Here’s an example of his work

Have a look…

[via MidemNet Blog]

I was fortunate enough to see The Cramps perform live a few times and their shows will forever remain one of the highlites of my concert going life.  The Cramps combined Rockabilly, Surf, Punk, Blues, Glam and many other styles to create a sound known as Psychobilly.

Here’s some footage from their 1978 tour (perhaps one of the strangest moments in the history of music) when they played a gig inside Napa State Mental Hospital, one of California’s biggest mental institutions.

As I was becoming intrigued with all things mobile, I had an opportunity to meet the people from Mobify.Me, a company who can “mobify” (this word should be trademarked) any existing website. With a quick, one-time process, their online tools can help transform your site into a mobile offering. Mobify.Me is pretty cool. Although still in beta, I like the product offerings.

In fact, we “mobified” the existing Two Hours Traffic website, which now lives at m.twohourstraffic.com

We now plan on doing this for The Trews in the coming weeks.

There’s a great story on Adotas making reference to a four-part equation to successfully reach the masses through social media. In a nutshell, blogging is often overlooked but it seems that blogs far outweigh social networking sites when it comes to unique visitors. 

The four parts are: Consumer Generated Content, Third Party Validation, Social Media & Search Results Optimization. Although the story refers to “brands”, I think this applies to any musician, label or any other form of entertainment entity. The bottom line - you need to engage your audience.

Read the entire story entitled “Social Media For The Masses“.

[via Adotas]

We7’s ‘Big Listen’ Launch Campaign delivers:

• On-demand, unlimited and Instant access to full tracks and Albums – FREE
• “Search, Click & Play”- an easier and better alternative to piracy
• A ‘Celestial Jukebox’ of millions of great tracks
• ‘Play Anywhere’ - new link and play system empowering blogs and websites
• Rights Owners and Artists get PAID

We7,  gives music fans unlimited access to millions of great tracks from major record labels and Independents across all genres, to listen to for FREE and on-demand. The We7 difference is that while fans get free music , rights owners and artists get paid by We7 utilising both audio and digital advertising, so it’s a win-win situation for all.

[via We7]

 
Also tune in today at 5pm PST for the Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Warner Music Group CEO and Chris DeWolfe, founder and CEO of MySpace, in a keynote discussion regarding the future of the music industry. This event will be available via webcast at www.web2summit.com.

[via MarketWatch]

ArtistData’s platform is a such a time-saver and an essential tool for any label. They intend to roll out more services in the near future. It only syndicates shows for now but plans to add blogs, news, and more features are in the works.

The people at ArtistData (thank you Brendan) were generous enough to set me up with label accounts, which make the process even smoother. After a few simple steps to properly set up each account, I was entering new tour dates and it automatically syndicated the information to a handful of other sites we currently manage.

Their “dashboard” is simple, easy to use and offers lots of flexibility on how and which sites you wish to update. They also have additional tools called “Local Listings” allowing you to reach out local media about your show and “Nearby”, allowing musicians to locate what services are close to the venues they are performing at.

For a complete demo, watch this Walk-Thru from ArtistData on Vimeo.

Seems YouTube is going to embed links on music videos that will direct users to either the Amazon.com digital store or the iTunes store. 

Amazon and iTunes will share revenue with YouTube when users buy content through the partnership.

Read the entire story here.

[via Reuters]

Over 60 artists have joined so far, including the UK’s top recording acts like Radiohead, The Verve and Kate Nash.

This London-based organization was officially launched at Manchester’s In the City conference yesterday (Oct. 5). To read the Featured Artists’ Coalition’s Charter or to see a video of some of the artists who are part of the Coalition, visit www.featuredartistscoalition.com

[via Billboard]

If you’re hip to the fact that your content will be offered for free, agree to upload non DRM-protected files and if distribution/bandwith costs are a concern, then this platform might be right for you. You also get access to detailed stats which provides information on how often your content is downloaded and from which countries.

[via Mininova]

Slacker Uprising, which documents Moore’s 62-city tour through swing states during the 2004 U.S. presidential election to rally young voters, will be available for download for three weeks, beginning September 23rd. A DVD release will follow on October 7th.

This free download is only available to residents of the US and Canada. In order to get access to the download, you must confirm that you are a resident of the United States or Canada by signing up here.

