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The Music Online Moving Forward
April 10, 2009
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"Every year we are seeing increased use of music and what we are doing as music companies is finding new ways of playing into that interest."
-- Thomas Hesse, President/Global Digital Business, Sony Music Entertainment"We don't sell records any more, we act wherever people experience music, from digital and physical formats to all the other 'touchpoints' of the music experience: from being part of the discovery process, to music in games like 'Rock Band' and 'Guitar Hero' or recording and selling music at live events and so on. Our role is not to put physical discs on a shelf but to reach consumers wherever they are."
-- Elio Leoni Sceti, Chief Executive of EMI MusicIn January, the iTunes store passed the six billion songs sold milestone. (And I'm sure that there will be an update very soon that the seven billion milestone has been crossed as well). Apple also announced back then that there were 75 million accounts linked to credit cards. That's a whole lot of people willing to put there info up there online to BUY music. Buy it they do at iTunes because Steve Jobs and Apple have done the best job of selling music online.
If you haven't already heard, this week Apple unveiled the much-talked and reported-about variable pricing on iTunes, with prices ranging from as low as 69¢ to 99¢ to $1.29. At the top price, mp3s won't carry DRM technology. (iTunes will make its entire library DRM-free like the Amazon.com store in a short time.)
Whether or not the new pricing strategy works (and the new pricing strategy was -- let's face it -- thrust upon Apple by the major labels) remains to be seen. If less new music is sold at the higher price points, it might drive more consumers to go back to illegal downloading and file-sharing. On the other hand, if the new higher price point has no effect and sales thrive at that level, the labels will claim victory and possibly state that their music has been undervalued for far too long.
Of course, that argument won't really hold any water because when there are tens of millions of songs online at various P2P sites all over the globe already available for illegal downloading, I think it's fair to say that the REAL value of the music dissipated dramatically over the past decade-plus. While these various online sources have thrived for well over a decade, the industry's biggest reaction was trying to shut down the biggest of them (Napster, WinMX, etc.) and sue people via the RIAA. We know, of course, that neither of those strategies did a thing to discourage rampant file-sharing and it was iTunes that carried the flag and got people into the habit of paying for what they could otherwise steal for free.
In the meantime, the variable pricing at iTunes has already resulted in similar hikes at Amazon mp3, RealNetworks' Rhapsody, and Walmart.com. (In the meantime, where are the label online stores that can offer consumers as much as any of these "e-tailers" -- and more, considering the labels are the content providers and have the relationships with their artists?)
The good news is that all online retail is increasing as well. Data from online marketing company CoremetricsOnline showed signs of life in online retail in March as the average number of items per order increased 12% and the average purchase amount went up 4%. Average order size climbed from 5.21 to 5.82 items last month over February, while the average order amount rose from $138.26 to $143.93.
There's good reason to believe that the current state of the economy is a big reason why more people are making purchases online, but that doesn't necessarily mean that once things turn around, online will decrease as brick-and-mortar retailers see more people back in their stores. In fact, online will most likely continue its growth as more and more people realize just how easy it is to shop online and end-up making online purchases more frequently. (Especially for smaller ticket items like music, DVDs, games, etc.)
All of this news is good news for the music industry. Everybody in the industry, artists, producers, the labels, can all partake in the revenues that await those who are innovative and create new revenue streams as the online digital world presents even newer opportunities.
This from Michael Nash, EVP/Digital Strategy and Business Development, for Warner Music Group, "There is a multi-trillion dollar economy of digital connectivity, made up of digital networks, wireless, broadband and hardware. Music is extremely important to this economy and the driver for a wide range of larger industries. These industries are thinking about how to partner with the music industry in new ways. The health of the music industry is going to contribute significantly to the health of this trillion-dollar economy."
So, while CD sales decline year over year, there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Most likely that light will be coming off the screen of the computer.
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
THE BEATLES CATALOG IS BEING REMASTERED
There's already over 80,000 Google search results for the subject. Anytime there's a press release about any Beatle albums being reissued, repackaged or remastered (as in this case), it always generates big press.
You can read about it all at The Beatles' website. This is part of what they have to say: "Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released.
The albums have been re-mastered by a dedicated team of engineers at EMI's Abbey Road Studios in London over a four-year period utilizing state of the art recording technology alongside vintage studio equipment, carefully maintaining the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings. The result of this painstaking process is the highest fidelity the catalogue has seen since its original release."
