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NOW THERE'S A GOOGLE 'ALL ACCESS' STREAM
May 17, 2013
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"Number one, cash is king ... number two, communicate ... number three, buy or bury the competition."
-- Jack Welch, chairman and CEO of General Electric between 1981 and 2001. During his tenure at GE, the company's value rose 4000%The streams are flowing.
The streams are flowing.
With music services, that is. It seems there lots of gold to be found in those waters. And oh yeah, the competition just got very serious. Google is "suiting up" to win.
Taking on Spotify and other streaming music services, "Google has now signed separate licensing deals with Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment for both YouTube and Google Play, setting the stage for such an announcement," The Verge reported early in the week.
"Google plans to add separate music subscription services to YouTube and Google Play, the entertainment hub for the Android operating system." Read the whole story
From CNN, "All Access will combine the millions of songs in the Google library with users' own music collections, which can be uploaded to Google Play. The service will work on the Web and on mobile devices." Read more on CNN here: Google announces music service
From Rolling Stone, "Where All Access may stand apart from other, similar services is in its ability to find music that is unfamiliar to the listener. All Access "blends" users' music libraries with Google's extensive databank, and it harnesses Google's wide user data to offer personal suggestions and predict direct hits based on past history, social circles and additional collected information."
Read more on Rolling Stone here: Google Launches 'All Access' Music Subscription Service
And from CNET, 'Google beats Apple to it with streaming music service.' With its $9.99/month service, the tech powerhouse makes its first move into a space already occupied by the likes of Pandora, Spotify, and possibly, Apple." Google rolls out ambitious streaming music play
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
WILL YOU PAY FOR YOUTUBE CONTENT?Almost none of YouTube's most popular stars made the list of initial partners -- nor did most of the biggest multi-channel networks
Full story at TheWrap.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
CHECK OUT THIS CLIP FROM 'THE TONIGHT SHOW,' AND SEE A COUPLE BETTER THAN MOST CONTESTANTS ON ANY CURRENT TV SINGING COMPETITIONFrom MSN, "We've all gotten used to those ubiquitous pump-topping TV screens that scream inane chatter at us while we wait for our hilariously overpriced gas to top up. But what if one of them started talking directly at you?
Such is the nature of this 'Tonight Show' prank, in which a talking head on a gas pump screen charmingly bantered with Will Sims. Sims took the prank in-stride (we would have screamed "Big Brother is watching!" and fled the scene) and then, with the help of his wife, Monifa, the couple dipped into some impromptu karaoke with more charisma and musical talent than an episode of "American Idol." Well played, guys! People -- the best thing about the world."
Watch it and watch part 2 when Jay brings them on the show!
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
AMAZON EXPANDING?The Wall Street Journal reports that Amazon.com Inc. is extending beyond its selection of Kindle devices and is developing a wide-range of gadgets, which includes two smartphones and an audio-only streaming device.
One of the devices is a high-end smartphone having a screen that permits for 3D images without glasses, people familiar with the company's plans said. Read more
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
THE ONGOING SAGA OF NETWORK TV's DECLINEHow important are this week's upfronts to the Big 4 networks? Very.
Ad dollars are shifting to cable and mainstay hit programs like 'American Idol' and 'Dancing with the Stars' have seen declines in ratings. The pressure to perform big and snag a portion of the $9 billion advertising pie is tremendous.
"The networks are getting picked at from every direction," said Jessica Reif Cohen, the senior media analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "While broadcast networks were setting record lows, cable channels were setting record highs; AMC's "The Walking Dead" and the History mini-series "The Bible" regularly beat almost all the shows on network television while they were on," said The New York Times.
And to create new ancillary revenue streams, networks will have to do more. Beginning this summer, TNT and TBS will start to live stream their programming online and the new Watch TNT and Watch TBS apps.
Available to both cable and satellite subscribers, live streaming will include original TV shows as well as sporting events. According to Adage, "the announcement comes on the heels of a similar initiative out of ABC, which earlier this week introduced the Watch ABC app, which lets cable and satellite TV subscribers to stream ABC's live signal to mobile devices."
Full story at TheWrap.----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - BONUS TRACKS
* First Music Video From Space? Astronaut Chris Hadfield Sings 'Space Oddity'
* Seven Ways iTunes Changed the Music Industry
* Americans Hate Justin Bieber, Love Adele: Poll
* The 16 best gadgets you can buy. Period.
