Yes, back when guys like Cousin Brucie and Dick Clark could open a mic and cause a Sam Goody stampede, radio (and TV) could dictate what records flew off store shelves. Not today. Focus groups and sales forecasts determine what…
…whatever will be, will be, if you don’t put your two cents into the latest Capitol Hill copyright fight. The Section 115 Reform Act (SIRA) would revise the way that businesses and consumers pay for the right to make “incidental”…
It’s worth noting that Sandi Thom, whose webcast concerts from her basement caught the attention of RCA/SonyBMG last week, had a publicity company working the press angle. That’s not to say her story isn’t legit or success is undeserved, but…
Here’s a cool article on Brit Daniels and his band Spoon, and his workman-like approach to music: The singer-guitarist-songwriter says his years intently listening to radio hits were like “extensive research.” Knowing from the beginning that he cared most about…
Like its pop counterpart American Idol, the show Nashville Star has failed to produce country superstars as first expected. Second season winner Brad Cotter was dropped from his label after his post-NS release only sold 128,000 copies. (Is it me,…
Thousands of artists use CD Baby’s digitial distribution program to get their music into iTunes, Rhapsody and other digital stores. Today, CD Baby posted a streamlined version of their DD agreement. Among the changes are: improved readability, ringtones and an…
Here’s a report that American Idol finalists typically have poor record sales and that labels are hesitant to offer contracts to former AI contestants. Of course, “poor record sales” can mean different things to different people: Second-season singer, third-place finisher…
Created in 2003 to prevent the music industry from losing money on illegal downloading, iTunes has since sold one billion songs on its online music store. It offers individual songs for 99 cents, and, curiously, after paying off its partners,…
Apparently there are some lines even the most strapped-for-cash indie bands won’t cross. Case in point: the ad agency for GM’s Hummer SUV is happy to offer upwards of $50,000 in exchange for using songs in Hummer ads, if only…
Reuters UK reported last Wednesday that Swiss and Belgian police shut down part of the eDonkey file-sharing network, a move which elicited a great deal of praise from Hollywood. The network, which makes movies and music available for free downloading,…
Science confirms what we musicians know in our hearts, even if we don’t want to believe it: the social influence of peers affects your taste in music. Researchers at Columbia University observed that listeners who could see what music their…
Apple’s iTunes service, which currently has a 70-80 percent share of legal digital music sales, might not be in the lead for long. Separately, Amazon and Google are talking with industry executives to come up with alternate downloading services that…
After a Bogota, Colombia, bombing three years ago that killed 36 people and injured more than 100, Colombian musician Cesar Lopez conceived the idea of this shotgun-guitar to protest violence. Lopez has handmade five shotgun-guitars so far, and the Colombian…
An interesting article that came across my radar this weekend: How to Get (and Not Get) the Attention of a Music Journalist. Some artists seem to get obsessed with getting press — any press, in any publication. While seeing your…
Technically, it could fall under the category of “freedom of expression,â€?? but music whose sole purpose is to attract their fans to hate groups? “Uprise 2006,â€?? a concert bringing people together to support the superiority of the white race, was…
Back in the mid-90s, Boston singer-songwriter Jen Trynin was the subject of a major label bidding war. A few years and two unsuccessful albums later, Trynin left the major label game, went back to school and into hiding for awhile.…
With technology’s turn toward making everything digital, there are many laws and regulations that all labels have to follow. But one organization – VUT, the German association for Independent Labels – has recently launched a campaign to “ Respect the…
From now on, you’ll be able to buy CD Baby albums through BestBuy.com or in the store itself. For those of you unfamiliar with CD Baby, it’s an online record store based out of Oregon that sells CDs by independent…
A Houston Chronicle article on Saturday, February 4, 2006, announced that Cactus Music & Video, a large Indie music retailer run by brothers Bud and Don Daily for the last 31 years, will close for good on March 31. With…
she can keep rejecting the people who brought her into the limelight. (I’ll let her keep the credit for her Grammy nominations.) With the 5th season of American Idol under way, Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season, has…
It’s not often that I see a blog post that draws public responses from the brass at hot indie labels like Merge and Secretly Canadian. Patrick Monaghan of Carrot Top Distribution was dismayed to discover CDs from Merge and SC…
If you wait by the phone for the day that someone calls you and tells you that with a $5,000+ deposit, they’ll make you famous and distribute your music on radio stations worldwide, do your research before signing over the…
There’s no way to compete with people who are downloading music illegally, so why not team up with the system so the songs that people download could be yours? Indie distributor Jeff Price, who started TuneCore, uses digital distribution to…
Ever hear that iPods and other mp3 players are dangerous ? Well, they are. Or, they *can be* if you don’t know how to use them appropriately. In the news these days: the kinds of headphones that often come with…
Nature reports that, despite bloodshed and intense public rivalry, pretty much every professional rapper is connected to every other professional rapper by three degrees of separation. In fact, if you are Snoop Dogg, you are actually caught in a vortex…
Don’t piss off the Deadheads.