And at the end of the news release it says, "Discussions regarding the digital distribution of the catalogue will continue. There is no further information available at this time."
All this is good news for true audiophiles who still listen to entire albums on audio systems that cost lots of money, and for collectors who like to look at new packages, new pictures, and own anything the bears The Beatles name. In a time when 99% of the world is now listening to their music on iPods or similar players, I don't know how many people will be motivated to go out and pay for all these reissues.
I'm a huge Beatle fan, and participating with others in overseeing some Beatle album repackages while I worked at Capitol Records was always something I considered labors of love and a privilege. But I'm not about to invest in this new catalog. The CDs I have suit my needs just fine, and of course I don't listen to "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and the earlier catalog as much as I listen to "Abbey Road," "Sgt. Pepper," "The White Album" or "Revolver."
New York Times journalist Allan Kozzin wrote about the upcoming reissues this past week and said, "Having spent years fantasizing about the ideal reissue series, collectors will also be disappointed about the high-tech opportunities that Apple Corps and EMI did not take. Although many collectors insist that only the '60s original mono and stereo mixes will do, others, impressed with some of the remixes on the "Yellow Submarine Songtrack" - the version of "Nowhere Man" with centered vocals, for example - had been hoping EMI's engineers would return to the original multitrack session tapes and use the flexibility of today's equipment to prepare fresh mixes. And the 5.1 surround-sound mixes included on "The Beatles Anthology" DVDs and the "Love" album had collectors hoping that EMI would release all the original albums in surround. The wildest dreamers hoped the reissues would be all things to all collectors: Blu-ray DVDs, for example, with the original mono and stereo mixes, a surround mix and a raft of outtakes." ( Source: http://tinyurl.com/cl8l29 )
The "wildest dreamers" might be the millions who are waiting for The Beatles catalog to appear online at iTunes and elsewhere because they don't buy CDs and don't care about them, but they do care about the MUSIC.
And everyday The Beatles catalog isn't online, millions and millions are stealing it for free wherever they want, costing The Beatles and EMI a whole lot of money.
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
TV IS DOWN, BUT THIS AIN'T ROCKET SURGERY
"The desire for entertainment -- as an instinct, as a rebellion, as a form of empowerment, as a way of filling increased leisure time or simply as a means of enjoying pure pleasure -- was already so insatiable in the nineteenth century that Americans began new methods to satisfy it." -- From "Life: The Movie" by Neal Gabler
This week Advertising Age reported that one of the media industry's most stable venues continues to struggle in an extremely tough economy. Three of the nation's five big broadcast networks showed year-over-year declines in 2008 ad revenue, per TNS Media Intelligence. Only Fox and NBC were up in 2008. (Source: http://tinyurl.com/c8w5d3 )
It's relatively rare for broadcast revenues to decline from one year to the next and now many advertisers are playing things much more close to the vest, canceling options for ad inventory they had reserved. Here's the 2008 rundown: CBS saw a 6.7% decrease to about $6.64 billion in ad revenue. ABC saw a decline of almost 1% to about $6.16 billion. CW's decline was about 13% to about $790 million. In contrast. NBC's ad intake rose about 8.3%. Fox saw an increase of about 5.4%.
While media analysts ponder the reasons for the declines and many use the economy as a prime reason, there isn't one person or agency that has suggested that a possible reason for these declines might be that traditional network broadcasting schedules and ideas might be somewhat outdated in a time when consumers have more entertainment options than ever before in history.
Example: ABC Television is down. But does anybody in programming consider what happens when you stop new episodes of Top-10 rated shows like "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" for two or three weeks at a time and show reruns instead ? Do programmers still expect the audience to just jump back in when you bring back those new episodes? That might have worked when there weren't 100+ channels available in everybody's home, but no more. Audiences, once loyal, lose interest faster than ever these days and every broadcast network executive should be asking themselves what they are doing to not only acquire new viewers, but retain the ones they have worked so hard to get.
This week it's Spring Break for most schools around the country. Does that mean that all the late-night talk shows (Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, etc.) should assume nobody is watching late-night TV and show reruns? Or do Jay, Dave, and Jimmy all just want to take vacations at the same time? If so, how incredibly dumb.
