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CNET ASKS 'DOES IT STILL MAKE SENSE TO BUY MUSIC?'
April 19, 2013
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. 24 years working in executive promotion capacities at both Capitol Records and at Universal Studios' MCA Records. Recognized as one of the industry's top professionals.
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Why deal with all the hassles of buying and maintaining a music library when you can get nearly everything you want online?
While I myself have a fairly good-sized library of several hundred CDs, I find myself only listening to greatest hits compilations and true legendary albums (e.g, Dark Side Of The Moon, Sgt. Pepper, et al) most often. Many of my CDs I own are just gathering dust at this point because I listen to so much music online and hear the artists I sometimes forget about, or just don't listen to often enough. So yes, my own purchases of new music have decreased dramatically. (The last CD I bought, was again, a great ALBUM ... Adele's '21')
In any case, this is the question CNET asks this week. Read more
I mentioned, I listen to a lot of music online, and apparently according to new data from a variety of sources (some already reported in the newsletter previously), and it looks like that trend will continue as more companies build online music services.
Read "Why everybody's building a Web music service" on CNN
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2A FREE YOUTUBE GUIDE TO MAXIMIZING ONLINE AUDIENCE
YouTube has just released a lengthy, detailed guide for cultivating a serious, engaged audience.
It's a 40-page guide that includes everything from the optimizing your videos for better discovery, to determine the best timing for your uploads. download the PDF
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
APPLE CLOSING IN ON ITS ONLINE RADIO DEALSApple is reportedly close to signing its first Web radio licensing agreement with Universal Music Group.
The record company has reached the "final stages" of its negotiations with Apple, and Warner Music is close behind, sources tell The Verge. "Apple is expected to launch a web radio service similar to Pandora's later this year, provided that executives there can strike an agreement with Sony Music Entertainment as well as music publishers."
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
TWITTER REALIZES (FINALLY) MUSIC IS VALUABLEThe new Twitter Music has a beautiful, intuitive interface -- songs arranged in iTunes-style wallpaper squares, begging to be clicked.
Launched this week, the browser app promises more followers for artists if they're smart with social media. If only it worked properly.
Read More
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
CHECK OUT CD BABY PRO
Every time your music is played on the radio, streamed on the Internet, purchased in a foreign country, or performed in a live venue, you are owed additional publishing royalties.Unfortunately, independent artists are usually unable to collect this income on their own. That's why CD Baby Pro was created.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 6
ROLLING STONE PICKS THE MUST-HAVE RELEASES FOR RECORD STORE DAYA limited-edition David Bowie single, Elliott Smith outtakes and a Mumford & Sons live EP are among the must-haves set to go for the latest Record Store Day on Saturday.
Fans of the Grateful Dead, MGMT and Tegan and Sara will want to hit their favorite store, too. Read More
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 7
APPLE IS STILL #1 IN THE MUSIC DOWNLOAD MARKETA new NPD Group report shows that while Apple iTunes still dominates the digital music download market with 63%, AmazonMP3 continued to increase its market share and now has over 22% of the market.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 8
IF YOU HAVE COMCAST CABLE, READ THISComcast "has started to alert its customers in some markets that it is about to encrypt their basic cable signals, forcing them to order a digital adapter if they want to continue to receive basic programming through the service," writes Janko Roettgers.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 9
GOOGLE'S CHROMEBOOK ... NO IMPACT YETHow is Google's Chromebook doing? Judging by some the latest usage statistics, not very well. In its first week of monitoring worldwide usage of Google's Chrome OS, NetMarketShare reports that the percentage of Web traffic from Chromebooks was roughly 1% -- a figure too small to earn a place on its reports.
As such, it looks like the Chromebook "has fallen victim to the same malaise that's affected Windows PCs and Macs," ZDNet reasons.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - BONUS TRACKS* 10 Hot Tablets That Will Top the Charts in 2013
* Looking for inexpensive headphones that sound decent for the money? Here are CNET's top bargain picks. Read more
* Things to think about when buying speakers
Our first-ever 5-star TV is the one you should buy
* How to hook up a subwoofer to a stereo system
* As PC sales tank, what's Microsoft's Plan B?
