Archer donates money to bring relief to Nashville after flood

William Acher will be donating 20% of the May sales of his book to aid the flood relief in Tennessee. Nashville, one of the music capitols of the world is in ruins, being the home to many artists, their homes mostly destroyed.

Stereogum is stating that one of the music halls in Nashville holding some of the world's most famous musician's guitars are broken beyond repair. Acher is hoping that this donation will precedent a lot of artist to make the same sort of donation as well, to bring relief to the people of Tennessee and to help aid the rebuild of the music capitol of our nation.

more information on the book can be found at: www.starvingtheartist.com

it can be purchased on Amazon for 9.95 or downloaded for 4.95.

Source: http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=130111

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

State Farm helps out OK GO!

Does anyone remember OK GO before the "Here It Goes Again" video? no? anyone...anyone.....? yeah, I didn't think so. OK GO is one of those bands that got their success based on a simple video, the song was mediocre, but the artistry was what made their name huge, huge enough for Columbia to spend half the manifest budget two years ago to have them perform. Once again, OK GO is making waves virally with their newest release "This Too Shall Pass." Releasing a clip in January that had no embedding code, bloggers apparently lost their minds, (I didn't read any, but I mean, it very well could of happened.)

Anyway, for the release of "This Too Shall Pass" OK GO teamed up with State Farm Insurance to fund the project and just seconds into the video State Farm's logo is shown.

The video is incredibly well done and can be seen on the band's youtube account.

Not only does OK GO once again prove that they are easily the best marketed band in the top 40, but the video speaks for itself.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/03/ok-go-goes-viral-again-with-help-from-state-farm.html#more

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

Why Justin Bieber?

I don't know if anyone remembers, but my first blog happened to be about Justin Bieber and the mall riot he caused last November. Now, everyone knows who Justin Bieber is and if you don't, you live in a hole. This fifteen year old boy has gone from nothing to one of the, if not the biggest name in pop music right now; what many don't understand is why. Well, here are the reasons according to Jay Frank, basically, someone is a marketing genius.

1. time out releases to songs; a new song every few months.

2. have shorter introductions at the beginning of songs.

3. longer songs; have songs longer than 2-2:30 minutes.

4. poppier chord changes

5. the repetition. "baby, baby, baby"

overall, j. biebs is taking over the world.

oh yeah, heres a video... 1-5 is definitely shown.

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/03/why-just-bieber-is-such-a-big-hit.html#more

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

Last.fm tries to fit in.

As if there weren't enough streaming sites on the web (Pandora, LaLa, Purevolume, MySpace) now Last.fm is doing just that. Since Last.fm started some individual tracks have been streamed on the site, but a limited amount.

This week Last.fm abolished all individual tracks and are now making their site more like Purevolume, where artists have pages and can stream their music via their page.

Here is the zinger, Last.fm is paid for every song that is streamed on their site, even with this new layout, artists still will not be getting paid any royalties, no matter how many times their songs are listened to.

Last.fm claims that these plays are promotional and thereof do not fall under the royalty laws. So, artists, you can stream your music, but Last.fm is taking all of your money.

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/04/lastfm-to-add-play-direct-indie-artist-program.html

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

Expert Marketing or is Atlantic really poor?

Atlantic Records is asking fans to help fund their artist Natty's second record. How are they doing this? They're enticing fans by offering them the EP at a discounted price, paying to introduce him on stage, having him come to your house and even having him mix your record. Not only is this a way to fund his project, but connect him to his fans.

It's definitely odd that a major label is in such a dire need for money, but at the same time, I don't really believe it. I think that if this is just Atlantic's scheme to get Natty some recognition or even connect him to his fans, they're doing an incredible job. I'd definitely pay some money to introduce my favorite band on stage or be able to hang out with them, especially if it meant funding a new record....