Slacker Uprising Trailer

 
[via Cnet News]

[via YouTube]

This pre-release audio streaming campaign is being offered across Ganett’s 33 newspaper sites and 19 TV stations in the hopes that it reaches his core fans. Rather than offer direct downloads, there’s a purchase link re-directing you to pre-order it on Amazon.com from within the audio player. According to this article from paidContent.org, Gannet will receive a piece of the action based on the number of albums it sells through this promotion. I guess the terms they carved out offer both parties a better percentage than if they had set up a campaign exclusively with iTunes.

Speaking of retail links, given the above mentioned terms, perhaps this is the reason that there are two really hard to find links at the bottom of the player to the official websites ( www.brianwilson.com and www.thatluckyoldsun.net). Both sites offer links to pre-order it from iTunes (which includes a bonus video and artwork) or buy the disc, LP or deluxe package directly from his webstore where fans also receive a bonus 7″ vinyl record.

You can read the official Gannet press release here.

[via Coolfer]

So if you want to meet some great like-minded individuals who share a passion for podcasting or learn about the broad spectrum of what new and social media encompasses, I suggest you make plans to attend PodCamp Montreal.

It’s a really fun and informative gathering for anyone who’s curious about new media. This bilingual two day event takes place on September 20th and 21st, at the Pavillon de Design de l’UQAM.

You can also join the Facebook page to stay on top of all things PodCamp Montreal 2008

Thing is, this new album is available exclusively from their website.  You can stream the entire record (for free, of course) and if inclined, purchase it in a variety of digital and physical formats. Regardless of which format you select, you can download it immediately while waiting for the physical CDs to ship later this year. There’s also a limited edition Deluxe Package designed by Sagmeister Inc.

Embedded here for you listening pleasure.

[via Topspin]

So last week, each person who walked through the door of Bush Hall (where she was performing) received a vinyl single wrapped in artwork. Each record also came with a unique download number and those who received it were encouraged to share the code with their network of friends.

Here’s the part I really like and think is quite genius. The person whose code gets used the most wins a free album when it’s released. Rewarding fans for their loyalty and creating a viral campaign at the same time.

If interested, you can download “Only You” here.

[via Street Attack Marketing]

1. iTunes
2. Wal-Mart (Walmart, Walmart.com, Walmart Music Downloads)
3. Best Buy (Best Buy, Bestbuy.com, Best Buy Digital Music Store)
4. Amazon (Amazon.com, AmazonMP3.com)
5. Target (Target and Target.com)

NPD’s data reflects the ongoing consumer shift from physical CDs to digital music, as iTunes maintained their leadership position reached earlier this year. Amazon rose from fifth place to fourth primarily for two reasons: first, online CD sales have seen less erosion than CD sales at brick-and-mortar stores; and second, Amazon launched its digital music store, Amazon.mp3, last year.

“We expect Apple will consolidate its lead in the retail music market, as CD sales continue to slow,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. “Amazon’s CD buyers tend to be older, so they haven’t abandoned the CD format to the extent seen in the average music buyer. Plus Amazon’s successful introduction of its digital download store will help the company improve its position in the future.”

The information in this press release was derived from surveys of U.S. consumers, age 13 and older, reporting on their purchases of physical product (CDs), digital music, and wireless over-the-air (OTA) transactions — excluding ringtones. Purchases from retailer Web sites and brick-and-mortar stores are combined in this ranking. Note: NPD uses an equivalency of 12 single-track downloads per CD, for retailers who sell digital music as single tracks. In addition, NPD only tracks digital music sold by the song or album, not music purchased under subscription from services like eMusic, or subscription revenues from Rhapsody and Napster.

[via NPD Group]

This album is also available from Amazon.com but it ranks considerably lower on the their album download charts. Same with iTunes, it’s not even in the Top-100 album charts.

What does all mean? According to Digital Audio Insider, perhaps the difference in chart positions provides some evidence of the difference between using an “all you can eat” download subscription on eMusic and making a specific purchase decision within the Amazon mp3 or iTunes store. I also get the feeling that most eMusic subscribers do not take advantage or use up their monthly download allotment, hence they are also buying music they may have downloaded for free, well, at least this is the case with “The Slip”

[via Digital Audio Insider]

Fortune reported that this new offering will enable MySpace members to listen to music for free as well as purchase downloads, ringtones, T-shirts and concert tickets.

TechCrunch offers a little more info adding that MySpace Music will be a combination music store/subscription model (with free unlimited streaming) and revenue will come from advertising and paid downloads.

MySpace hosts profiles for 5 million artists and that 65% of their users embed music on their MySpace pages and over 5 billion songs are streamed on MySpace each month.