* Windows 8, take 2? Let's see Start button, boot to desktop ... Microsoft may be moving toward bringing back the Start button and allowing users to boot straight to the desktop with its coming Windows 8.1 release later this year.
* Apple to sell 75 million low-cost iPhones next year, says analyst
* Grab a peek at the season's hottest new tech
Short News Items ...
QUESTIONABLE LYRICS COST ROSS AN ENDORSEMENT:
The controversial lyrics to the new Rick Ross song "U.O.E.N.O.," which seemed to brag about rape, have cost the rapper a big endorsement. "At this time, it is in everyone's best interest for Reebok to end its partnership with Mr. Ross," the shoe company said in a statement.
A REAL BOB SEGER FAN:
A 79-year-old Michigan woman woke up from a five-year coma last week with one request: to see a Bob Seger concert. As luck would have it, Bob is on a relatively rare tour, and she went backstage to meet him.
BIEBER BOO-BOOS BIG TIME:
Justin Bieber is taking lots of heat for the comment he made last week that if Anne Frank had not died a teenager in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, he hopes she would have been his devoted fan. That's what Bieber, 19, wrote in the guestbook at the Anne Frank House when he visited there last Friday, according to the Amsterdam site. Needless to say, reaction was overwhelmingly negative.
ISN'T IT GREAT?
There was an overwhelming absence of online chatter about the MTV video awards this past Sunday. How refreshing.
STILL MORE BEACH BOYS:
It's an endless summer indeed. The Beach Boys are releasing a compilation of tracks from their 50th anniversary reunion tour last year. 'Live – The 50th Anniversary Tour' will be a two-disc collection featuring 41 recordings taken from last year's massive world tour, featuring classics such as "Surfin' USA," "Good Vibrations" and "Wouldn't It Be Nice," along with their cover of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" and cuts from their latest album, That's Why God Made the Radio, which brought the band back together.
N'AWLINS VOODOO:
Nine Inch Nails and Pearl Jam are among the names set for the Voodoo Music and Arts Experience this November. Paramore, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Gaslight Anthem and Calvin Harris are also slated to perform at the New Orleans festival, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
OUTSIDE LINEUP:
Paul McCartney, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Phoenix and D'Angelo are among the top performers set to play at this year's Outside Lands Festival, taking place at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park August 9th through 11th. This year's lineup will also feature performances from Kaskade, Pretty Lights, Vampire Weekend, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the National, Hall and Oates, Jurassic 5, Willie Nelson and Family, Grizzly Bear, Gary Clark Jr., Wavves, Dawes, A-Trak and many more.
IT'S GOOD TO BE THE KING, DEPT:
Robert Downey Jr. was paid a whopping $50 million to appear as Iron Man Tony Stark in last year's summer blockbuster "The Avengers," according to a recent interview with GQ.
IT'S GOOD TO BE THE QUEEN, DEPT:
On April 5th, Christina Aguilera purchased a $10 million Beverly Hills estate previously held by Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.
CRAZY HORSE'S LAST?
Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro has been playing music with Neil Young for 40 years, and he thinks their current tour might be the last. "I hate saying their ages," he tells Rolling Stone from his home in Hawaii, "but I'm 64 and I'm the baby."
"SWEET CAROLINE" IN TRIBUTE TO BOSTON:
Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" played at major league baseball parks coast-to-coast last night in a tribute to the city of Boston, which is continuing to recover after bombings Monday afternoon killed three people and injured 176 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Diamond's 1969 song has been playing before the bottom of the eighth inning at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox, at every game since 2002: As much as the Red Sox are historically a symbol of pride and unity in Boston, "Sweet Caroline" has become an unbreakable ritual at Fenway Park.