Whatever happened to counter-programming the competition to gain audience? What an opportunity for one of the three late-night venues to grab the most people watching at late-night, and maybe in that process, gain new audience. The last time I looked, there were a whole lot of 25+ demographics that those same shows want to have in their column when they try and sell their time on Madison Avenue If you're going to show reruns that your audience has most likely already seen, what results can your advertisers expect?
The fact that Fox is up in the ratings might also have to do with the fact that "American Idol" is new every week (twice a week); there are no reruns. Maybe ABC won't be down midweek as much as NBC and CBS because "Dancing With The Stars" is new every week (twice a week). The weekly Nielsen ratings (which I include in the newsletter every week) seem to bear evidence to support those facts. (NBC was up in 2008 largely because of the Olympics. Again, new broadcasting versus reruns or the ordinary)
The public's appetite for entertainment consumption has grown more every year and the fact that every major broadcast network and cable news channel has entire shows dedicated to Hollywood tabloid news and video PR kits proves that all these shows have audience and obviously make money in their time slots.
Online video viewing is growing exponentially and will soon surpass some cable and network viewing numbers. (It actually has, in some cases, when you add total views for certain online videos)
The immediacy and ability to watch something online surpasses any subscription on-demand service. You miss something great on TV on any night, and there's a 99.9% chance you can catch it online the next day if not later the same night. Both Hulu.com (owned by Universal) and TV.com (owned by CBS Interactive) are showing big gains in online video viewership.
If the networks really want to minimize their decline in broadcast viewership, they had better realize the sandbox they play in is a whole lot bigger than ever before. Old thinking: It's summer, so let's broadcast loads of reruns, failed pilots and general mediocrity since everybody is out-of-home on summer vacations. Anybody still employing that thinking won't be in network programming very long. As Brian Wilson said, "Beware the lollipop of mediocrity; lick it once and you'll suck forever." (It's funny, but while the major networks might be thinking that, some smart cable channel programmers think just the opposite and do offer worthwhile programming in those same summer months)
The audience is not waiting anxiously anymore for the next episode of any hot show, unless the heat stays hot -- the shows are new each and every week, people are talking about it work and elsewhere, and the frequency of the show keeps audience interest high. When the shows aren't new each week and reruns occur in regular season, the audience has other entertainment options available with the click of a mouse or the push of a button on their remote control.
Frank Lloyd Wight said, "TV is chewing gum for the eyes." He was right. And as we all know, you spit that gum out as soon as it loses its flavor and look for something else to satisfy you.
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 4
THIS AIN'T ROCKET SURGERY, EITHER
In the Los Angeles Times today, in an article titled "Competing CD Sales Strategies On Display," Atlantic's SVP Urban Marketing James Lopez comments on the label's inability to sell albums off of Flo Rida's massive singles sales and says, ""There's a lot of debate, within this building and within this industry. Do you not make something available when it's being demanded now? Do you leave that money on the table, no matter what the margins are? Do you not sell 2 million singles before your release date and wait for the pent-up demand, or do you take advantage and trust the people who buy the singles?... I don't think we've quite figured it out."
If I remember correctly, similar comments were made about Soulja Boy's massive single sales on "Crank Dat' not converting to album sales as well.
If anyone really believes that massive single sales cannibalize album sales, that argument is easily defeated by the massive single sales of many artists that have sold millions of singles online and still sold millions of albums at the same time.
It isn't all that hard to figure out at all. The consumers buy what they want. If all they want is Flo Rida's single, and they don't feel like paying $10 for an album, they'll buy the single. If the album is loaded with hits, the album will sell accordingly just like every other album that does when the public perceives value in purchasing the whole album.
And Now This...
I commented several times about the mistakes and false assumptions Fox News entertainment columnist, Roger Friedman, sometimes made in his daily column. His review last year of "Randy Jackson's Music Club" album was a gross embarrassment when he said: " "'Randy Jackson's Music Club' is going to turn the music business around next month. Just wait and see!"
He printed that Britney Spears "Blackout" album was going to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts, but later had to take it all back when The Eagles "Long Road Out Of Eden" took the slot. (He later was forced to correct his column)
There were other minute details that he often made mistakes on when it came to music, but I stopped tracking them because ... well, because nobody cared about his column all that much anyway except some industry insiders who he frequently stroked, and some Hollywood PR flacks who liked getting ink in it.
This week, after Mr. Friedman reviewed a pirated copy of the new 20th Century Fox film, "Wolverine," Fox News terminated his employment.
