On the Beat

Music Excursions

How to Finance Your Career

To those who think talent is the hallmark of success in the music business, think again. While talent is essential, marketing wisdom and good business sense are fundamental skills needed as well. That's especially true for independent artists, who often self-finance their careers. With so many musical acts out there vying for attention, a keen and innovative approach is needed...

Performance Royalty Debate Rages On

The debate over whether broadcasters should pay a performance royalty is one of the music industry's hottest topics. Just two weeks ago, the Senate Judiciary Committee, approved a bill that would require broadcast radio stations to compensate artists and labels whenever music is aired...

Kevin Montgomery and Amanda Palmer

It takes tenacity and vision for an independent artist to build and maintain a career in today's music market. Anyone with a computer can record and distribute a record on their own, but building a self-supporting career is a different matter. Finally, there's some hope. A few musicians have embraced new models, sculpting out their own futures...

Data Rocks!

For the last fifty years, the traditional record label business was built on an ecosystem of radio stations, press outlets, retail stores and live venues, all of whom lived behind velvet ropes. The system closed to the public. Only the trade could participate. Today, that business is a shell of its former self...

The FTC and Bloggers

They went after funeral homes, they went after identity theft, and now the Federal Trade Commission is going after the most pressing need for consumer protectionism – bloggers...

Gaming and YouTube

While the record industry struggles with the difficult transition of selling expensive physical goods to selling low-cost digital files, the gaming industry appears to be heading towards the same fate...

Spotify

It's been less than a decade since Apple launched iTunes, and they remain the dominant digital retailer of choice. Currently, iTunes enjoys 70% of all digital music sales in the US market.

File Sharing, Next Generation

Every country handles peer-to-peer downloading differently. Here in the US, in federal court this week, four high level members of the website, "Rabid Neurosis" were indicted on music piracy charges. Rabid Neurosis is a website that operated from 1996 to 2007.  It was infamous for uploading illegal music files months before their official CD release date. According to federal prosecutors, the early supply of music often came from music industry insiders at radio, press and retail, who gave pre-released material to the site.   If convicted, the four indicted members could face up to five years in prison...

The Beatles

Today, on the ninth day, of the ninth month, in 2009, The Beatleshave once again invaded. This time, the landing pad is the world stage, with multiple massive Beatles releases...

Music Scenes

Have you ever wondered what makes a music scene thrive? Think back to Seattle during the grunge period, or the punk movement in New York's Lower East Side. Today, some of the hottest music scenes are in places like Brooklyn, New York, where Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Laura Cantrell, and TV on the Radio hail from. Or Portland, Oregon, where M. Ward, Menomena and The Decemberists come from. In fact in many cities around the country have pockets of amazing music scenes right now...

Summits and Conferences

This week, I attended an invitation-only record industry summit in LA. About 50 mid- and high-level players from all sectors sat in the backyard of an attorney's home in Mandeville Canyon to discuss the plight of the business. The discussion was moderated by Eric Garland of Big Champagne. Big Champagne monitors music downloads, streams and bit torrents on the web. They are in the best position to identify Internet users' behavior in music...

Tenenbaum, the Pirates and the BC Dash

Chalk up another win up for the RIAA.   Last week, the record industry organization won its second victory in their war against illegal downloading.  On Friday, a court ruled in favor of the RIAA in a lawsuit brought against Boston University student Joel Tenenbaum. Tenenbaum was ordered to pay $675,000 in damages, or $22,500 for each of the 30 songs he stole...

Sonicbids

Like many industries, the record business has been turned on its ear since the Internet. Universal web access has created a massive democratization of rock and roll. It's also created cottage industries of all shapes and sizes. Since the kid next door can sell his CD on iTunes and Amazon, now he wants to tour the country, playing venues befitting of his talent. In the past his chances of getting a gig outside his neighborhood open-mic night was slim. Talent booking practices have been the slowest to change in the music industry.  So in 2001, an agent named Panos Panay set out to make a difference. He founded the online music agency, Sonicbids...

Rock in Museums

When you think of an art museum, you probably think of a venue more in line with pondering than with partying.  And if there's a music program, it's probably classical, chamber or folk music.  But in the past few years, museums all over the country have been hosting great live indie-rock performances...