Music Industry News
May, 2006 Music Inustry News
PDF Version >
1.
Nashville's Music Industry Worth $6.38 Billion
According to Belmont University and the Nashville
Area Chamber of Commerce, the music industry in Nashville
shows a total economic impact of $6.38 billion............I’m
There!!!!!
2. Advanced
Music Search And Download Engine Offers Look And Feel
Of 1,100 CD Collection On The Web, Providing 35,000
+ Broadcast Quality Tracks. A music search
and download engine that searches for, finds and downloads
the ideal music cuts projects
3. Digital
Radio Unit Shipments To Top 22 Million By 2009
Indusrty Trends, Emerging markets, Info you need to
know......Check it Out!!!
4.On-Demand
Internet Content Revenues
Approaching $9 Billion By 2010
A new study predictates that U.S. consumer spending
for online entertainment, including on-demand gaming,
music and video services, will grow by 260% in the
next five years........WoW!!!
5. Filmmaker
Scores Big With Independent Bands
Director scores a film with quality music by using
MySpace.com to network.....
The “N” word applies here ...........Networking!!!
6. Million
Dollar Mistakes- Steering Your Music Career Clear
Of Lies, Cons, Catastrophes And Landmines
details some of the most expensive blunders ever made
by artists and by record executives, managers, and
producers who've worked with stars
7. Independent
Music To The World
The world's first on-line content portal for independent
music and film has just launched its music stream...
Boost Digital Radio.....................I think this
is HOT!!!!!
8. Recording
School Online Adds Home Recording Database
An Online Recording service available 24/7 by subscription
offering instructional videos
9. Mercora
introduces new self-service music-Centric advertising
program- mercora madwords
giving advertisers a chance to serve focused and targeted
advertising that is both relevant and in context with
the music discovery experience
10. The Economics Of On-Demand Programming
An original analysis of current and proposed financial
models support all varieties of on-demand programming.......Not
Boring!!!!YOU fit in this category somewhere.........Hello!!!!
11. TagWorld
Launches Unprecedented Online Music Service For Fans
And Artists
TagWorld is an integrated online social ecosystem,
that assit users find new music and artists
12. XcopyPod
- The Easy Solution To View Your DVD Movies On The
IPod
Allows users to transfer their DVD movies to the new
video iPod
13. Midisoft
Releases Gospel Studio & Composer, A Complete
Music Solution For Gospel Music Leaders
A comprehensive software package that is an all-in-one
solution for the Gospel music market
14. ABI Research
Marks "Explosive Growth" Of Broadband Video
Worldwide Broadband Video And Internet TV
Broadband video markets saw growth in excess of 100%
in 2005
15. Copyright
Is Pricing Consumers Out Of Knowledge
'Thoroughly inadequate' describes the review of the
organization's legislative advice to developing countries.
16. Independent
Musicians And Their Fans Embrace MyxerTones
A groundbreaking technology that enables bands
to create mobile phone ringtones from their own music
17. Artificial
Intelligence And Music Cognition Company
MusicGenome Introduces The Smart DJ
A new innovative fun product for the global cellular
market
18. Music
Blog Network Reaches 1,000,000+ Per Week
The network allows entertainment marketers to quickly
target the blogs' influential music fans and does
so at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional
media outlets
19. "The Urban Gospel
Show" Is Calling All Rappers And Singers
A weekly half hour music video program
that gives exposure to contemporary and hip hop Gospel
artists
20. Songwrites
radio service announces first success
Announces the first Songwriter's Demos to achieve
sufficient airplay
to chart in an industry-recognized publication
August, 2005 Music Inustry
News PDF
Version
1.
Music Radio Stations Hard Hit By Personal Digital
Music Revolution
Music radio stations are facing increasingly powerful
competition from the modern music culture.
2. I Tunes More
Popular Than Most Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Services
I Tunes is proving to be a formidable competitor against
free peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services.
3. Roxio Launches
Xingtone Ringtone Maker in Retail Stores Across North
America:
Easy-to-use software for converting music into custom,
ringtones for mobile phones.
4. Make Your
Music Library Your Ringtone Library With 'My Ringtone
Studio:
Create ringtones from existing CD and MP3 collection.
5. Agent155.com
Developing Ringtones And Video Clips For Cellular
Phones
Artist development company has proposed providing
ringtone download functionality for its membership.
6. Versaly Entertainment
Teams With 5280 Mobile To Develop SoBe Phone Gear
Ringtone Website
To produce, manage and distribute ringtones, wallpapers
and other mobile content
for fans of the popular beverage company.
7. Mercora Introduces
Live Music Search - Search.Mercora.com
Consumers can Web search, find and immediately listen,
unrestricted, to music free of charge,
streamed to them in high-fidelity audio.
8. IAR: Showing
Continued Support To Independent Artists
Popular indie music broadcaster delivers the first
digital download store that actually pays the artist
100% of their download proceeds.
9. EMusic Adds
Scores Of New Indie Artists And Labels
The No. 2 digital download service announced the addition
of leading indie labels and artists to its highly
regarded catalog.
10. INTENT MediaWorks
Introduces Family Friendly Music Downloads With New
P2P Software
An internet solution that is family friendly for downloading
music and movies.
11. 2005 Worship
Hymn Song Search Launches Worldwide Campaign
Devotion Music is searching for new versions of old
hymns to be recorded for a nationally released album.
12. Virtual
Music Announces The Arrival Of The MDP™ (Musician
Digital Portfolio)
A powerful tool for the musician, seeking to launch
or promote their career.
13. Singer Magazine
Becomes Singer & Musician
A respected resource helping independent artists turn
their talents into a respectable source of income.
14. Next-Generation
P2P Music Network Launched: Bitmunk
Artists can distribute their work while ensuring proper
royalties are paid to them.
15. Subcommittee
Statement On Digital Music Licensing
Existing laws do not accommodate the new business
models of online music.
16. RATE-MP3.com
Set To Launch & Offers Opportunities For Musicians
With Unique Concept
Music artists in any style can submit their songs
for review on the website.
17. Glimpse
Into The Future Of Online Music Through This Radical,
New Site
New concept of interaction between artist and fan.
18. The Rockabilly
Guitar Page – Gear Secrets Of Historic Recordings
Revealed
A resource offering insight and information about
hard to find recording sessions.
19. RazorPop
Announces P2P Subscription Music Offering
Music rights holders, including labels, composers,
and publishers, keep a percentage of the subscription
revenue.
20. MP3.com
Cofounder Creates Auction House For Song Copyrights
An auction house dedicated to the sale of music related
copyrights.
21. U.S. Congress
Voices Unanimous Support For Boosting Music Education
In Schools
Music instruction is an important component of a well-rounded
academic curriculum.
22. Bloggers Launch Music Network
A tool for entertainment companies looking to tap
into the elite of the music grassroots.
23. Internet
Surround Music Project To Promote The Creation And
Distribution Of Multichannel Music Online
To increase awareness of the benefits of surround
music for both artists and consumers.
24. Onlinegigs
& ICON Magazine Announce Partnership
Organizing the tools and resources for artist running
an independent music career.
April 2005 Music Inustry News
PDF
Version >
1.MUSIC
SOFTWARE INTERNET POPULARITY INDEX;
The Digital Music Doctor Announced The Results Of
The Music Software Internet Popularity Index For March
2005.
2.INTERACTIVE
MEDIA MARKETING RECEIVES
PLATINUM AWARD FROM THE AMERICAN DESIGN AWARDS’
Interactive Media Marketing LLC (IMM) Has Won The
Prestigious Platinum Award Given By The American Design
Awards
3.NEW
SHEET MUSIC NETWORK FOR MUSICIANS DIRECTORS;
Burns Publishing Company Has Launched A New Website
That House Gospel Sheet Music
4.MOTOROLA
TURNS UP THE VOLUME IN THE MOBILE MUSIC SPACE;
Great New Products For The Future
5.VIRTUAL
MUSIC ANNOUNCES THE ARRIVAL OF THE MDP
Musician Digital Portfolio
6.LEGENDARY
BLUES ARTIST ROBERT CRAY, ETTA JAMES,IKE TURNER INDUCTED
Inducted Into Hollywoods’s Rockwalk
7.HELP
FOR GEORGIA MUSIC MAKERS
The Power Of Networking
8.RAE
OF HOPE FOR STRUGGLING INDIE ARTIST AND AUTHORS
Radio Show Helps Indie Artist
9.NEXT-GENERATION
P2P MUSIC NETWORK
Bitmunk Is Launched
10.SUBCOMMITTEE
ON DIGITAL MUSIC LICENSING
Section 115 Mechanical Licenses
1. Nashville's
Music Industry Worth $6.38 Billion Back
to the top >
A newly released study of the music
industry in Nashville shows a total economic impact
of $6.38 billion, according to Belmont University
and the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Belmont, a Nashville-based liberal
arts university with 4,300 students and a nationally
renowned entertainment and music business program,
conducted the music industry
economic impact study. The Nashville Area Chamber
of Commerce and its Music Associations Task Force
commissioned the assessment. Results of the study
were announced today.
"For the first time in Music
City, everyone from policymakers and businesspeople
to entertainers and everyday citizens will be able
to grasp the true economic value of the music industry,"
said Dr. Patrick Raines, dean of the college of business
and professor of economics at Belmont University.
Raines led the study along with Dr.
LaTanya Brown, a former economics instructor at Belmont.
Findings represent the economic impact of the music
industry in the Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA). The assessment covered all
major music genres, professional organizations, record
labels, music performing rights organizations, music
venues, music media, travel and hospitality, artist
management and booking, and associated businesses.
Key findings:
Economic Impact--Direct spending by
music industry firms in Nashville totaled $2.64 billion.
The combined impact of direct and secondary spending
totaled $3.96 billion. Music-related tourism accounts
for another $2.42 billion in spending, bringing the
total economic impact of the music industry in the
Nashville MSA to $6.38 billion.
According to the report, the cities
of Seattle; Austin, Texas; and Memphis, Tenn.; have
conducted similar music industry studies, in addition
to the state of Georgia. The cumulative direct spending
impact for those studies was $3.14 billion.
Jobs--The study estimates there are
19,437 jobs directly related to music production.
These jobs provide $722 million in annual labor income
and pay an average annual wage of $37,200. An additional
19,826 jobs are indirectly created when music industry
employees spend their income. Music-related tourism
supports an additional 14,995 employees in the Nashville
MSA, bringing the total employment impact of the music
industry to more than 54,000 jobs.
Taxes--Sales taxes collected from
core music businesses exceed $24 million annually,
with property taxes adding another $45 million to
local government treasuries. Accommodation taxes attributable
to music-related tourism accounts for another $7 million,
bringing the tax revenue generated by the music industry
to more than $75 million.
Other Statistics--The Nashville MSA
is home to more than 80 record labels, 130 music publishers,
more than 180 recording studios, 27 entertainment
publications and some 5,000 working union musicians.
"Nashville is Music City, and
to fully leverage the brand, we certainly felt that
an economic assessment of this magnitude was long
overdue," said Mike Neal, president of the Nashville
Area Chamber of Commerce.
2. Advanced
Music Search And Download Engine Offers Look And Feel
Of 1,100 CD Collection On The Web, Providing 35,000
+ Broadcast Quality Tracks Back
to the top >
Email: Kevin@Mojoworking.com
Url: http://www.cuegle.com/
SALT LAKE CITY, January 10th 2006
The vast, broadcast-quality library
of Non Stop Music and the other libraries or collections
it administers can now be searched and downloaded
with extreme speed and efficiency at www.CUEgle.com.
A highly advanced music search and
download engine, CUEgle combines the look and feel
of a physical CD collection with the quick search
capabilities and instant gratification of an online
library, giving TV/film music supervisors, advertising
agency, corporate, multimedia producers and more intuitive
access to 1,100 CDs with over 35,000 tracks.
"The CUEgle system significantly
speeds up the process of searching for, finding and
downloading the ideal music cuts for a media project,"
says Randy Thornton, Partner in Non Stop Music (www.nonstopmusic.com).
"CUEgle is a revolutionary way of executing online
music searches, with a visually-oriented, user-friendly
interface that gives clients the sense of thumbing
through their CD collection, but with the fast efficiency
of a powerful Web search engine."