As reported in March, this joint venture with the major labels will probably encompass some sort of equity stakes for the labels and perhaps some advertising revenue sharing. Wonder if MySpace will also pay for streaming. Even fractions of pennies would add up seeing they stream over 5 billion songs a month.

[via Fortune]

Additionally, eMusic customers will not only see album information and track-listing on the artist page they are exploring but they will also be treated to additional content being pulled in from YouTube, Flickr and Wikipedia while encouraging their users to share their findings online.

“Stores like iTunes, Amazon and even the new Rhapsody are missing the boat,” said David Pakman, President and CEO of eMusic. “Blogs and recommendations from friends are now more relevant in music discovery than what music critics have to say, but what’s missing is a place that brings that all together. eMusic is that place. This is the first of six months of dramatic product improvements which we believe will set the bar for the way “long tail” retailers — and indeed all entertainment retailers — must function online.”

So what does this mean for an indie artist or label who has their content on eMusic? Well, perhaps it’s time you get around to creating a Flickr page, A Wiki entry and/or a YouTube channel so that the world’s second largest digital music service after iTunes can pull in some of your content.

[via WSJ]

Advertisers are provided with tools to retrieve data about the total number of people who saw their ad, how many interacted with it and how many people clicked on the link to buy tickets. Advertising rates are charged on impressions the ads receive.

Promoters have historically relied on informing live music fans through print, email lists and radio & TV ads. This new method now allows them to reach social network users — typically teens or 20-somethings who might not otherwise hear about a concert as they do not rely on traditional media for their information.

iLike boasts about 30 million registered users and its Facebook application make up around 40% of its total users.

Fans seeing an artist specific ad are treated to music, a link that allows them to inform their friends about the event, seek out other fans who plan to attend and of course, a link to buy tickets.

[via Mashable]

You can learn about how the video was made, the 3D technologies behind it and explore data visualization and get a hands-on experience. Click here to access this information.

And the fun does not stop there. Radiohead has also released the data behind their video for you to manipulate, upload and share it with the community. You can find the code here and share the content here.

Now back to the video which has received over 1.2 million plays on their YouTube channel over the last 5 days.

[via Radiohead.com]

Some iPhone customers decided to take a slightly different approach to using their new phone. This was the case with Tom from Will It Blend.

[via Apple]

To be honest, I really want one of these “jesus phones” as it would eventually eliminate the need to carry a laptop to and from meetings and give me something to do while commuting on public transport. I mean how else am I going to see every video on YouTube.

If you’re like me then you’ve spent the last few weeks reading all the rumors, the fanfare as well as the negative comments about the lack of decent data plans available (that is until a few days ago when Rogers kind of redeemed themselves).

I did not get up at the crack of dawn to wait in line this morning at my local Rogers store, instead I made myself a couple of double espressos and surfed my regular destinations to find out how this launch would roll out.

Well, turns out that many customers did not get what they wanted. Some were upset and frustrated by the fact that they waited in line for hours only to be told that stock had run out. Seems the Rogers stores had limited quantities. Some did manage to buy one but could not activate it on the spot. Digital Home Canada reported activation issues were Apple based problems.

I’m sure things will eventually settle down and all will be well again in a day or two. I’ll just call Rogers over the weekend, do what is referred to as a “hardware upgrade” and have them mail one to me….that is, if Rogers can get more stock by early next week.

Well, that day has come. Last.fm officially announced the launch their Artist Royalty Program today. This new initiative now gives unsigned and independent artists the opportunity to accumulate royalities from their music direct from Last.fm, every time their tracks are streamed.

This marks the first time that indie musicians not affiliated with any label or royalty collection agency can collect revenue directly from a free streaming music platform.

Now go upload your music and use their widget to embed your music on all your other social networking platforms.

[via WSJ MarketWatch]

For those who are not in the know, The Polaris Prize is somewhat similar to the UK’s Mercury Prize where the winning artist receives a small sum of money for their artistic efforts. This annual event honours and rewards creativity in Canadian recorded music without regard to musical genre or sales history.

The award is determined by journalists, broadcasters and bloggers from across Canada. The third annual Polaris Music Prize will be awarded at a gala, hosted by CBC Radio 3 host Grant Lawrence, at Toronto’s Phoenix Concert Theatre on Sept. 29.

For more information on the nominees, click here.

I can only hope that the quality of the mastering will be above average as this is a rather important factor for lp lovers. Some “serious” audiophiles have no issues dropping over $50 for 180 gram virgin vinyl pressings to extract the best possible reproduction.