According to the New York Times, "The film studio, which enlisted the F.B.I. last week to hunt the pirate, put out a statement calling Mr. Friedman's column "reprehensible," among other things. Then the News Corporation weighed in with its own statement, saying it asked had Fox News to remove the column from its website. (It did.)" (http://tinyurl.com/c9fbmc )
Politics At The Ticket Booth, Sen. Schumer Introduces New Legislation
One might think our politicians in Washington, D.C. have more pressing matters at hand than watching over ticket sales for concerts. Nevertheless, when they get involved with anything having to do with any segment of the entertainment industry, they grab media attention.
After criticizing Ticketmaster for the Bruce Springsteen ticket fiasco in February, New York Senator Chuck Schumer plans to introduce legislation today that will help curb the secondary-ticket market that frequently drives up prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Schumer's bill will propose a two-day waiting period between when tickets go on sale to the public and when resellers can sell them through secondary-ticket sites. The plan would apply to TicketsNow, StubHub, eBay and all other vendors.
People are applauding the Senator's actions, but is there anyone who really thinks this will actually solve the problems? I'm not against anything that is supposed to help consumers in the marketplace, but when government gets involved in almost anything, it almost never works out as planned.
Read more about it by clicking here.
It's Tough Out There On The Road, So Let's Make A Deal
If you want to sit in the really good seats for a Keith Urban concert this summer, a pair of tickets will put you about back about $170. But in a nod to the tough economic times, the country superstar has also priced some tickets as low as $20 per seat, so fans won't stay home because they can't afford to go.
Stevie Nicks, who's currently on a reunion tour with Fleetwood Mac, said times are so bad, the band doesn't know if it can afford to go overseas: "It's so expensive to do that that you put people out of business to go play for them. It's affecting everybody."
No Doubt is giving away a digital download of their entire catalog in exchange for the purchase of a premium ticket ($42.50 before taxes and fees). Coldplay plans to give concertgoers a free live album, while U2 is pricing at least 10,000 tickets to every show in the $30 range (though the top price will still cost a hefty $250 a ticket).
Read more about it by clicking here.
The iPod 'Fit For A Queen' Might Violate Copyright Law?
You probably heard, or read elsewhere, that President Obama presented the Queen of England with an iPod preloaded with Broadway music.
Fred Von Lohmann at the Electronic Frontier Foundation says giving the gift may have violated copyright law. (I say, good luck with doing anything about it.)
Read more about it by clicking here.
YouTube To Stay In The Red For Awhile
WebProNewsEven though it's the #1 video website in the world, YouTube has yet to generate the revenues to off set its debt. However, Google is not going to stop paying for its $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube anytime soon, argues a new report from Credit Suisse analysts Spencer Wang and Kenneth Sena. The "math is pretty simple," too, says WebProNews. YouTube will generate around $240 million in revenue this year, but its expenses could add up to roughly $711 million.
The biggest and most unavoidable expense is bandwidth, notes Todd Spangler of Multichannel News. "Bandwidth accounts for about 51% of expenses -- with a run rate of $1 million per day," he says, noting that content licensing accounts for another 36% of YouTube's expenses.
"In our view, the issue for YouTube going forward is to increase the percentage of its videos that can be monetized (likely through more deals with content companies) and to drive more advertiser demand through standardization of ad formats and improved ad effectiveness," the Credit Suisse analysts said.
Read the rest here: http://tinyurl.com/chuw3j.
And regardless of the finances, YouTube is going full steam ahead to now get licensing rights to full feature length films from Sony Pictures.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Fender Guitars Denied Trademark Registrations
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has denied Fender Musical Instrument Corporation's attempt to register design trademarks for its iconic Stratocaster, Telecaster, and Precision Bass electric guitars.
In 2003, Fender filed trademark applications for the three "guitar bodies" designs, originally created in the 1950s: The Precision Bass, telecaster, and Stratocaster.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Paul & Ringo Together At Radio City
This past Saturday night, Paul McCartney said the words that 6,000+ plus at Radio City were waiting to hear, "At this point, we'd like to introduce you to someone you know ladies and gentlemen -- Billy Shears!" And with that, Ringo joined Paul onstage at the "Change Begins Within" concert, a benefit for the David Lynch Foundation.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Hand Is Quicker Than The Eye And Maybe Your Next TV Remote
The classic TV remote control most of us have grown up with has been around in essentially the same incarnation for half a century. It's been tweaked over the years, but now one company is looking at ditching the remote altogether and using a camera mounted below a TV screen that senses hand motions instead of button pushes. The result is something that seems right out of Minority Report.