Visitors to CUEgle will find an uncommonly
attractive, visually-oriented experience waiting for
them once they log on. Large images of the colorful
CD covers for each collection, marked by easily identifiable
names such as "Action Premier 1" to "Suspense
4", "Tenor Sax Quartet - Bossa Nova"
and far beyond, can be clicked on to reveal track
title, quick description and length. Each MP3 track
can be fully previewed and downloaded straight to
the user's desktop, where it can then be inserted
into their project. Users in need of highest-quality
.wav or .aif files can conduct their CUEgle search
online, then pull the files from a CUEgle-supplied
hard drive. If they choose to use the track, the usual
blanket or needle drop licenses apply.
The CUEgle experience is further enhanced
by advanced search capabilities. 28 top-level categories,
from "Atmospheric Chillout" to "Country
& Western" and "Kitsch Retro Lounge"
help to speed up searches. Users can also easily narrow
or broaden their music searches with keywords. In
addition, Non Stop's expert music consultants are
available 24/7 to make suggestions regarding the Non
Stop Music library, made up entirely of original music
composed, arranged recorded at Non Stop's L.A. East
soundstage in Salt Lake City.
Organization and workflow are also
a strong suit of CUEgle. Music supervisors managing
one or more large-scale productions will appreciate
the "Projects" section, which allows them
to keep multiple music cues in project folders specifically
designated for that project. To streamline the review
and approval process, clients can be sent emails with
metadata ".xml" files that they can then
open in CUEgle for access to the full MP3 files, saving
users the bandwidth strain of moving multiple audio
files back and forth via email.
"The CUEgle music search and
download engine is a better, faster way to navigate
the constantly expanding Non Stop Music library,"
Thornton concludes. "In the past people had weeks
to turn their projects around, but those timelines
have shrunk to days and even hours. Now that the intuitive
capabilities of CUEgle are available, we can help
music producers respond to the intense time demands
and still be creative in the process. CUEgle is the
fast track to finding the best music for the creation
of better media."
About Non-Stop Music
For the past 24 years, Non-Stop Music
have been providing original music and world-renowned
fully administered library selections to the professional
world of movies, TV shows, commercials, trailers,
radio - in fact to anyone who needs quality music
that fits just right.
From the company's HQ in the glorious
countryside of Salt Lake City complete with it's state-of-the-art
recording complex - LA East and offices in New York,
LA and London along with affiliates offices throughout
Europe, Australia, Asia and the Near and Far East,
Non-Stop Music are the largest and most influential
music production and licensing company in the world
- a world where their music can be heard everywhere.
For more information, please go to
www.nonstopmusic.com
Media contact: Kevin Fetterplace at
Mojo Working International
3. Digital Radio Unit Shipments
To Top 22 Million By 2009 Back
to the top >
Worldwide, the combined market of
both digital satellite and terrestrial radio will
grow from approximately 5 million unit shipments in
2004 to 22 million unit shipments in 2009, reports
In-Stat (http://www.in-stat.com). The primary drivers
for this growth will be new and compelling content,
data services, price erosion for digital radio receivers,
and digital radio provider partnerships with new car
manufacturers, the high-tech market research firm
says.
In the US, satellite radio is driving
the digital radio market. In other markets, most notably
in the UK, terrestrial digital audio broadcasting
is driving it. The launch of Digital Multimedia Broadcast
(DMB) services in Japan and Korea, along with increased
promotional activity in Singapore, Australia and Taiwan
over the next year, will drive digital radio shipments
in Asia.
A recent report by In-Stat found the following:
•Roughly 600 US AM and FM stations
will broadcast in HD Radio technology by the end of
2005.
•The two US satellite radio providers have reported
significant subscriber numbers; XM is on track to
report over 6 million subscribers by the end of 2005,
while Sirius will reach over 3 million subscribers.
• Commercial-free radio ranks as the top reason
for purchasing a satellite radio, with 54% of surveyed
satellite radio owners citing it.
This Market Alert is drawn from the
In-Stat report, "Digital Radio: Turning Up the
Volume on Satellite and Terrestrial Radio Adoption"
(#IN0502133ID), which covers the worldwide digital
radio market. It includes analysis of major international
digital radio markets, forecasts for US satellite
radio subscribers, and for digital radio units sold
worldwide through 2009, segmented by region. It also
contains the results of an In-Stat survey of US consumers
on digital radio, along with profiles of digital radio
IC vendors.
4. U.S. On-Demand Internet
Content Revenues To Approach $9 Billion By 2010 Back
to the top >
Global Home Network and Broadband
Penetration to Grow Significantly During Same Time.
U.S. consumer spending for online entertainment, including
on-demand gaming, music and video services, will grow
by 260% in the next five years, according to Digital
Lifestyles: 2006 Outlook, a new study from Parks Associates.
Driven by broadband usage and innovations in digital
entertainment platforms and content services, revenues
will grow from $2.4 billion in 2006 to nearly $9 billion
in 2010.
"This year will be a watershed
for delivering to consumers an array of new entertainment
experiences," said Kurt Scherf, vice president
and principal analyst, Parks Associates. "Thanks
to broadband proliferation and growing cooperation
between content producers and other members of the
digital entertainment value chain, we'll see significant
product and service announcements throughout 2006."
Scherf indicated that the online video
market -- including such providers as Movielink, CinemaNow,
Apple iTunes, and Akimbo Systems -- will be active
in 2006, as PC and consumer electronics manufacturers
seek to expand their influence by offering more integrated
networked solutions to end users.
Digital Lifestyles: 2006 Outlook also
includes global forecasts for consumer broadband users,
home data networks and multichannel IP video services
("Telco TV" or "IPTV" services).
• The number of worldwide consumer
broadband subscribers will grow from 184 million in
2005 to more than 360 million in 2010;
• The number of households worldwide using data
networking equipment will grow from approximately
82 million in 2005 to more than 135 million in 2010;
and
• Worldwide subscribers to IP multichannel video
services (IPTV) will grow from approximately five
million in 2005 to nearly 70 million in 2010.
5. Filmmaker Scores Big
With Independent Bands Back
to the top >
Email: merlynsmagik2@aol.com
Url: http://www.myspace.com/custodythemovie
(AKRON, OH) - Every low-budget, feature-length film
faces similar challenges, and one of the hardest to
overcome is scoring a film with quality music. Traditional
means of using music in film often times prove too
costly to overcome, and independent filmmakers are
left unsatisfied with their final product. When those
challenges faced director, Eric Stuyvesant, he turned
to cyberspace.
Using MySpace.com, Stuyvesant was
able to network with bands that were in similar situations
of trying to garner exposure on a shoestring budget.
"Bands that have yet to be discovered are much
easier to work with," says Stuyvesant, "They're
more willing to listen to creative ways of securing
rights to their music. It's all about exposure."
Similar to what actors have done for years, bands
signed onto Stuyvesant's latest project, "Custody",
using a deferred point schedule. "In the long
run they'll probably make much more money than they
would had I bought the music outright." A deferred
point schedule refers to a profit sharing plan used
by filmmakers that aren't financed by studios.
By using this method Stuyvesant feels
secure that there's added incentive for built in marketing.
"These bands will reach audiences that never
would heard of me otherwise", says Stuyvesant,
"and in turn we'll take their music to places
it's never been. It's win-win. Some of their fans
will have to have a copy of our film, and some of
our fans will have to have one of their CDs"
Bands from MySpace.com included in
the film include Dig Jelly, Zach, Mezz Recipe, Ska-Ker
Moms, A Ballad Alchemy and 2 Skinny Dorks.
In what's quickly becoming Stuyvesant's trademark,
"Custody" deals with the trials and tribulations
of being a single-father using both drama and comedy
to expound on his message.
"Custody" is now available on DVD and can
be purchased at www.LucidVisionEntertainment.com/custody.htm
or at www.MySpace.com/custodythemovie
6. Million Dollar Mistakes-
Steering Your Music Career Clear Of Lies, Cons, Catastrophes
And Landmines Back to
the top >
Email: smoore@cmp.com
Url: http://www.backbeatbooks.com/?n=Recording%20%26%20Music%20Busines[...]
Get the Inside Story on the Biggest
Blunders by Big Names in the Music Business
Everyone knows the success stories
of the music industry-how Michael Jackson's Thriller
blew the roof off and how Clive Davis helped orchestrate
Carlos Santana's stunning comeback. But now you'll
find out about people who were dead wrong. Million
Dollar Mistakes (Backbeat Books) details some of the
most expensive blunders ever made by artists and by
record executives, managers, and producers who've
worked with stars such as Michael Jackson, Christina
Aguilera, the Beatles, Madonna, Nickelback, Chaka
Khan, Destiny's Child, Stanley Clarke, the Go-Go's,
Joan Osborne, Paul Stanley, the Captain & Tennille,
Aerosmith, Pink, Ricky Martin, the Rolling Stones,
and dozens more. From contract and copyright screw-ups
to sheer arrogance and lying, Million Dollar Mistakes
includes eye-opening revelations on:
• The pitfalls of employing
a family member
• The marketability of suicide
• The industry's accepted levels of lies and
thievery
• Thinking you're indispensable
• And much, much more!
There is no book like this-a book
that details the catastrophes, the things people left
off their résumés, the real secrets
of success. Some of these mistakes are so embarrassing
that the people involved would speak only off the
record. But each one will help aspiring artists avoid
mistakes of their own.
7. Independent Music To
The World Back to the
top >
Url: http://www.boostdigital.com
The world's first on-line content portal for independent
music and film has just launched its music stream...
Boost Digital Radio.
Speaking at its launch party Boost
Digital CEO Graeme Logan said "What excites me
is our future direction as we take Boost Digital not
just online but to the mobile phone and MP3 market."
Boost Digital Radio will only give
exposure to independent, unsigned artists and is programmed
and operated by experienced radio industry professionals.
Operations Manager Ian MacRae pointed out that: "It's
an interesting trend that more and more mainstream
artists are going independent. For example we are
currently featuring tracks from new albums by the
Eurogliders and Sophie B. Hawkins."
The search is now on worldwide for
music content. All genres of music are acceptable.
Unsigned bands and artists can download information
from the website about how to submit their music for
airplay.
8. Recording
School Online Adds Home Recording Database Back
to the top >
Url: http://recordingschoolonline.com/
Recording School Online has just added the Home Recording
Database to its services. Like Recording School Online,
Home Recording Database is available 24/7 by subscription
for three-month terms. The difference between the
two is that Recording School Online offers teacher
assistance, direct feedback on your recordings as
well as technical tips and direction based uniquely
on the work that you do. RSO also includes quizzes
and articles that are part of each student's progress
and program. Home Recording Database offers all the
videos and recording guides without the teacher support,
feedback, quizzes, for people who wish access to the
information but do not desire technical support, feedback
or quizzes.
Recording School Online and Home Recording
Database both offer 100 instructional videos which
cover such topics as:
Compression
Mixing
Recording
Microphone Techniques
Recording and Tuning Drums
Mastering
Digital Effects
And More
in addition to this large database
of videos, both also include over a thousand pages
of written guidance and tips.
There is currently $100 discount available for both
RSO and HRD. Gift certificates are also available.
Instructional videos in all topics of recording are
available for immediate download. More information
can be found at the links below:
http://recordingschoolonline.com/
http://home-recordingschool.com/
http://recordingschool.biz/recording_school/
9. Mecora introduces new
self - service music centric adverstising program-
Mecora Madworks Back
to the top >
Email: paula@contosdunne.com
Url: http://www.mercora.com
Mercora MadWords enables anyone to place highly targeted
music keyword-based advertising on the Mercora Music
Search Network
Mercora Inc., developer of the innovative
music search network has a beta version of its new
Mercora MadWords, the first targeted self-service
advertising framework for music. Advertisers can test
drive this new program by visiting http://www.mercora.com/madwords.
It lets advertisers choose music keywords such as
genre, artist or band names, and similar or related
artists, so that relevant advertisements are displayed
while users perform searches or listen to music on
the Mercora Network.
The Mercora MadWords program is aimed
at anyone interested in advertising to a primarily
young, broadband-connected audience (more than 65%
of Mercora users are between the ages of 18 and 35).
