist interviews, which can boost sales online. Madell hopes to have sponsors underwrite the video series soon.
Using digital media to connect customers with music they like, and with other like-minded fans, may be the best bet for independent music shops, says Sinnreich. "I would be working hard to integrate tools like Meetup and Facebook into their site, so people could get together and have listening parties or set up ad hoc concerts," he says.
None of this is easy. Madell likens it to starting a new venture, and he says entrepreneurs struggling to revamp obsolete business models need to commit to the same kind of effort. But as grim as recent years have been for music retailers, Madell sees reason to hope. "I feel like there's a lot of opportunity if you're willing to shake up your way of thinking, and approach things in different ways and experiment and take chances," he says.
Flip through this slide show (BusinessWeek.com, 4/21/08) for a look at strategies Other Music is using to adapt to the Web that you could borrow for your own business.
Album sales in U.S. dropped 14% in 2008
Sales of recorded music fell sharply in the United States in 2008, as consumers continued to migrate away from CDs, large retailers reduced floor space for music and the recession dampened consumer spending during the critical year-end holiday shopping period.
Total album sales, including CDs and full-album downloads, were 428 million, a 14 percent drop from 2007, according to data from Nielsen SoundScan. Since the industry's peak in 2000, album sales have declined 45 percent, although digital music purchases continue to grow at a rapid rate.
The year's biggest seller was Lil Wayne's album "Tha Carter III," which sold 2.87 million copies, followed by Coldplay's "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends," with 2.14 million. "Fearless," the second album by the 19-year-old country star Taylor Swift, was third, with 2.11 million.
Swift also scored the sixth-highest seller this year, for her self-titled debut, released in 2006, which sold 1.6 million copies in 2008.
The music industry has grown accustomed to dismal sales numbers, and this year even the good news comes with disappointment. "Tha Carter III" is the first release in SoundScan's 17-year history to top the year-end list with sales of less than three million.
Sales of digital music continued to soar last year. Just over a billion songs were downloaded, a 27 percent increase from 2007, and some record companies say they are finally beginning to wring significant profit from music on Web sites like YouTube and MySpace.
But analysts say that despite the growth and promise of digital music - in 2003 just 19 million songs were purchased as downloads - the money made online is still far from enough to make up for losses in physical sales.
"As the digital side grows, you get a different business model, with more revenue streams," said Michael McGuire, an analyst with Gartner, a market research firm. "But do we get back to where the revenue that the labels see is going to be fully replacing the CD in the next four to five years? No."
Gartner recently issued a report urging record companies to put their primary focus on downloads.
Record companies counter that album sales alone do not give a full picture of the complex new economics of the industry. Rio Caraeff, the executive vice president of eLabs, the digital division of Universal Music Group, said other income, like the fees collected when users stream a video online, had become an essential revenue. Twenty percent of Rihanna's income, he said, has come from the sale of ring tones.
"We don't focus anymore on total album sales or the sale of any one particular product as the metric of revenue or success," Caraeff said. "We look at the total consolidated revenue from dozens of revenue lines behind a given artist or project, which include digital sales, the physical business, mobile sales and licensing income."
Even as most of the industry pushes for greater online sales, two of the biggest albums of the year were by artists who have been vocal opponents of downloading. Kid Rock's "Rock n Roll Jesus" reached No.4 with just over two million sales, and AC/DC's "Black Ice," sold through an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, was No.5 with 1.92 million.
Neither act sells its music through Apple's iTunes, the dominant online seller. AC/DC has said that selling individual tracks breaks up the continuity of a full album. But à la carte downloads are also far less lucrative than full CDs.
At least one sector of the music industry has continued to enjoy robust success: the concert business. Ticket sales in North America in 2008 rose at least 7 percent, to $4.2 billion, according to Pollstar, the touring-industry trade magazine. But in keeping with the trend of recent years, slightly fewer tickets were sold for more money: Attendance for the top 100 tours dropped 3 percent, but the average ticket price climbed 8 percent, to $66.90.
The record industry has been eager to share in touring's bull market, and many of the major labels' new contracts are for so-called 360 deals, which give the company a much wider share in an artist's income, from touring to merchandising to product endorsements. But those types of contract are still far from the norm.
Despite the growth of online music sales, CDs remain by far the most popular format, although that hold is slipping; 361 million CDs were sold in 2008, down almost 20 percent from the previous year. About 84 percent of all album purchases were CDs, down from 90 percent the year before.