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/04/major-label-atlantic-asks-fan-to-help-fund-new-natty-release-via-pledge-music.html

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

RIAA beats LimeWire

The RIAA beat LimeWire in a major courtcase earlier this week because of LimeWire's inability to change it's policies so that it is a legal source to download music. As we all know, LimeWire is one of the simplest downloading sites out there. Like Napster, LimeWire allows users to download content from other LimeWire users- this concept for all of you who didn't take Art and Business of Recording, has a specific name, it's called "Peer to Peer" file sharing. Meaning, that once you're logged in anyone can download anything in your "shared" folder off your computer, which can be incredibly dangerous. It's sort of like how on iTunes you can listen to other people in your networks music, even though you can't download it onto your computer, it's accessible- LimeWire allows you to take it right off of the other persons computer.

LimeWire was held accountable for the following:

1. Their awareness of substantial infringement by users.

2. Their efforts to attract infringing users.

3. Their efforts to enable and assist users to commit said infringment.

4. Their dependence on infringing use for the success of their business.

and finally:

5. Their failure to mitigate infringing activities.

Basically, their getting in trouble for allowing users to download music illegally and turning the other cheek, acting like they don't know.

The RIAA is hoping to scare other companies into cracking down on infringing users.

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

LoKast Social Music Application?

As if there werent enough social networking sites that promote stalking and communicating with people you don't know, the newest is LoKast. Short for "local-casting" the application is a lot like facebook. It allows you to have your own page for videos, pictures, web-links and music you love.

LoKast first became popular this year at Coachella when bands with post exclusive content about their sets to LoKast fans. Even better is that when you're within 300 feet of another user of LoKast it connects you and allows you to exchange content between the two of you.

Now, initially I thought this was really creepy, but I read the section about Coachella and I think that's awesome. A lot of bigger bands, like Third Eye Blind are using the application to keep in touch with their fans and bring fans together.

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/lokast-social-app-gains-transaction-at-concerts.html

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

Press, Pause, Play

A new documentary being released and is finally saying what we're all thinking: with the advancements in technology and the internet, everyone thinks they're an artist and will do anything to be one.

The documentary goes on to discuss how these technologies are changing the face of the art industry; whether that be novels, visual art, music or film. Artists are now starting to work in several different mediums and how they can manage themselves. It briefly touches on the fact that anyone can manage themselves and anyone can create art because the computer does it all.

These technologies aren't all bad because the documentary also goes on to talk about how they are helping to develop new forms of art. This got me thinking, does that mean that at some point this influx will cause the demand for all these types of art to start to diminish?

Do you think that programs like photoshop and garage band have started to make the QUALITY of art deteriorate?

I think that at times the surplus of art is incredible, but honestly, anyone can sing into their computer now and make a million dollars, are we okay with the quality of our art diminishing if that means making a profit?

a preview of the documentary can be seen here:

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/are-a-new-breed-of-artists-musicians-emerging-from-the-digital-swamp.html#more

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

will Recovery be a resurrection?

this post is going to be my first post of ten or so because being the basket case that I am, I forgot to do these all semester......... way to go SC.

here we go. :)

For the past few years it seems like Eminem and Jay-Z have fallen off the map. Anyone remember when Jay-Z "retired" from music, but not to long ago released his newest record, "The Blueprint 3" which got massive radio play with Empire State of Mind and Onto the Next One.

Everywhere I turned there was some poster of Jay-Z or someone talking about the new record, but he never toured for the record and after a while, the buzz died. So now, Jay-Z is teaming up with Eminem to bring "The Blueprint 3" back to live and promote Eminem's newest record "Recovery". HOW? you ask...? By playing sold out shows at the two rapper's hometown major league baseball fields. Yankee Stadium on September 13 and Comerica Park on September 2.

This will be the first ever, full concert at the new Yankee Stadium.

Both artists are hoping that these shows start their summers with a bang! Both will be spending the summer playing major festivals in the states and overseas. So, what do you guys think? Will these shows be enough to resurrect Em's career and boost Jay-Z's already over the top persona?