The October, 2005 Pew Research study, Digital Divisions,
calls this group "the highly wired broadband
elite," which makes up 33% of all US Internet
users. Mercora MadWords should instantly appeal to
a broad range of advertisers, including the following:
• Promoters of music- either
music labels that want to contextually promote new
releases, or artists and bands that want to promote
their own work and build their fan base;
• Retailers of music such as online and terrestrial
CD stores, specialty music stores, and digital download
and subscriptions services;
• Concert and event promoters who can very specifically
target their offerings to consumers;
• Consumer electronics equipment manufacturers
and retailers that want to promote and sell devices
such as portable music players, cell phones, and audio
accessories to a young, wired, and tech savvy consumer
base; and
• Manufacturers and retailers of musical instruments
and audio equipment to people who are active consumers
of music.
"Mercora has created a fast growing network for
people to search, listen and discover music for free,"
said Srivats Sampath, president and CEO, Mercora.
"Mercora MadWords now gives advertisers a chance
to serve focused and targeted advertising that is
both relevant and in context with the music discovery
experience."
How Mercora MadWords Works
Mercora MadWords provides advertisers with a simple
and flexible self-serve mechanism. Specifically, the
system enables advertisers to do the following:
• Create, target, deploy, and measure their
music keyword-based advertisements placed on the Mercora
Network. Advertisers can start with a minimum budget
of $5. Anyone can try the system at: http://www.mercora.com/madwords;
• Target advertisements based on keywords such
as music genres and artist names;
• Deploy Google-style text ads, in-line ads
or graphical ads that are presented to the user in
the context of a music search or when they are listening
to the music; and
• Measure results on a Targeted CPM basis (TCPM),
which delivers highly contextual search placement
without the risk of click fraud.
Focused and Active User Base for Advertising
Mercora's music search and user-contributed music
discovery network has grown into the largest catalog
of music on the Internet, with over 3 million unique
tracks and over 50,000 channels of music available
at any time. Mercora's user base exceeds two million
downloaded clients, 85% of whom are broadband users,
over 90% have made a product purchase online in the
last six months, and more than 65% are between the
age of eighteen and thirty five. These users like
to consume music in both a lean back and lean forward
manner where they can apply the familiar "search
and find" metaphor of the Internet to music discovery
and enjoyment. By providing a highly immersive experience,
Mercora has the average user logged in daily for more
than three hours and twenty minutes, and spending
approximately 43 minutes listening to music every
day.
Pricing and Availability Pricing by
TCPM is based on a variety of parameters. Advertisers
are given an automatic price quote online immediately
when they choose the type of ad they wish to run,
the number of impressions they want to obtain, and
the degree of targeting they wish to engage. Introductory
pricing starts at $2/TCPM.
About Mercora, Inc.
Mercora's mission is to catalog and organize the world's
music and audio content and make it universally searchable
and legally listenable for everyone. Mercora (www.mercora.com)
is headquartered in Santa Clara, CA.
Media Contact:
Paula Dunne, Contos Dunne Communications for Mercora
1.408.776.1400 office; 1.408.893.8750 mobile; email:
paula@contosdunne.com
10. The Economics Of On-Demand
Programming Back to the
top >
'The question is not whether on-demand
is the wave of the future. The issue is how to best
monetize the opportunity and understand the underlying
economic models.'
Amidst a din of news stories, announcements,
and conferences proclaiming On-Demand the current
"it" format of entertainment consumption,
Nielsen Entertainment Reports releases The Economics
of On-Demand Programming, an original analysis of
current and proposed financial models supporting all
varieties of on-demand programming.
Through analysis of several recent
on-demand deals and exclusive conversations with industry
executives, pioneering programmers and select news
analysis of early on-demand endeavors, Economics maps
out the new value chain for both content owners and
advertisers and provides econometric and comparative
media models for the revenue and cost of movies, television
shows, music and other content in the on-demand world
of VOD, downloading and streaming.
The Report also introduces new economic
models based on a thorough quantitative exploration
of on-demand variables, an original TV-VOD ad-supported
model, including net annual revenues, and a glossary
of terms.
"On-Demand means consumer-centric,
and I can tell you unequivocally that there is not
an advertiser, producer or distributor of creative
content in the marketplace today who is not totally
focused on the consumer, their experience and their
preferences," said Andy Wing, President and CEO,
Nielsen Entertainment. "The pace of change --
from channels to personalized entertainment networks
-- has less to do with the penetration of new devices,
and more to do with business' ability to plan and
model. We're publishing our Economic analysis of the
'consumer as programmer' knowing explorations such
as this can expedite the pace of this change."
11. TagWorld
Launches Unprecedented Online Music Service
For Fans And Artists Back
to the top >
Url: http://artists.tagworld.com
TagWorld (www.tagworld.com), an integrated
online social ecosystem, unveiled TagWorld Music,
a new service that lets users visit their friends'
TagWorld sites or browse through TagWorld to find
new music and artists, build customized playlists
and do one-click publishing of new music to their
personal websites. Instead of being limited to a single
track on a personal profile page, users can build
and hear entire playlists, tagged by genre, on their
fully customized TagWorld websites. As users hear
music being played on a site in TagWorld they can
click the "Add to My Tunes" button, instantly
access the track and stream it from their own site
or add any of these songs to their "Now Playing"
list.
TagWorld's Music Player: No Download,
Unconfined to a Computer, Travels With Users All songs
on TagWorld are one click away from being added to
a user's "My Tunes" section, which is always
accessible online and not tied to one computer. Once
songs are in "My Tunes," users can create
playlists, stream the songs for their own TagWorld
site, or listen to them in the stand-alone TagWorld
Music Player that can travel with them as they surf
other sites. Users can even upload their own copyrighted
music and create customized playlists, including songs
from TagWorld artists. (Any such music uploaded by
a user is currently only available to stream back
for that user's own listening pleasure.) TagWorld
Music is available to users for free at www.tagworld.com.
"One part iTunes and one part
MySpace equals TagWorld Music.1 Even though TagWorld
officially launched only one month ago, users and
artists will find our music offering powerful,"
said Fred Krueger, CEO of TagWorld. "People want
a point-and-click solution for adding music to their
website and digital music library. Finally, artists
have the necessary tools to measure usage information
about their songs. We plan to push the envelope in
support of artists and give them compelling reasons
why they should upload their tracks and create a multi-page
presence on TagWorld."
TagWorld Leapfrogs Others to Deliver
Industry-Leading Tools and Reporting to Artists for
Free
TagWorld's Music Service lets any
artist easily upload their songs to TagWorld, tag
them with relevant keywords, stream them on their
own TagWorld multi-page website, and allow others
to stream and/or download them. Using permission-level
settings, artists have complete control of their music
and can decide which features they would like to make
available to TagWorld members. TagWorld is also providing
free, near real-time data reporting so that artists
can receive valuable, aggregate demographic information
about their listeners. TagWorld artists can see in
what cities and states their songs are being played,
how many times their songs have been played, how many
people have added the songs to their "My Tunes"
section, listener age, and gender information. Unlike
other alternatives that restrict artists to less than
a handful of tracks, TagWorld is offering artists
up to 1 gigabyte of free storage, so they can upload
as many of their own songs, photos, and videos as
they like.
TagWorld Music launches its service
with artists such as Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins,
The Postal Service, Alkaline Trio, Citizen Cope, Nada
Surf, David Cross, Marc Broussard, Iron and Wine,
The Clarks, A Change of Pace, and more! Any artist
can sign up for free by visiting http://artists.tagworld.com.
12 XCopyPod - The Easy
Solution To View Your DVD Movies On The IPod Back
to the top >
With the recent release of the Video
iPod, Bling Software has updated its new DVD-copying
software Xcopy9 -- now also allowing users to transfer
their DVD movies to the new video iPod.
If you are a Windows PC user, XcopyPod
make iTunes work better for your needs -- it's the
simple and easy solution to do more with the movies
you already own with just one simple click.
"3 million movies have already
been downloaded from Apple's iTunes. People want video
on their iPods," says Bling Software Director
Lyn Bell, publisher of Xcopy9, Podmaxx, Ring Factory
and other successful PC utilities. "Downloads
are great for new releases. But what about the movies
people already have and own? Those aren't available
for the iPod or the PSP ... they need to be converted
first. Now there is a perfect and reliable transfer/converting
tool to make those movies portable for the iPod ...
XcopyPod."
XcopyPod is one of three components
inside Xcopy9, which can be purchased collectively
in one package or individually to best suit customer
needs. XcopyDVD. XcopyPSP. And now XcopyPod.
Xcopy9 allows users to make perfect
backups of DVD movies or even transfer to Sony PSP.
Expand the potential of your iPod
beyond just music -- XcopyPod makes iTunes better!
XcopyPod is the latest addition to the XCopy suite
for squeezing every ounce of power out of your iPod.
XcopyPod lets you rip any DVD that
you own right to your iPod with speed, simplicity
and perfect quality.
With support for up to 150 hours of video and a dazzling
2.5-inch color display, the new iPod video lets you
take music videos, TV shows, movies and video podcasts
on the road or in the air.
13. Midisoft Releases
Gospel Studio & Composer, A Complete Music Solution
For Gospel Music Leaders Back
to the top >
Url: http://www.midisoft.com
Midisoft Corp., developers of award-winning
music software, announces the release of their new
all-in-one solution for the Gospel music market, the
Gospel Studio & Composer software.
The new two-CD software suite is designed
as an essential music tool for gospel music ministries
and other music professionals. With Gospel Studio
& Composer music professionals can create lead
sheets, scores, and parts quickly and accurately-then,
easily print and share music with a Gospel team, choir
or band. Gospel Studio & Composer has everything
needed by the gospel ministry leader, artist, or songwriter
to create music in one package: notation, sequencing,
digital audio and 1,047 traditional well-loved hymns
in editable, perfect sheet music format.
Midisoft, a pioneer in the field of
MIDI and music technology, developed the technical
core of Gospel Studio & Composer and its other
products as one of the first original notational music
software programs on the market. Gospel Studio &
Composer is specifically targeted toward the Christian
worship market and gospel music professionals, and
can be used by both the novice and professional musician.
Gospel Studio & Composer also
features timeless Christmas favorites, just in time
for holiday music programs. Editable Christmas hymns
include "Away in a Manager," "Silent
Night," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Joy
to the World," and many more.
Recently unveiled to rave reviews
at the 38th Annual Gospel Music Workshop of America
(GMWA) Convention in Milwaukee, the special Gospel
Studio & Composer-GMWA Limited Edition, also includes
the official history book of GMWA, written by Dr.
Charles Reese, Dean of the Academic Division and published
by the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Inc. This
is the only official document that is highly supported
by the Board of Directors tracing the history of the
GMWA from its beginning in 1968 to the present.
"We've worked closely with leaders
in the worship music community, and we are so proud
to offer the very first music suite of its kind created
specifically for the Gospel and Christian worship
market," said Bernard Fekete, Midisoft's Vice
President of Sales and Marketing.
14. ABI Research Marks
"Explosive Growth" Of Broadband Video And
Internet TV Back to the
top >
The worldwide broadband video market
saw explosive growth in 2005, according to ABI Research,
and it will continue to grow rapidly through the end
of the decade to over $16 billion.
Both pay and ad-supported broadband
video markets saw growth in excess of 100% year over
year in 2005, driven by consumers' continuing increase
in broadband video usage and by content owners' demand
for alternative outlets as existing channels (cable,
broadcast and DVD) mature. Advertisers are also pushing
to increase their expenditure in this market because
sought-after demographic groups such as young adults
are spending more time online, instead of watching
TV.
"Disney/ABC's announcement that
it would sell episodes of 'Desperate Housewives' for
$1.99 per episode through iTunes has helped garner
additional momentum for a market that was already
strong," said Mike Wolf, the firm's principal
analyst of broadband, digital home and media. "Other
announcements, such as NBC's decision to push its
flagship nightly news online through an ad-supported
model, are sure signs that content companies are reexamining
their traditional distribution channels to see where
broadband video can expand their overall reach."
Just as important as online distribution
is access to the "digital home". Companies
such as Microsoft, Sony and Apple have found themselves
placed as key gatekeepers for consumers with home
technology platforms, giving them leverage with content
owners looking to reach consumers with broadband video
content.
"Consumer platforms, be they
Xbox 360s, iPods or TiVos, have millions of loyal
users who are hungry for content," said Wolf.
"The kingmakers in the broadband video market
will be those who can offer not just online distribution
of content, but can then extend the reach of this
content to the consumer, by whatever method that consumer
prefers."