And since CDs remain the record industry's biggest profit engine, many analysts worry that the industry will be particularly vulnerable to inventory reductions at retail stores. Big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Best Buy account for up to 65 percent of all retail purchases, and many of those stores are sharply reducing the floor space allotted to music, said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst at Pali Research in New York.
"CDs no longer drive somebody into a store on Tuesday," Greenfield said, referring to the day new CDs usually go on sale. "So the big risk for 2009 is that you will see even more rapid contraction of floor space, as CDs really go out of sight, out of mind for the consumer."
THE TOP-SELLING ALBUMS OF 2008
1. Lil Wayne, "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal Motown); 2.87 million
2. Coldplay, "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol); 2.14 million
3. Taylor Swift, "Fearless" (Big Machine); 2.11 million
4. Kid Rock, "Rock n Roll Jesus" (Atlantic); 2.02 million
5. AC/DC, "Black Ice" (Columbia); 1.92 million
6. Taylor Swift, "Taylor Swift" (Big Machine); 1.6 million
7. Metallica, "Death Magnetic" (Warner Brothers); 1.57 million
8. T.I., "Paper Trail" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic); 1.52 million
9. Jack Johnson, "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire/Universal); 1.49 million
10. Beyoncé, "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia); 1.46 million
Source: Nielsen SoundScan
Should software face the flat-rate music future?
CD sales dropped 20 percent in 2008, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. But this isn't the whole story.
As Ars Technica points out, the music industry as a whole grew in 2008, with online sales accelerating. But this, too, doesn't tell the whole story.
The real story behind this creative destruction is called out by rising revenues for organizations like ASCAP, and underlined in the Media Futurist blog, where Gerd Leonhard points out that the real shift in the music industry is away from copy-based license business and toward flat-rate, attention-based business models. What is an attention-based model?
It's a model in which the creator's brand offers more protection than digital rights management because you can't counterfeit a live performance, for example. But it's more than that. It's also about customers liking and trusting one's brand enough to subscribe to a steady stream from the creator, not just partaking in dribs and drabs (i.e., licensing copies to the music).
What does this have to do with software? Much, if you're an open-source or SaaS business, but I think it also applies to Microsoft and Oracle. Whether open-source or proprietary software, however, I think it's particularly germane to the big providers in these categories: Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Salesforce.com, Oracle, and Microsoft.
Why do enterprises pay Red Hat for a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription today? In part, it's to get a license to use RHEL on a particular server for a particular application at a particular time.
But really, it's to tap into an ongoing value stream, as Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst intimated to me several months ago. It's a subscription to the Red Hat experience, in other words, not one copy once and for all.
Today, that Red Hat experience is somewhat limited: it's an operating system, and it's an application server. I suspect, however, that Red Hat's future lies in becoming an ASCAP of open-source software, rather than The Police of operating systems. Customers will look to Red Hat to provide a steady stream of open-source value, not a few big "songs."
The same thing is happening elsewhere. Oracle has set itself up as a broad brand that can provide value on a wide array of fronts, following Microsoft's lead. Salesforce? It clearly has set its sights on becoming more than just a CRM player with a novel delivery model. It aims to be the ASCAP of SaaS-based software delivery. And Google? Well, looking at its top 10 applications, it's clear that it, too, is building a broad Google experience, not simply one-off applications.
This is the near-term future of enterprise software. It's not about protecting individual copies of software so much as delivering a strong brand that can command broad-based subscriptions to one's overall value. For open-source vendors like Red Hat and Sun, it may mean that they need to start aggregating a wider array of open-source products into their subscriptions sooner rather than later.
As Ars Technica points out, the music industry as a whole grew in 2008, with online sales accelerating. But this, too, doesn't tell the whole story.
The real story behind this creative destruction is called out by rising revenues for organizations like ASCAP, and underlined in the Media Futurist blog, where Gerd Leonhard points out that the real shift in the music industry is away from copy-based license business and toward flat-rate, attention-based business models. What is an attention-based model?
It's a model in which the creator's brand offers more protection than digital rights management because you can't counterfeit a live performance, for example. But it's more than that. It's also about customers liking and trusting one's brand enough to subscribe to a steady stream from the creator, not just partaking in dribs and drabs (i.e., licensing copies to the music).
Attention-based revenues (i.e. not just advertising-as-we-knew-it but also revenue sharing of flat-rate offerings, next-generation advertising, up-stream selling and marketing, sponsorships and branding, linking and referring, etc.) will very likely surpass copy and unit sales revenues.
A future where many content creators of all kinds, in all locations, and within all levels of accomplishment will make more money based on what their brand stands for, based on their fans, aka users, having real, meaningful experiences with or through them, and based on who pays attention to them, when and where....