WANNA' FEEL OLD? IT WAS 22 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK:
Twenty-two years ago tonight, Nirvana debuted an in-progress song called "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at the OK Hotel in Seattle.
FAITH NO MORE ON FOOTBALL:
When Sunday Night Football returns this fall, it will be without Faith Hill, The Hollywood Reporter confirms. Since 2007, the Country singer has sung the opening theme for NBC's primetime football program, a reworked version of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You." It was Hill's decision to exit after six seasons.
THE TAXMAN COMETH:
Documents show Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill failed to file tax returns for three years, 2005 through 2007, during which time she earned more than $1.8 million. Hill already pled guilty to tax evasion in June 2012 and could face prison time -- up to three years. Sentencing is scheduled for April 22ns, reports TMZ on the eve of tax day for U.S. citizens.
Leaving Us
Songwriter George Jackson, who co-wrote the Bob Seger hit "Old Time Rock and Roll" and The Osmonds' chart-topper "One Bad Apple," has died. He was 68. Jackson died Sunday morning at his home in Ridgeland, MSi, near Jackson, according to Thomas Couch Sr., the chairman of Malaco Records. Jackson had been suffering from cancer, Couch said.
Jonathan Winters, the comedian known for his work in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and "Mork & Mindy," among many other projects, died last Thursday night at his home in Montecito, Calif.. He was 87. Full story at TheWrap
Deftones bass guitarist Chi Cheng died Sunday morning, five years after a car crash left him in a coma, his mother announced. He was 42.
Quotes of the week
"On that third Band record ('Stage Fright'), it was pretty much over. It was obviously a goddamn screw-job. The credits and the money and everything was all screwed up. After that, it was 'the Band plays your favorites,' 'the Band live somewhere,' because we couldn't get in there and collaborate anymore. It lasted about five years, but it was over after that second record."
-- The late Levon Helm, in the documentary about 'I Ain't In It for My Health'"I'd love to be Neil's friend. We're great friends on some level and great acquaintances and musical partners on some level, but I can't call Neil my friend. I have never had his cell phone number. That's a small detail, but very deep."
-- Graham Nash, talking about Neil Young, in Rolling Stone"I was in a very dark place and was an asshole to the people I love most, my family. However, I am happy to say that I am now 44 days sober."
-- Ozzy Osbourne, apologizing on Facebook this week for his "insane behavior" while drinking and taking drugs over the past-year-and-a-half, posting a note in which he also denied that he's splitting from his wife Sharon. (Ozzie, you've always been insane, no need to apologize anymore)
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Justin Bieber Fan Jealous Of Anne Frank
Read the rest here and laugh: Click Here.
The Music Industry Past, Present & Future, And The Internet I answer questions on EconTalk
I did an interview about the industry and the Internet at EconTalk with host Russ Roberts. Russ is also a professor of economics at George Mason University, blogs at Cafe Hayek, and has written three novels that teach economics. He's also the co-creator of the Keynes-Hayek rap video. (And if your understanding of the economic meltdown that occurred needs to be enlightened, this video will do it)
In the interview we talk about the evolution of the music industry, the impact of the digital revolution, and I give my reasons for believing in the virtues and potential of the Internet in enhancing the music industry. I point out, as I have many times here in the newsletter, that the internet allows numerous artists to make money from their music and it can enhance revenues from live performances by expanding an artist's base. We also discuss the challenges facing record companies and I suggest that the full potential of the Internet as a distribution channel has yet to be fully exploited. There's a lot of ground covered, but based on the comments already posted of those who have tuned in, they've enjoyed it.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Smart Marketing Consulting Services
Smart Marketing Consulting Services has been in business sixteen years, and consults clients in the music, entertainment, attraction, media, and technology industry on branding, marketing, online exploitation, maximizing new media, and more.
"And the beat goes on, the beat goes on ... drums keep poundin' rhythm to the brain."
"Work is life, you know, and without it, there's nothing but fear and insecurity." -- John Lennon
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