We'll see.

Source: http://www.spin.com/articles/jay-z-eminem-team-hometown-stadium-gigs

-Samantha Corrie Schulman

One last post about EMI (because this is my last post)

After posting about EMI all year, it only seemed fitting to do a closing post on EMI.

2009-2010 was a rough time for EMI despite it's "winning streak" of hits. They have a massive debt to pay Citibank and merger or bankruptsy have seemed to be more likely than EMI paying it back.

Fortunatly for EMI, they got some investers in the nick of time and bought themselves another year. Are they out of the woods? Not a chance, these guys live in the woods at this point. Now the question is, who is most likely going to buy EMI? Fingers are pointing to Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. as the most likely candidate, but rumor is, he is going to wait until the price comes down a little further. Perhaps until they are about to go bankrupt next year? For more, read on hypebot.

- Ian Gollahon

Source:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/will-anyone-can-anyone-buy-emi.html#more

Maniac's Singing Heads

The band Maniac have been telling fans they'd be releasing their music very soon, and they just did today. They take you to their web site, but you don't just go there and stream the songs. Do you ever go to a site to stream the songs, and then find you have nothing else to really look at? Well, Maniac solves this problem by making a little video that goes with each song. It's the guys' heads, just their heads, singing along with the songs while you listen to them.

There are four heads, and the one that is singing lights up. The ones that aren't singing are looking around, moving their mouths like they are singing a different song or talking to each other.

It's pretty amusing, and gives you something fun to look at while you listen to the new songs.

Then, right below where you are watching, you can find links to the band's facebook, youtube channel, and twitter. You can also click a link to join the mailing list. When you click on any of these, they open up in a new window, so your music and singing heads aren't interrupted.

I thought it was a pretty cool way of marketing your songs. I know I told all my friends about the singing heads, and I'm telling you all now, so their idea might be working.

--- Ashley Snider

Source: http://www.maniacmania.com/

Bob Baker: Giving Music Consumers These 3 Choices Leads to More Revenue

Bob Baker of TheBuzzFactor recently did a study regarding a new release from the Raveonettes. Scott Cohen, manager of the Raveonettes, wrote an op-ed piece that appears on the Billboard website. In this article, he shares interesting numbers from the Raveonette's newest release.

Here are some interesting figures:

When choosing between a full length digital album for $7.99 or a single track for 99 cents, 75% of the time fans chose the 99 cent single. Since most of a band's revenue is generated from album sales, this is not good news for the band.

Trying something different, the Raveonettes released an EP, available for purchase at $3.99, as well as offering the single tracks for 99 cents. Given the choice, more than half chose the EP over the single track. "By providing different pricing and format options, we were able to increase our sales from casual fans who want more than a track and less than an album," says Cohen. "Should we consider selling full-length albums on physical formats and dividing the album into three EPs for the digital release? The evidence suggests that this would generate more money."

Cohen believes that offering a full length physical CD (15 tracks for $15, maybe accompanied with a DVD or another form of upgraded packaging), three digital-only EPs (five tracks each for $3.99), and singles (99 cents per song). He believes that this will satisfy new fans, casual fans, and core fans.

This study is very interesting and may open up new marketing opportunities for bands approaching a new release. The results of the study only make sense; new fans are offered the opportunity to buy single tracks, casual fans will be able to enjoy an inexpensive EP, and the core fans will be able to have a unique, high end physical product. Following a similar strategy will allow bands to maximize profit while keeping all tiers of fans satisfied. It will be interesting to follow similar case studies as they arise in the future.

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/bob-baker-giving-music-consumers-these-3-choices-leads-to-more-revenue.html#more

-Scott Schaffer

MySpace Loses $150 Million Dollars.......