I know all about this. As an audiophile who just sold my cherised Linn LP12 record player and liquidating my album collection (over 5000 albums), I can attest first hand at the number of people who are “into” records and simply prefer them the digital offerings available now. I’ve must have responded to over 50 local inquiries from vinyl lovers over the last couple of weeks. I understand why they have invested about the same money on their turntables than most people spend on their vechiles.

In my opinion, there’s always been a niche market for vinyl records over the last decade or so. It kind of makes sense that the big box stores are willing to give it try. Why wouldn’t they? They are in the business of selling music - in whatever format drives consumers through their front doors. However, I would not expect to see a complete wall of album covers taking over their store fronts.

[via FYI Music]

More importantly, MeeMix also offers artists the opportunity to upload their music to the site, customize and personalize their MeeMix page. Their widgets (which can be embedded on MySpace and websites) also report stats so you can see how fans are interacting with your content. As an artist, you have some control over how your music is being consumed. You can enable full track streaming and/or offer downloadable tracks.

[via Mashable]

iTunes recently began offering movies and according to their press release, seems that iTunes customers are now renting and purchasing over 50,000 movies every day, making them the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films including HD video.

As an indie artist, you would be wise to get some sort of presence on iTunes via a digital aggregator, your label or distributor. Of course, the other side of this equation is that you must also invest some of your time to cultivate and grow your fanbase before aksing them to purchase your music….on iTunes.

[via Apple]

Just as RCRD LBL has done since launching late last year, advertisers will underwrite the free downloading of music on this new network of music oriented blogs, creating a marriage between blue-chip sponsors and bloggers. This concept is attracting interest and dollars from major advertisers (like Zune and Lexus) who are eager to reach young tastemakers who cannot be reached via traditional media.

[via Fortune]

This study from the University of Hertfordshire suggests that 50% of 14 to 24-year-olds did not have any issues sharing all their music with others. On average, every digital music player contained 1770 songs and 842 of them were illegally copied songs, which represents about half their collection. Findings also show that 96% of 18 to 24-year-olds surveyed engage in some sort of illegal copying.

Nothing new here. Back in the day, we traded tapes, lent our lps to our friends to listen to and for them to make copies on tape cassette. Difference now is technology offers a better way to share and discover music.

You can download the complete report here.

[via Times Online]

This new digital download service allows Orange customers to transfer music to theor other digital media devices with no time commitment or restrictions on ownership. Meaning you own the tracks forever even if you were to terminate your account.

According to their brief press release, one million titles are currently available from France’s top four major labels (EMI Music France, Sony BMG, Universal Music France and Warner Music) and two independent labels (Believe and Scorpio Music).

Art Technica’s, David Chartier offers a more in-depth look at this service comparing it to Nokia’s Comes With Music and also sheds some light on the fact the “unlimited” actually means a cap of 500 songs per month. It seems that ripping the music to CD will not be allowed either. Read his take on all this here.

Even with a cap of 500 tracks a month, that represents 6000 tracks a year - that’s a lot of music for €12 per month. Add to this a flexible device transfer policy, a vast catalog of pop and indie music, one can only hope that we would see a similar offering closer to home.

You can read the official Orange press release here.

[via Ars Technica]

Check out “Social Media in Plain English”

[ via Common Craft]

Just type in the name of what you’re looking, hit “fetch” and by default you’re see results from YouTube. However, you can also search all other available sites, which are listed on a column to the left. If you wish to see the results for your keyword from MySpace, Crackle or any other of the 90+ sites have, they’re available with a single click as well.

[via Mashable]

Well now there’s Qplayer, from Qbox, a social network music player which searches all available music across a variety of social networkng sites, indexes the tracks and makes them available for on-demand streaming.

Qplayer is a desktop application (PC only at this time) that provides access to over 21 million songs from MySpace, YouTube, and Bebo, with more sites expected soon. There are also some nice amenities like being able to save streaming links to your library and a music feed, allowing users to follow their friends’ music listening patterns and discoveries.

[via Hypebot]

As a user, you’ll need to supply a valid email address and some personal information to access the free downloads. You can also invite friends to check out the tunes.

Backstage offers bands the option to create a page to promote and offer DRM-free recordings. Artists may also purchase download cards to distribute at shows to further promote their music.

However, there are some costs attached for bands to use this service to cover bandwidth, I assume. ($12 get you 150 downloads, $24 for 500, or $36 for 2000). Of course, you can set up to offer free music downloads yourself and not incur any costs but tracking who downloaded your music and harvesting email addresses can be a valuable tool to communicate with potential fans. I would assume that this type of data would be accessible if paying for a service.