15. Copyright
Is Pricing Consumers Out Of Knowledge Back
to the top >
The worldwide federation of consumer
organizations, Consumers International (CI), has condemned
WIPO technical assistance as 'thoroughly inadequate',
and is demanding a wholesale review of the organisation's
legislative advice to developing countries.
The criticism comes as Consumers International
publishes the findings of its study into the copyright
laws of 11 Asian countries, released to coincide with
the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
development agenda summit in Geneva (20-24 February).
The 'Copyright and Access to Knowledge'*
report finds that all 11 countries, including China,
India and Malaysia, have given copyright owners far
more protection than the intellectual property treaties
they have signed up to require.
As a result, copyrighted educational
materials in these countries are expensive and consumers
are being priced out of access to knowledge. Imported
books are prohibitively priced. When considered in
terms of GDP for instance, selling students a book
at US $27 in Indonesia is equivalent to selling it
to students in the US at US$1,048 **
The report concludes that WIPO is
failing to provide developing countries with the technical
assistance they need to take advantage of copyright
exemptions and limitations written into international
IP treaties. In doing so, WIPO is tacitly supporting
the unfair IP demands of governments and businesses
in the developed world at the expense of consumers
in poorer nations.
Richard Lloyd, Director General of
Consumers International said:
'In order to develop, poorer nations need access to
affordable learning materials. Yet immense pressure
from the developed world has meant many of the copyright
laws in these countries are tougher than they need
to be. This means consumers are being priced out of
the opportunity to learn. WIPO must support its developing
world member states and provide them with the technical
assistance they need to effectively implement their
rights under international law. '
16. Independent Musicians
And Their Fans Embrace MyxerTones
Back to the top >
Independent musicians are embracing
MyxerTones (http://www.MyxerTones.com),
a groundbreaking technology that enables bands to
create mobile phone ringtones from their own music.
In a simple process, musicians select a song or sound
file and receive a MyxerTag html tag to paste into
their website, blog, or MySpace profile. Then, a fan
clicks on the MyxerTag, enters his or her mobile phone
number, and receives the band's content as a ringtone.
mVisible Technologies, Inc., a leading
provider of technology, services, and programs to
intelligently manage and deliver content to mobile
devices, launched MyxerTags as an adjunct to their
popular MyxerTones offering. According to mVisible
Founder and Chief Technology Officer Myk Willis, "MyxerTags
are snippets of html code that are automatically created
by MyxerTones. They're used by bands, artists, or
anyone who wants their music delivered through MyxerTones
as a ringtone."
Musicians are enthusiastic about the
new service. "I built a MySpace profile just
so I could build ringtones from Cogburns songs that
other people could download," said Jennifer Hicks
from The Cogburns. "It's a trip to hear these
on other people's phones!" She particularly appreciates
the simplicity of selecting a song or sound file,
providing basic information to identify it - such
as the artist, title, and genre - and receiving the
tag. "It's as easy as cut-and-paste," added
Hicks. "You don't have to worry about different
file formats, the types of phones fans are using,
or any of that. MyxerTones takes care of everything."
Anyone visiting a musician's website
is one click away from downloading their ringtone.
According to Scott Kinnear, CEO and President of mVisible,
"The site's visitors click the MyxerTag, which
takes them to MyxerTones.com, where they simply enter
their phone number and receive the band's ringtone
for free."
mVisible Technologies, Inc. provides
uniform access to digital media, such as music, photos,
and video, via mobile phones - regardless of the type
of phone, network carrier, calling plan, or file format.
mVisible allows users to tap into existing digital
media from virtually anywhere on the planet.
17. Artificial Intelligence
And Music Cognition Company MusicGenome Introduces
The Smart DJ Back to
the top >
Smart DJ offers 3G mobile phone users
the ultimate in digital music experience, by creating
a new online entertainment service that accurately
analyzes listeners' music preferences and then delivers
a stream of mp3 songs totally in-sync with the listener's
taste with 80% success rate. MusicGenome will be showcasing
the Smart DJ product as part of the Israel Mobile
Industry Event at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona
MusicGenome, the leading expert in
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Music Cognition,
announced the release of Smart DJ -- a new innovative
fun product for the global cellular market. Smart
DJ offers 3G mobile phone users the ultimate in digital
music experience, by creating a new online entertainment
service that accurately analyzes listeners' music
preferences and then delivers a stream of mp3 songs
totally in-sync with the listener's taste with 80%
success rate -- higher than all competing methods
including technologies based on analyzing music parameters
or Collaborative Filtering.
Acting as a personal music agent,
it proposes play lists that can be cross-genre or
targeted to a specific mood and atmosphere. Based
on Artificial Intelligence technology Smart DJ simulates
each user's taste and delivers the music that s/he
loves, even music never heard before. Over time Smart
DJ continues to adjust to a person's taste and keeps
it updated by performing "fine tuning",
so that music can be delivered with growing precision.
"The Smart DJ combines the technology
edge of the 3G handsets and network with real time
personalized end user experience," said Dr. Dan
Gang, MusicGenome's Founder and CEO. "Smart DJ
is unique with its innovative approach and technology,
with a rich tools set for listening to diverse channels,
intuitive searching, Music DNA editing and for generating
diverse play-lists."
Sales of music via the internet and
mobile phones proliferated and spread across the world
in 2005, generating sales of US$1.1 billion for record
companies - up from US$380 million the previous year
- and promising further significant growth in the
coming year. According to new IFPI research. The Digital
Music Report 2006 concluded that Mobile music is rapidly
moving beyond just ringtones and master ringtones.
With the advent of 3G mobile, download speeds have
increased tremendously, allowing a wide range of new
music products to be offered such as full track downloads,
video streaming, and premium music content.
The Smart DJ is available via the
following platforms: IMS, WAP, embedded on the phone,
web and as a downloading terminal in retail stores.
MusicGenome will be showcasing the Smart DJ product
as part of the Israel Mobile Industry Event at 3GSM
World Congress, in Barcelona (February 13th -16th,
2006) - Live Demo center Hall 1 Booth D10.
18. Music Blog Network Reaches
1,000,000+ Per Week Back
to the top >
Email: hilltownmedia@gmail.com
Url: http://www.blogads.com/advertise/music_blog_network/order
The Music Blog Network, launched in June 2005, has
grown from nine sites to 25 and is poised for further
growth in 2006. Initially, the network reached 1,000,000
page views per month. Now, the expanded network boasts
1,000,000 page views per week. The network allows
entertainment marketers to quickly target the blogs'
influential music fans and does so at a fraction of
the cost charged by traditional media outlets.
As noted at the time of initial launch
by DigitalMusicNews.com, music blogs "have become
increasingly important arbiters of taste, with the
savvy tastemakers speaking to incredibly targeted
groups of listeners." Tapping into the bloggers'
interconnected audience, early advertisers on network
sites included Touchstone Films, Random House Publishing,
Sony Pictures, Lions' Gate Films and TBS.
Since then, Lexus, VH1, MSNBC, Three
Thieves Winery, and Sirius Satellite Radio have utilized
the network in recent months. CBS has an ad campaign
set to launch this week on Music Blog Network sites
for its new series "Love Monkey" - a comedy
about a record label executive.
Independent record labels have been
particularly active with music blog ad buys. New West
Records bought ads on network sites to promote the
release of Johnny Cash "Live from Austin Texas"
this fall. While, Matador Records is particularly
innovative in its current campaign, where the ad has
been rotating to promote different releases in different
weeks during a month long run on network sites. The
ability to modify an ad in mid-run is a particular
useful benefit that advertisers do not have with traditional
media ad buys.
Jeff Davidson, the network's organizer and publisher
of Earvolution.com states: "we have grown by
carefully choosing the best independent voices the
web has to offer and will continue to follow a smart
growth policy by selectively adding new members."
19. "The Urban Gospel
Show" Is Calling All Rappers And Singers Back
to the top >
Email: emory@emorytv.com
Url: http://www.emorytv.com
Television producer Emory Garris is
giving exposure to contemporary and hip hop Gospel
artists. "The Urban Gospel Show" is a weekly
half hour music video program that showcases the most
anointed voices in the Gospel music. The show airs
Sunday mornings on local television stations across
the United States, reaching over 22,000,000 households.
In addition to the weekly broadcast, "The Urban
Gospel Show" will broadcast once a month over
the internet.
The Show uses television as a vehicle
to bring Gospel music to the mainstream. The show
plays music videos by artists like: Kirk Franklin,
Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, CeCe Winans, Cross
movement, T-Bone, Bishop T. D. Jakes & The Potter's
House Choir, Marvin Sapp, Israel & New Breed,
Fred Hammond, Tonex, Juanita Bynum, Vickie Winans,
Detrick Haddon, Mary Mary, Brent Jones, Out Of Eden,
Dottie Peoples, John Reuben, 4th Avenue Jones, Smokie
Norful, LA Symphony, Karen Clark Sheard, Micah Stampley,
Pigeon John, Da Minista, Carolyn Adams, and Many More.
The Urban Gospel Show is accepting
music videos from major label and independent Gospel
artists for the weekly broadcast on television and
the internet. Gospel artists can send music videos
in DVD format to Emory TV.
Emory TV
8122 Ned Ave
Ste O
Baton Rouge LA 70810
You can advertise and promote your
music videos on "The Urban Gospel Show".
Contact the corporate office by phone: 225 768 9764/email:
emory@emorytv.com.
B-C releases "Wait" on June 26, 2006. "Wait"
is the first single from the album entitled "Chasing
a Dream" Set to release later this year.
20. Songwriters Radio
Service Announces First Success Back
to the top >
Url: http://www.songwritersradioservice.com/
22 November 2005
Date Line -- Los Angeles, CA -- Songwriters Radio
Service (songwritersradioservice.com), Fremont, IN,
is proud to announce the first Songwriter's Demos
to achieve sufficient airplay to chart in an industry-recognized
publication. Paul Evans' recording of "Another
Bottle of Blues", submitted through Bibb Promotional,
reached 2395 in the Atlantic Satellite Top 2,500 (atlantic-satellite.com)
and Reverend Robert B. Rice's "Do You Want to
Know Jesus", via Maybe It's Time, charted at
2432. Publisher's contracts are pending for both songs.
Songwriters Radio Service began accepting air quality
demonstration recordings of original, copyrighted
and unpublished music for submission to Broadcast
and Background Music Program and Music Directors in
the closing weeks of August and began uploading the
first week of September. The service puts air quality
demos in direct competition with released product
at the broadcast level where the commercial viability
of a given song is then obvious.
Songwriters Radio Service, in association
with a few select Promo Library Brokers, formulated
the process to save songwriters a great deal of money
producing and mailing hard copy demos with little
chance of being heard or published and even less of
being recorded. Having verifiable Radio Airplay and
Background Music use is one indicator of a song's
commercial acceptability that legitimate music publishers
and record producers in need of quality material would
be unlikely to ignore.
Songwriters Radio Service assigns
each work its own Registration Number to avoid song-title
conflicts and ease tracking. Exclusive Registration
Numbers authorize submissions to be flagged as "SWD"
to avoid confusion with regular main line record releases.
Submissions are then made available to various Electronic
Music Services (promo libraries) where they may be
accessed and reviewed by Program and Music Directors,
Syndicates and other Music Users world wide.
There are no "industry"
judges or critique councils, because nobody is qualified
to guarantee a sure and certain "hit" or
"miss" in any field or genre' of music.
Broadcast Programmers, Music User and Syndicator Directors
are the only people qualified to decide if a song
is commercially acceptable for their specific requirements.
Songwriters may submit as many works
as they wish. All fields and genre' of music are acceptable.
Any and all rights, titles, interests and ownership
of submissions remain the sole and exclusive property
of the songwriter(s). There are no obligations or
embindments, legal or otherwise, on any submission
or any part of any submission.
Songwriters can contact any of the
Authorized Global Brokers: SongHookers.com, BibbPromotional.com,
Kleopatra.com, SongWritersDepot.com, FiveWireMusic.com,
TrueCountryRecords.com, or September Wilder
1. Music Radio
Stations Hard Hit By Personal Digital Music Revolution
Back to the top >
Music radio stations are facing increasingly powerful
competition from the modern music culture says a newly
published study by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence.
And what's more, listener bases are changing, and
not for the better.
"Listener bases appear to be
shrinking," says Constantine Kambanis, an analyst
at TechnoMetrica. "Moreover, they may be losing
some of their financial value, with perhaps the most
economically important listeners leaving radio for
the modern music experience."