In our immediate future as content creators and companies that serve them, it's all about gathering and converting attention--at least until the world is so well-served with feels-like-free content in return for attention that physical copies become desirable again (and they will).
A future where many content creators of all kinds, in all locations, and within all levels of accomplishment will make more money based on what their brand stands for, based on their fans, aka users, having real, meaningful experiences with or through them, and based on who pays attention to them, when and where....
In our immediate future as content creators and companies that serve them, it's all about gathering and converting attention--at least until the world is so well-served with feels-like-free content in return for attention that physical copies become desirable again (and they will).
What does this have to do with software? Much, if you're an open-source or SaaS business, but I think it also applies to Microsoft and Oracle. Whether open-source or proprietary software, however, I think it's particularly germane to the big providers in these categories: Red Hat, Sun Microsystems, Salesforce.com, Oracle, and Microsoft.
Why do enterprises pay Red Hat for a Red Hat Enterprise Linux subscription today? In part, it's to get a license to use RHEL on a particular server for a particular application at a particular time.
But really, it's to tap into an ongoing value stream, as Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst intimated to me several months ago. It's a subscription to the Red Hat experience, in other words, not one copy once and for all.
Today, that Red Hat experience is somewhat limited: it's an operating system, and it's an application server. I suspect, however, that Red Hat's future lies in becoming an ASCAP of open-source software, rather than The Police of operating systems. Customers will look to Red Hat to provide a steady stream of open-source value, not a few big "songs."
The same thing is happening elsewhere. Oracle has set itself up as a broad brand that can provide value on a wide array of fronts, following Microsoft's lead. Salesforce? It clearly has set its sights on becoming more than just a CRM player with a novel delivery model. It aims to be the ASCAP of SaaS-based software delivery. And Google? Well, looking at its top 10 applications, it's clear that it, too, is building a broad Google experience, not simply one-off applications.
This is the near-term future of enterprise software. It's not about protecting individual copies of software so much as delivering a strong brand that can command broad-based subscriptions to one's overall value. For open-source vendors like Red Hat and Sun, it may mean that they need to start aggregating a wider array of open-source products into their subscriptions sooner rather than later.
Hollywood's Musicians Institute teaches the endangered art of A & R
In the troubled music industry, many labels have cut or eliminated their artists-and-repertoire staff. But instructors at MI are determined to teach the skill of making a musical connection.
Once upon a time, A&R were the sexiest letters in the music industry's alphabet.
Executives in the artists-and-repertoire division of every major record label were charged with discovering and nurturing new acts, setting them on the path toward gold and platinum albums and Grammy Awards.
These high-powered talent brokers would spend their nights scouring nightclubs and street corners after days combing through stacks of homemade recordings in their quests for pop music's next big thing.
In an era of record-label retrenchment, however, many labels have reduced or even eliminated A&R staffs. Most companies are looking only to sign acts that come to them spit-shined and ready to market, or perhaps plucked from a TV talent contest, no nurturing required.
But Don Grierson isn't going to let the trade die without a fight. Grierson, a record industry veteran who helped shepherd acts including the Beatles, Little River Band, Heart and Tina Turner, maintains that the skill set he teaches in A&R classes at Hollywood's Musicians Institute continues to be vital, even as the traditional music industry faces a daunting and uncertain future.
"The key question I always ask new students is, 'What is the first and foremost responsibility of an A&R person?' " Grierson said recently at the institute, where he's part of the music business program staff at the largest independent music school in the West. "Most of them say, 'Signing new bands.' That's important, but it's not the most important thing."
What is critical, he and the other instructors say, is training students to anticipate trends and harness new technologies to better serve artists and connect them with an audience. Bringing people together has long been an essential A&R function, and it is just as important in the modern music era.
"There's been a massive shift in A&R," added Jeff Blue, the newest member of the institute's A&R staff and a seasoned pro who has been closely involved in the careers of dozens of acts as a record producer, songwriter and publisher. "It's evolving -- and devolving -- and more and more artists have to be their own record label."
Indeed. A&R professionals once spent time polishing musicians' sound and image, frequently locating potential hit songs for them to record, pairing them with compatible producers and then serving as liaisons with other divisions of the record company that would market, promote and publicize acts and their music. These days such tasks are carried out by independent consultants or the musicians themselves.
The harsh reality is that few record companies, among the major labels anyway, have either the time, money or interest to nurture an act for four years, as Blue did with Linkin Park before the band became a platinum-selling smash.
