Elektra Turns 60. And Launches a Website to Celebrate…
Major labels may be history – at least as recording houses – but big-label subdivisions often have very rich histories indeed. That includes Elektra, the house that Jac Holzman built a short 60 years ago. Actually, Holzman is still in the kitchen – you can catch him at Bandwidth next week in San Francisco. He also serves as senior advisor [...]
Close Your Eyes, and Imagine a Comprehensive Global Rights Database…
So, who benefits from a complicated, fractured rights database that takes years to effectively license? The answer is any company that helps its clients navigate the mess! For everyone else, the byzantine map of overlapping rights is just bad news.
@kanyewest: The Kanye Ego, In 140 Characters or Less…
Why do so many artists decry technology, only to submit moments later?
How the Indies Saved Pandora…
Pandora pays a monstrous percentage of their revenues to SoundExchange for the use of recordings. That is, 60 percent according to the latest estimates from Pandora founder Tim Westergren. But this could have been a whole lot worse, and A2IM chief Rich Bengloff takes some of the credit for softening Congressionally-mandated rates to more reasonable levels. “We want parity with [...]
Breaking: Spotify’s US Label Discussions “Back to Square One…”
What was that about a launch in the fall? Spotify’s US-focused label negotiations appear to be going nowhere fast, according to information surfacing late Thursday.
Exclusive: MySpace Music Not Paywalling Profile Streams…
MySpace Music is considering some serious changes to its business model, but don’t expect to pay for profile page streams anytime soon. “Our goal is not to alter our current experience,” MySpace Music chief Courtney Holt told the audience at New Music Seminar in New York on Tuesday.
iTunes Distribution In a Day: Yes, Someone Is Taking It There…
Bands live in a world of instant digital gratification, and that puts the pressure on direct-to-fan companies. A tweet gets an instant response, so why wait weeks to upload music onto iTunes?
Tommy Boy: “80 Percent of All Records Released are Just Noise — Hobbyists”
Are most musicians today merely hobbyists? Yes, according to Thomas “Tommy Boy” Silverman, who poked another hole in digital utopianism over the weekend. “80 percent of all records released are just noise — hobbyists,” Silverman told Wired. “Some companies like Tunecore are betting on the Long Tail because they get the same $10 whether you sell one copy or 10,000.”
Trouble Ahead, Trouble Behind: MySpace Faces a Difficult Google Divorce…
MySpace Music has always been a mandatory landing spot for bands. But its importance is getting severely eroded by growing audience problems at MySpace proper, a situation that only seems to be worsening.