According to Kambanis, the synergy
between digital music formats, portable digital music
players, personal computers and the Internet has created
better and more alluring alternatives to traditional
radio, forcing music radio to either adapt or die.
"Part of the appeal of things
like the Apple iPod and online music services like
iTunes and Napster is that the listener's music experience
can be completely customized. You just can't do that
with traditional radio."
Comparing what he dubs the "modern
music experience" to traditional music radio
programming, Kambanis says that downloading gives
such music a certain degree of ownership and permanence
not found in radio. Beyond that, the quickness and
ease of downloading music and the absence of time-consuming
and irrelevant commercials diminishes the value proposition
of music radio programming.
According to the report, music radio
will have to come to grips with the fact that technology
is fracturing the overarching listener base while
simultaneously personalizing consumer's interaction
with pop culture.
"Technology is having a profound
impact on music radio's mission statement. It's forcing
the advent of greater specialization and more genre-specific
content. The future of music radio probably lies in
highly targeted entertainment and in introducing new
artists and music products into highly specialized
markets."
2 .ITunes
More Popular Than Most Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Services
Back to the top >
iTunes is proving to be a formidable competitor against
free peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing services, The
NPD Group reported. According to information from
NPD's MusicWatch Digital service, Apple iTunes's industry-leading
a-la-carte download store tied with LimeWire as the
second-most-popular digital music service in March,
2005. Both iTunes and Limewire were used by 1.7 million
households. The most popular digital music service
that month was WinMX, which was used by 2.1 million
households to download music. Paid a-la-carte music
offerings from Napster and Real Networks also placed
in the top ten, alongside other P2P services like
iMesh and Kazaa.
"One of the music industry's
questions has been when will paid download stores
compete head-to-head with free P2P download services,"
said Russ Crupnick, president of the NPD Group's Music
and Movies division. "That question has now been
answered. iTunes is more popular than nearly any P2P
service, and two other paid digital music offerings
have also gained a level of critical mass. These digital
download stores appear to have created a compelling
and economically viable alternative to illegal file
sharing."
In total, four percent of Internet-enabled
households in the United States used a paid music
download store in March, 2005. A large number of these
consumers were over 30 years of age(reporting an average
age of 33 years and an average household income of
$83,000). Though younger demographics are more likely
than others to share files on P2P services, NPD's
research shows that older consumers are more likely
to be deterred by the recording industry's anti-piracy
litigation efforts.
The growing legal download services
provide a perfect alternative for the post-college
demographic. "They have diminishing free time,
and more disposable income," said Crupnick. NPD's
research shows that the litigation raised awareness
of legal issues surrounding P2P music downloading,
which provided the final tipping point for many of
these older, more financially secure customer segments.
Those that had tried digital music through file sharing
were slowing down or stopping that illegal behavior,
and many post- college consumers are leading the charge
into legal a la carte downloading."
The following list shows the top ten
digital music services, based on the number of households
acquiring a digital song in March 2005:
1. WinMX (2.1 million)
2. ITunes (1.7 million)
3. LimeWire (1.7 million)
4. Kazaa
5. BearShare
6. Ares Galaxy
7. Napster
8. Morpheus
9. Real Player Store
10. Imesh
3. Roxio Launches
Xingtone Ringtone Maker in Retail Stores Across North
America Back to the top >
Roxio, a division of Sonic Solutions, the leader in
digital media software, introduced Xingtone Ringtone
Maker software in thousands of retail locations throughout
North America. Under the terms of its publishing agreement
with Xingtone, Roxio is using its established sales
infrastructure and retail relationships to expand
the market reach of Xingtone Ringtone Maker, which
was previously only available online. The wide retail
distribution ensures consumers have ready access to
the easy-to-use software for converting personal music
into custom, real music (True Tone) ringtones for
their mobile phones.
A recently published report by Consect,
a leading provider of U.S. mobile market analysis,
indicates that global mobile phone ringtone sales
will total $4 billion in 2004. The report also reveals
that in the U.S. total sales have doubled from $150
million in 2003 to more than $300 million for 2004,
making the U.S. one of the fastest growing and largely
untapped markets for mobile music.
"Partnering with third-party
developers, such as Xingtone, allows Roxio to quickly
respond to high-growth market opportunities without
impacting internal development efforts," said
Stan Wong, General Manager of Roxio. "The timely
retail release of a premier solution, such as Xingtone
Ringtone Maker, not only helps Roxio satisfy a strong
consumer demand, but also strengthen its relationship
with retailers and increase the return it receives
on its channel investment."
Xingtone Ringtone Maker enables consumers
to quickly convert and transfer portions of an audio
file from their computer or a CD to their mobile phones
using cable-free, over-the-air transmission. The desktop
application offers a straight-forward workflow for
quickly preparing music or audio voice recordings
and is both Windows- and Mac-compatible. Xingtone
Ringtone Maker supports more than 100 handsets from
budget-buy to high-end devices and works with all
major US carriers, including Verizon Wireless, Sprint
PCS, Cingular (including AT&T Wireless), and T-Mobile.
Consumers may test their phone's compatibility with
Xingtone Ringtone Maker at Xingtone.com.
"Roxio is the ideal partner with
the retail experience and relationships required to
make our transition into retail fast, trouble free
and effective," said Jonathan Schreiber, CEO,
Xingtone. "Xingtone Ringtone Maker now has far
greater visibility and reach at a time when consumer
interest in ringtones is exploding."
4. Make Your
Music Library Your Ringtone Library With 'My Ringtone
Studio' Back to the top >
Tri Synergy (www.trisynergy.com) the leading independent
utility and video game publisher & MyPhoneFiles,
LLC, the premier "All-in-One" mobile entertainment
provider announces the upcoming May 11th North American
retail launch of My Ringtone Studio.
My Ringtone Studio provides consumers
with a powerful set of tools that allows them to personalize
their mobile phones by creating real music ringtones
from their existing CD and MP3 collection without
paying recurring subscription charges or fees per
ringtone.
My Ringtone Studio allows consumers
to create their own real music ringtones from their
existing music libraries & send them to their
phone over-the-air; there is no need for extra cables,
infrared or a Bluetooth connection. My Ringtone Studio
works with all major US & Canadian Wireless carriers.
Using one's cell phone to make a statement
has also become a very big business. Each individual
ringtone a consumer downloads can cost anywhere from
one to three dollars and that's not counting the subscription
fee. According to IDC Research, U.S. consumers downloaded
4.8 million ringtones in 2002 or $16.6 million worth.
IDC projects that in 2005, these consumers will download
30 million ringtones or $404 million in sales.
The unique set of tools provided by
My Ringtone Studio are, Music Tones Studio which allows
you to use any music CD or MP3 to create a studio
quality ringtone and Sing-A-Ringtone where you can
add your own voice to a music sample or simply use
anyone's voice to create a voicetone.
5. Agent155.com
Developing Ringtones And Video Clips For Cellular
Phones Back to the top >
Agent155 Media Group, Inc., a provider of multi-media
content management tools, providing exposure, networking
and collaboration opportunities to models, performers,
artists, athletes, musicians, filmmakers and agencies
worldwide, announced it is in discussions with myphonefiles.com
(http://www.myphonefiles.com),
a leading provider of cellular phone ringtone download
services. Agent155.com has proposed providing ringtone
download functionality for its membership and is currently
in the pre-planning phases for implementation of the
technology on the website.
According to a TechNewsWorld (http://www.TechNewsWorld.com)
article published May 9, 2005, "The ringtone
market is already a $400 million segment of the mobile
content industry." And, according to Ovum Research,
projections indicate the market will grow to $1.4
billion by 2010. In 2004, Sprint reported that in
2003 its customers downloaded 20 million ringtones
and screensavers. In addition, a September 2003 Yankee
Group Mobile User survey found that 18 percent of
subscribers are somewhat or very interested in downloadable
ringtones.
"This is a perfect segue for
our members into this lucrative market," stated
Christopher Martinez, CEO of Agent155 Media Group.
"Just the other day, Napster and Dwango announced
they will begin selling ringtones. This is a tremendous
validation of the market, from a leading player in
the downloadable content business." He added,
"With Agent155.com's proprietary member content
available as a ringtone, our talent membership has
the opportunity to create new, dynamic revenue streams,
which will also benefit Agent155 through a revenue-sharing
arrangement."
Plans for the service will be discussed
as details become available. Partnership discussions
with myphonefiles.com indicate that members will be
able to create and send Realtone Ringtones from ANY
digital audio file; send picture messages from ANY
digital picture file (from a website, application
or file folder); broadcast text and/or picture messages
to an audience, including complete buddy list functionality
for group memberships; send video clips to video-enabled
cell phones; and manage wireless content from their
own Personal Lockers on the Agent155.com Wireless
Portal.
6. Versaly
Entertainment Teams With 5280 Mobile To Develop SoBe
Phone Gear Ringtone Website
Back to the top >
Versaly Entertainment, a leading mobile media company,
announced an agreement with 5280 Mobile, one of the
leading agencies for wireless brand extension, to
produce the SoBe Phone Gear mobile storefront for
South Beach Beverage Company (SoBe). Versaly will
assist 5280 Mobile in producing, managing and distributing
ringtones, wallpapers and other mobile content for
fans of the popular beverage company.
"After careful consideration,
we chose Versaly as our lead developer because of
their mobile and brand management expertise,"
remarked Blake Fayling, President, 5280 Mobile. "We
look forward to working with them on this and future
endeavors."
SoBe Phone Gear is accessible through
the www.sobebev.com site, June 6th, with initial offerings
to include "LizTones" (ringtones) and "SoBe
Scenes" (wallpaper). Additional content, including
SoBe mobile video of the company's team of elite action
sports athletes, Team Lizard will be available in
coming weeks. "LizTones" will include special
mixes from the various SoBe DJs, including DJ Rob
Devz and Freddy, the company's offbeat "official
spokesman." "SoBe Scenes" will focus
on the incredible feats of the SoBe sponsored action
sports athletes and celebrate the SoBe lifestyle,
allowing fans to stay connected to the SoBe teams
anywhere. Videos will include world record attempts,
incredible stunts, and a mobile version of much of
what is currently available on the
www.sobebev.com website.
Users can select their mobile provider
and phone model, which enables them to select from
a variety of content available. SoBe Phone Gear mobile
products will also be available from select carriers
later this summer.
"Our Agreement with 5280 Mobile
will allow us to work together to create and produce
promotions that utilize the capabilities of the mobile
phone, the SoBe brand and distinctive personality
and action sport athletes," said Matthew Feldman,
president and CEO of Versaly Entertainment.
7. Mercora
Introduces Live Music Search - Search.Mercora.com
Back to the top >
Fast-growing and already the largest global legal
digital music network, Mercora announced the availability
of Mercora Live Music Search. Consumers can now directly
from the Web search, find and immediately listen,
unrestricted, to music free of charge, streamed to
them in high-fidelity audio. The company also announced
its Live Music Search Syndication Program, which lets
any Web site such as music or fan-related sites easily
and quickly integrate the search tool on their site.
Similar to Google, MSN and Yahoo,
which index static documents and images, Mercora has-for
the first time ever cataloged and made available live
music and other audio content so that consumers can
search and listen directly over the Internet.
"Mercora has, in effect, created
a real-time directory of live music and audio that
is categorized along various attributes, such as genre,
artist, period of recording, artist influences, and
related artists," said Srivats Sampath, president
and CEO of Mercora. "This new search tool and
technology is an industry first a breakthrough that
enables dynamic indexing of information that is updated
every few seconds, not in days, weeks or months as
with other search engines."
Mercora has rapidly emerged as the
largest, legal, user contributed digital music network.
DJs, artists and, in effect, every listener Webcasts
their music, creating one of the most unique and diverse
catalogs on the Internet. A total (and growing daily)
repository of over 30 million tracks, and daily catalog
of over 6 million from two hundred thousand artists
are available each day. Live Music Search now makes
those rich audio files accessible to everyone via
the Web.
Adding Mercora Free Live Music Search
to a Web site or Blog gives visitors a feature-rich
music experience that increases Web site "stickiness"
and "eye balls," attracting new, more frequent
and longer visits. Sites can customize the search
box to incorporate their own look and feel, color
scheme and logo, and can even pre-fill the search
box for a specific genre or artist.
