-
Better Late Than Never
October 21, 2005
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
"We're finally seeing a raft of new initiatives from really big players ... and this stuff is happening all day, every day now." -- Eric Nicoli, Chairman of the EMI Music Group.
The above quote from Mr. Nicoli is from an article this week in NEWSWEEK (For link to the article, just scroll down to ' EMI: A Different Tune' link below) is in reference to how he and the other major music companies are allegedly "winning" the battle against illegal P2P use (and I guess the person who wrote the article, Karen Lowry Miller, didn't do her homework too well there because all the research points to exactly the opposite) and how they envision the digital future.
What's surprising (well, okay, it's NOT really surprising) is that Mr. Nicoli would say these "initiatives" are "happening all day, everyday now." That's almost an admission that EMI and its counterparts (Universal, SONY BMG, Warners) have been asleep at the wheel for far too long. Still, if Mr. Nicoli is announcing the fact that label executives have woken from their digital nightmares and are ready to actually do SOMETHING positive about mapping out their collective futures, this is good news.
The movie industry of course has witnessed all the mistakes the music companies have made and they're trying to avoid the same mistakes as digital distribution of film content becomes the next battlefield online. Will the film industry allow Steve Jobs to create an iFilms and steal the thunder away from their own proposed future online models? I'm sure Mr. Jobs and Apple already have something on the drawing board already. After all, those video iPods are going to need lots of content if they're going to be as successful as their audio iPod brethren.
I hope that SOMEBODY in the film industry has the sense to work with hi-tech leaders like Mr. Jobs, and hi-tech leaders like Apple, in creating their future online. I've suggested many times that labels and film companies could benefit from an annual hi-tech media summit type conclave where discussions could yield positive results for both hi-tech and media companies. Instead of labels questioning Steve Jobs online pricing of songs on iTunes, perhaps label executives could sit down with iTunes (and other online stores) and discuss why price is important and what needs to be done for the future for a better symbiotic relationship.
Last week sales were down 5.6% compared to the previous week. Year to date, business is off 10% compared to 2004 at this point. That's 48.6 million fewer units than last year. It's not too late for thee industry to admit mistakes and failures. It's NEVER too late to learn from them and move forward.
EMI: A Different Tune
How EMI and other music-industry giants are fighting back against digital rivals, pirates and freeloaders.
"We're finally seeing a raft of new initiatives from really big players," says Eric Nicoli, chairman of one of the big four music companies, the EMI Group. "This stuff is happening all day, every day now." He sees five digital business models: PC downloads, mobile downloads, music subscriptions, ring tones, tunes (original songs), ringbacks (which the caller hears) and peer-to-peer downloading.
Read more about it by clicking here.
MP3-player Demand To Spike In 2009
By Michael Singer
Staff Writer, CNET News.comDemand for portable MP3 players is booming and expected to hit record levels in the next four years, according to an IDC report published on Thursday.
Led by devices such as the Apple iPod, the analyst firm predicts, shipments of MP3 flash memory music players will surge to nearly 124 million units in 2009. That is a 370-percent increase from the 26.4 million units shipped worldwide in 2004.
Read more about it by clicking here.
CBS To Distribute Via iTunes
by Gavin O'MalleyCBS will distribute its free podcasts, from "60 Minutes" to the long-running soap "Guiding Light," on Apple's iTunes Music Store, CBS Digital President Larry Kramer said Monday. The extensive suite of CBS podcasts includes news, entertainment, and sports programming on television, radio, and CBS Digital media sites including CBS.com, CBSNews.com, UPN.com and CBS SportsLine.com.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Blu-ray Is The Winner In Next Generation DVD Technology
Forrester Research on Wednesday declared Blu-ray, a new DVD format backed by a group led by Sony, as the winner in the increasingly heated battle over next-generation DVD technology.
"Two groups are competing for control of high-definition DVD formats to be launched in the spring of 2006. After a long and tedious run up to launch, it is now clear to Forrester that the Sony-led Blu-ray format will win," Forrester Research analyst Ted Schadler said in a report.
Read more about it by clicking here.
TV's Turned On Eight Hours a Day; Average Person Watches Four and a Half Hours
From: The Center For Media ResearchNielsen Media Research reported that the average American home watched more television the past TV season vs. any previous season. During the 2004-05 TV season (September to September), the average household in the U.S. tuned into television 8 hours and 11 minutes per day. This is 2.7% higher than the previous season, 12.5% higher than 10 years ago, and the highest levels ever reported since television viewing was first measured by Nielsen Media Research in the 1950's. In that same time frame, the average person watched television 4 hours and 32 minutes each day, the highest level in 15 years.