Grierson, Blue and their colleagues Kenny Kerner and Barry Squier are hoping to equip a younger generation with the skills they'll need to succeed in a more demanding professional climate. Instead of partnering singers, instrumentalists or composers with producers, they might pair them up with a music supervisor working on a popular television series or a video game franchise, media that have become great ways to break artists.
By adapting bedrock A&R principles to a new media landscape, they're mining rock history to shape the future.
Kerner just might be the perfect person to oversee a school of rock. This beefy, no-nonsense industry veteran with an old-school East Coast accent spent nearly 40 years in the music business -- in the 1970s, he discovered now-legendary band KISS. He heads up MI's A&R staff, working with Grierson, Blue and ex-Columbia and Geffen executive Squier.
Instruction goes beyond textbook theory, or even the real-life examples Kerner, Grierson, Squier and Blue are always ready to supply. Students are assigned to set up virtual record companies. They have to find a band they would like to sign (some use fellow MI instrumental or vocal music students; others recruit them from local clubs or the Internet), make a recording and then promote, market and publicize it.
Matthew Williams, a 25-year-old heavy-metal singer who moved with his guitarist brother, Jason, from Minneapolis to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, didn't have to look far to find a project. Both enrolled at MI to hone their chops, and after a few quarters in the school's guitar program, the brothers' aspiring metal group landed a song in a movie that's due to be released next spring.
Matthew Williams decided he needed to know more about the industry, so he signed up for the two-quarter music business program, in which students earn a certificate after 30 units of course work. It can be combined with one of the instrument or voice courses for an associate's degree or taken independently. At any one time, 100 to 150 students are enrolled in the program.
Williams said that Grierson's A&R class and Squier's guest lecturer series opened his eyes to realities that have been valuable in helping him navigate the initial steps in his career.
Did you know?
"I don't know if it's vital for a musician to learn this stuff," Williams said. "A lot of musicians do fine without it, but I just think it's smart. It was really interesting to learn about the differences between indie label A&R and A&R at the major labels.
"The majors can't take that many chances anymore because there's so much on the line, and people will lose their jobs if an act they sign isn't successful right away. But the indies have to sign more acts to build their rosters, so a heavy-metal band like ours will probably go with an indie. Stuff like that has been useful for us to know."
Katie Scanlon, a 26-year-old 2007 graduate of MI's business program now working as a management and marketing assistant at Nettwerk records, said she's been able to apply much of what she learned at the institute in her day-to-day encounters.
She stressed the importance of having artists truly understand the role they must play in their own success.
"If someone develops an artist on the label or management side," Scanlon said, "there are still a handful of fans who react positively to that -- especially if it's a pop artist like a Britney Spears. But there are quite a few fans for whom it's more important to get that personal connection from a grass-roots marketing campaign through the Internet. And those fans really gravitate more toward the proactive bands who know how to effectively use their websites and MySpace pages."
One of the key changes Kerner and his staff make sure students are attuned to is the ever-increasing churn rate for bands with record deals. Between fans' shorter attention spans in looking to make new discoveries themselves on MySpace or other Internet portals and record companies' heightened focus on immediate financial returns, it's harder today for musicians to get the foothold that can lead to a long-term career.
Skills essential
It's not impossible, of course, but Blue and the others note that, despite evolving technological ways for artists to connect with fans, it's still true that the best way to get a gold record is to shake 500,000 hands through touring and personal appearances. And no amount of live Web chats or Facebook activity will substitute for good old songwriting skills.
Perhaps the big lesson for those involved in any facet of the music business is to get used to living with less -- less profit and fewer multimillion-selling acts.
"There will always be record labels, even though the nature of the business is changing so much," Grierson said. "I just think we're going to be seeing a lot more small levels of success rather than the giant levels of success we've had in the past."
Once upon a time, A&R were the sexiest letters in the music industry's alphabet.
Executives in the artists-and-repertoire division of every major record label were charged with discovering and nurturing new acts, setting them on the path toward gold and platinum albums and Grammy Awards.
These high-powered talent brokers would spend their nights scouring nightclubs and street corners after days combing through stacks of homemade recordings in their quests for pop music's next big thing.
In an era of record-label retrenchment, however, many labels have reduced or even eliminated A&R staffs. Most companies are looking only to sign acts that come to them spit-shined and ready to market, or perhaps plucked from a TV talent contest, no nurturing required.
But Don Grierson isn't going to let the trade die without a fight. Grierson, a record industry veteran who helped shepherd acts including the Beatles, Little River Band, Heart and Tina Turner, maintains that the skill set he teaches in A&R classes at Hollywood's Musicians Institute continues to be vital, even as the traditional music industry faces a daunting and uncertain future.