Yes, according to Hypebot MySpace has been losing money with a reported $150 million dollars lost this past quarter, along with the $88 million dollars they lost last year. This news final clears up some of the mixed reports released from NewsCorp. to their investors earlier this week. Also, an earlier post on Hypebot showed a graph put together by NielsonWire Research Group which confirmed that MySpace has been losing unique page visits since 2008 in comparison to Facebook. So, what does this mean for the standpoint of music marketing? Well it shows that there’s a change happening where possible fans are now at on social networks, and with music sites like ReverbNation creating widget tools to easily embed music into Facebook fan pages. I predict within the next few years that the idea of creating a MySpace music page to place your bands music will not be as appealing as creating a Fanbage on Facebook. The easy tools Facebook offers to share content with larger audiences will continue to increase as the years go on, but only time will tell.

Submitted by: Jarvis R. Smith

Source
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/myspace-lost-150m-in-last-3-months.html

Has Apple gone rotten?

Many of us are children of the indie rock movement (don’t care if you don’t want to be labeled that, your fondness of that one non-indie thing is not going to keep me or anyone else from stereotyping you). Our niche identifies with a sort of anti-consumerism or counter-consumerism that is probably just sub-consumerism. I mean of course, that we don’t like to eat at McDonalds or shop at Wal-Mart because, when it comes down to it, we are just too indie-rock. A candy bar (or more likely some vintage candy that you eat ironically) is probably not any healthier or less chemically then a side of McDonald's fries, but many of us would take the candy bar just out of principle (that and McDonald's smells like a toxic waste dump). For better or worse, most anyone who owns an Animal Collective CD has a sort of consumer conscious that we tend to take more seriously than mainstream culture.

That said, we come to my point – Apple. When ABC has a story “Has Apple Lost it’s Cool?” the answer (for me) is undoubtedly yes. As briefly discussed in the video, Apple can be a bully when it comes to market share. They’ve shown us that they aren’t afraid to sue everyone or illegally raid your house for the iPhone 4G. In fact, they are starting to make Microsoft look like a softy. Have we all forgotten we didn’t want Microsoft to be anti-competitive? Why are there no Apple anti-trust cases? In my opinion, it’s because they slap the words green and sexy on everything they do. Apple: green and sexy. Bill Gates: bad. Ever heard of marketing? Ever think your just buying the image Apple is selling?

Although I think this video is overwhelmingly bias on Apple’s side (I mean they interview a guy that has Apple tattooed on his forehead with a MacBook), at least the video gives us a foreshadowing of the Apple backlash on its way. For me, it’s already here.

Stay tuned for the next ABC special – “Has MySpace lost it’s awesome?” Really ABC?

- Ian Gollahon

WMG Offers Mixed Financial Reports, Digital Sales Up

Warner Music Group showed a loss for the quarter ending March 31st of $25 million or 17 cents per share. That amount has decreased significantly because in the same quarter last year, they had $68 million or 45 cents a share loss. Their overall revenue fell 1.3% to $662 million with rising digital sales contributing to their improving numbers. Other improvements are that digital sales reached $199 million or 30% of total revenue which is up 8% from the previous quarter and up 15% from $173 million in the prior-year quarter. In addition, operating income grew 60% to $24 million compared to $15 million in the prior-year quarter.

Obviously, these statistics indicate that digital sales are taking over. Who knows where Warner Music Group would even be right now without them. We'll just have to continue to wait and see if digital music wipes out CDs completely.

- Samantha Bruno

Source:

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/wmg-offers-mixed-financial-report-digital-sales-up.html#more

Hip-Hop's "Independent" Business Model

Young Money's Drake, before he was part of Young Money, was credited as an independent artists. Drake's credit spans from releasing So Far Gone as an independent mixtape, becoming Grammy nominated, and reaching 2,000 downloads in 10 minutes of the release of his album, but how independent was he really? There is word that he was already signed to Young Money/Universal when all this hype was going on. The same thing is rumored to have happened with Souljah Boy and recently with Spree Wilson. Spree Wilson signed to Jive Records without disclosing the deal because they wanted him to market himself and put out mixtapes and pre-projects to create buzz.