Concert Review: The Eagles - The California Tour
MGM Grand Garden Arena - Saturday, October 15, 2005Thanks to my ex-boss and Eagles manager, Irving Azoff, I get the privilege of seeing America's best band every time they play here in Las Vegas.
I've seen The Eagles five times in the past five years and people ask me "Why do you go EVERY time they come here?" My answer is always the same: "Because they're THAT GOOD."
'The California Tour' show was paced differently than the previous 'Farewell 1' tour shows, but the Eagles mixed it all up and delivered another show that gave fans everything they'd hoped for and more. When you can sit and listen to three decades of hits (including solo material from Henley, Walsh, Frey) ... and hits that have been implanted into our subconscious through years and years of radio play, it's pure joy. When the band playing the hits is having as much fun playing them as the audience is listening, it's even better.
The perfection The Eagles display in their live shows never ceases to amaze me. Unlike other artists whose careers have spanned a few decades, they see no reason to interpret their songs differently. Instead, they play and perform them with the same passion they had when they wrote them originally. The audience seemed to like that. They cheered enthusiastically from the minute The Eagles took the stage right through the final three encores.
If you still haven't seen The Eagles and you're a fan, I would recommend you buy their 'Farewell 1 Tour - Live From Melbourne' 2 DVD set (Certified 10 times Platinum DVD sales!). Put it on the big screen, crank up the home theater stereo, sit back and enjoy 30 great songs, and see why The Eagles are THAT GOOD.
DVD Review: Cream - The Concert at Royal Albert Hall - May 2-3-5-6 2005
List Price: $29.98 -- Amazon.com Price: $20.99This past May, Cream returned to London's Royal Albert Hall. That's the same stage where they had completed what was thought to be their final performance in 1968. That performance was one of the most eagerly anticipated, hard-to-get tickets in rock history. With the exception of a brief reunion set at their 1993 induction into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame, Cream had not played together in nearly four decades. This DVD documents Cream's momentous London shows. Clapton exhibits such masterful guitar it's hard to believe he ever stopped playing these songs. Ginger Baker, always a showman, drums so well, it's hard to believe that we haven't seen him drumming on various superstar gatherings. Jack Bruce still sings with the soul he had four decades ago when Cream first hit the airwaves. This is simply a must have DVD if you were ever a Cream fan or if you collect the best rock and roll performances in your DVD library. Performances from each of the four nights are featured and much more. Also included are alternate performances and interviews with Baker, Bruce, and Clapton.
All the hits are here and more: I'm So Glad, Spoonful, Outside Woman Blues, Pressed Rat & Warthog, Sleepy Time Time, N.S.U., Badge, Politician, Sweet Wine, Rollin' & Tumblin', Stormy Monday, Deserted Cities of the Heart, Born Under a Bad Sign, We're Going Wrong, Crossroads, Sitting on Top of the World, White Room, Toad, Sunshine of Your Love, Spoonful (Alternate Takes), Sleepy Time Time (Alternate Takes), Badge (Alternate Takes), Sweet Wine (Alternate Takes), Rollin' & Tumblin', We're Going Wrong, White Room, Sunshine of Your Love
CD Review: Alicia Keys: Unplugged
I guess when MTV decided to bring back their "Unplugged" series they had to think long and hard who would be the right artist to put on the first show. Whoever made the decision to choose Alicia Keys could not have made a better decision. I've said here in the newsletter many times since Alicia hit our airwaves a few years ago and took home a closet full of Grammies, Ms. Keys is the REAL thing. She's what being a real ARTIST is all about. Her SONGS and her MUSIC are consistent in their quality. She is what artist development is all about. (The CD debuts atop the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart this week, so kudos to the entire J Records team)
What's great about listening to the CD (I haven't seen the 'Unplugged' show yet ... and yes, there's a DVD available of that as well) is the sheer ease with which Alicia glides through the 16 song set. The energy of the show, the passion she displays for each and every song comes right off the disc, through your speakers, and it all ends up incredible (forgive the cliche here) ear candy. The CD is almost a mini-greatest hits as well. All your favorites are here. There's also duets with Maroon 5's Adam Levine (on the Rolling Stone's "Wild Horses"), Mos Def, and Common. The musicians and vocal back-up personnel are superb.
THE DOCTOR IS IN
Singer-actor Rick Springfield reprising his role as Dr. Noah Drake on ABC's General Hospital starting December 2.
FOXX MUSIC
Oscar-winning actor, comic and singer Jamie Foxx releasing Unpredictable, his first album on J Records featuring guest appearances by Kanye West, Mary J. Blige and Ludacris. It hits stores Dec. 6.