* 15 Ways To Keep Your Music Career (And Creativity) Moving Forward
* Windows Blue gets official name: Windows 8.1
* Nine fantastically dirt-cheap smartphones
* A sterling system for surround sound devotees
* 26 great headphones for less than $100* Samsung Electronics announced that it has successfully engineered the world's first adaptive array transceiver technology functioning in the millimeter-wave Ka bands designed for cellular communications, which resides at the core of 5G mobile communications system and will offer data transmission close to a few hundred times faster as compared to current 4G networks. Read more
* From a car that defied everyone's expectations to a megazoom camera photographers will love, CNET's editors found a lot to be excited about in the last few days. Read more
* In what could prove to be a minor setback for Facebook's mobile ambitions, the HTC First -- the first smartphone to run Facebook Home -- is reportedly toast. "Sales of the HTC First have been shockingly bad," BGR reports, citing a source. "So bad, in fact, that AT&T has already decided to discontinue the phone." AT&T reportedly sold fewer than 15,000 units nationwide through last week. Read the whole story
* They have released an updated version of the Wimbo Music app with another free song that you will love playing along with. They call it "Southern Rock" and it's in the style of the Allman Brothers Band. It includes three guitar tracks, an organ track, an awesome lead sax, bass and drums. Download the update here: http://bit.ly/10qt7gR
Short News Items ...
MACCA, MILES & JIMI?
It's long been known that Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis were making plans to record together the year before Hendrix's death in 1970, but it turns out the pioneering guitarist and jazz trumpeter were hoping that Paul McCartney would join them on bass. Hendrix, Davis and jazz drummer Tony Williams sent a telegram on Oct. 21, 1969, to the Beatles' Apple Records, hoping to get McCartney in for a session. "We are recording an LP together this weekend in New York [sic]," reads the note, according to The Associated Press. "How about coming in to play bass stop call Alan Douglas 212-581-2212. Peace Jimi Hendrix Miles Davis Tony Williams." Jimi Hendrix Sought Paul McCartney for Supergroup with Miles Davis
GRAMMY DATES:
The Recording Academy has set dates for the annual Grammy Awards ceremony for 2014 and 2015. Next year's Grammys will be held January 26th and will return to Los Angeles' Staples Center. The 2015 Grammys have been set for February 8th. CBS will broadcast both awards shows live.
MORE BOSTON SUPPORT:
Bruce Springsteen and the Dropkick Murphys have teamed up on an EP to benefit victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. The three-song EP, available now through iTunes, features Springsteen's vocals on a new version of the Dropkick Murphys song' "Rose Tattoo," along with live acoustic versions of "Don't Tear Us Apart" and "Jimmy Collins's Wake," which the band recorded live in Las Vegas just four days after the April 15th terrorist attack.
CEELO REALITY:
CeeLo Green will star in a TBS reality show tentatively titled 'The CeeLo Life.' The network has ordered six episodes of the unscripted series, which will follow CeeLo as he tackles not only a packed schedule of producing, recording and performing, but also a creative partnership with his longtime best friends -- Big Gipp, Khujo and T-Mo -- as they prepare to bring their legendary hip-hop group Goodie Mob back to the world stage. (Maybe this should be title, "Cee How Low Reality Can Go?") CeeLo is also expected to return to "The Voice" for season 5.
CHRISTINA'S PAYCHECK:
Christina Aguilera has signed her contract to return to the NBC talent competition, an individual with knowledge of the deal has told TheWrap. According to the insider, Aguilera's return has been kept under wraps for a couple of months.The pop diva will be paid $12.5 million for Season 5, said the executive with knowledge of the deal.
HERE COMES STEPHEN KING, MELLENCAMP AND T-BONE:
"'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County," a "southern gothic, supernatural musical" written by Stephen King, with music by John Mellencamp and T Bone Burnett, will go on a 20-city tour beginning Oct. 10 in Bloomington, IN, and ending Nov. 6th in Grand Rapids, MI.
DYLAN THE FIRST:
Bob Dylan was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters this week, marking the first time a musician has been tapped as an honorary member for the prestigious award.
WELL, DUH! THEY'RE DUMPING THEM:
When Fox introduced the stars of its unscripted shows at its upfront presentation to advertisers Monday, none of the 'American Idol' judges were among them.
WILLIE, CAROLE, ANNIE GET DEGREES:
Willie Nelson joined Annie Lennox and Carole King in accepting honorary degrees at Berklee College of Music over the weekend. At Friday's Commencement Concert, Nelson performed with graduating seniors and old friend Kris Kristofferson joined him onstage.