But the high-tech user interface Tom Cruise coolly manipulates onscreen isn't even all that far-fetched now, thanks to incremental improvements. Until now, the most innovative new input for entertainment in the living room has been the Wii-mote, the motion-sensing remote control/wand that has made Nintendo's game console a cultural phenomenon.. Swing it like a tennis racket and you can pretend you're playing tennis, point it at the screen and use it like a mouse to navigate menus.
Read more about it by clicking here.
If You're Wondering How To Turn Those Old Cassette Tapes Into Digital, Here's One Way
The process of digitizing your old tapes to MP3 or CD is as simple as hooking up an old Walkman or thrift store cassette deck to your computer's audio card, and recording straight to a free audio program like Audacity. Another route you can take is to purchase an all-in-one product like the Alesis TapeLink USB ($199).
The TapeLink is a USB-connected dual-cassette deck bundled with an assortment of recording software.
Read more about it by clicking here.
The Mobility Difference
The Pew Internet and American Life Project, introducing its new report on The Mobile Difference in today's society, notes that in the early 1980s, Americans started spending more time on the telephone. From 1980 to 1987, the number of minutes spent on the phone increased by 24%, three times the rate of population growth. Though fax machines and the personal computing revolution might have spurred growth voice traffic, not more than 10% of the growth.
Mobile _nternet access is now drawing people into more frequent online use. This finding is the cornerstone the Project's study, finding that 39% of the adult population have seen the frequency of their online use grow as their reliance on mobile devices has increased..
Read more about it by clicking here.
Twitter This: Update
Last week I wrote my commentary on Twitter, suggesting we all give it some time before the raves keep piling on about the new online media.
This week comes news that some users are already expressing "burn." Call it online sociability fatigue. As social networking grows, from stream-of-consciousness Twitter to buttoned-up LinkedIn, even some of the very young people who've helped drive these sites' growth could use a break.
Read more about it by clicking here.
GEORGE GETS HIS STAR
This coming Tuesday, April 14th, George Harrison will finally receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Beatles as a band have a star already, and John Lennon has his very own. Now Harrison, who died in 2001 of cancer, will have a star in front of the Capitol Records building. His will be the 2,382nd on the Walk. That same day, Capitol/EMI will announce the details about a new Harrison release. Harrison's wife Olivia and son Dhani will attend the ceremony.
UNDERWOOD WINS ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR AT ACMs
Carrie Underwood took the Entertainer of the Year award at the ACM awards show last Sunday night, ending Kenny Chesney's four-year winning streak. It's the first time a female has won since the Dixie Chicks did in 2001. In other ACM news, Sugarland became the first duo in 14 years to beat Brooks & Dunn. Brad Paisley won for Top Male Vocalist, and Rascal Flatts for best group.
STONES REISSUES
The Rolling Stones will reissue their last 14 albums (from "Sticky Fingers" through 2005's "A Bigger Bang") via their new deal with Universal. The reissues will hit stores starting in May in batches of four at a time. The double-album "Exile On Main Street" will come out later in the year.
THE FREEDEALIN' DYLAN, PART 2
Last week I told you that you could listen to "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," from Bob Dylan's new album "Together Through Life" on his website. This week, you can listen to "Feel A Change Comin' On" in its entirety on the Newsweek site at: http://tinyurl.com/ctj64b.
MONTREUX JAZZ LINEUP
B.B. King, Herbie Hancock, Dave Matthews Band and the Black Eyes Peas have joined Steely Dan and Rock Hall inductee Jeff Beck on the bill at this year's Montreux Jazz Fest, taking place in Switzerland between July 3rd-18th.
THAT BUDGET DEFICIT IN CALIFORNIA
California's budget deficit would shrink by nearly $5 million if singer Dionne Warwick and comedian Sinbad Adkins would pay their taxes. They are among the state's biggest tax scofflaws, according to a report issued Thursday by the Franchise Tax Board. Sinbad owes $2.5 million in personal income tax, while Warwick owes $2.2 million, putting them in the top 10 of the state's 250 worst tax debtors.
