Resnikoff’s Parting Shot: Smashing the CD… to Bits
What would happen if the majors stopped pressing CDs right now, closed down their plants, and wrote off their physical retail networks? The answer is that they’d lose billions, right off the bat! The lights would start flickering immediately!
Fan-Funded Craziness Continues… Pledge Music Surfaces
The curious concept of fan-funded music continues to percolate, thanks to the recent coming-out of London-based Pledge Music. According to details tipped to Digital Music News by the company over the weekend, the startup involves British A&R brain Malcolm Dunbar. Pledge (pledgemusic.com) officially launches later this month, and jumps into a field already populated by the likes of Slicethepice and [...]
Resnikoff’s Parting Shot: Hollywood’s Anti-Piracy Coattails…
The Hollywood anti-piracy machine is steadily growing, and that is good news for the RIAA. The reason is that the film business eclipses the recording industry in terms of size, and that means its lobby is far more powerful. Labels are dwarfed by ISPs and outsmarted by terrestrial radio stations on the Hill. The music business is simply smaller, rife [...]
Navigating the Wilds of Digital Hollywood…
What to expect at Digital Hollywood in Santa Monica this week? Despite a recovering Wall Street and newfound financing, this is still a difficult time for media conferences. Instead of stacked booths and overflowing panels, most digital music and media events are thinly attended, and more heavily populated with bootstrapped startups, students, and individuals hanging fresh shingles.
Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Performance Royalty Act…
Labels are still fighting for recording royalties from traditional radio stations, and on Thursday, the ball inched forward a bit. The Senate Judiciary Committee has now approved the Performance Rights Act (S379) for further debate, according to details emerging from Capitol Hill on Thursday morning. A similar bill, HR848, was recently approved by the House Judiciary Committee, part of a [...]
Total Bull: Dow Stays Past 10,000; WMG Heads Towards $7…
Wall Street is sticking to its 5-figure status, at least for now, and that helped to boost a pair of music-related shares on Thursday. At the bell, the Dow (DJIA) finished up 0.47 percent to 10,062.94, despite some weakness in the financial sector. Elsewhere, Warner Music Group (WMG) continued its appreciative ways, lifting 6.12 percent to $6.76, while Trans World [...]
ASCAP Responds: This Is ‘About More Than Just Ringtones’…
Think that ASCAP is giving up the fight after a decisive loss against Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility? Despite a summary judgment on Wednesday that ruled that ringtones cannot be qualified as public performances, ASCAP seemed far from defeated on Thursday. “While ASCAP is disappointed with the ringtones summary judgment issued yesterday by the US District Court, this … is [...]
Exclusive: Sony Skipping iTunes on Michael Jackson Release…
The iTunes Store will not be offering downloads from Michael Jackson’s posthumous album, This Is It, according to confidential information leaked late Tuesday to Digital Music News. Already, the lead single, “This Is It,” is making waves at radio, though the big release – a stand-alone, double-disc audio set – hits October 26th throughout the world, and the 27th in [...]
Resnikoff’s Parting Shot: The Artists That Ditched Twitter…
Twitter is enjoying explosive growth, that much is obvious. Great way to connect with fans, but the nagging complaint is that tweets are mostly unimportant time-wasters, full of inane, shallow details. But some artists – really big artists – have a different gripe related to privacy, imaging, and even the drain away from creative time.