I’ve written in the past about the music business major degree programs popping up at colleges and universities all over the United States. While it still worries me that we may be creating a bigger supply of would-be music managers…
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News
Chris Brown gets uncomfortable on Good Morning America
Have I mentioned lately that I love subscribing to the Wall Street Journal, if only because it subsidizes Speakeasy? It’s my favorite pop culture blog of the moment, because it’s got such a wry sensibility while filtering the insanity of…
The Orchard Lays off 20% of Staff, CEO Exits
It’s hard to read the tea leaves on this one, since this company has survived and evolved through things far worse than this: CEO Greg Scholl is leaving the company, which is also laying off one-fifth of its team. News…
No American Idol Songwriter Competition for 2009
Andy Dehnart at Reality Blurred confirmed with both Fox and with American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi that there will be no American Idol songwriting competition this year. In fact, Andy’s report indicates that Kara herself will be taking on the…
Lou Pearlman Can Buy His Way Out of Jail
All of Lou Pearlman’s crazy schemes have finally earned him something — 25 years in jail. Here’s someone who was, at best, a shrewd but successful music manager who bilked artists out of earnings and sought to get his company…
Bebo Sale Spotlights Online Music Licensing Controversy
Two years ago, as Billy Bragg tells it, the founder of British social networking site Bebo came to him for advice about avoiding the same music licensing pitfalls that Bragg had railed about during the evolution of MySpace. As I…
SXSW in the Wall Street Journal
Jim Fusilli offers a great write-up of his experience last week in Austin, where Daniel Auerbach from the Black Keys tells him that SXSW “has morphed into something else.” Twenty-one years after the first festival, it’s now an overstuffed parade…
There was that one time I took the summer off and the record industry exploded…
Quick housekeeping: 1. Yes, posting’s light because I actually accepted a cushy corporate gig that’s only marginally related to the recording industry. I’m having a blast, and that’s helping me love music again. Truth be told, I was dangerously close…
Burnlounge Really Is a Pyramid Scheme, Says FTC in Lawsuit
While I was away, David and Bob both covered the announcement from the Federal Trade Commission, confirming what we already knew. Burnlounge has barely sold any actual songs, and pretty much all of the money it ever generated was from…
Lou Pearlman at Large
Depending on whom you speak to, Lou Pearlman‘s been guilty of swindling money from people for years. When Lori and I lived in Orlando, his Trans Continental Entertainment organization cast a shadow over the entire region’s creative scene. Pearlman often…
Where can you still make money in the music business?
While our regular readers ask me that question all the time, another group of people is just as curious about the answer — Wall Street. Clem Chambers from the investment website ADVFN offers a guest commentary in Forbes Magazine about…
links for 2007-04-06
Nine Inch Nails Tell a Transmedia Story (tags: musicbusiness) Animal Video Stuns McGraw and Hill on Tour Another reason why stage visuals should always be a group decision. (tags: musicbusiness) The Music industry: spinning into oblivion (tags: musicbusiness)