"The key question I always ask new students is, 'What is the first and foremost responsibility of an A&R person?' " Grierson said recently at the institute, where he's part of the music business program staff at the largest independent music school in the West. "Most of them say, 'Signing new bands.' That's important, but it's not the most important thing."
What is critical, he and the other instructors say, is training students to anticipate trends and harness new technologies to better serve artists and connect them with an audience. Bringing people together has long been an essential A&R function, and it is just as important in the modern music era.
"There's been a massive shift in A&R," added Jeff Blue, the newest member of the institute's A&R staff and a seasoned pro who has been closely involved in the careers of dozens of acts as a record producer, songwriter and publisher. "It's evolving -- and devolving -- and more and more artists have to be their own record label."
Indeed. A&R professionals once spent time polishing musicians' sound and image, frequently locating potential hit songs for them to record, pairing them with compatible producers and then serving as liaisons with other divisions of the record company that would market, promote and publicize acts and their music. These days such tasks are carried out by independent consultants or the musicians themselves.
The harsh reality is that few record companies, among the major labels anyway, have either the time, money or interest to nurture an act for four years, as Blue did with Linkin Park before the band became a platinum-selling smash.
Grierson, Blue and their colleagues Kenny Kerner and Barry Squier are hoping to equip a younger generation with the skills they'll need to succeed in a more demanding professional climate. Instead of partnering singers, instrumentalists or composers with producers, they might pair them up with a music supervisor working on a popular television series or a video game franchise, media that have become great ways to break artists.
By adapting bedrock A&R principles to a new media landscape, they're mining rock history to shape the future.
Kerner just might be the perfect person to oversee a school of rock. This beefy, no-nonsense industry veteran with an old-school East Coast accent spent nearly 40 years in the music business -- in the 1970s, he discovered now-legendary band KISS. He heads up MI's A&R staff, working with Grierson, Blue and ex-Columbia and Geffen executive Squier.
Instruction goes beyond textbook theory, or even the real-life examples Kerner, Grierson, Squier and Blue are always ready to supply. Students are assigned to set up virtual record companies. They have to find a band they would like to sign (some use fellow MI instrumental or vocal music students; others recruit them from local clubs or the Internet), make a recording and then promote, market and publicize it.
Matthew Williams, a 25-year-old heavy-metal singer who moved with his guitarist brother, Jason, from Minneapolis to Los Angeles a couple of years ago, didn't have to look far to find a project. Both enrolled at MI to hone their chops, and after a few quarters in the school's guitar program, the brothers' aspiring metal group landed a song in a movie that's due to be released next spring.
Matthew Williams decided he needed to know more about the industry, so he signed up for the two-quarter music business program, in which students earn a certificate after 30 units of course work. It can be combined with one of the instrument or voice courses for an associate's degree or taken independently. At any one time, 100 to 150 students are enrolled in the program.
Williams said that Grierson's A&R class and Squier's guest lecturer series opened his eyes to realities that have been valuable in helping him navigate the initial steps in his career.
Did you know?
"I don't know if it's vital for a musician to learn this stuff," Williams said. "A lot of musicians do fine without it, but I just think it's smart. It was really interesting to learn about the differences between indie label A&R and A&R at the major labels.
"The majors can't take that many chances anymore because there's so much on the line, and people will lose their jobs if an act they sign isn't successful right away. But the indies have to sign more acts to build their rosters, so a heavy-metal band like ours will probably go with an indie. Stuff like that has been useful for us to know."
Katie Scanlon, a 26-year-old 2007 graduate of MI's business program now working as a management and marketing assistant at Nettwerk records, said she's been able to apply much of what she learned at the institute in her day-to-day encounters.
She stressed the importance of having artists truly understand the role they must play in their own success.
"If someone develops an artist on the label or management side," Scanlon said, "there are still a handful of fans who react positively to that -- especially if it's a pop artist like a Britney Spears. But there are quite a few fans for whom it's more important to get that personal connection from a grass-roots marketing campaign through the Internet. And those fans really gravitate more toward the proactive bands who know how to effectively use their websites and MySpace pages."
One of the key changes Kerner and his staff make sure students are attuned to is the ever-increasing churn rate for bands with record deals. Between fans' shorter attention spans in looking to make new discoveries themselves on MySpace or other Internet portals and record companies' heightened focus on immediate financial returns, it's harder today for musicians to get the foothold that can lead to a long-term career.