The Autumn Film are using and effectively promoting their music via Backstage. You can check them out here.

[via Mashable]

Furthermore, imeem has leapfrogged past Yahoo Music to become the top online music destination. This survey was based on a sample of 1000 music sites. For more information, read, Music Industry Downfall, Part II: The Rise of Social Streaming.

The chart below shows the most popular options for listening to music online are free.

The Top 20 Streaming Music Sites:

[via Compete]

Well, Trent is at it again. He’s now giving away a new album called “The Slip” in a variety of formats, including a 24/96 WAV format (this is considered “hi-resolution”). You also get a PDF with artwork and credits and there are plans to release a CD and LP in July.

Just as Radiohead and Coldplay did, you must offer up your email address to receive the download link. At least they inform you that your data will not be exploited for spam!

I’ll let Trent do the talking, blurb is taken directly from the sign up page.

“as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com

the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits.

for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon”.

[via Mashable]

According to MusicWeek, this new track has been downloaded by over 600,000 people since it was made available. Should you not want to give up your email address, have a look around this popular torrent tracker…you’ll find it.

In other Coldplay news, seems this new single is receiving one play every two seconds on Last.fm. The last time a song was listened to this much on Last.fm was Radiohead’s “15 Step” with 22,000 listens in 12 hours. Coldplay are one of the most popular bands on Last.fm with 51 million listens.

[via Hypebot]

eMusic offers 3.5 million titles and has agreements in place with most indies and majors to offer DRM-free music in MP3 format. eMusic is offering 50 free music downloads and one free audio book download for Canadian residents who sign up.

Their Canadian monthly pricing plans are as follows:
eMusic Basic - 30 downloads $11.99
eMusic Plus - 50 downloads $17.99
eMusic Premium - 75 downloads $23.99

[via FYI Music]

Northern Soul

The usual suspects like iTunes, Yahoo, imeem, LastFM and iLike offer some sort of widget.

For a complete list, visit the the MySpace Application Gallery.

[via Mashable]

It’s refreshing to see an artist post about their “other” interests. In David’s case, all things art, technology and communications. I would expect more musicians to take control and begin communicating their ideas directly to their fans, given the digital age we live in.

I enjoy reading his blog (and you should too), it should provide you with some insight on how technology impacts him as a recording artist, both positively and negatively in this new digital frontier.

Pitchfork.tv is offering behind-the-scenes interviews, sessions and music videos. Wired got a sneak peek at the Pitchfork.tv site, read all about it here.

Another popular music blog, Stereogum is getting ready to launch Videogum, its own video site. You can sign up to notified about the site launch.

[via Wired]

Fans and artists can create accounts, allowing them to upload concert photos, videos, tour dates and post reviews. They also offer a widget called TourCaster to embed concert dates on your other online profiles, blogs and websites as well as a Facebook application.

On a less serious note, they’ve also created something called Concert Attacks, a series of short videos which allows Facebook users to “attack” their friends with over-exaggerated (and silly) stage and fan moves.

Being a fan of Spinal Tap, this one particular “Attack” is my personal favourite.

[via Mashable]

Social networks are increasingly popular for artists and labels looking to set up advance listening parties and debuts. Just recently, R.E.M. used iLike to debut their new album. Led Zeppelin (actually Rhino Records) partnered with imeem to promote this legendary rock bands release of Mothership late last year. MySpace constantly offer a variety of exclusive pre-release listening campaigns for established and developing artists as well.

With the millions of users frequenting these music communities is seems to make sense to attempt these types of advance listening parties. Take the music to the online masses.

Taking it a step further, imeem (unlike MySpace) also offers users the ability to embed playlists to their social pages and blogs.

[via hypebot]

Thing is, this new album will be released on vinyl only and will include some sort of digital download code in the package (not much more details are available at this time).

It will be interesting to see what formats the digital download will be offered in (mp3, flac, aiff), if it will include any bonus material and how many fans will actually redeem their digital coupon.

Elvis will be on tour with the Police across North America as of May 1st and the question that I keep asking myself is - how will the Generation X crowds attending the shows respond to not being able to purchase disc at the merch booth? Or does Elvis have a plan to only sell CDs while on tour?

[via Billboard]

Anthony Bruno of Billboard reported over the weekend that Yahoo data shows people are going to bands’ Wikipedia entries more often than their MySpace pages, or official websites by a 2-to-1 ratio.