"Mercora's Live Music Search
is a unique asset in that our visitors have the ability
to listen to featured artists as they're reading about
them at Blistering.com," said early adopter Rob
Cotter, CEO of Blistering Entertainment, a heavy metal
music site. "The adoption of such innovative
technology is invaluable to our readers as well as
our cutting edge business model."
8. IAR: Showing
Continued Support To Independent Artists Back
to the top >
Email: info@iarnetworks.com
Url: http://www.indieartistradio.com
This week the popular indie music broadcaster, Indie
Artist Radio, has released the first digital download
store that actually pays the artist 100% of their
download proceeds. Indie Artist Radio has evolved
into more than a radio broadcaster with their continued
growth and commitment to independent music worldwide.
Digital Downloads that benefit the
artist 100% is just the latest addition to one of
the fastest growing indie music broadcasters on the
Internet. Digital Downloads followed the release of
Indie Artist Radio’s artist development and promotions
campaign that walks artists through the music industry
by assisting in radio promotions, band goals and a
bands “Business Plan” to keep bands focused on their
long-term success strategy.
“I think that our digital download
with 100% payouts to the artist is a natural fit for
Indie Artist Radio. We never thought that our growth
would be so rapid and we always planned on Indie Artist
Radio being a place where music fans can hear great
independent music, not just another money pit for
artists. Offering a website that receives over 12,000
visits each day for artists to sell their music at
100% profit is just part of who we are.” ~ C. LaGrone,
VP.
Indie Artist Radio can now be heard
through several outlets including the Internet and
cell phone broadcasts. Indie Artist Radio can also
be found in Windows Media Player and AOL Music Directories
making Indie Artist Radio one of the most visible
indie music broadcasters. Their signature program,
The Indie Limelight Radio Show, has also joined the
ranks as a top syndicated independent music program
with over 5-million listeners every week. The Indie
Limelight Show can be heard on several FM stations
within the US, UK, Canada and Australia and several
Internet Radio stations based around the world.
Indie Artist Radio was developed as
a small Internet radio broadcaster that now manages
a digitally distributed syndication network for radio
programming and music distribution to radio stations
worldwide. (www.iarnetworks.com) IAR Networks is one
of the largest digital distribution networks in operation
with over 1000 radio network members, 50 programs
and 300 artists worldwide that use the IAR Networks
platform for distributing music and special programming
to radio stations worldwide. IAR Networks has recently
been selected as the exclusive syndication network
for distribution in the United States for Ison Live
Radio (ILR), a European and Australian radio network.
Collectively, Indie Artist Radio and
IAR Networks offers internet radio, indie music downloads,
program syndication, online DJ Pool, music promotions,
artist development, music related web design and hosting,
and band website promotions including Search Engine
Optimizing (SEO). Artists, industry and music enthusiasts
can learn more about Indie Artist Radio, IAR Networks,
and The Indie Limelight Radio Show by contacting Chad
LaGrone, VP. info@iarnetworks.com
9. EMusic
Adds Scores Of New Indie Artists And Labels
eMusic, the world's No. 2 digital download service
selling more than two million tracks monthly, announced
the addition of scores of leading indie labels and
artists to its highly regarded catalog. The
addition of these category-leading independent artists
and labels reinforces eMusic's position as the most
diverse and critically acclaimed music service in
the world. Back to the top >
From Six Degrees, one of the earliest
labels to fuse world music and "chillout,"
to Vice Recordings, the label associated with the
global empire of hedonism based in Brooklyn, to Bloodshot
Records, featuring the best of "insurgent country,"
to classical legend Arabesque Records, these diverse
label additions enhance the already expansive offerings
of the largest catalog of indie music ever assembled.
eMusic now counts over 625,000 tracks
and 65,000 titles from more than 35,000 artists.
"eMusic demonstrates that there are hoards of
music fans starving for music beyond the commercial
mainstream. People don't want to be spoon-fed the
same old pop from big media companies all the time,"
said David Pakman, COO of eMusic and a managing director
of Dimensional Associates, the private equity arm
of JDS Capital that owns eMusic, The Orchard and Dimensional
Music Publishing. "Since re-launching in the
fall of 2004, we have added incredible music to our
catalog—spanning all genres. We are truly excited
to offer music aficionados a rich and growing trove
of music that's unlike any other catalog on any other
service. eMusic is an attempt to find and cater exclusively
and extensively to music buyers who want non-major
label music. And, we offer unprecedented ways for
avid music fans to navigate this universe. Some of
the foremost music critics in the world help 'curate'
your experience; new search and browse functions are
among the most powerful ever created; ease-of-frequent-use
features allow the site to adapt over time to your
preferences; and new community tools make the most
of the eMusic community's deep knowledge and passion
for music."
Among the label additions:
* Bloodshot Records—Associated with
the cream of the crop of "insurgent country,"
Bloodshot is a legendary label featuring the likes
of Ryan Adams, Neko Case, Old 97's, Graham Parker,
Jon Langford, Bobby Bare Jr. and many more.
* Arabesque Records—An independent
leader among classical labels, known for Garrick Ohlsson's
"Complete Chopin Piano Works," featuring
the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and soprano Ewa
Podles, it's also renowned for its traditional repertoire
of piano and chamber music and contemporary and orchestral
works. Arabesque's jazz division is home to Art Farmer
and Charles MacPherson and includes titles by Dave
Douglas, Hilton Ruiz, Jane Ira Bloom and Myra Melford.
* Ark 21 Records—Miles Copeland began this label years
ago after leaving I.R.S. Its diverse and exciting
roster includes Waylon Jennings, The Moody Blues,
Leon Russell, Squeeze, Ocean Colour Scene and others.
* Bar None—Another legendary label featuring Alex
Chilton, Esquivel, Luka Bloom, Julianna Hatfield and
the quickly emerging Joy Zipper, Bar None is also
the home of the very visible a capella rendition of
The Who's "Sell Out" album by Petra Haden.
* Young God—Michael Gira began this label first for
his own band, Angels of Light, and for reissues of
his previous band, The Swans. Young God also features
Devendra Banhart, who is receiving much deserved critical
acclaim.
* Four terrific jazz labels have come on board at
eMusic:
- MaxJazz—Featuring Jessica Williams, Mulgrew Miller,
Denny Zeitlin, Rene Marie and more.
- Songlines—A highly acclaimed contemporary jazz label
from Vancouver comes with titles by Robin Holcomb/Wayne
Horwitz, Han Bennink, Brad Shepik, Ellery Eskelin
and others.
- PI—Brings recent titles by Art Ensemble of Chicago,
Henry Threadgill and more.
- Animul Records—Is NY composer Ned Rothenberg's label
for his own collaborative works.
* Blood and Fire—An incredible roots
reggae reissue labels whose packaging and design have
been copied by reggae labels the world over. Showcases
classic reggae from The Congos, Horace Andy, King
Tubby and others as well as amazing compilations of
hard-to-find reggae tracks.
* Six Degrees—One of the earliest labels to fuse world
music and "chillout," Six Degrees features
Bebel Gilberto, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Karsh
Kale and more.
* Cantaloupe Records—One of the most exciting contemporary
classical labels today, the label features the Bang
on a Can Allstars, Steve Reich, So Percussion and
more.
* Acoustic Disc—Established in the 70's, this label
features owner David Grisman's catalog, his collaborations
with Jerry Garcia, and a wealth of all things stringed
from Tony Rice, Nick Vignola and many more.
* Vice Recordings—Spawned from the irreverent, hilarious
and downright scary gonzo journalism of Vice Magazine.
Artists include Bloc Party, The Stills and The Streets.
Vice Recordings is part of the Vice global empire
of hedonism based out of Brooklyn.
* On the Hip-Hop front we bring:
- Babygrande Records—Featuring Jean Grae, GZA/Genius,
Jedi Mind Tricks.
- Anticon Records—With Sage Francis, Themselves, Buck
65 and more.
- Shamanwork—Brings MF Doom.
- Quannum—Brings Blackalicious members Latyf, Lyrics
Born and others.
- K Records—Calvin Johnson's Olympia WA label features
the first discs by Modest Mouse, Beat Happening, Mirah
and others.
* De Soto Records—Includes Dismemberment Plan, Jawbox
and much more.
* Fatboy Records—moe, moe and mo' moe.
10. INTENT
MediaWorks Introduces Family Friendly Music Downloads
With New P2P Software Back
to the top >
INTENT MediaWorks announced that it has released the
first Family Friendly peer-to-peer, (P2P), software
that only includes authorized copy-written music and
videos. The software, called MyPeer, is P2P file trading
software that operates on the public P2P Networks
such as GNUTELLA and allows only Family Friendly and
legally authorized content to be traded between P2P
users.
"Everyone in the industry has
been waiting for an Internet solution that is Family
Friendly for downloading music and movies," said
Les Ottolenghi, President of INTENT MediaWorks. "Up
until now most commercial download sites and software
have included mature and explicit material. This has
meant the family has been overlooked," added
Ottolenghi. "While parents know their kids will
go to the Internet for downloading, parents want it
to be safe and include media that promotes positive
values, INTENT has come up with such a solution,"
said Ottolenghi.
MyPeer is available for download immediately.
The software can scan thousands of computers per minute
for legal and authorized shared files, filtering out
the illegal uploading and downloading of MP3 music
files, DVD video files, digital pictures and electronic
books.
"This is an amazing achievement.
A Family Values P2P client is something everyone in
the media industry claims they want. Our company has
tested the software and works by including only the
files that parents and authorized users submit, have
reviewed and which are given a General Audiences rating,"
said Narsi Narasimhan, Ph.D. Chief Executive Officer
of Paalam Technologies: www.paalam.com. "INTENT
has been providing the distribution of legal files
from artists and content copyright holders for one
year and has had great results, but, now with the
iPeer and MyPeer P2P applications, INTENT has taken
the lead in providing solutions to the marketplace
that avoid intellectual property infringement and
support positive values."
"MyPeer goes beyond just music and video Internet
downloads, it provides a much needed Family Friendly
option for parents and their kids," said Al Smith
President of BlackSmith Productions a New York based
media producer and partner of INTENT MediaWorks.
"MyPeer allows BlackSmith to
rollout positive, no-debasing music to families, cause
based organizations (CBOs), and faith based organizations
(FBOs)," said Smith. "We work with several
cause based and religious organizations. In the next
ninety days, BlackSmith plans to distribute MyPeer
to over 50,000 members of CBOs and an equal number
to FBOs in order to do filetrading via the Internet.
We think this is the way to provide quality and safety
to a market looking for something better, something
more than what the mainstream media sells," added
Smith.
Martin Gray, President of Gray &
Associates, a technology and media consulting firm
has analyzed the market for MyPeer. "MyPeer filters
shared files and enables Family Friendly content to
be traded via the P2P networks. Our tests of MyPeer
show that it works fast and easily. Families should
be reassured that this is the way to go if they want
to protect their children or teenagers downloading
music or videos from the Internet," said Gray.
"When you examine the market
for music and video, the major entertainment organizations
have missed a huge opportunity. Typically there is
a race to the moral bottom with mainstream content.
A technology like MyPeer serves the overlooked Family
and Values market," added Martin.
11. 2005
Worship Hymn Song Search Launches Worldwide Campaign Back
to the top >
Devotion Music has announced the launch
of the 2005 Worship Hymn Song Search. A team of industry
professionals led by songwriter/producer and former
Whiteheart member Billy Smiley is searching for new
versions of old hymns to be recorded for the nationally
released album Worship Hymn - Around the World.
In addition to the CD release, the
songs selected for the recording will be published
by Mission Group Music, and four charts will be created
for the song, as well as mp3 tracks for placement
in the CCLI catalog. The top song of the twelve final
entries will be put on a Song DISCovery CD, in partnership
with Worship Leader Magazine.
There are two categories of competition:
Rewritten hymns and rearranged hymns. The hymn text
or melody must be in a current hymnal, and all entries
must be in the public domain. Entries will be evaluated
by a panel of industry professionals including record
producers, worship leaders, A&R directors and
professional musicians, and judged on the basis of
overall quality. From this evaluation, the top twelve
songs (6 rewritten hymns and 6 rearranged hymns) will
be chosen for the Worship Hymn - Around the World
CD.
