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The Apple & Beats Thing...Now It's Done
May 30, 2014
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"Music is such an important part of all of our lives and holds a special place within our hearts at Apple. That's why we have kept investing in music and are bringing together these extraordinary teams so we can continue to create the most innovative music products and services in the world."
-- Tim Cook, Apple's CEO ( Read the Apple Press Release )Well, hooray. A technology company finally did the right thing.
They brought in real music people who know about music and music products. What a novel idea, huh?While it was one of the worst-kept secrets of the year -- due mainly to Dr Dre's boastfulness -- Apple finally announced this week it is buying Beats by Dre for $3 billion. This is $200 million less than initially projected, but I don't think Dr. Dre and partner Jimmy Iovine will be crying over that as they celebrate their new career roles and their new bank accounts.
Read what CNET says about it allAnd, Eddy Cue, Apple SVP of Internet software and services, also says Apple in 2014 has the "best product pipeline" he's seen in 25 years. READ MORE
The New York Times Ben Sisario did a joint interview with Tim Cook, Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre at the company's Cupertino HQ, and Jimmy Iovine said, "Apple is a company that understands music. They are culturally adept; most technology companies are culturally inept."
And more on Rolling Stone: Why Did Apple Buy Beats?----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
FROM CNET: 'BE THE AUDIOPHILIAC FOR A DAY'Next month, CNET's Audiophiliac will turn over the reins of his blog to one lucky reader. He's definitely not looking for product reviews, but any audio- or sound-quality-related subject is up for grabs.
It could be you. Read more----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 3
CLAIM YOUR DIGITAL ROYALTIES SEZ SAG-AFTRA TO ITS MEMBERSMedia and entertainment union SAG-AFTRA and SoundExchange, the independent organization that collects and distributes royalties for the streaming of sound recordings on digital radio, have teamed up.
Together they identified SAG-AFTRA members who may have a cumulative $2.3 million in unclaimed royalties for the use of their recordings from 2,500+ digital radio services. Read more----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - THE BONUS TRACKSFrom Sound City to City Sounds: Dave Grohl Talks Risky Foo Fighters Album, HBO Project
Beyonce, Shakira, Lady Gaga Make Forbes' Most Powerful Women List
Led Zeppelin Debut New Video for 'Whole Lotta Love'
Steve Perry Sings: First Time in Decades
Axl Rose Picks His Favorite Singers
Chart Highlights: Justin Timberlake Passes Bruno Mars For Most Pop Songs No. 1s Among Solo Males
Successful Crowdfunding: A Musician's Experience of Kickstarter vs. PledgeMusic vs. DIY
Time travel through 40,000 years of music with Timeline
26 Huge Editing Errors You Didn't Notice in Famous Movies
5 Absurd Movie Plots That You Won't Believe Really Happened
Great Windows 8 apps you should download right now
How to get the Start menu back in Windows 8
Why are Sony and Samsung keeping 4K content to themselves?
Audio-Technica ATH-M50x review
Short News Items ...
SLICK TALK:
With Jefferson Airplane, Grace Slick was one of the few to play all of the big Sixties festivals: Monterey Pop, Woodstock and Altamont. Now a painter, she compares the sex and drugs of her day with the new festival crop: "Chances are people are going to get weird." Read More
SONGKICK GROWTH:
TechCrunch reports that former YCombinator startup Songkick, a social ticketing company, claims it is attracting 10 million unique fans per month. It also announced that it has generated $100 million worth of ticket revenue to date through its ticketing partnerships with Spotify, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and others. Read More
CHELSEA'S LEAVING:
E! has finally come around to confirming that its late-night talk show, "Chelsea Lately," is coming to an end, almost two months after star and executive producer Chelsea Handler announced her intention to leave the network when her contract expires. E! plans a month-long run of special episodes and guests leading up to a one-hour "Chelsea Lately" series finale on August 26th.
NO MORE AEROSMITH ALBUMS?
