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Where Are All The Vinyl Records Going?
August 15, 2014
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"Well, everybody faces the fact there really aren't many records stores around to just go and browse. Maybe browse online, yet that tactile feel of flipping through a stack of vinyl remains one of life's simple pleasures."
-- ZZ Top's Billy GibbonsWell Billy, for those who still like "flipping through a stack of vinyl,",\ there's a heaven here on earth for them in Brazil.
If you have a collection of old vinyl records you've been hanging on to for some time, just wondering at what point you might want to put it up for sale, then read this story from the New York Times, 'The Brazilian Bus Magnate Who's Buying Up All the World's Vinyl Records.'
From the article, "In an office near the back of his 25,000-square-foot warehouse in São Paulo, Zero Freitas, 62, slipped into a chair, grabbed one of the LPs stacked on a table and examined its track list. He wore wire-rimmed glasses, khaki shorts and a Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt; his gray hair was thin on top but curled along his collar in the back.
Studying the song list, he appeared vaguely professorial. In truth, Freitas is a wealthy businessman who, since he was a child, has been unable to stop buying records. 'I've gone to therapy for 40 years to try to explain this to myself,' he said."He now has over several million albums. Read the article on The New York Times and/or on CNET: A vinyl hoarder ups the ante: Can one man buy all the records in the world?
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GOOGLE WANTS TO SIMPLIFY MUSIC PURCHASESGoogle has begun testing "Listen Now" ad units, along with Spotify, Rhapsody and Apple's Beats Music, to simplify purchases for consumers through an advertisement.
In the 'Listen Now' ad unit, consumers searching for music by an artist can preview a song or songs by clicking on the button that appears in search results, which takes the listener to one of several music services either on desktop and mobile. Read the whole story on MediaPost----------------------------
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MUSIC INDUSTRY CONSIDERING GLOBAL RELEASE DATE FOR ALBUMSFrom Billboard, "The music industry is on the verge of adopting a global street date that could see all countries issuing new releases on a Friday, probably beginning a year from now, in July 2015, according to industry sources.
While some sources say it's a done deal as far as the major labels and the IFPI and RIAA are concerned, other sources insist the issue has yet to be fully decided. The main reason why the industry is moving toward a global street date -- instead of letting each territory pick the day that they feel is best for their respective markets, which is the way it works now -- is to cut down on global piracy." Read the rest: Record Industry Considering a Standard, Global Album Release Day
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HOW BEATS WON THE AUDIO WARThrough a cunning blend of branding, business and celeb endorsements, Beats by Dre has become a major force in today's tech world. CNET's Adventures in Tech explains how.
Read more----------------------------
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AN INDUSTRY INSIDER SAYS STREAMING IS ALREADY PROFITABLEFrom the Hot-Seat, by Thomas McAlevey, CEO, Radical.FM, the recently launched streaming music service (McAlvey is possibly still best known as the founder of Sweden's biggest Rock radio station, Bandi. Mr. McAlevey sold that station to RTL,one of the world's largest media groups in the late '90s) -- Bandit Radio is still on the air today. McAlevey pioneered streaming music with Tomsradio in 1999), come the article 'Streaming Music is Already Profitable ... An industry insider debunks the myths and reveals the future.'
From the article, "A new generation has spoken and Access (streaming any music in the world from 'The Cloud') will win out over Ownership (collecting a finite number of songs as CDs or files) just as Personal Radio (interactive Internet radio streaming) is replacing AM/FM. This is no longer debated by the informed, but accepted as a matter of time. Yet how often must we read that leading streaming music services like Pandora and Spotify are still losing money despite tens of millions of users and hundreds of millions of dollars invested? Journalists worldwide extrapolate from this semi-truth that it is impossible for legal streaming to make money, when the fact is that Pandora and Spotify could be profitable today."
Read the article as originally published on Radical.FM's blog
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MEANTIME, SOME ARTISTS SAY 'SPOTIFY IS KILLING MUSIC'Thanks to reader Anders Bergstrom, for sending me the article 'Is Spotify Killing Music? ... Some artists say the music business has finally figured out a way to survive the Internet: Don't pay the musicians' by Scott Timberg and Kathleen Sharp.