I think this is an interesting way to go about things considering it has always been the buzz an artist creates for themselves that gets the attention of the major labels, so this seems a little backwards. It gives artists credit to be successful on their own, but then they have the major label to back them and help them make money.

It's quoted about Souljah Boy that "At the first radio meeting after he was signed, the label decided to do nothing because they didn't want to mess with his grassroots." This could be good because fans' loyalty will grow and everyone wants to see their favorite independent artist make it big on their own. On the opposing side, fans may feel betrayed for being made to believe the artist made it on their own when really a major label helped them out.

Source: http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/05/hip_hops_new_business_model_ma.html

by Rebecca Weyhrauch

Buy a Ticket, Get an Album

Tom Petty has announced that for every ticket purchased for his upcoming tour, he will be giving away his first new album in five years free of charge. Once you buy the ticket, you will get two tracks to download right then, and then later, when the album is released in June, you will get a free download of the entire album plus some bonus live tracks from the tour.

This is being provided by Live Nation, who said that with the merge with Ticketmaster, they would like to be able to do more cross promotion like this.

This makes sense to reel in some excited fans and make them even more excited by the fact that this new album (the first in five years) is being handed to them on top of their ticket to see Tom Petty live. Plus, with fewer people interested in buying music, but many still interested in concerts, it seems like a good idea and a fair trade.

But it is Tom Petty. And his concert tickets probably don't cost $15. So, I'd say this is a loss that Tom Petty can take. I still think it may be a good idea for bands to do, even if it is just a few free songs, because that can make the difference between a fan buying a ticket and not buying one. If you add a little extra, it definitely makes it more appealing.

--Ashley Snider

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/05/even-tom-petty-gives-his-music-away-free.html

Breakthrough for Ad Supported Music

A UK music streaming service, we7, had its first profitable month – where on demand music was paid for in full by advertising. This most likely makes we7 the first company to demonstrate that a music on-demand ad-funded model can be profitable and still return measurable royalties.

The company states that one million plays on we7 generates payments to the music industry of between $3,100 and $6,200. These payouts “dwarf previously reported competitive models, especially revenue share models which shift the risk to the artists and songwriters.”

There is a long list of companies, Lala among them, that have failed to make ad supported music profitable. So what makes we7 different? Part of it might be their model of controlled growth, but a larger part of it could definitely be that record labels that given it reasonable terms and time to experiment.

Simon Wheeler, Director of Digital at Beggars Group, says “with the emergence of new digital models, it is important that they are given opportunity to develop and grow, but with a clear understanding that music has a value which needs to be recognized and paid for.” The CEO of we7, Steve Purdham, agrees “music has never been a ‘freemium’ model – they key going forward is protecting the value of music with smart economic delivery.”

If we7 can maintain its profitability, it could be a breakthrough for ad supported music and it would mean that the music on-demand ad-funded model can work – it just needed time to find which variation worked best.

Source: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/04/we7-claims-a-profitable-month-is-this-a-breakthrough-for-ad-supported-music.html

-Emilia Segatti

Bye, Bye Lala. Hello Cloud?

Yes, according to the San Francisco Gate, Apple will be closing down Lala for good on May 31st. The decision for many has come unexpectedly, and Apple has the blogsphere questioning their decision to close Lala. Was it because Lala wasn’t generating enough revenue? Was Lala losing customers? Well the San Francisco Gate believes Apple is getting ready to unleash their version of the cloud, but it’s still speculation. It will be a shame if Apple doesn’t make use of the cloud distribution technology Lala has, and incorporates it into iTunes somehow. The only downside I see to Lala closing is that all the users who were loyal to the service will be left without a home. This also makes me wonder what will Pitchfork be using as an alternative source to stream music come May 31st? The “Apple Cloud” saga begins (maybe).

Submitted by: Jarvis R. Smith

Source
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2010/05/01/bloomberg1376-L1RCTK1A74E9-5.DTL