MySpace boasts about 3 million artist profiles, where as Wikipedia lists a few hundred thousand artist entries.

So, why aren’t more bands taking the time to create an entry on Wiki? Could it be the fact that all information on their site must not be biased and exaggerated on the part of the artist or label? Perhaps artists and their managers are not aware of this resource? Is it the fact that there’s no promotional angle or ability to sell you content?

For those who do not know, Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia that relies on users to submit the information listed about a given topic.

Wikipedia, by-the-way is the second-most popular search engine after Google but many bands still do not pay enough attention to their Wikipedia entry - that is - if they have one.

If you do not have a Wiki page, maybe you should ask your fans to create one for you and have them update it as the need arises. Question is - will they be able to remain neutral enough to meet the sites standards?

Remember Wiki is not about the hype-machine, it’s about information and isn’t that what music fans what to know?

[via Reuters]

Sources close to the deal have stated that the labels are trading content rights in exchange for minority equity stakes in MySpace Music and the chance to participate in the advertising revenues that News Corp. hopes to generate from the service. The new MySpace Music is expected to be a mix of pay-per-download and ad-supported video and audio. Users could expect to buy digital downloads in the MP3 format, access ad-supported streaming video, and buy ringtones.

Collectively, the record companies are expected to hold less than a 50 percent stake in the MySpace venture. Just how large a piece each label gets in MySpace Music will be determined by market share, sources said.

However, one little obstacle needs to be taken care of first - Universal is currently suing MySpace for copyright infringement associated with its viral video offering. Looks like they will need to settle that conflict before a deal can be struck for the MySpace Music joint venture.

[via NY Post]

RipLounge combines a social network with an online virtual community and offers advertisers a distribution channel for effective, targeted online promotions and content sponsorships. The various virtual locations will be used as multimedia channels for content distribution and advertising purposes.

Advertisers can choose how they want to be seen within the community via product placement and/or content integration which will enhance brand exposure while maintaining the integrity of the user experience.

RipLounge is scheduled to open its doors April 1st.

[via Mashable]

The site is geared to independent and student filmmakers, and should a license bring in revenue, Moby said the money is donated to the Humane Society. Moby said the site has directly resulted in 4,000 uses of his music in various film projects. He also said he has hopes to further develop the project, but doesn’t know which way it will go.

Of course, this is approach will not work for everyone, especially if you’re an upcoming indie artist.

[via Extended Play]

Every video generated will each have a completely distinct set of motion design. No two videos are the same. Videos can be emailed, embedded on websites including blogs and social network sites like Facebook and MySpace, and downloaded onto your computer.

For those wishing to submit music, Animoto has just launched a marketing opportunity that provides a direct way for artists to get their work featured on Animoto.

Each month, Animoto selects ten tracks which are featured for one month in their music collection under a category named “Showcase Selections”. The track which is most often to be used in making Animoto videos that month will be officially added to their permanent music collection.

[via Mashable]

Girls have embraced social networking sites on a massive scale, with 70% girls aged 15-17 having built and regularly worked on a profile page on popular websites such as MySpace and Facebook, as opposed to 57% of boys of the same age.

[via The Times]

Although the report centers around the UK, I would tend to assume that the findings would be similar in North America.

It’s a lengthy report (over 240 pages) but worth skimming through it. As expected teens are much more dialed in with new technology, whereas, the older demo still rely on traditional media or are confused by the ever growing choices. As I’ve mentioned before, education is key in order for the older consumer to fully embrace and overcome barriers like acceptance, understanding and awareness.

Another interesting piece of info is that 1 in 4 agree that social networks have the potential to be the main way in which they access video and music and many more are interested in using social networks to access content. Acceptance is even higher among the under 25 year olds group (up to 40% for males aged 20-24) and over 50% of the all people surveyed have searched social networks for content such as music and movies.

Other tidbits include that 70% of users claim that legal downloading sites don’t have the content of illegal ones. 68% claim that they “can get what they want a lot faster compared to legal sites” by pirating but they “would pay” if these legal downloading sites offered what they wanted.

Download the full report pdf here or the shorter summary report here.

[via Mashable]

If you’re a casual fan, you can get the first nine tracks for free. The music is DRM-free and comes with a 40-page pdf booklet.

The $5 option gets you all 36 tracks, available in a variety of digital formats along with the pdf booklet.

The $10 option actually buys you a 2 CD Digipak (the actual disc), a 16-page booklet, and it’s available April 8th. You can also download the digital files immediately.