Skills essential
It's not impossible, of course, but Blue and the others note that, despite evolving technological ways for artists to connect with fans, it's still true that the best way to get a gold record is to shake 500,000 hands through touring and personal appearances. And no amount of live Web chats or Facebook activity will substitute for good old songwriting skills.
Perhaps the big lesson for those involved in any facet of the music business is to get used to living with less -- less profit and fewer multimillion-selling acts.
"There will always be record labels, even though the nature of the business is changing so much," Grierson said. "I just think we're going to be seeing a lot more small levels of success rather than the giant levels of success we've had in the past."
Logitech Provides Ultimate Ears for iPod Music
The new MetroFi 170 and MetroFi 220 noise-isolating earphones promise to deliver customized comfort for listening to music on an iPod. They use silicone ear-cushions that are soft enough to conform to the unique shape of your ear canal. Price starts at $49.99.
“If you’re looking to upgrade your generic MP3-player listening experience, the MetroFi 170 and 220 earphones are ideal,” said Philippe Depallens, Logitech vice president and general manager of the Ultimate Ears product unit. “Unlike the ear buds that come with your MP3 player, once you put the MetroFi 170 and 220 earphones in your ear, they’ll stay there and feel good. So whether you’re exercising, running errands, or just on the run – with the MetroFi earphones you’ll always be in the zone.”
While ear buds sit at the opening of your ear, the company says, Ultimate Ears by Logitech earphones deliver customized comfort by creating a “magic” seal between your ear and the outside world, limiting ambient noise. So you can hear your music clearly without being cut off from the world around you. Both the MetroFi 170s and the 220s provide 16 dBs of noise isolation.
Featuring a titanium-coated speaker that delivers a crisp sound signature, the MetroFi 220 earphones will give a fuller mix with more detail in the higher-frequency range for deeper bass and clear treble.
Both, the 170s and 220s, also include a red-colored right earphone to help you distinguish between left and right earphones. In addition, you’ll get a pocket-sized carrying case to protect your earphones.
All MetroFi earphones are compatible with any iPod digital device, MP3 player, or laptop with a 3.5 mm jack, says Logitech.
The MetroFi 170 and the MetroFi 220 earphones are also available in iPhone- and BlackBerry-compatible models – the MetroFi 170vi and MetroFi 220vi earphones – with voice-integrated technology.
For handsfree calling, the MetroFi 170vi and MetroFi 220vi earphones offer a miniature microphone that lets you switch between making calls and enjoying music and video on your iPhone or BlackBerry.
All new MetroFi earphones come with a 1-year limited hardware warranty.
The suggested retail prices for the MetroFi 170 and the MetroFi 220 noise-isolating earphones are $49.99 and $79.99, respectively, and the suggested retail price for the MetroFi 170vi and the MetroFi 220vi earphones are $59.99 and $89.99, respectively.
These products are expected to be available in February in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.
maandag 5 januari 2009
Mobile Phones to Dominate Digital Music
Mobile Phones will soon become the primary means of discovery and distribution for digital music. The market penetration for mobile phones already far outstrips that of music players. “You’re still going to see millions of iPods sold,” Resnikoff says. “It’s a great item. It’s not going to go away. But the move is toward the iPhone and more diversified devices, more complicated systems. That’s where the battle really starts to heat up.”
Mobile phones are a radio-killing app, making the Web’s entire panoply of music fully portable. While music players are great repositories for music you already own, they aren’t gateways to what you might want to discover. To learn about new artists, many now look to online entities where they once spun the radio dial.
With personalized streams, shared playlists, and huge catalogs of music within arm’s reach, the mobile phone’s access to social networking sites, Internet radio, and subscription services threatens to revolutionize the idea of “broadcasting.” Using cellphones as their portals, online music companies can specifically target the techno-savvy, tastemaking under-35 demographic radio has left behind and offer programs tailored to personal tastes.
Mobile phones are a radio-killing app, making the Web’s entire panoply of music fully portable. While music players are great repositories for music you already own, they aren’t gateways to what you might want to discover. To learn about new artists, many now look to online entities where they once spun the radio dial.
With personalized streams, shared playlists, and huge catalogs of music within arm’s reach, the mobile phone’s access to social networking sites, Internet radio, and subscription services threatens to revolutionize the idea of “broadcasting.” Using cellphones as their portals, online music companies can specifically target the techno-savvy, tastemaking under-35 demographic radio has left behind and offer programs tailored to personal tastes.
Digital Music Startups from 2008
Paul Brindley and his team at Music Ally have created a comprehensive list of digital music startup companies from 2008.