Worship Hymn - Around the World is
part of the new Worship Hymn Series which debuted
this month with Kristina's Hymns: The Old Made New
and Worship Hymns, Volume 1. For the past three years,
Smiley has been developing, rewriting, and rearranging
hymns in a worshipful new setting for a new generation,
with a group of "hymnboys" comprising of
15 worship leaders and songwriters from around the
country. The result is 150 new versions of the hymns
coming to the church on various Worship Hymn albums
over the next 12-18 months.
Devotion Music is a division of the
Scottsdale, Arizona based Cul De Sac Records, and
is distributed to Christian Bookstores through New
Day Christian Distribution, Central South, Spring
Arbor/Ingram, MPI International, and CMC Canada.
12. Virtual
Music Announces The Arrival Of The MDP™ (Musician
Digital Portfolio) Back
to the top >
Virtual Music, a leading provider of digital services
for professional musicians, has announced a new service
called MDP(MusicianDigitalPortfolio).
"We are very pleased to announce
the MDP. After over 15 months of R&D, and negotiations
with several "Sponsors", we have put together
the most powerful tool for the musician, seeking to
launch or promote their career".
The MDP (Musician Digital Portfolio)
consists of an interactive DVD with dynamic elements
of high resolution photography, audio and video; where
musicians will be able to showcase their work, their
talent and their image; as well as to provide the
necessary information for their promotion, booking
or contact.
The menus, and all text information,
are in English and Spanish. All the elements are created
with dynamic buttons and sound. There are 12 themes
to choose from, to personalize the MDP ("my MDP");
and if the artist wishes, Virtual Music also offers
a professional duplication service, with suitable
packaging to be sent by mail or courier; as well as
additional related services.
The process is very simple and it
does not matter where the musician lives, since he
or she will perform the entire process, via the Internet
from a computer. From the Web site: www.virtuals.us,
the musician will choose a theme that best suits their
musical image and style; the television format for
their market NTSC or PAL, and then order my MDP with
a credit, debit or ATM card (Visa or Mastercard).
The service is available immediately
for the following markets:
• USA • Canada • EU • Latin America • Australia •
New Zealand
To support sustained expansion in
new markets, Virtual Music is implementing an aggressive
marketing campaign to expand the service into the
Pacific Rim, beginning with the Philippines, Japan,
South Korea by the 4th quarter of 2005.
One of Virtual Music goals is advertising
exchange, with high value specialized magazines in
all markets, through our sponsorship programs. At
the present time, our web site offers attractive home
page banner space on the Spanish or English sites,
particularly to industry magazines, musical instrument
manufactures or distributors and other music related
services, interested in expanding their market position
in the USA and entering new markets around the world.
The uniqueness of the MDP goes far
beyond the ability to portrait the artist's talents
in a professional way. It takes no more than 10 to
15 minutes for a record label scout, an agent or a
promoter, to judge the musician's potential; and usually
that's what makes the difference to get an audition.
The MDP, not only will become a must for an artist,
but in a short period of time, it will become the
standard of the music industry.
A high quality DVD production requires
weeks of work and thousands of Dollars; instead the
MDP can be produced in few hours, and can be delivered
anywhere in the world for less than $200.00 Dollars,
whether you are a solo artist, a band or an orchestra,
the price remains the same; and all of this, thanks
to Virtual Music's unique partnership with key sponsors.
Contact
Email: music@virtuals.us
Url: http://www.virtuals.us/
To obtain additional information about
our MDP service, please contact:
info@virtuals.us
To request information on advertising space and our
advertising press kit, please contact:
advertising@virtuals.us
For inquiries on sponsorship programs, please contact:
Josep M. Segura
jmsegura@virtuals.us
MDP™ (Musician Digital Portfolio), myMDP™ and miMDP™,
are trade marks property of Virtual Music - a division
of Virtual Solutions.
13. Singer
Magazine Becomes Singer & Musician
Back to the top >
Email:
singermagazine@aol.com
Url: http://www.singermagazine.com
Harrisonburg, Va. -- Since it’s inception five year
ago, singers and musicians have looked to Singer Magazine
for tips that have helped them become better singers
and players and more successful songwriters and performers.
From product features and reviews of new indie artist
CDs to new products, stage presentation and business
skills Singer Magazine has become a respected resource
for over 50,000 independent artists with a passion
for turning their talents into a respectable source
of income. (Is this number limiting?)
“The legends who have graced our covers—Ray
Charles, Jimmy Buffett, Heart, Al Green, Van Morrison
and all the others are musicians as well as singers,"
said publisher Robert Lindquist. "In Singer,
the emphasis has always been on following the passion
to have a career in music—to that end, knowing how
to play an instrument is just as important as improving
vocal quality, health, and endurance. We were finding,
however, that those jazz, folk, country and pop are
(need word Americana here and probably jazz shouldn't
be first on the list), who are vocalists but don’t
consider themselves singers were missing some very
good content. We believe that with the broader title,
the publication will be better perceived for what
it is—an artist based publication, that emphasizes
all aspects of building a musical career.”
"None of what has made Singer
Magazine so popular with the independent musician
and fans of independent music is going to change,"
adds managing editor Greg Tutwiler. "We're just
better defining and expanding what we already know
has become a valuable resource to so many."
To further promote and expose the
music of independent and small label artists Singer
& Musician will spotlight new releases through
a mix of traditional and electronic channels including.
SingerRadio.com which gives readers a place to hear
the artists they read about in the magazine.
For more information, contact Greg
Tutwiler – greg@SingerMagazine.com
For advertising rates and specs, contact Iris Fox—iris@SingerMagazine.com
14. Next-Generation P2P Music
Network Launched: Bitmunk Back
to the top >
Digital Bazaar, a groundbreaking digital
file distribution company, announced that they have
launched their Bitmunk music network to the world.
Their innovative file distribution technology ensures
that artists can distribute their work via a peer-to-peer
based network while ensuring the proper royalties
are paid to them.
"Bitmunk is best of breed technology
and is the most fair system to the labels, artists,
distributors and fans," said Manu Sporny, CEO
of Digital Bazaar. The network allows artists and
labels complete control over their content on the
network. Copyright owners are allowed to manage royalties,
descriptions, licensing options, allowable distribution
countries, and many other facets of their creation.
"One of the many great features
of Bitmunk is that once you buy a song from the network,
you may then re-sell that song to anybody else on
the network for a small profit," added Michael
Johnson, COO of Digital Bazaar, "You can then
use the money you earn selling songs to purchase new
songs that interest you. We have created a very symbiotic
relationship between the labels, artists, distributors
and fans - one where everyone has an incentive to
participate."
Digital Bazaar expects single song
prices to hover between 50 to 95 cents for single
songs and $6 to $9 for complete albums. All digital
music on the network is in high-quality MP3 format
and is thus compatible with all major MP3 music players,
including the Apple iPod, Creative Zen Touch, iRiver,
and Rio portables.
There is no registration or listing
fee for content creators. "It is a free service
for labels and artists. If you want to sell your music
on your terms, this service is for you." added
Sporny. Artists can capture as much as 84% of the
sale price of each song, "We're incredibly pro-artist
while staying very pro-fan as well" said Johnson.
15. Subcommittee
Statement On Digital Music Licensing Back
to the top >
On March 13,2005 this Subcommittee
began updating compulsory music licenses, focusing
on Section 115 mechanical licenses.
Over the past few years, the growth
in the online music business has been phenomenal,
demonstrating the strong demand by consumers for legal
music. Last year, the iPod had record sales. Music
subscription services are increasingly popular. Digital
music not only has a future in the music business;
it is the future.
Many businesses and the Register of
Copyrights have stated that existing law does not
accommodate these new business models. Outdated laws
written for the piano roll era have hindered, and
will continue to hinder, the growth rate for digital
music services.
Last March, this Subcommittee held
an initial oversight hearing on Section 115 in which
three of the groups testifying today were represented.
Since that hearing, hundreds of millions of digital
music downloads have occurred.
However, the overwhelming success
of one company does not necessarily mean that there
are no problems with the law. The solitary success
of one company is an indication to some that the digital
music market is tilted towards one entity, raising
further questions.
The Copyright Office hosted several
meetings last fall to identify the problems with existing
law and what agreements, if any, could be reached
to address these problems. A copy of the Register's
response dated September 17, 2004, is available on
the testimony table. It appears that there was agreement
on what the issues are, but little to no agreement
on what the solutions are.
It is my intent to look into Section
115 and other statutes to determine what music licenses
statutes need to be modernized. I have several goals
in mind:
First, artists deserve to receive
fair compensation.
Second, consumers need to know what they are paying
for and what restrictions, if any, exist on their
use of digital music.
Third, businesses need certainty regarding their rights
and responsibilities under the law so they can continue
to innovate and create new products and business models.
Finally, where contractual or royalty disputes arise,
there should be a process to settle them quickly and
equitably.
Some of the policy issues that have
been raised so far involve:
* Royalties related to multi-session
discs, 30 second samples, and server copies
* The design and operation of a blanket mechanical
license
* What new or existing organization should operate
such a blanket mechanical licensing system
* The end of controlled composition clauses
This is not an exclusive list, by any means. And this
Subcommittee will undertake a review of all the issues
that require legislative attention.
I expect in the months ahead that
this Subcommittee will hold additional hearings on
related issues such as digital music interoperability
and oversight hearings of the existing public rights
organizations to determine how they have functioned.
While many have viewed SoundExchange and its royalty
collection operations as a success, local television
stations continue to battle SESAC over royalties for
the music contained in re-runs.
I encourage all parties interested
in music licensing to promptly put on the record their
interests and concerns. Mechanical licensing reform
is necessary and I look forward beginning the process
this afternoon.
Also, I'd like to invite interested
parties to comment in writing on a list of issues
that I will send them shortly.
16. RATE-MP3.com
Set To Launch & Offers Opportunities For Musicians
With Unique Concept !!! Back
to the top >
Email:
info@rate-mp3.com
Url: http://www.rate-mp3.com/
RATE-MP3.com, a music review and promotion music website
is set to launch a site where music artists in any
style can submit their songs for review on the website.
When a song is submitted, the artist gets a 30 second
clip posted on the site along with a brief bio and
the review song as well.
Sounds pretty standard, but RATE-MP3.com
also takes it one step further in that every 180 days
they select the songs they liked best and put them
on a compilation CD demo which is then sent out to
over 40 carefully selected A&R reps at Indy &
major labels, several label heads, film & TV music
supervisors and reviewer for music websites and music
magazines.
The artist is allowed to submit as
many songs as he /she would like for a small fee,
which is usually $5.00 per song, though for a limited
time, song entries are only .99 cents a song!!! After
the 180 days and the artists for the compilation CD
have been selected, the process starts all over again!!
Every 180 days...The reviews are professional reviews
that aren’t sugar coated and are honest and it seems
the reviewers really try to help the artist in their
comments.
RATE-mp3.com also promises well-known
artists, musicians, producers, a&r reps and other
well known personalities to come to the site and review
some of the mp3's. While still in its infancy, RATE-mp3.com
staff has big plans to get the songs heard by some
really big names in the industry to attract more entries.
Also the release date of the compilation CD's will
increase as more tracks get submitted. They are partnering
with several unnamed sponsors that will offer bonuses
for the song submitters but also for the artists selected
to appear on the compilation CD. The concept is simple,
honest reviews and to give multiple chances to artists
to appear on the compilation CD demos and get valuable
exposure and getting the compilation CD's to the right
people. Their website is http://www.rate-mp3.com
17. Glimpse Into The Future
Of Online Music Through This Radical, New Site
Back to the top >
Url: http://www.cdsfromtheartist.com/
Impressive showing of perfect timing by CDs-FROM-THE-ARTIST
dot com with a tastefully designed site that truly
takes advantage of the new era of online Indie artists/bands
and online music lovers ready to leap into the inevitable
next step of online direct interaction between artists
and fans like never before.
CDs-FROM-THE-ARTIST dot com or CFTA
elegantly introduces many new concepts like Customer
Feedback and the Free CDs Program along with tools
to support a unique community of discriminating music
lovers and Indie artists that grows and works together
to harness the potential power of independent artists
and music fans who wish to interact directly without
the middleman, commissions and complicated contracts
in between.
CFTA is not a music or CD store. It's a community
based site that enables Indie music lovers and their
artists/bands to come together, provide and consume
like never before. Link:http://www.cdsfromtheartist.com/CFTA_promo_board.html
Release intended for all web based music entities
and
printed media with interest to provide information
to
their audience about this new site. Requests for more
information may be made via replies to this e-mail,
Attn: The CFTA P.R. team.