Then we move into the hard core fan options. For $75, you get a deluxe-edition of “Ghosts I-IV” in a hardcover fabric slipcase (essentially a box set), containing two audio CDs and one data DVD with all the tracks in multi-track format. You also get immediate download of album and a Blu-ray disc. It ships May 1.

The $300 option is the super-duper collection. You get the “ultra-deluxe” limited edition — it’s the same as the deluxe-edition, plus a four-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, in a fabric slipcase. You also get two limited-edition Giclee prints, numbered, signed by Reznor. This edition is limited to 2,500, one per customer. It also ships May 1.

What can be considered surprising to some is that the new album has been officially uploaded by the band to The Pirate Bay, one of the largest BitTorrent trackers. What’s even more interesting is all the positive comments posted on their Pirate Bay page.

[via Last100]

We all know that MySpace still has a slight lead on Facebook in North America, Orkut remains really popular in Brazil but also sheds light on the lesser known and talked about sites in North America. For instance, Cyworld and Mixi are the #2 and #4 social networks in Asia-Pacific, while Netlog, Yonja, and Skyblog are #3, 4, and 5 in Africa, respectively. And, in addition to being really popular in Latin America, hi5 is apparently #1 in Mongolia.

Click here for a full scale version of the map.

[via Mashable]

The first several downloads of your songs are free, thus encouraging potential fans to discover your music. They also give back 70% of revenue to the artists and reward their community of music fans when they recommend songs to their friends by giving them credit to buy more music.

Starting today, Amie Street is offering up new releases from indie labels like Beggars Banquet, Polyvinyl, & Matador. Let’s hope that socially driven pricing can find it’s place in this new music industry. I’m all for it!

[via Hypebot]

The basic idea behind doubleTwist is that it’s difficult to exchange digital content with your friends because of incompatible file formats. It’s particularly hard to exchange iTunes music files, because Apple’s DRM prevents you from doing so. In doubleTwist, Apple’s DRM is stripped out of the files in your iTunes library and you can sync your media with a bunch of different portable devices and exchange them with your friends. The doubleTwist tag line is “liberate your media”.

There’s also a Facebook widget version called Twist me! which acts like a media drop-box, enabling your friends to send you pictures, video and audio from your profile page right to you your desktop.

The desktop application currently works on Windows XP/Vista, you can download it here. A Mac OS version is expected later this year.

Should you be interested in knowing more, check out the company’s press release here.

UPDATE: Turns out there’s a Mac OSX application which exists called Hymn Project to decrypt your iTunes protected files.

[via Last 100]

If you have a MySpace page, simply enter your log in and password to publish it to your profile or just grab the code and place it wherever you wish.

]]> http://www.iants.net/?feed=rss2&p=166 http://www.iants.net/?p=165 http://www.iants.net/?p=165#comments Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:52:26 +0000 ants http://www.iants.net/?p=165 The alternative rock band, The Charlatans posted a message on their website informing their fans that they will be allowed to download their latest album, “You Cross My Path”, free of charge starting March 3, 2008. Music can be downloaded from the band’s site or from Xfm, an alternative rock radio station based in the UK.

Soon after the digital release, the physical CD will become available and will include the sale of a vinyl box set. This is pretty much the same strategy used by Radiohead when launching In Rainbows a few months ago. Seems to be the “in” thing to do these days.

On a side note, seems Alan Moulder, the record producer who mixed both The Charlatan’s You Cross My Path and Saul Williams’ album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust has become the studio engineer of choice for online-music giveaways.

[via Mashable]

MySpace users that take advantage of this feature will be added to LouisXIV’s top friends on their MySpace page. Not a ground breaking promotion but it’s actually a very cool feature and FotoFlexer offers an array of customization features.

Check it out here if you like.

[via Mashable]

Songza are also launching a promotional beta program designed for bands and record labels. For 99 cents, bands and labels can get a feature spot on their “Recommended List” for a 24 hour period. You’ll also get to select the link, redirecting users to buy your track or visit your website, if inclined.

For a minimal marketing budget, it seems worth experimenting with this model. Where else could you spend $7.00 per week and instantly reach the people who are interested in discovering new music.

[via Mashable]

There are also a few add ons (aka plug-ins) which can make the experience more enjoyable. Yes, it does look like iTunes but it’s also a browser, something that iTunes is not.

Try it out for yourself.

However, over the course of the next few years, Yankee Group anticipates that music industry revenue will begin to stabilize in the US (I suspect this is true for all territories), though at a lower level than previously seen. By the end of 2007, digital music revenue in the US grew to $1.98 billion and will reach $5.34 billion by 2012.

