With all the internet radio and YouTube stuff happening this week, this news nugget nearly slipped by me: The EFF managed to get a patent revoked that prevented many artists and clubs from offering quick-turnaround CD recordings of live performances.…
Is Simon Cowell More Important to American Music than Bruce Springsteen?
Simon Cowell seems to think so. The American Idol judge reveals in an interview with Anderson Cooper that acts he has signed to Sony BMG have sold more than 100 million records over the past five years. Springsteen, on the…
links for 2007-03-16
Where did the music industry go so wrong? (tags: musicbusiness)
Rules of Engagement for Radio and Independent Labels
A2IM has published the “Rules of Engagement” document that evolved from the settlement agreement with the country’s four biggest radio chains. In some ways, it feels like a throwback to twenty years ago. In the pre-web days, to bend the…
Your Music — At a Church Near You
In Host Your Own Concerts, I wrote about churches as a viable type of venue for concerts you can stage on your own. The trend’s really taking off, with more megachurches hosting evening entertainment. While most of the events are…
The Orchard Teams with Last.fm
Independent media distributor The Orchard has teamed up with social music service Last.fm to make its catalog of over one million tracks available to the service’s users. If you haven’t used Last.fm, you should definitely check it out. While it’s…
links for 2007-03-14
FMQB: The Effect of American Idol on Pop Music (tags: musicbusiness americanidol) Lily Allen slates Apple’s iTunes tactics (British singer Lily Allen has accused Apple of bullying musicians into providing exclusive content for iTunes.) Um, Lily? You have a really…
Quit Yer iTunes Bellyaching
If I see anything else that tries to frame the front of the iTunes Store as a potential scandal, I’m gonna hurl. There’s nothing wrong with iTunes, as a content aggregator, choosing how to allocate its promotional inventory. Brick-and-mortar stores…
Where does college radio fit in to the streaming radio shutdown?
This is where things get very sticky. Until now, college broadcasters were able to pay a flat rate royalty based on the size of their campus and the maximum number of listeners supported by their streaming hardware. I can’t find…
Where the Internet Radio Ruling Comes From
More about the threat to internet radio from our friends at Kurt Hanson’s shop: First, the SoundExchange guys say, “don’t blame us.” And they’re right. Any time I’ve dealt with the folks there, they’ve always been kind, gracious, and really…
Streaming Radio Shutting Down in the U.S.
A few weeks back, I caught a little heat for using the phrase, “selling older music to older people.” I was actually quoting Jimmy Guterman from PaidContent, who was commenting on the aging hipster element at the Grammy Awards. While…
links for 2007-03-10
Bob Baker’s Indie Music Promotion Blog: YouTube, Dating Tips, and Gym Class Heroes As long as you make great video, YouTube offers you a better shot at reaching your perfect audience than MTV. (tags: musicbusiness)