Britain’s Association for Independent Music is launching a less expensive mechanical license arrangement for “bedroom” podcasters that opens up access to a small number of current tracks. The biggest problem for podcasters that want to play music is the licensing…
Have I been drinking the same Kool Aid as the founder of Elektra Records, Jac Holzman? Cordless, his new skunk works project deep in the bowels of Warner Music Group, marks a return to artist development and smart audience growth.…
I finally have a computer that works, with no creaking hard drive, and has not self-immolated (knock wood) and SonyBMG wants to install backdoors on it? Uh, no. I will not be putting any SonyBMG discs into my pristine optical…
Almost two years ago, David Hooper and I hosted a conference call where we vowed not to shut up until we answered everyone’s questions. So, we went for almost SEVEN HOURS. You can see some of the callers’ comments here.…
The Inc. (formerly Murder, Inc.) fights allegations of money laundering, shady accounting, hidden files… and one guy that was found in a vacant lot “embedded with nails.” We knew that keeping margins high in the record label business was tough,…
Even though some of my British clients don’t always see it that way, I love to point out that the ravenous appetite in the UK for singles (and the relatively small number of sales it takes to get on the…
Proof that if you’re a really good guitar tech, your work pays off. And people ask me why I moved to Athens.
The new Fiona Apple record is finally hitting the streets after six years! As we’ve discussed here before, it probably wouldn’t even have seen the light of day without significant support from her audience, even though many of the parties…
Remember when Trump kept telling the project manager on last week’s Apprentice not to bring a certain person into the boardroom? And he said it again and again? And the dude brings that guy back anyway, so Trump fires him…
The inevitable happened. Now, what will I use as my example of the world’s worst club bathroom in my live seminar?
An indie artist’s manager makes some interesting allegations in this press release that a prominent Orlando radio program director guaranteed airplay on his station in exchange for points on a record’s major label re-release, plus $15,000 in advance. The manager’s…
Garagespin talks with Patrick Koppula, COO of GarageBand about some new production and distribution tools for their artists. [ tx, Digital Music Weblog ]
Bob Moog lost his tragic battle with a brain tumor over the weekend. When we first posted the story of his illness, it was wonderful to see the outpouring of support on his family’s weblog. Truly wonderful that he was…
Slate discovers that metal has been been hiding just under the radar, like our friends in Music Hates You.
Shane Fontayne provides a first hand account of the attempted carjacking that almost took Marc Cohn’s life. Long time spinme.com readers know the rant I’m about to go on here…
You work for a huge label? And you get to go on lavish trips with radio folks so they’ll play your songs? Tell me more! Do you mind if I get my notebook? The girls at the office will just…
Trying something new — posting newsletter archives in the blog for the benefit of our RSS audience!
“WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET AUDIOSLAVE ON WKSS THIS WEEK?!!?” That’s one of the e-mails that New York State’s Attorney General cited in his agreement with Sony/BMG to end the practice of radio “flyaways” and other indirect…
I keep yammering on about the importance of band agreements — not just for what can happen to you if you don’t have one, but what can happen if you don’t honor one. Two former members of the Doors found…
Ashanti just lost a lawsuit and must pay her demo producer over $600,000 in damages. Why? Because said producer was promised in the demo contract that he could produce two tracks on her first major label release. Ashanti apparently failed…
To folks who were asking me what could possibly happen to MySpace… um… FOX could always buy it? Fox Buys Intermix: Some Background on MySpace (Is it me, or does it feel like 1998-99 these days?)
Alexis Petridis writes a superb column for the Guardian about the steps that musicians have to take before releasing a major label record. It’s not just about the music, it’s about branding, and fashion, and all of the other subconscious…
That synth you’ve been lugging around from gig to gig wouldn’t be here without the early work of Bob Moog. Bob’s been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, and recuperating with the help of friends and family. His loved ones…
I got a couple of interesting e-mails today. One from a band who added me to their list without asking, which contained some profanity. I grew up in a working class neighborhood adjacent to Philadelphia, so I can tolerate more…