From the article: "Musicians' argument isn't with streaming per se."It's the fact that everyone gets paid except the music creators," said Country singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash, who has recorded 13 albums since the 1970s. "We are creating a culture where content creators are a new servant class, and paid as such." ... Each time a subscriber hears a song on a streaming service, the artist gets only a fraction of a penny. For instance, Spotify, which now lists more than 10 million subscribers, pays a song's copyright holder on average less than $.007 per play, only a portion of which reaches the artist. Last year, David Lowery of the indie rock bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker posted on the Trichordist blog a royalty statement showing that more than a million Pandora plays of the song "Low" earned him, the recording's lead vocalist and one of the song's composers, $16.98. Cash has done a little better: She told a House subcommittee she was paid $114 for 600,000 plays on a site she didn't name."
Read this terrific article on TakepartAND..."Niche jazz and classical label Blue Music Group has withdrawn its music from Spotify citing low royalty payments. Blue Music specializes in music from Scandinavian, one of Spotify's strongest markets. "Having the catalog available at Spotify's pitiful rates -- and we're talking about fractions of cents per streamed song -- kills all chances to produce new fruitful music," says Mika Pohjola, the head of Blue Music Group. Blue Music Group Pulls Music From Spotify Citing "Pitiful" Rates
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INSIDE APPLE'S TRAINING PROGRAMFrom the New York Times comes an article by Brian X. Chen titled 'Simplifying the Bull: How Picasso Helps to Teach Apple's Style ... Inside Apple's Internal Training Program.'
The article gets a glimpse inside Apple's top-secret internal training program, which the tech giant uses to groom new talent, and pass on its core business and design principles. "Although many companies have such internal programs ... Apple's version is a topic of speculation and fascination in the tech world," the NYT reports. "It is highly secretive and rarely written about, referred to briefly in the biography of Mr. Jobs by Walter Isaacson." Read the whole story at The New York Times
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MICROSOFT MIGHT BE LOOKING AT YET ANOTHER MISTAKE WITH WINDOWS PHONESIn his latest quarterly report on the wireless market, mobile industry analyst Chetan Sharma doesn't hold much hope for Windows Phone ever becoming a credible challenger to the dominance of the iPhone and Android-based devices in the smartphone market.
From the article, "Sharma reiterates, however, that problem isn't with the product, or distribution or marketing, but the timing of Microsoft's late entry into the market with Windows Phone. In that way, it's just like June, its failed music player. He suggests Microsoft might be better off "giving up on its device dream and just focus on services on top of the platforms that dominate." (Editor's note: Once again, Microsoft's straying from its core competencies might be the cause of another unsuccessful effort)
He suggests the Microsoft platform is on the verge of getting "Zuned out" of the market -- a term he coined a couple of years ago describing a phenomenon where a tech player, even a dominant one, gets punished for late entry into the market. Read the whole story on MediaPost
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BEST CELEB NEWS ITEM OF THE WEEK
From TheSuperficial.com comes this gem:
"Whoever's Robbing The Kardashians, Don't Stop ... Over the past few months, Kourtney and Khloe Kardashian have been robbed three times – the latest happening just a few days ago – and now all three sisters are refusing to film the upcoming season of 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' because they think the crew is doing it."----------------------------
BETWEEN THE GROOVES ... THE PASSING OF HENRY STONE
Having started my career in the music industry as Capitol Records Florida promotion manager back in the 1970s, I was more than aware of who Henry Stone was, and the magic he created at his label TK Records, which was credited with creating the "Miami Sound" back then. What Henry did with TK Records was create an independent label that was not only successful, it was exciting.
Henry Stone passed away last week, and newsletter reader and old friend Howard Smiley, one of the founders of TK, e-mailed me asking if he might contribute by writing the following about Henry:
Long before there was an organized music industry and before there was TK Records and "The Miami Sound," there was Henry Stone. On the morning of August 8th, Henry Stone passed away at 93. Henry was also the founder of Tone Distribution, the last of the powerhouse independent distributors.
After many successful years as a record distributor, Henry's dream was to start a label just like his idol Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records fame. TK started as a predominately R&B label but for a fleeting moment, along with Casablanca and Salsoul, brought a new musical form, Disco and "The Miami Sound," to the music industry and the public worldwide.
