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The Stream Is Flowing, Downloads Are Down
February 27, 2015
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"If streaming continues to grow at this rate in 2015, it would double to 50%, making streaming the dominant digital format over iTunes and other download services in one of the world's biggest markets,"
-- says independent music conglomerate PIAS OM James HowdleThere are two reports out this week that are no doubt troubling to music industry executives who want to ensure they can keep healthy revenues flowing as digital media continues to grow every year.
The quote from above comes from the article Streaming Music Income Is Greater Than Downloads In 24 Territories
The other article 'Liar Liar Streams On Fire #4: Percentage of College Students Buying Zero Music Rises Dramatically,' which says "The percentage of college students in our survey who DO NOT buy digital music has risen from 26.5% in 2014 to 36.7% in 2015. This corresponds to reports of drops in sales of digital music elsewhere." Read the article
How the industry, artists as well as labels, will be able to create new models to satisfy future earnings potential, is now the BIG question.
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THE 'A-SIDE' - TRACK 2
PIZICATO HELPS FANS FUND ARTISTSPIZICATO is a newly launched digital donation website connecting fans with their favorite musicians, enabling them to send untaxed donations to help compensate artists by directly funding the music they love.
A play on a technique string players use to pluck the string instead of traditional bowing, PIZICATO aims to provide fans with an alternative to the traditional, currently broken model the current music industry has fallen victim to by creating a platform where fans can directly fund the artists they know and love. PIZICATO removes the middle man, proposing a new industry model by offering a different, fan-initiated approach to crowd funding. PIZACATO Puts Fair Artist Compensation In Hands Of Fans
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BETWEEN THE GROOVESHELP COMING FOR MUSIC RIGHTS HOLDERS:
TechCrunch reports "Kobalt, which has developed platform to help music rights holders collect royalties more efficiently from across different digital music services, has raised a $60 million Series C round led by Google Ventures." Read moreAPPLE WATCH STORES?
Doubling down on its unparalleled retail strategy, Apple is reportedly considering dedicated stores to showcase its forthcoming smartwatch. In a test, "Apple is constructing a dedicated display for the upcoming Apple Watch in some upscale Paris-based retail outlets," 9To5Mac writes, citing various reports. "While these claims for France are still unconfirmed, sources have told us that Apple is considering constructing dedicated Apple Watch retail stores in the future if demand deems such outlets necessary." Read the whole storyAPPLE BUYS CAMEL AUDIO:
Perhaps preparing to soup-up GarageBand, it looks like Apple has acquired music plug-in and effect maker Camel Audio. Before the paid service shut its doors at the beginning of the year, "Its powerful engine was highly useful to those who liked to create and manipulate audio for unique sounds," MacRumors reports. "Camel Audio is known for its range of plug-ins, synthesizers, effects and sound libraries, which were available via the company's Alchemy software." Read the whole storyOSCARS NOT A SOCIAL MEDIA HIT:
That's according to an analysis by Amobee Brand Intelligence, which reports that the level of social chatter surrounding this year's Academy Awards was not as great as last year. And for the most part, there appeared to be fewer opportunities for brands to align themselves with the ceremony in ways that really popped. The brands that did receive attention did so primarily through earned media. Looking at the share of voice among the top five brands around the Oscars, 45% of the real-time discussion was related to Lego, while 28% of the discussion was around Dove, with 12. Read the whole storyWEB SLOW DOWN:
From poverty to inept governments, the Web is facing ever greater barriers to growth. As a result, its rate of expansion has declined for the fourth year in a row to just 6.6% in 2014 -- down from 14.7% in 2010 -- according to Internet.org. Read the whole storyTHIS WEEK'S WHO CARES ARTICLE?
Iggy Azalea Explains Leaving Twitter----------------------------
THE 'A-SIDE' - THE BONUS TRACKSBrian Wilson Biopic Trailer Drops: See Paul Dano & John Cusack as The Beach Boys Mastermind Read »
Watch Christina Aguilera Crush a Britney Spears Impression on 'Tonight Show'
FCC Votes 3-2 To Approve New Net Neutrality Rules, Music Industry Applauds
Music industry moves to Friday global album release...
The Story Behind 'The Wrecking Crew' Documentary About L.A. Session Musicians: 'The Most Expensive Home Movie Ever
Apple Hiring More Music Journalists and "A Sea Of Freelancers"
6 Disturbing Trends That Might Ruin the Internet Forever
11 Oscar Losses That Look More Insane With Each Year
This just in: Most audiophiles aren't rich
Why I ditched T-Mobile for Cricket Wireless
Leaks of 4K TV prices turn into an avalanche
Why some iMessage texts are blue and some are green
Apple Watch time? Company sets March 9 'spring forward' event
A bargain Spotify Connect adapter with great audio quality
Sony 4K TVs coming in May, starting at $1,300, according to leak
Get a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 with Power Keyboard for $699.99
Short News Items ...