As Aerosmith kick off a new tour, Joe Perry says they may never make another album. The band have fulfilled their record contract; they're free agents, "and we're trying to figure out what that means," he tells Rolling Stone. "I don't know what the future looks like." Read More
GOOGLE TABLET:
Google is developing a new 7-inch tablet computer with advanced vision capabilities, The Wall Street Journal reported. The Journal reported that the tablets will come equipped with two back cameras, infrared depth sensors and advanced software that can capture precise 3-D images of objects. Google in February released a similar prototype smartphone. Read more
FOR ALL 'MAD MEN' FANS:
Read a terrific review of the mid-season finale of Sunday's 'Mad Men' episode. Spoiler alert: Don't read this if you haven't yet seen the episode. Full story at TheWrap
THE BOSS HONORS VETS:
Bruce Springsteen paid tribute to war veterans at a recent concert in North Carolina, playing the "High Hopes" track "The Wall." Introducing the song as "a short prayer for my country," he recalled several New Jersey friends who died in Vietnam. Watch it here. Read More
LATINO SANTANA:
Four decades after Carlos Santana made "Oye Como Va" one of the most successful Spanish-language tracks in American music, he's finally releasing a full-on Latin pop album. This summer he'll hit the road with Rod Stewart and play a show at the original Woodstock site.
GAGA SICK:
Live Nation Entertainment said a Wednesday night Lady GaGa concert at Seattle's Key Arena, along with a scheduled date Friday night at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, have been postponed. The concert promoter attributed the delay to Gaga coming down with "severe bronchitis."
TICKETMASTER RESALE PROGRAM -- GOOD OR BAD?
After years of trying to compete with StubHub, eBay and other companies in the multibillion-dollar ticket scalping market, Ticketmaster has boosted its resale program to the point that 90% of its events are sold there. Is that good or bad for fans? Read More
REALITY HEADSETS?
YahooTech reports that Samsung has sent a virtual reality headset sample to developers with the goal of having a finished product to improve tablet and smartphone gaming by the end of 2014. Read More
APPLE TV GROWTH:
TechCrunch reports that Apple TV has been seeing modest success as compared to some of its other products. However, with 20 million units sold, the product has evidently captured customer attention. Read More
Leaving Us
Poet, author and civil rights activist Maya Angelou died at the age of 86. The cause of death has not yet been revealed. Angelou had recently canceled an appearance at the 2014 Major League Baseball Beacon Awards Luncheon where she was to be honored earlier this week, Huffington Post reported, citing "health reasons." And in April, an "unexpected ailment" kept her from another event. According to CNN, she died in her Winston-Salem, North Carolina home.
For several decades, Epic Records and Don Miller were synonymous. Don was one of the label's long-running and well-loved promotion execs in the '70, '80s and '90s. Don passed away early Sunday (5/25) following a courageous fight against cancer. Services for Don, who retired to Scottsdale, AZ, will be private, according to his wife, Greta.