NEVER MIND THE MURALS, HE'S SCARY:
Chris Brown has drawn criticism from his neighbors over the murals he had painted on a curbside wall at his home in the Hollywood Hills.
SETH IT IS:
Seth Meyers will be taking up Jimmy Fallon's post at Late Night as Fallon moves on to The Tonight Show, NBC announced today. The current Saturday Night Live "Weekend Update" anchor will be following a path cleared by Fallon, who made the same jump from SNL's news desk four years ago.
FOGERTY BIRTHDAY CONCERT:
John Fogerty will give a rare, one-off performance at Los Angeles' El Rey Theatre on May 28th to celebrate both his birthday and the release of his new album, Wrote a Song for Everyone. A limited number of presale tickets for members of Fogerty's fan club will be available starting on May 14th on his website; the show will be filmed and broadcast live on AXS TV starting at 8:30 p.m. PST.
BIEBER CONCERT BENJAMINS STOLEN:
A band of thieves reportedly stole an estimated $330,000 in cash earnings from a Justin Bieber concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, this past Sunday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
ANOTHER SMALL SIGN OF INTELLIGENT LIFE IN THE U.S.A.:
ABC is condensing 'Dancing With the Stars' to one night next season, Mondays.
BUH-BYE, BILL:
Bill Hader, the man of a thousand voices and an inability to keep a straight face, will be leaving "SNL" after eight seasons. Hader's final episode will be the season finale airing on Saturday, which will be hosted by Ben Affleck.
DRE AND IOVINE DONATE:
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine are giving $70 million to the University of Southern California in Los Angeles to establish a four-year undergraduate program for students interested in a mix of the arts, visual design, entrepreneurship, computer science and marketing.
MORE STONES VINYL COMING:
As the Rolling Stones roll on with their '50 and Counting' tour, fans will get a chance to own three of the band's classic albums on clear vinyl later this month. ABKCO is readying remastered versions of 1968's 'Beggars Banquet', 1969's 'Let It Bleed' and the 1971 double-LP hits collection 'Hot Rocks 1964–1971' – all on 180-gram clear vinyl.
50 BILLION AND COUNTING:
CNET reports that Apple's App Store reached another major landmark, amassing 50 billion app downloads, according to the countdown timer on Apple's Web site and in iTunes.
WILL.I.AM. IS BUSY:
Will.i.am received an Honorary Clio Award Wednesday night for his work with brands like Coca-Cola, Intel and Beats by Dre. But he's also hard at work shaping another blockbuster brand -- Britney Spears, whose upcoming eighth studio album he's executive producing.
Leaving Us
Radio lost a true legend on Thursday. Top 40 radio pioneer Paul Drew died of natural causes in Glendale, California. He was 78.
Paul's radio career is known by all who worked in the music industry and had the opportunity to promote their music to him, and by all the music and program directors who worked at stations Paul consulted, or stations he oversaw in various capacities.
I had the privilege of meeting Paul when I worked in National Promotion for Capitol Records, and my boss, Capitol's VP/ Promotion, Bruce Wendell, introduced me to him. Paul was interviewing Paul McCartney while the 'Wings Over America' Tour took the U.S. by storm, and was going to many of the shows.I spoke to Paul on very few occasions, but his passion for radio and the record industry was always apparent in every conversation. I remember telling people "Drew makes us better promotion people ... and he makes his radio people better at what they do as well."
I always wanted to talk with Paul Drew longer every time we did have a conversation, but Paul was a busy man, always on the move ... but always a professional and a gentleman.
In addition to countless friends and colleagues, Paul is survived by his former wife, Ann. Funeral arrangements are private.
Quotes of the week
"I think I wore it better!"
-- Robin Williams, comparing his floral Mrs. Doubtfire ensemble to Kim Kardashian's Met Gala gown, on Twitter."One of our shows this year was written by a third-grade class, and your job is to figure out which one."
-- Jimmy Kimmel, joking at the highlight of ABC's upfront presentation to advertisers."We said we're done and we're done. If we honestly thought there was a chance of a reunion tour, we might have said so at the time."
-- R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills on any sort of reformation
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Lindsay Lohan's Rehab Stint Off To Great Start -- And She's Gone
RANCHO MIRAGE, CA—Just a few days after beginning her court-ordered rehabilitation at the Betty Ford Center, sources close to Lindsay Lohan told reporters today that the troubled actress' rehab stint is off to a fantastic start -- oh, wait, she's gone. 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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