Annie Lin

"It was a classic piece of music industry journalism: Rapacious Big Music beats up on hapless Little..."

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:38:23 -0500

“It was a classic piece of music industry journalism: Rapacious Big Music beats up on hapless Little Guy, with The Artist, who just wants to make ars gratia artis, caught in the middle. This time, Big Music was ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, which collects licensing royalties for songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Little Guy was a humble Irish bar called Connolly’s Pub & Restaurant. And The Artist was none other than New Jersey’s own “rock & roll working-class hero,” Bruce Springsteen.”

- Born To Sue

"After years of complaints, last year the music labels finally got what they wanted from Apple–the..."

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:49:16 -0500

“After years of complaints, last year the music labels finally got what they wanted from Apple–the ability to raise prices on their songs. Last April, iTunes introduced a “variable pricing” scheme, which gave the labels the ability to move prices from 99 cents a song to $1.29 (and for some tracks, down to 69 cents).The result? Music sales are slowing.”

- Book Publishers Beware! At iTunes, Expensive Music Equals Slower Sales.

Year Long Disaster - Music Video Generator

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:36:48 -0500

Year Long Disaster - Music Video Generator:

Band’s website automatically generates music video based on any two adjectives you select. Pretty nifty.

"Today, the Filter powers recommendations for sites and devices with a combined reach of about 20..."

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:34:40 -0500

“Today, the Filter powers recommendations for sites and devices with a combined reach of about 20 million people, with two more large media deals in the final stages of converting from a trail to a full license which will bring its total reach up to 85 million. The startup’s revenues went from $150,000 in 2008 to about $1 million in 2009. “All that money came from licensing,” says Roberts. “I think we git $2,000 from Google for advertising.” Since November, the company has been “borderline breakeven.” And it just added to its board of directors former Google engineering VP Doug Merrill, who left Google to briefly serve as president of EMI for a year.”

- The Filter Reboots As Recommendation Engine For Hire, Ex-Googler Doug Merrill Joins Board

Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:34:54 -0500

Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord

"But the real clash has been between Mr. Hands and Citigroup, the bank that financed the EMI..."

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:36:18 -0500

“

But the real clash has been between Mr. Hands and Citigroup, the bank that financed the EMI acquisition and many other Terra Firma deals. Terra Firma used only $3 billion of its investors’ cash to buy the music company; it borrowed the remaining $5.2 billion from Citi. Why was Terra Firma’s lender so generous? The bank thought it could later offload this debt by selling it in smaller chunks to other investors.

Then reality intruded. Before the deal closed in August 2007, the credit market froze — leaving Citi holding a vast bag of debt that it designated as “substandard.” The transaction offered yet another example of the kind of promiscuous lending that forced the government to rescue Citi the next year.

”

- In EMI Battle, Citigroup Is at Odds With Private Equity Firm

Potential Loss of Another Music Site Hits Austin Hard

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:27:28 -0500

Potential Loss of Another Music Site Hits Austin Hard

"Jimmy Buffett is a stickler for punctuation. The singer, who signs of a laid-back, island lifestyle..."

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:15:09 -0500

“Jimmy Buffett is a stickler for punctuation. The singer, who signs of a laid-back, island lifestyle in songs like “Cheeseburger in Paradise” and “Fins,” seems to have a pretty good grasp on his business empire. And when he spotted an application by footwear chain The Walking Company to trademark the phrase “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere!” he had to step in.”

- Jimmy Buffett Fights To Protect Boozy Slogan

"Last week, music financing platform Slicethepie announced that UK band Scars On 45 would be signing..."

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:28:12 -0500

“Last week, music financing platform Slicethepie announced that UK band Scars On 45 would be signing a multi-album deal with a major label (Atlantic/Chop Shop Records) after having received fan-funding via their site. Not only will the fans who invested in the band in 2008 get the gratification of being part of the process that brought them to this point – they will also be pocketing an 800% profit on their investment.”

- Behind the music: The fan-funded model that led to a major record deal

Muzak Exits Chapter 11 - Bankruptcy Beat

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:23:48 -0500

Muzak Exits Chapter 11 - Bankruptcy Beat

"Hunting for a record deal won’t cut it anymore. Modern bands are focusing more on the..."

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:40:20 -0500

“Hunting for a record deal won’t cut it anymore. Modern bands are focusing more on the Internet, looking for film soundtrack opportunities and piggy-backing album sales on designer T-shirts.”

- The path to success is no longer labeled

Guitar Hero exec bails on music, takes CEO job at Chegg.com

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:38:42 -0500

Guitar Hero exec bails on music, takes CEO job at Chegg.com

"YouTube made a bit of a splash last week when it announced a partnership with the Sundance Film..."

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:41:02 -0500

“YouTube made a bit of a splash last week when it announced a partnership with the Sundance Film Festival, under which it would stream (for a fee) titles from this year’s lineup. The thinking: Film fans will happily pay $3.99 for the ability to access standard- or high-definition downloads over the course of a 48-hour window. If successful, the project could put YouTube on footing with sites like NetFlix, which already stream movies for a fee. Turns out NetFlix doesn’t have much to worry about. At least not yet. After three full days, five festival titles had drawn a total of 1,422 viewers, with The Cove leading the way with 303 views. That’s a grand total of $5,673.78, which, even if filmmakers get two-thirds of the take, leaves them with only hundreds of dollars apiece.”

- YouTube’s Sundance Experiment: ‘A Box Office Bomb’

"True. It’s one thing to license without consent, it’s another for the illicit sellout to..."

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:36:31 -0500

“True. It’s one thing to license without consent, it’s another for the illicit sellout to be in favor of a product so markedly at odds with a band’s character. For one, Alex is a published foodie, penning the gustatory travel diary Sound Bites. Further, it’s highly likely Epic was aware Alex would reject such an offer out of hand, since he did just that to a similar campaign offered last year for a U.S.-based Mexican fast food chain, invoking the grossness of McDonald’s in the process.”

- Franz Ferdinand lambast their US label Epic (BMG) for licensing to McDonald’s

YouTube Goes Disco With Experimental Music Discovery Project

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:26:24 -0500

YouTube Goes Disco With Experimental Music Discovery Project

Charting The Beatles (via @dannyw)

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 14:00:22 -0500

Charting The Beatles (via @dannyw)

The OK Go Want You to Watch Their Video on Vimeo. The OK Go’s Record Label Is Suing Vimeo.

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 13:59:31 -0500

The OK Go Want You to Watch Their Video on Vimeo. The OK Go’s Record Label Is Suing Vimeo.

Electronic Arts forecasts another tough year for the video game industry

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:08:53 -0500

Electronic Arts forecasts another tough year for the video game industry

FreeAllMusic Signs Up Universal Music For Ad-Supported Downloads

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:56:08 -0500

FreeAllMusic Signs Up Universal Music For Ad-Supported Downloads

The Future of the Music Business

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:05:50 -0500

The Future of the Music Business:

Interesting article.