A small group including Steve Alaimo, Gary Schaffer, Janet Oseroff, Fred Rector, and myself, a 23 year old Howard Smiley, started TK Records in the early 1970s in the back of Henry's Tone Distributors warehouse in Hialeah, Florida. TK redefined funky not just musically, but with our own unique, independent culture. TK was responsible one of the world's first global disco hits: George McCrae's genre-defining "Rock Your Baby." Then came KC and The Sunshine Band's "Get Down Tonight," " That's The Way I Like it," and a string of hits using local home grown talent like Betty Wright ("Clean Up Woman"), Timmy Thomas ("Why Can't We Live Together"), Latimore, Bobby Caldwell and others. Those early hits, that netted over 150 million records sold, were recorded in an 8-track studio where the bathroom was used as an echo chamber, and where the Hammond B-3 organ was stationed right above my office.
The beauty of TK was its flexibility; the ability to turn on a dime, respond to trends, make a quick strike both in signing artists, and guiding them through the process, getting product into the market, and on the radio. All of this helped make TK a force in its own right, and lead to a very successful 12-year run. We made deals with and cultivated, independent talent from everywhere; an artist didn't need three lawyers to get an audience, only talent. .
With the opening of the "Get on Up" movie, I'm reminded that TK even had a label deal with Henry's longtime friend from his King Records days, James Brown. They created the Brownstone label and Bobby Byrd was one of our artists. We even had the Allman Brothers, in their formative days, living in a mobile trailer home outside the studio.
In the editing stage there is a feature film produced by Mitch and Debbie Egber, along with director Mark Moormann (Tommy Dowd's documentary), called "Rock Your Baby" about TK, Henry Stone and The Miami Sound. It will be released in 2015.
Henry Stone was a pure "record man" in its rawest form. He started from scratch, selling records out of the trunk of his car. His style allowed and encouraged both his artists and his executives to "do their thing" leaving so many of us a lot of terrific funny stories, proud memories, and better prepared for the future.----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - THE BONUS TRACKSThis Infographic Untangles The Complex Web Of U.S. Music Royalties
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Short News Items ...
HIRE THE HACKERS:
VentureBeat reports At the Black Hat hacker conference last week, noted cyber-security guru Mikko Hypponen spoke about how big changes in the cyber-threat landscape had prompted aerospace and defense contractors like Boeing, Raytheon and Northrup Grumman, all billion-dollar-plus companies, to begin aggressively courting and hiring hackers to buttress their own cyber-defenses. Read More
BUH-BYE MORRISSEY:
Just three weeks after the release of his latest album 'World Peace Is None Of Your Business,' and after Morrissey criticized his label for not doing enough on his behalf, Capitol Records/Harvest have ended their relationship with Morrissey, as directed by label boss Steve Barnett.
WEIR ON HOLD:
Former Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and his band, RatDog, have canceled all of their upcoming tour dates, citing unnamed "circumstances" as the reason, according to a Facebook post by Weir's other group, Furthur. The news affects his U.S. tour, which was set to begin in Boston this week, and an appearance in Jamaica that was set for January 2015.
MUZOOKA MOVES:
Muzooka, a social music discovery and technology platform, today announced a $3 million Series A-1 financing round. Combined with earlier angel investment, it brings total raised to just over $3.6 million. While no details were provided, the company says the round represents the funding of a music tech startup through non-traditional sources outside of Silicon Valley. Founded in 2012, San Francisco-based Muzooka is an online community for artists, fans and producers designed around discovering the best new music.
LAST SEASON STEVIE NICKS, THE NEW ONE HAS LABELLE:
Veteran singer Patti LaBelle will appear in four episodes of the FX anthology series 'American Horror Story: Freak Show' from co-creators Murphy and Brad Falchuk. LaBelle will play the mother of Gabourey Sidibe's character, a townie in 1952 Jupiter, Florida who discover the secrets of Twisty the clown killer. Sadly, the Grammy winner's part will only require her to act; no singing will be involved.
MACCA AXE 2 AUCTION:
A Martin D-28 left-handed guitar signed by Paul McCartney is up for auction, with proceeds going to the Nature Conservancy's African Elephant Initiative. Bidding began on Wednesday on eBay with a starting price of $10,000.
CD BABY ADDS PLAYER:
CD Baby has added free customizable online music players. Users build playlists from any tracks in their CD Baby account and embed them on their sites, as well as those of bloggers and fans. A "buy" button takes fans to CD Baby to complete the transaction.