PAGE TALK:
By the time Led Zeppelin released 'Physical Graffiti' in 1975, they no longer had anything to prove. Still, "this was meant to be something pretty epic and substantial," says Jimmy Page about the double album that's about to be reissued in a deluxe edition. Read More
GAGA HORROR:
After blowing away Academy Award audiences with her Sound of Music medley, Lady Gaga will return to the small screen in a much more terrifying role this October: The singer announced on Twitter that she will appear in the fifth season of FX's American Horror Story. The Hollywood Reporter takes it one step further, writing that Gaga will "star" in the fifth chapter of the anthology series, which the singer revealed would be called Hotel. "Make your reservation now," she tweeted.
3O YEARS AGO WE MET 'THE BREAKFAST CLUB':
A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal walk into a school library: Within the first 60 seconds of the 1985 classic 'The Breakfast Club,' John Hughes identified the high school archetypes he would spend the next 90 minutes redefining. Read More
THIS WAY HE GETS TWICE AS MUCH PRESS:
Kanye has it down when it comes to manipulating the media. First he makes a scene, like he did at the Grammys bitching about Beck's winning album of the year. This week he apologizes. In a magnanimous mood, he also apologizes to Bruno Mars for past beefs. Full story at TheWrap
KID ROCK:
Beyond a gate, past a "Don't Feed the Hippies" sign, a dirt road leads to a double-wide trailer. "Welcome to L.A.!" says Kid Rock: Lower Alabama. Shooting hogs and talking trash with America's wildest red-state rocker. Read More
FOR SALE:
Paul McCartney's childhood home in Liverpool, England is expected to sell for at least £100,000 (approximately $154,000) when it goes to auction at 7 p.m. GMT today, February 26th, The Guardian reports.
NAUGHTY COVERS:
Years ago, before America had reached full pornofication, the raciest image in a teen's bedroom might be on an album cover. Here are 20 that went above and beyond a normal level of titillation to goose sales and overload brain cells. Read More
AEROSMITH:
"We're a strange band," admits Steven Tyler as Aerosmith approach the 45th anniversary of their first show. Same four guys, no prerecorded parts onstage: The proof is in 'Aerosmith Rocks Donington 2014,' a new concert movie shot in England. Read More
Leaving Us
Trumpeter Clark Terry, a jazz legend who in his seven decades as a musician and bandleader collaborated with artists ranging from Quincy Jones and Duke Ellington to Charles Mingus and Count Basie, passed away Saturday following complications from a long battle with diabetes. He was 94. For his contributions to jazz music, Terry was given the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Leonard Nimoy, who rose to fame as Spock on the sci-fi series "Star Trek," died Friday morning at his Los Angeles home. He as 83. The actor was hospitalized last week after firefighters responded to a medical call at his home, according to various media reports. Nimoy was reportedly suffering severe chest pains, and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center. Last year, Nimoy said on Twitter that he was diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which he attributed to a smoking habit he had kicked 30 years earlier.
County musician and songwriter Bobby Emmons, who wrote hits for Waylon Jennings and George Strait and played on more than 100 chart hits as a session musician, has died. Emmons passed away Monday in a Nashville hospital, while being treated for an undisclosed illness, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports. He was 72.
Quotes of the week
"No one would dare to say a degrading remark about being black or dare to say a degrading remark on Instagram about someone being gay. But my age -- anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me. And I always think to myself, why is that accepted? What's the difference between that and racism, or any discrimination? They're judging me by my age. I don't understand. I'm trying to get my head around it. Because women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they're not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don't follow the rules. I never did, and I'm not going to start."
-- Madonna, in Rolling Stone
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Person Who Clearly Hasn't Seen 'The Fifth Element' Arguing There No Good Roles For Women
HOUSTON -- Revealing her total ignorance of the 1997 science-fiction classic, local resident Erin Marshall, a corporate consultant who has clearly never seen the film The Fifth Element, reportedly complained Monday about Hollywood's lack of good acting roles for women.
"When it comes to big-budget movies, women are always forced to play either a one-dimensional heroine or a bland, forgettable love interest for a male protagonist," said Marshall. Read the rest and laughThe 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
"When a population becomes distracted by trivia, when cultural life is redefined as a perpetual round of entertainments, when serious public conversation becomes a form of baby-talk, when, in short, a people becomes an audience and their public business a vaudeville act, then a nation finds itself at risk: culture-death is a clear possibility." -- Neil Postman
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