They also predict that artists will increasingly keep the lion’s share of this revenue as record labels become marginalized.

Yankee Group also provides important recommendations for record labels and mobile carriers challenged with developing consumer connection during this disruptive period, including:

- Abandon DRM; embrace watermarking: labels can’t escape DRM, but by embracing watermarking, they will make it completely transparent to consumers.
- Leverage Anywhere Consumers: Record labels should encourage consumers to become legitimate distribution channels themselves and enable them to profit from it.
- Promote PC, not the phone: Wireless carriers must aggressively push the PC rather than the phone as the digital music distribution channel. The PC dominates music downloads.

[via Reuters]

Users will be able to access Google’s YouTube and Picasa, their photo-sharing site by simply pressing a button on the remote control.

This may be prove to be the integration we’ve been waiting for and has the potential of finally delivering a hybrid of online and traditional media directly to our living rooms without the need for a keyboard and mouse.

[via CNN]

Sony BMG is also about to introduce artist-specific digital download album cards called Platinum MusicPass. Similar (in some respects) to the iTunes digital download album cards, Sony’s cards will be priced at $12.99. Once you’ve purchased the card from a retail location, you enter a code from the card at Sony BMG’s new site called MusicPass.com to redeem your music.

In the US, these cards will be available at Best Buy, Target, Fred’s and a few more outlets by the end of January. Closer to home, participating retailers include Best Buy, CD Plus, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Wal-Mart with HMV coming on board sometime soon after.

There are also plans to offer cards at $19.99, which will include bonus material and the choice of one additional album from that same artist’s catalogue.

You can read their press release here.

Why would I or anyone else buy these cards? It requires taking a trip to the store only to go back home and hope that their new site isn’t full of bugs when trying to retrieve the content.

If I’m walking into a record store, I might as well purchase the CD and rip it myself. At least I can encode the music in the manner I like. That’s of course, only if I want the full album. What if I only want to a couple of tracks? And then, It’s not like I need to keep one more piece of plastic in my wallet to remind me of which artists I like.

[via USA Today & Billboard]

When a user signs up, they get points which can be used to vote on a song. If others vote for the same song and it moves up in ranking, you earn your points back. Collecting points increases your level and reflects your skill in picking top songs in your favorite genre.

[ via Mashable]

Given that each “deal” is unique, consider these broad strokes that cover the basics of manufacturing, promotion and distribution. Hence the money generated from any model will vary from one artist to another. There are other factors to consider such as your management deal structure, legal and recording costs before you can accurately account for how much an artist gets paid.

If you’re inclined to check out the story, you might also want to listen to the audio interviews with Aimee Mann’s manager, Michael Hausman and Mac McCaughan from Merge Records.

Mr. Byrne also took time to chat with Thome York about the business side of music and In Rainbows, Radiohead’s newest album.

[ via Wired]

So far, the results have been extremely positive and encouraging. Hofstetter states that he’s averaging about $6 an album and the most common price paid is $9.95, essentially what the album would cost on iTunes or any other digital store.

Hofstetter also posted a blog telling his fans, “I have always been thankful for the way the Internet has allowed me to reach people, and for the support those people have given me. So pay what you want for my new album, all the way down to one penny. Figure out what it’s worth to you — and I hope it can be that quality product that you’re looking for.”

[via Last100]

All this can be done without the need to sign up and the clean and simple interface is a pleasure to use. There’s even a Firefox plug-in which allows you to search for music from within your browser.

[via Hypebot]

Blockbuster will present “Jackass 2.5″ free of charge for a two week period at a www.blockbuster.jackassworld.com beginning Dec. 19th. On December 26th, the DVD will also be released at retail, made available to rent at Blockbuster stores and will also be available for download at iTunes, Amazon and other sites at a yet to be determined price.

As the first studio endorsed online movie release, it could end up being the experiment that helps solidify Hollywood’s transition to the digital age.

[via Reuters]

Starting today, MOG has fully integrated the Rhapsody Music Service, offering it’s community of users the ability to listen full-length tracks (if you live in the US). For everyone else, you still get 30 second samples.

They also have a something called MOG-O-MATICS, an application (for Mac and PC) which allows users to share their musical tastes and get instant recommendations.

Read Walt Mossberg’s (a columnist for The Wall Street Journal) complete review of MOG’s new features and more.

[via All Things Digital / Wall Street Journal]