KANYE TO QUENCH YOUR THIRST AND MORE
Kanye West is expanding his brand into a line of branded beverages and colognes.
RICK DEES, NO SE HABLA ESPANOL
Rick Dees, long a morning-show fixture in Los Angeles, will be no more. Dees station, formerly "Movin 93.9" FM, will switch formats to Spanish effective April 15th. Dees was, of course, the morning personality at L.A.'s KIIS-FM, but was bumped off the air by some young upstart named Ryan Seacrest.
NO LOVE FROM COURTNEY
E! reports that Courtney Love plans to file a lawsuit within the next month in an effort to recoup the millions of dollars allegedly "looted" from her late husband' Kurt Cobain's estate. The suit will be filed on behalf of Courtney and Frances Bean Cobain, and targets the "former assistants, former managers, CPAs, lawyers and a couple of banks" who Love says bilked roughly $30 million in cash and another $500 million in false real estate ventures from Cobain's fortune. Cobain's mother and siblings are also listed as plaintiffs.
A LOTTA FACES
Facebook has hit 200 million active users only seven months after the social network hit 100 million users and 90 days after reaching 150 million. On average, Facebook has added 500,000 new members a day since late August, according to the blog Inside Facebook.
PASSING
David "Pop" Winans passed away April 8th in Nashville. A heart attack and stroke last October had forced the gospel star into a hospice.
Quotes of the week
"If anything like [a divorce] ever happens to me, I'm like, 'Pull a Jennifer, Miley!'"
-- Miley Cyrus, citing Jennifer Aniston as an inspiration, to Glamour. Really? Go from boyfriend to boyfriend w/o luck?"Golf is really like sex ... If it's bad, it's still sex."
-- Justin Timberlake, describing his favorite pastime, on The Oprah Winfrey Show"Legalize marijuana and take all that money and invest it in teachers and in education. You will see a transformation in America ... I really believe that as soon as we legalize and decriminalize marijuana, we can actually afford a really good governor who won't keep taking money away from education and from teachers and send him back to Hollywood where he can do 'D' movies and we can get an 'A' governor,""
-- Carlos Santana, referring to former movie action hero and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and stating his opinions about legalization of marijuana."I chose to give away this prom dress because I wore it once and loved it! I want another girl somewhere to feel good in it and have a great prom night because of this dress."
-- Taylor Swift, doing a good deed and donating her prom dress to the Donate My Dress Auction, where it fetched $1,200."I've gained such a greater respect for the women that actually do this for a living. It's so difficult."
-- Jessica Biel, on portraying a stripper in her new movie "Powder Blue." Now maybe all the men who go to the clubs to watch those strippers can same the same and answer why they spend so much time and money there to their wives and girlfriends."I'm very respectful of the Spice Girls. What we did was fantastic. Actually, I'm seeing all the girls tomorrow night, which I'm excited about. But fashion is my passion; music isn't anymore."
-- Victoria Beckham, talking to Time magazine. If truth be told, Victoria, if your passion for fashion is anywhere near the "passion" you had for music, good luck.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Activision Reports Sluggish Sales For 'Sousaphone Hero'
SANTA MONICA, CA-Despite a catchy 1890s soundtrack and realistic-feeling game play, Sousaphone Hero, the third installment of Activision's massively popular Guitar Hero video game franchise, sold a mere 52 copies in the United States in its opening week, the company reported Monday.
"In the wake of Guitar Hero's success, we thought the public was more than ready for additional popular American musical genres in a simulated-performance format, but people don't seem to be responding to marches as well as we had hoped," said Activision spokeswoman Melissa Hendleman, whose company spent an estimated $25 million developing the game for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii consoles.
Sousaphone Hero offers two dozen public-domain marches, including 1893's "The Liberty Bell," 1896's "Stars and Stripes Forever," and 1897's "Entry of the Gladiators." The bulky sousaphone-shaped controller coils around the body, and players wear white spat-like foot coverings fitted with sensors that monitor synchronized marching steps. As with the fret buttons on Guitar Hero's guitar peripheral, the sousaphone controller's three valves are color-coded to match on-screen notes the player must hit.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
Website
Check out attorney Ray Beckerman's website at: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com where he prints news about the RIAA's ongoing activities
TinyURL
Check out www.tinyurl.com where you can make a smaller URL that will work for any webpage you wish to link to or reference. (As you can see, I'm using it in my news stories above!)