modern music marketing

Hillary Rosen wants to help you!

So I'm checking out the new celebrity blog, The Huffington Post, and see an article written by the music business' own version of Katherine Harris, Hillary Rosen. And she's writing about her problems with the iPod!

Here's an excerpt:

I know Steve Jobs is a god. Look, I bowed at his feet when the iPod and iTunes was created because HE GOT THE BALL ROLLING. He is as laconically casually cool as Bono and makes really good cartoon movies too. But keeping the iTunes system a proprietary technology to prevent anyone from using multiple (read Microsoft) music systems is the most anti-consumer and user unfriendly thing any god can do. Is this the same Jobs that railed for years about the Microsoft monopoly? Is taking a page out of their playbook the only way to have a successful business? If he isn’t careful Bill Gates might just Betamax him while the crowds cheer him on. Come on Steve – open it up.

Complete Post on The Huffington Post Website   

Podcast Trouble

At Chicago's WCKG-FM 105.9 radio station, a local radio pro has gotten into trouble for offering podcasts of his show...But this re-purposing of Steve Dahl's show has come to an abrupt halt because of copyright and royalty issues.
Lawyers for station-owner Infinity Broadcasting, a division of Viacom, have determined that the rights agreements covering live streaming of programs do not necessarily cover downloadable versions of those same shows.
The copyright implication of the radio podcasts are interesting: Dahl writes on his site: "The digital copyright laws are ever changing and ever expanding, and quite lucrative. I recommend that area of law to you youngsters out there thinking about going to law school. In the meantime, please forgive me for this little interruption in bringing you the future."
This retreat in Chicago comes as Infinity promotes a format change in San Francisco that will make KYCY-AM "the world's first podcasting radio station."

Sony Gives In

The hostility between the music industry and file sharing networks now seems to be softening. The LA Times is reporting (registration required) that Sony BMG is in negotiations with Grokster to allow free music sampling and offer paid downloads. An AP report on the story can be found here.

Although many of the details are still in flux, people familiar with Mashboxx said that it would probably work like this: When users search for a Sony BMG track, the system will allow them to download only authorized versions of the song. In some cases, these could be free promotional tracks that come with an offer to buy higher-quality renditions of the music. Mashboxx hasn't set any prices. Many online music stores sell songs for 99 cents each.

The idea behind the venture is to let people continue to use file sharing to discover music at no charge, while encouraging them to pay for the songs they want to keep.

The venture is expected to use a version of DRM that has been developed by Snocap Inc., a company founded by Shawn Fanning, creator of the original Napster. Many recording studios are wary of allying with P2P networks where paid downloads could be offered alongside unauthorized copies of the same files. There is also the issue of a network's popularity falling off when once free files are locked up in DRM wrappings. While there still may be many issues that need to be worked out, it is refreshing the industry is looking towards P2P as an alternative sales outlet.

"There's a lot of serious effort on the label side of the table to try to make this work, more than you would have ever expected to see," said one record company executive who asked not to be named. "There's some heavy lifting, but everybody's really talking through the possibilities."

These are strange words to hear from recording industry executives. Even the former head honcho for the RIAA seems to have been enlightened by the clue-by-four. Will the rest of the recording industry start to emerge from their bunkers soon?

first full album on a memory card

EMI and the UK’s biggest mobile communications retailer, The Carphone Warehouse, have teamed up to offer the first full album on a memory card. UK artist Robbie Williams has released his latest album, Robbie Williams Greatest Hits, plus video content, on a tiny stamp-sized gadget that slides into the user’s mobile phone, allowing them to listen to Williams and see videos on their mobile.

Music Promotion Catalogue

The Prisa Group's Music Marketing Winter Catalogue has been released.

There is a warning about adult images and languages. My kind of catalogue!

What Is Podcasting and Why Should You Care?

Amy Gahran has an excellent post called What Is Podcasting and Why Should You Care? She outlines several ways bands can put the technology to good use.

In a nutshell, podcasting is simply online audio content that’s delivered via webfeed. (Background: What’s a webfeed?) Think of it as radio on demand. However, it gives you far more options in terms of content and program style than radio. While the field of radio has generally settled into few established types of programs, podcasting reflects more of the variety that is available on CDs.

Plus, podcasting is like TiVo for radio. That is, you can download whatever programming you want and listen to it whenever and wherever you want. You also generally have full access to the audio archives for the programs you like. This removes time, use, and content restraints.

MTV taps into tech alliances to reach teens

MTV is pursuing a number of partnerships with technology-based companies to become a credible player in teens digital media entertinament market.

Todd Cunningham, senior vp brand strategy and planning, said MTV also is working to expand its gaming business with new alliances, and to launch its digital music download service to give marketers, advertisers and musicians "yet another through line straight to what they (teens) are all about without having to try to create that on their own."

Falling on Def Ears

A great story on Def Jam Enterprises' mobile ambitions...and why not? "I live wireless," said Russell Simmons..."Right now I've got a phone in my ear, a phone in my lap and a BlackBerry in my left hand. That's just what I do."
This month, Simmons will launch Def Jam Mobile, a wireless content platform created in partnership with AGMobile, the wireless services division of greeting card giant American Greetings. The new outfit promises mobile carriers a channel to connect with the urban youth market they have long pursued but never quite reached.
The story gushes a bit, but the going will be difficult in this already crowded market...Def Jam wants to ride its music and hip-hop culture creds and channel that into wireless. Surely, others more younger outfits like Bad Boy Entertainment and Roc-a-Fella wouldn't be far behind...
But it will be an interesting battle to watch..much more than perhaps what we've seen in the music market...

Howard Mandel to hold free professional development lecture for jazz musicians

CHAMBER MUSIC AMERICA PRESENTS JAZZ WRITER AND CRITIC, HOWARD MANDEL, IN A FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR FOR MUSICIANS ABOUT JAZZ MEDIA AND PROMOTION.
Howard Mandel, the renowned jazz writer and critic, will conduct a free professional development workshop for jazz musicians at Chamber Music America in New York City titled “How to Get Your Ensemble Media Attention.” This seminar will offer practical information on the workings of jazz media and effective techniques for promoting one’s own ensemble. Mr. Mandel is the President of the Jazz Journalists Association and editor of its website, www.jazzhouse.org.

The workshop will take place November 9, 1:00–3:00 p.m., at CMA offices at 305 Seventh Avenue, between 27th and 28th Streets, New York NY. Seating is limited; please RSVP by email by Monday, November 8.

For additional information contact Bill Pace, Program Officer, (212) 242-2022 ext. 14

Music marketing has become very complex

via NetFamilyNews

However, even though teenagers won't be scrambling for an iPod sporting the signatures of U2's musicians, this special-edition iPod is very interesting - as part of the ongoing recording-industry-vs.-music-fans debate. One analyst told Wired News he was following this one because he's very curious to see how other bands will work with MP3 player makers as a means of distribution. Music marketing has become very complex - from testing tunes on blogs like MySpace.com to pre-installed playlists on MP3 players - and our teenagers are key targets of all these methods and messages.