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Is Streaming Music As Bad As Some Artists Say?
July 19, 2013
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"Make no mistake new artists you discover on #Spotify will no get paid. Meanwhile shareholders will shortly being rolling in it. Simples."
-- RadioHead's Thom Yorke on TwitterIs streaming music "evil"?
You probably heard about Radiohead's Thom Yorke pulling some of his music from Spotify in protest of low rates of pay for indie artists.
He has a point; artists are paid a pittance for the music they put on streaming services, but it's undeniable that streaming is here to stay.
While Pandora tries to cut what it already pays to artists in order to reduce costs, at least Spotify is trying something different. It acknowledges that artists could be paid better and claims increasing the number of subscribers will boost profits for artists.
With a glut of services at present it's likely that there will be some consolidation in the near future, but regardless of this, better streaming deals for artists are the only way forward if good music is to survive.
This ongoing dialogue between Spotify and artists is likely to go on for awhile, so catch up on it if you're interested.
Read more and follow the other links to get even more on the topic. (See Spotify's reponse in 'Track 5' below)
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
JUST HOW MANY COPIES OF JAY-Z'S 'MAGNA CARTA HOLY GRAIL' DID SAMSUNG GIVE AWAY?That's what The Wall Street Journal asks in an article by Hannah Karp.
A representative for Samsung Wednesday declined to say how many copies had been downloaded to date.
"All we are sharing at this time is that we had 1.2 million downloads of the app. All of those users have access to the album," said April Martin of PR firm MWW, which represents Samsung.
Read the whole article on The Wall Street Journal
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
THE ONGOING SAGA OF THE DECLINE AND PROBLEMS FACING NETWORK TV, VOLUME: ONGOINGWith Netflix receiving Emmy nods this week for House of Cards and Arrested Development, it means things are changing faster than network execs even thought possible just yesterday.
How we watch television is changing by the minute, and more factors make those changes even more challenging more the broadcast nets.
Securing its position as a bona fide purveyor of original, premium programming, Netflix officially entered the Emmy race this morning with nominations for its Web-based series "House of Cards" and "Arrested Development." Making the achievement all the more impressive, "The Internet was not considered an eligible platform for the Emmys until 2008," PaidContent notes. Read the whole story
This week there is news in the Wall Street Journal where writer and editor Jessica Lessin published an exclusive report this week on Apple's long-awaited television service reporting that it will include "technology that allows viewers to skip commercials and that pays media companies for the skipped views."
The new TV service would also would compensate television networks for the lost revenue, according to people "briefed on the conversations" between Apple and media execs. However, "television-rights owners have been reluctant to embolden Apple's push into the living room, and compensation for skipped ads seems unlikely to be enough to convince them." Read the whole story
AND...
Netflix's House of Cards and Arrested Development shake up the Emmy nominations, and "it would be the first time that slots in the most avidly pursued categories went to programs not specifically produced for the medium of television," writes Bill Carter. "To some, this is a moment reminiscent of the days when cable channels like HBO first began to challenge the dominance of broadcast networks like ABC." Read the whole story (Also, see the story below in 'Track 7')AND...
Writer Janko Roetggers introduces Americans to a new TV show recommendation site called Televisor. Viewers enter the name of a show, and the site recommends other shows they might like, with links to trailers, IMDB info, and where they might be streaming on Amazon, Netflix and Hulu. Televisor was started by a Canadian company called Sortable. - Read the whole story----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
WHICH VINYL ALBUM TO BRING BACK? UNIVERSAL CROWD-FUNDS THE ANSWERSUniversal Music has announced that it is developing a crowd-funding service to support limited-edition releases of out-of-print records.
Among the classic albums being considered for re-release are: The Jackson 5's "ABC," Sonic Youth's "Goo," Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and Def Leppard's "Hysteria."
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 5
SPOTIFY REPLIES TO CRITICS THOM YORKE & NIGEL GODRICHSpotify has responded to criticism from Thom Yorke and Nigel Godrich that the music streaming service is "bad for new music," maintaining that they seek to make Spotify "the most artist-friendly music service possible."
In a statement to Music Week, Spotify said their goal is "to grow a service which people love, ultimately want to pay for, and which will provide the financial support to the music industry necessary to invest in new talent and music," and offered numbers they say show much they've paid for rights.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 6
FROM CNET, YOUR CHANCE TO AUDIOPHILIAC FOR A DAYNext month, the Audiophiliac will turn over the reins of his blog to one lucky reader. It could be you. Read more
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 7
FROM THE WRAP: Kevin Spacey Says 'House of Cards' Proves TV Is Smarter Than Music Industry'"We are giving the audience what they want, which is the freedom to discover it the way they want to discover it. And I think it also in some measure shows that we have learned the lesson that the music industry didn't learn -- that if you give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, then they'll buy it and they won't steal it.," says Spacey.
Based on the success of Netflix's House Of Cards and its Emmy nominations he has a very good point. Read the rest on The Wrap----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 7
GOOGLE & APPLE MAKE NICE AGAINWhile world peace remains elusive, we can at least take heart in the fact Google and Apple are getting along. Google chairman Eric Schmidt this week didn't have enough good things to say about the company that Steve Jobs built.