Social and SharingVideo, Stores and Services, StreamingPlace Shifting, Recommendation ,Discovery, Digital Labels, P2p, File Sharing, GamesVirtual WorldsLive Music Ticketing, Artist Tools, Online Mixtapes, MP3 Search Engines, Tools
Now who says the music industry is dead. Seems like Santa’s Elves have been up very late nearly every night this year building new, cool services and tools for musicians, artists, writers, labels and fans.
www.futureofmusicbook.com
Social and SharingVideo, Stores and Services, StreamingPlace Shifting, Recommendation ,Discovery, Digital Labels, P2p, File Sharing, GamesVirtual WorldsLive Music Ticketing, Artist Tools, Online Mixtapes, MP3 Search Engines, Tools
Now who says the music industry is dead. Seems like Santa’s Elves have been up very late nearly every night this year building new, cool services and tools for musicians, artists, writers, labels and fans.
www.futureofmusicbook.com
The coming recombination of the music business
The flat rate for music is a certainty and we will see it become a reality in the next 2 years, so… get ready.
New business models that are based on attention-revenues not copy-revenues must be developed asap - and this is not an easy mission during these times of transition.
The artists and their managers, the traditional master recording rights holders and composers and publishers, as well as the many organizations that represent them must collaborate much more in-depth than ever before - and most likely the master and composition rights societies will need to actually merge to make this work.
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/
New business models that are based on attention-revenues not copy-revenues must be developed asap - and this is not an easy mission during these times of transition.
The artists and their managers, the traditional master recording rights holders and composers and publishers, as well as the many organizations that represent them must collaborate much more in-depth than ever before - and most likely the master and composition rights societies will need to actually merge to make this work.
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/
Gerd Leonhard Tech Talk at Google London
Here is another presentation by my co-author Gerd Leonhard on “The Future”. It is a little long (63 mins) but very interesting and inspiring. Anyone seeking to understand how to make money in the face of free music should watch this very carefully, and learn.
see movie @ link
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/tag/music-20/
see movie @ link
http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/tag/music-20/
Music sales fall to their lowest level
Music sales fall to their lowest level in over twenty yearsDan Sabbagh, Media Editor
Worldwide music sales have tumbled to their lowest level since 1985, the year that Jennifer Rush topped the singles charts in Britain with The Power of Love and Dire Straits released Money for Nothing.
The equivalent of 1.86 billion albums were sold last year, counting ten sales of individual songs as the equivalent of one album, according to figures published yesterday by the IFPI, which represents music companies worldwide.
Album sales were down 11 per cent, from 2.09 billion, in figures that include paid-for downloads. In 1985, unit sales were 1.8 billion, as the CD began to increase in popularity, a run of growth that peaked in 1996 with sales of 3.4 billion.
The main cause of the decline continues to be collapsing CD sales, hurt by illegal copying, that are not being offset by growth in download sales. Record company revenues tumbled 8 per cent last year to $19.4 billion, after CD sales fell 13 per cent – more than offsetting the 34 per cent growth in the smaller digital business.
In Britain alone, revenues tumbled 13 per cent to £1.02 billion, with Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black as the top-selling album. Industry revenues from CD sales plunged 16 per cent to £871 million, while digital sales in the world’s third-biggest music market increased 28 per cent to £132.2 million.
Presenting the statistics, the IFPI called for internet providers to work with the music business to stop illegal copying. John Kennedy, its chief executive, said that between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of internet service provider traffic was accounted for by illegally swapped content.
The IFPI wants internet providers to reveal details of their customers who illegally share music and possibly cut off any subscriber who breaches copyright three times. Mr Kennedy said that providers should engage constructively, before the tools of legislation or litigation were invoked to require them to act.
Governments are beginning to look hard at copyright enforcement. Ministers have considered legislating for a “three-strikes” policy that could punish internet users with disconnection, but they want music companies to try to reach voluntary agreements with internet suppliers first.
Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, said that while regulation was not the first preference, he did not feel that he could stand by and ignore wholesale breaches of copyright. “British music is one of our biggest success stories. I don’t want to see it wasted away,” Mr Burnham told the Broadcasting Press Guild yesterday.
Music companies and lobbyists are trying to reach agreement with internet providers. This month Virgin Media agreed that it would write to consumers who were engaged in large amount of music copying, based on information supplied to it by the BPI, Britain’s record company trade body.
However, industry executives said that the gloomy data was nothing new. A spokesman for Vivendi’s Universal Music, the market leader, said: “This must be the tenth consecutive year we’ve read the obituary for the music business, but we are still here.”