MORE MUSIC FOR KATRINA
'Hurricane Relief: Come Together Now,' an all-star double album featuring tracks from Coldplay, James Brown, Gwen Stefani, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt and Barbra Streisand, among many others, hitting stores in mid-November to raise money for victims of Katrina and Rita. And Sharon Osbourne announcing the Oct. 18 release on iTunes of a star-studded recording of Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" to benefit Hurricane Katrina and tsunami victims through Save the Children. Elton John, Mary J. Blige and Gwen Stefani among the artists lending vocals to the song.
KILLERS REDUX
The Killers reissuing their album Hot Fuss in a limited-edition boxed set featuring individual seven-inch vinyl singles for every track on the album, Billboard reports.
HOWARD GEARS UP FOR SIRIUS
The Howard Stern-Sirius Satellite Radio media blitz is about to begin. On his syndicated radio show Monday (Oct. 17), Stern said he's girding for six weeks of press and media appearances, including CBS' Late Night With David Letterman. Sirius has added over 370,000 subscribers in the last quarter bringing their subscriber base to over 2.1 million. It's expected that when Stern launches his daily radio show, the subscriber base will spike again. Just how much? Stay tuned.
THE DONALD BLAMES MARTHA
If you read the story I linked to last week in the newsletter ("Reality Shows Hit Hard Times', http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/11/television.reality.reut/ ) then you probably know both Donald Trump's 'Apprentice' and Martha Stewart's version are not ranking in the Top-20 Neilsen weekly shows. NBC was hoping both shows would bolster their sagging network ratings but so far both have underperformed, with the Martha Stewart version doing worse than imagined. This week Trump blamed Martha Stewart's version of The Apprentice for drawing viewers away from his show, because of its poor ratings. "I think [Stewart's show] probably hurt mine, and I sort of predicted that it would, because there was a lot of confusion in the world," Trump said in an interview with ABC Radio. Maybe at the end of this season both shows will hear the words 'The Donald' has now made famous: "You're fired."
KUDOS
James Taylor being honored as the 2006 MusiCares Person of the Year at a Feb. 6 ceremony in recognition of his professional accomplishments and philanthropic contributions.
UNLIKELY LUNCH PARTNERS
Bono lunching with President George W. Bush Wednesday to discuss debt relief, AIDS, malaria and world trade, a presidential spokesman said.
COMING SOON!
- Destiny's Child, #1's (10/25)
- 'N Sync, Greatest Hits (10/25)
- Aerosmith, Rockin' the Joint (10/25)
- Il Divo, The Christmas Collection (10/25)
- Sarah Brightman, Love Changes Everything (10/25)
- Joe Nichols, III (10/25)
2005 Industry Conferences
Date Name Location Portable Media Expo November 11-12, 2005 Ontario, CA 2005 Digital Entertainment & Media Expo (DEMXPO) November 30th, December 1st Los Angeles, CA International CES January 5-8, 2006 Las Vegas. NV
Quotes of the week
"Regis and Donald Trump have a Christmas CD coming out. Regis and Donald together. Here's what I'm going to do … on Christmas Eve I'm going to start a big roaring fire and throw the CD into it. Regis and Donald together on CD - or as I like to call it - a Frisbee."
-- David Letterman"I think I know what happens."
-- John Kerry, on why he won't watch 'Inside The Bubble,' a documentary about his failed 2004 presidential run.
NARIP Information
NARIP (The National Association of Record Industry Professionals) promotes career advancement, education and good will among record executives. To find out more about this great organization, how you can join or attend their events, just go to www.narip.com.
Date Name Location October 24 Business Plan Development Part II w/Harry Redinger Los Angeles November 5 NARIP Workshop - Independent Distribution Solution w/Clay Pasternak Los Angeles November 10 Las Vegas Meets Hollywood's Sunset Strip: An Evening with Jerry Greenberg & Bob Greenberg "Music Business Opportunities In Las Vegas: The New Hollywood" NARIP Kicks Off Discussion in Vegas at The Rainbow, Thursday, Nov. 10th, 7:00 P.M. Top record execs JERRY GREENBERG and BOB GREENBERG will kick off a discussion on the explosive growth of the music business in Las Vegas sponsored by the National Association of Record Industry Professionals (NARIP) at the Rainbow Bar & Grill in Vegas.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
SHOW AND TELL...ON YOUR UNCLE: BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A Connecticut second-grader had something green, leafy and illegal for show-and-tell. The 8-year-old boy brought his uncle's stash to school, to show his friends on a field trip, police said. A teacher from the Dunbar School in Bridgeport found the boy stuffing more than a dozen bags of pot into his pants. Schools officials contacted authorities. The youngster is not in trouble, but his uncle, 18-year-old Albert Davidson, is. He's now faces a number of charges including drug dealing and risk of injury to a minor. He's been released after posting $1,000 bond.
-
-