Notes Business Insider: "Schmidt always denied that there was open discord between himself and Jobs, so it's not surprising he's saying that things are better between the two companies now." Read the whole story
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THE 'A-SIDE' - THE BONUS TRACKS* New Steely Dan Album? 'It's In the Air'
* Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP' Album, App to Arrive This November
* Van Morrison to Revisit 'Moondance' With Reissue
* The 14 Craziest Musician Acting Cameos
* Spotify's 10 most misquoted songs
* Justin Timberlake, Elton John to Headline iHeartRadio Festival
* 1 Million Plays on Pandora Nets Only $16.89? Rep Calls Out Musician for Fuzzy Math* 10 Annoying Movie Star Behaviors
* 5 Beloved Celebrities Everyone Forgets Did Terrible Things
* Get a Monoprice 8247 5.1-channel speaker system for $71.11
* This Bose wireless speaker is a standout
* Apple tunes up Logic Pro X
* Apple gearing up iPhone 5S for output this month, analyst says
*Thinking of buying a tablet? Read this first.
* 20 huge TVs worth every recommended inch
* Almost everything you could want in a computer
Short News Items ...
GAGA COMING:
Lady Gaga says her third album, ARTPOP, will be released on November 11th. The LP will be preceded by an app -- a "musical and visual engineering system" -- available on September 1st. Set to return to the stage that month, she'll drop the first single on August 19th. Read More
TRUE BLOOD STILL FLOWING BIG:
True Blood grabbed 4.5 million total viewers on Sunday, making it the most-watched episode of the season. The episode accumulated 5.5 million total viewers. The vampire series was renewed for Season 7 on Monday.
ELTON WINS:
On Wednesday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of a copyright lawsuit against Elton John and Bernie Taupin after determining that substantial similarity couldn't be established in analyzing the work of plaintiff Guy Hobbs "Natasha" with Elton John's own "Nikita" song.
SWIFT ALREADY WORKING ON NEW LP:
Backstage after her show in New Jersey Saturday, Taylor Swift told Rolling Stone she's working hard on the follow-up to Red. "The floodgates just opened the last couple weeks," she said shortly after inviting Fall Out Boy's Patrick Stump onstage. Read More
STP BACK ON THE ROAD:
Stone Temple Pilots are hitting the road this September and releasing an EP this fall with new singer Chester Bennington. The rockers will start off September 4th in Bethlehem, PA, at the Sands Bethlehem Events Center and wrap up on September 27th at the Freemont Street Experience in Las Vegas. They'll also play one more show on November 1st at the Hard Rock Live in Biloxi, MS.
LAMBERT LEAVES NIPPER:
Adam Lambert is leaving record label RCA over creative differences regarding the direction of his next album. In a letter to The Hollywood Reporter, Lambert explained that he decided to make the break after being asked by the label to record an album of covers.
DONOVAN BACK IN STUDIO:
In 1965, an 18-year-old Donovan Leitch traveled to Nashville to record his first single, "Catch the Wind," which made him a star. Last year, the singer finally returned to record his new album Shadows of Blue. His session players "knocked me out," he says. Read More »
ARETHA STILL ON THE MEND:
Aretha Franklin has canceled an upcoming concert near Detroit as she recovers from ongoing health issues. Franklin has not disclosed the nature of her illness, but she was forced to clear her tour schedule in June in order to undergo medical treatment.
LOOKING BACK ON BOB:
Rolling Stone critic Griel Marcus spoke for countless Dylan fans when he opened his review of 1970's 'Self Portrait' with the words "What is this shit?" Dylan is now set to revisit the controversial album in the latest installment (a four-disc set) of his Bootleg series. Read More
GEE, A ROCK STAR AND A MODEL ARE GETTING ENGAGED...HOW UNIQUE...NOT!
Adam Levine is engaged to girlfriend Behati Prinsloo, reports Us Weekly. The Maroon 5 frontman proposed to the Victoria's Secret model this past weekend in L.A. after the couple recently reunited.
TINA HITCHED:
Tina Turner has tied the knot with her longtime partner Erwin Bach. Turner, 73, and Bach, 57, will celebrate their nuptials this weekend in a Buddhist ceremony at Switzerland's Kusnacht Manor.
ELVIS FOOTAGE (AND MORE) HITS AUCTION BLOCK:
Original video and audio of Elvis Presley's haunting last performances, shot in Omaha, Neb., and Rapid City, S.D., shortly before his 1977 death, will be auctioned July 26th and 27yj at the Mecum Celebrity Items Auction at Santa Monica's Barker Hangar. The trove consists of 27 songs and four-and-a-half hours of professionally filmed, multi-camera concert footage, unedited, along with intimate backstage scenes, candid dressing-room footage and hallways shots of Elvis, girlfriend Ginger Alden and his dad, Vernon Presley. Also auctioned will be Presley's 1972 Cadillac Custom Estate Wagon, 1958-1960 U.S. Army Induction and Discharge Papers, rare autographs from the late 1950s and early 1960s, slides of Presley at Graceland in 1958 and photos of Presley in the Army in Germany and at play with the Memphis Mafia in Paris.
Leaving Us
Cory Monteith, who played jock-turned-gleek Finn Hudson on Fox's musical phenomenon "Glee" and had recently been treated for addiction, was found dead last Saturday at a Vancouver hotel. He was 31.
T-Model Ford, a Mississippi singer and guitarist who took up the blues later in life, died yesterday of respiratory failure at home in Greenville. Ford claimed to be 93, though The Associated Press reports that he didn't recall what year he was born and may have been 89.
Amar Bose, the founder of audio technology company Bose Corp. has died at the age of 83. The company Bose founded has been known for its high end and popular radiosets, speakers and echo cancelling headphones. After receiving his doctorate from MIT in 1956, Bose was asked to join the MIT faculty, where he was a member until 2001.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Netflix Receives 10 Emmy Nominations For Season 4 Of 'Wings'
LOS ANGELES—In a sign of the growing influence of online streaming services in the television and broadcast industry, the fourth season of Wings, the popular Netflix Instant Watch series about a fictional family-run airport in Nantucket, MA, was nominated for 10 Primetime Emmy Awards on Thursday, sources confirmed. 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.
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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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