We hummed
Top five songs in 1985
We Are The World — USA for Africa
Take On Me — Aha
I Want to Know What Love Is — Foreigner
Shout — Tears for Fears
Into The Groove — Madonna (based on worldwide chart positions)
Bestselling UK single: The Power of Love — Jennifer Rush (it did not chart in the US)
For the record
Top ten global bestselling albums of 2007
1 High School Musical 2 — High School Musical 2 (Walt Disney Records/Universal/EMI)
2 Back to Black — Amy Winehouse (Universal)
3 Noel — Josh Groban (Warner)
4 The Best Damn Thing — Avril Lavigne (Sony BMG)
5 Long Road Out of Eden — Eagles (Eagles Recording Co/Universal)
6 Minutes to Midnight — Linkin Park (Warner)
7 As I Am — Alicia Keys (Sony BMG)
8 Call me Irresponsible — Michael Bublé (Warner)
9 Life in Cartoon Motion — Mika (Universal)
10 Not Too Late — Nora Jones (EMI)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article4160553.ece
Worldwide music sales have tumbled to their lowest level since 1985, the year that Jennifer Rush topped the singles charts in Britain with The Power of Love and Dire Straits released Money for Nothing.
The equivalent of 1.86 billion albums were sold last year, counting ten sales of individual songs as the equivalent of one album, according to figures published yesterday by the IFPI, which represents music companies worldwide.
Album sales were down 11 per cent, from 2.09 billion, in figures that include paid-for downloads. In 1985, unit sales were 1.8 billion, as the CD began to increase in popularity, a run of growth that peaked in 1996 with sales of 3.4 billion.
The main cause of the decline continues to be collapsing CD sales, hurt by illegal copying, that are not being offset by growth in download sales. Record company revenues tumbled 8 per cent last year to $19.4 billion, after CD sales fell 13 per cent – more than offsetting the 34 per cent growth in the smaller digital business.
In Britain alone, revenues tumbled 13 per cent to £1.02 billion, with Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black as the top-selling album. Industry revenues from CD sales plunged 16 per cent to £871 million, while digital sales in the world’s third-biggest music market increased 28 per cent to £132.2 million.
Presenting the statistics, the IFPI called for internet providers to work with the music business to stop illegal copying. John Kennedy, its chief executive, said that between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of internet service provider traffic was accounted for by illegally swapped content.
The IFPI wants internet providers to reveal details of their customers who illegally share music and possibly cut off any subscriber who breaches copyright three times. Mr Kennedy said that providers should engage constructively, before the tools of legislation or litigation were invoked to require them to act.
Governments are beginning to look hard at copyright enforcement. Ministers have considered legislating for a “three-strikes” policy that could punish internet users with disconnection, but they want music companies to try to reach voluntary agreements with internet suppliers first.
Andy Burnham, the Culture Secretary, said that while regulation was not the first preference, he did not feel that he could stand by and ignore wholesale breaches of copyright. “British music is one of our biggest success stories. I don’t want to see it wasted away,” Mr Burnham told the Broadcasting Press Guild yesterday.
Music companies and lobbyists are trying to reach agreement with internet providers. This month Virgin Media agreed that it would write to consumers who were engaged in large amount of music copying, based on information supplied to it by the BPI, Britain’s record company trade body.
However, industry executives said that the gloomy data was nothing new. A spokesman for Vivendi’s Universal Music, the market leader, said: “This must be the tenth consecutive year we’ve read the obituary for the music business, but we are still here.”
We hummed
Top five songs in 1985
We Are The World — USA for Africa
Take On Me — Aha
I Want to Know What Love Is — Foreigner
Shout — Tears for Fears
Into The Groove — Madonna (based on worldwide chart positions)
Bestselling UK single: The Power of Love — Jennifer Rush (it did not chart in the US)
For the record
Top ten global bestselling albums of 2007
1 High School Musical 2 — High School Musical 2 (Walt Disney Records/Universal/EMI)
2 Back to Black — Amy Winehouse (Universal)
3 Noel — Josh Groban (Warner)
4 The Best Damn Thing — Avril Lavigne (Sony BMG)
5 Long Road Out of Eden — Eagles (Eagles Recording Co/Universal)
6 Minutes to Midnight — Linkin Park (Warner)
7 As I Am — Alicia Keys (Sony BMG)
8 Call me Irresponsible — Michael Bublé (Warner)
9 Life in Cartoon Motion — Mika (Universal)
10 Not Too Late — Nora Jones (EMI)
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article4160553.ece
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