THE TOP 20 ALBUMS FROM THE BILLBOARD CHART
FOR WEEK ENDING 6/7/14NEW - 1. Coldplay, Ghost Stories
NEW - 2. Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am
3. Michael Jackson, Xscape
4. Soundtrack, Frozen
5. Black Keys, Turn Blue
6. Various Artists, Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 50
NEW - 7. Phillip Phillips, Behind The Light
NEW - 8. Soundtrack, The Fault In Our Stars
9. Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
10. Rascal Flatts, Rewind
NEW - 11. The Roots, And Then Shoot Your Cousin
12. One Republic, Native
13. Florida Georgia Line, Here's To The Good Times
14. Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
15. Imagine Dragons, Night Visions
16. Lorde, Pure Heroine
17. Pharell Williams, Girl
18. John Legend, Love In The Future
NEW - 19. Conor Obst, Upside Down Mountain
20. Sarah McLachlan, Shine OnFALLING OUT OF THE TOP 20
NEW - 6. Dolly Parton, Blue Smoke
NEW - 7. Tori Amos, Unrepentant Geraldines
9. Hunter Hayes, Storyline
NEW - 10. Michael W. Smith, Sovereign
NEW - 11. Chromeo, White Women
16. Keith Urban, Fuse
17. Santana, Corazon
NEW - 18. Demi Lovato, Demi
NEW - 20. Mushroomhead, The Righteous & The ButterflyTV WASTELAND, IT'S ONLY TV WASTELAND
WHAT AMERICA'S WATCHINGThe Top 20 Network Primetime Report - Based On Nielsen Ratings
Network Primetime Averages by Viewers
Week ending May 26, 2014
[Show, Network, Total viewers in millions]1. Dancing With The Stars, ABC, 15,657,000
2. Dancing With The Stars Special, ABC, 15,071,000
3. The Voice, NBC, 11,704,000
4. The Voice - Tuesday, NBC, 11,685,000
5. Dancing With The Stars Finals, ABC, 11,637,000
6. American Idol, ABC, 10,525,000
7. Modern Family, ABC, 10,452,000
8. Survivor, CBS, 9,548,000
9. Big Bang Theory, CBS, 9,087,000
10. The Middle, ABC, 7,848,000
11. The Voice, NBC, 7,517,000
12. Blue Bloods, CBS, 7,258,000
13. The Bachelorette, ABC, 7,174,000
14. Survivor Reunion, CBS, 7,154,000
15. Mike & Molly, CBS, 7,050,000
16. NASCAR Sprint Cup, Fox, 6,956,000
17. Maya Rudolph Show, NBC, 6,842,000
18. American Idol-Tuesday, ABC, 6,757,000
19. Law And Order, NBC, 6,388,000
20. Chicago PD, NBC, 6,274,000
Quotes of the week
"No, I am never bored. The truth is, we enjoy doing it. It is hard work, especially for gentlemen of our age, but the fact is it's a fantastic job and it's a wonderful way to make a living and see the world and get to travel and we take our kids with us. I really wish [Led Zeppelin] would get back together because they were one of the greatest bands of all time. I think maybe Robert is worried about hitting those notes. He may not be able to unbutton his shirt any more."
-- The Eagles' Don Henley, responding to a quote from Robert Plant in which he said, "Do you know why the Eagles said they'd reunite when 'hell freezes over,' but they did it anyway and keep touring? It's not because they were paid a fortune. It's not about the money. It's because they're bored. I'm not bored.""If I had to say who I thought the best singers were, I'd say first that I don't know there's a definitive answer as in my opinion it's subjective, and second that my focus is primarily rock singers. That said, I enjoy Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, [Nazareth singer] Dan McCafferty, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, [Electric Light Orchestra frontman] Jeff Lynne, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, [jazz singer] Jimmy Scott, Etta James, Fiona Apple, [Pretenders frontwoman] Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and a ton of others (predominantly Seventies rock singers) and would rather hear any of them anytime rather than me!"
-- Axl Rose, In Spin magazine
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
American Medical Association Introduces New Highly Effective Placebo Doctors
oOSTORYOoCHICAGO—Saying that clinical trials have confirmed such individuals provide comparable results to fully trained, professional physicians, the American Medical Association announced Thursday the introduction of new placebo doctors to administer general practice medical care to the American public.
"Making sure patients are seen promptly at local doctors' offices and clinics is one of the AMA's top priorities, and by simply supplementing the nation's existing pool of primary care providers with several thousand unlicensed individuals whose appearance and behavior are indistinguishable from those of real doctors, we can greatly expand the medical community's ability to address patients' most commonplace ailments," said AMA spokeswoman Tara Cosgrove, noting that allergies, aches, and the common cold were treated "just as effectively" by regular people who convincingly walked into an examination room looking down at a chart; appeared to check a patient's eyes, throat, and blood pressure; then told the patient that the symptoms were nothing too severe and should clear up within a week. 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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