YOU CAN INVEST IN PONO:
Neil Young raised over $6 million for his high-end music player, Pono, back in April, using a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign that earned nearly eight times its target goal of $800,000. Now Pono is moving from Kickstarter to the investment platform Crowdfunder, offering accredited investors the opportunity to purchase shares in the company for as little as $5,000.
FOR THOSE WHO MIGHT REALLY CARE:
Lil Wayne has finally announced the release date for 'Tha Carter V': October 28th. The rapper took to ESPN's "SportsCenter" on Thursday, Aug. 14th, to reveal the release date and album cover for the anticipated album. (Editor's note: Gee, what an original album title. NOT. )
ONE LESS RIDER IN THE CAB:
Chris Walla -- co-founder, multi-instrumentalist and producer for indie-rock act Death Cab for Cutie -- has announced that he'll leave the band following their current run of festival dates, culminating with a headline performance at Rifflandia in Victoria, British Columbia.
SHE &HIM CLASSICS:
After signing with Columbia Records earlier this summer, She & Him -- the retro, AM radio-influenced pairing of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward -- have announced plans for their major-label debut. 'Classics,' the pair's fifth release, features 13 covers of classic songs, recorded live and accompanied by a 20-piece orchestra. M. Ward, who still maintains a solo career with She & Him's former label, Merge Records, helped arrange string parts for the album, which hits stores in the fall.
SIRI-OUS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE:
Apple Siri, Google Now, and Microsoft Cortana have some serious competition. The Viv Labs engineering team -- the creators of voice assistant Siri -- are at it again. This time the artificial intelligence technology driving the service will bridge contextual gaps in meaning, update and make programming decisions in real-time. Read the whole story
SPOTIFY IS SELLING PRIVATE CONCERTS & MORE:
The streaming music service, after testing out merchandise sales, joins up with Bandpage to sell interaction to fans.
MILLENIALS NOT SO ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT PAY-TV:
Millennials are still buying into pay TV -- but not surprisingly, their numbers are lower than older TV consumers. Just 63% of millennials -- those 18-29 -- have pay TV subscriptions. Seventy-seven percent of 30-49-year-olds have pay TV, and 78% of those 50 and older have a pay TV service, per media research company nScreenMedia. Read the whole story
Leaving Us
Legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams died on Monday, a suspected suicide. He was 63. Read more at TheWrap . "People over here are going, 'What the hell's he doing now?'" said Robin Williams during his career-making 1982 standup special. "Catch up!" That was Williams at his best, writes Rob Sheffield - a wild-eyed one-man comic rampage. Read More
Lauren Bacall, whose sultry looks, husky voice and unique screen presence helped make her a movie icon, has died from a stroke on Tuesday. She was 89. Read more at TheWrap
Quotes of the week
"I'm a woman going into my sixth decade and I want to make music. You know, I don't want to twerk, but I want to stay relevant. If you twerk, you're relevant, right? I suppose I could twerk, but I don't think anyone would enjoy that."
-- Annie Lennox, talking with Rolling Stone contributor Anthony DeCurtis, at a Capitol Records event to premier six songs from her upcoming album 'Nostalgia'"It would be a pity if Eric retires, because, shit, he really plays good! But he's that kind of guy, Eric. I can see him saying, 'I'm going to retire.' He's kind of a homebody in essence. We've talked about this before. I remember him joking about how I stand up for the whole show. He said, 'I sit down.' That's a blues player thing. But he's just too good a player. I would say to him, 'Yeah, by all means, sit down, Eric. But don't retire'."
-- Paul McCartney, commenting on Eric Clapton's comments about retiring."They mostly want autographs now. They don't really bother me anymore for the weed, because you can bust me now and I'll pay my fine or go to jail, get out and burn one on the way home. They know they're not stopping me."
-- Willie Nelson, talking about the law and how he no fears getting busted.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Busch Gardens Unveils New 9,600-Mile-Long Endurance Coaster
TAMPA, FL—Marking a bold new direction in amusement ride innovation, representatives from Busch Gardens officially opened a 9,600-mile-long mega-coaster Thursday designed to push the limits of human endurance.
According to park officials, the Staminator, the world's first transcontinental steel roller coaster, features an intense, 14-day ride that challenges passengers' physical and mental resilience with elements such as a 1,500-mile straightaway, a banked curve across five Midwestern states, and interlocking corkscrews stretching from Nebraska to the West Coast. Read the rest and laugh
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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