18. The Rockabilly Guitar
Page – Gear Secrets Of Historic Recordings Revealed
Back to the top >
Email:
RockabillyGuitar@the-jime.dk
Url: http://www.the-jime.dk/Rockabilly_Guitar.htm
Sound: http://www.the-jime.dk/Anyhow.mp3
It used to be a frustrating experience for any modern
day guitarist to try to re-create the great sounds
of those historic rockabilly recordings we all love
so much with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry
and others.
Not only was the information about
the recording sessions hard to find, but if you did
get lucky you hardly had a chance to figure out how
to re-create those sounds with affordable modern day
equipment.
Vince Gordon, editor of The Rockabilly
Guitar Page on the internet, took it upon himself
to gather that information in one place, free for
all to dig into.
‘When I started out playing guitar (ed. 1979) I was
desperate to find out what gear Elvis’ guitarist was
using and later, how Brian Setzer got his sound’ Gordon
said in a recent interview. ‘From looking though tons
of magazines, asking just about everyone and having
the luck to meet people like Scotty Moore (Elvis’
guitarist through 14 years) and Carl Perkins I finally
found out many years later’.
His long career as a guitarist and
recording engineer also made it possible for him to
pick best-buys on guitars today for people on a budget
and for those with money to spend.
Vince Gordon has now put all that
information on The Rockabilly Guitar Page. It’s all
there, right down to what gear was used on the most
famous songs, like ’Be-Bop-A-Lula’, ‘Mystery Train’,
‘I Walk The Line’, ‘That’s All Right Mama’ and ‘Maybellene’.
The Rockabilly Guitar Page is a free
internet resource offering insight into what gear
was used on legendary rockabilly recordings and professional
advice on rockabilly gear including vintage and new
guitars and amps. The editor, Vince Gordon, is a professional
guitarist/singer/recording engineer. He’s mainly working
with his rockabilly trio The Jime whose latest CD
“It’s Still Rock’n’Roll To Me” was the best selling
rockabilly CD for six months in a row on Nervous Records
UK’s international sales charts.
19. RazorPop
Announces P2P Subscription Music Offering
Back to the top >
RazorPop, a peer-to-peer (P2P) file
sharing developer and distributor, announced plans
to create the RazorPop P2P Music Subscription service.
The unlimited music subscription offering is similar
to those from Yahoo and Napster. RazorPop is the developer
of the multi- network TrustyFiles P2P file sharing
software.
RazorPop offers music rights holders,
including labels, composers, and publishers, a percentage
of the subscription revenue, similar to licensing
deals that have been entered into with iTunes and
other centralized online music services. An independent
clearinghouse will hold and disburse licensing fees.
An industry research firm will sample network downloads
and allocate payments among rights holders.
"Five years ago there were no
online subscriptions and P2P was the primary conduit
for unauthorized music downloads. Today the world
is vastly different," said Marc Freedman, RazorPop
CEO. "Digital music subscriptions are now available
over a wide range of channels. The number one way
consumers obtain unlicensed files today is through
e-mail and instant messaging. Number three is copying
files from another person's iPod or portable MP3 player.
Yahoo typifies the new world. It just announced its
music subscription plan, while at the same time offering
Yahoo! Mail and Yahoo! Messenger, along with its new
Yahoo! Music Unlimited with portable player file transfer."
"The RazorPop P2P Music Subscription
benefits both the music industry and consumers. For
the industry, P2P is the one channel the major labels
haven't licensed yet or monetized. That's ironic because
P2P offers a ready-made customer base of 20 to 30
million US users. At $100 per year per subscriber,
P2P represents a virtually instant multi-billion dollar
market that can reverse the music industry's sales
decline."
"On the consumer side, people
will finally have the freedom to choose the music
subscription channel and provider that's right for
their lifestyle and consumption. The RazorPop music
subscription service will be highly competitive with
those from Yahoo, Napster, and others. We will deliver
over thirty times more music tracks for less than
ten dollars per month."
"Equally important, the RazorPop
service immunizes our subscribers from music industry
lawsuits. It's time to trust consumers. P2P users
deserve protection for committing to support content
creators. The record labels can bypass lawful P2P
network users and focus on true copyright violators."
The music subscription service includes
copyright infringement insurance. The RIAA (Recording
Industry Association of America) may continue to target
non-subscribing P2P users with lawsuits, and inadvertently
sue RazorPop's paying customers. The insurance will
be capped at $5,000 per subscriber, which is above
typical RIAA settlement amounts to date.
The introductory retail price is planned
to be $9.95 per month or $99.95 per year paid in advance
and will include RazorPop's award-winning TrustyFiles
software. Subscribers will have access to virtually
all music tracks on the P2P networks. Consensus industry
estimates put the number of P2P music tracks at 32
million today. P2P music growth is expected to continue
at double digit annual rates as increasing numbers
of both established and emerging artists promote their
works to the most eager segment of the music listening
public, the P2P file sharing audience.
The music subscription launch is predicated
upon execution of licensing agreements with music
industry rights holders. RazorPop is providing a simple
form agreement that can be executed electronically
to expedite clearances and to avoid the need for regulatory
intervention that would not be in the best interests
of content owners or distributors. RazorPop will not
comment on the status of in-progress confidential
negotiations, but music industry receptivity has been
encouraging.
RazorPop's TrustyFiles 2.4 is the
industry's leading multiple P2P network software.
TrustyFiles features simultaneous download of the
same file over Kazaa, Gnutella, and Gnutella 2 P2P
networks, and the Internet. TrustyFiles searches and
downloads hundreds of millions of files over the Kazaa/Fast
Track, Gnutella, Gnutella 2, and Bit Torrent P2P file
sharing networks. TrustyFiles is FREE with NO spyware
and NO additional bundled software and can be downloaded
at http://www.TrustyFiles.com.
20. MP3.com
Cofounder Creates Auction House For Song Copyrights
Back to the top >
Email: chad@auctionsongs.com
Url:http://www.auctionsongs.com/
RED DEER, Canada, February 21th 2005;
Rod Underhill, former founding music director of MP3.com
and current professor of music law at Thomas Jefferson
School of Law, San Diego, California, has announced
that he has created the world’s first auction house
dedicated to the sale of music related copyrights.
“I accepted the challenge of a Canadian music company
to create an online resource, AuctionSongs.com, where
independent musicians can sell their songs to the
highest bidder. This opens a new method of income
for talented musicians who can offer both the sound
recording or composition copyrights of their songs.
Auctionsongs.com will work in conjunction with our
companion site, Auctionmovies.com, where filmmakers
can sell their unsold movies to the highest bidders,
and songwriter and musicians can network with independent
filmmakers.” Auctionsongs.com is under the leadership
CEO Chad Gillies, a longstanding Internet music professional
who has previously worked to further the careers of
Canadian musicians.
For Further Information please contact:
chad@auctionsongs.com
www.auctionsongs.com
21. U.S. Congress Voices
Unanimous Support For Boosting Music Education In
Schools Back to the top >
The U.S. House of Representatives, acting on the recommendation
of the House Committee on Education & the Workforce,
expressed unanimous support for the value of school-based
music education when it passed a Concurrent Resolution
that says music instruction "is an important
component of a well-rounded academic curriculum and
should be available to every student in every school."
Congressional Resolution 45, which
passed on a voice vote, also recognized NAMM, the
International Music Products Association, for its
leadership in emphasizing the importance of school
music programs in the academic and social development
of children.
The resolution adds Congressional
weight to struggles in communities across the country
to maintain funding for music and arts education.
It comes at a time when those programs are targeted
for cuts, despite the overwhelming evidence of music's
benefit to learning.
Central to the debate Tuesday was
the inclusion in the federal No Child Left Behind
Act that music and arts education is part of the academic
core curriculum. This Congressional endorsement re-states
the value of music education as a vital element in
a quality education for all children.
The text of the resolution, introduced
by U.S. Reps. Jim Cooper of Tennessee's 5th District
and Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California's
50th District and was backed by 21 co-sponsors, reads
simply and eloquently: "It is the sense of Congress
that music education grounded in rigorous instruction
is an important component of a well-rounded academic
curriculum and should be available to every student
in every school." The resolution goes on to state,
"the Congress recognizes NAMM, the International
Music Products Association, for its efforts to emphasize
the importance of school music programs in the academic
and social development of children."
"We thank Representatives Cooper
and Cunningham and all of their colleagues for continuing
their support of efforts to maintain music education
funding in our schools," said Joe Lamond, president
and CEO, NAMM, the International Music Products Association.
"We at NAMM, and our business networks, will
do our part to translate this sense of the Congress
expressed today into local action. For so many kids,
music is a pathway to success in school – we will
continue to work hard to improve access and opportunity
for all children in the country."
U.S. Rep. John R. "Randy"
Kuhl, Jr., from New York's 29th District, was one
of the resolution's co-sponsors. He noted in his remarks
on the House floor that "research has shown that
students' involvement in their school music program
is crucial to a complete education. Musical study
develops critical thinking and self-discipline skills,
and improves a child's early cognitive development,
basic math and reading abilities, self-esteem, S.A.T.
scores, the ability to work in teams, spatial reasoning
skills and school attendance."
U.S. Rep. Cooper, who introduced a
similar bill in the previous Congress that passed
the full House on a vote of 402-0, noted in his remarks
to the House that music education "helps your
high-achieving kids and it helps your low-achieving
kids. So this is a truly valuable part of our school
curriculum. It should be offered in all of our schools
so that all of our children have the chance to learn
the joys of music."
"Although the Department of Education
sees music education as a prerequisite to college,
and countless studies have shown the vast impact of
music education, it is still missing from too many
schools, particularly public schools in inner city
neighborhoods," said another co-sponsor, U.S.
Rep Danny K. Davis, of Illinois' 7th District. "Local
budget cuts are depriving approximately 30 million
students of an education that includes music. It is
not only at the local level that is forcing schools
to abandon music education, but the lack of federal
funding as well."
Research has consistently shown the
wide-ranging value of music education to the full
academic and social performance of young people. Specifically,
studies show, that early music training has a profound
influence on children's ability to think critically
and to reason. From reading scores to math performance
to the ability and willingness to fend off use of
illegal substances, music education, as well as participation
in music-making programs, have proven to be central
to a successful academic experience
22.Bloggers
Launch Music Network Back
to the top >
Url: http://www.blogads.com/advertise/music_blog_network/order
Blogs aren't just for scaring politicians anymore.
Weblogs - made famous last year when political bloggers
toppled newscaster Dan Rather and spotlit a "transmitter"
on President Bush's back - are fast becoming tastemakers
in music and entertainment. Savvy entertainment companies
have moved to position their music, books and films
as part of the ongoing conversation taking place in
the ad hoc community of blogs know as the "blogosphere."
To date, Eminem, Weezer, The Bravery,
Touchstone Films, Random House Publishing, Sony Pictures,
Lions' Gate Films and TBS are just some of the names
in entertainment who've taken advantage of the uniquely
influential and networked audiences served by blogs.
Now, a group of leading music bloggers has formed
the "Music Blog Network" to help entertainment
marketers quickly target the blogs' influential music
fans.
Tapping into popular music blogs like
"Stereogum" and "Large Hearted Boy,"
ads will be seen by hundreds of thousands of music
fans at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional
corporate publishers.
The network currently has 9 members,
all at the hub of the music blogosphere. "That
should rise to roughly 20 within a month," says
network organizer Jeff Davidson, who blogs at www.earvolution.com.
"We want to work out the kinks with these nine
blogs, some of whom have been selling blogads for
more than a year now."
BlogAds.com founder Henry Copeland
says the network "lets advertisers tap directly
into the p2p mosh-pit. Information that used to take
a days or weeks to climb one side of a corporate publishing
ladder (from source to journalist to editor) and then
trickle down the other (from layout to production
to printing press to teamsters to newstand to coffee
table) now passes directly from person to person in
real time. The music blog network puts advertisers
right at the junction where up-to-the-minute information
is traded and opinions formed."
Successful blogads are far more interwoven
into the community than traditional top-down advertising.
For example, check out the links to blogger comments
in this ad for a new poetry book by Camille Paglia.
The Music Blog Network is a uniquely
affordable tool for entertainment companies looking
to tap into the elite of the music grassroots. Bloggers
are not part of publishing organizations and their
overheads are effectively zero, so blogad prices are
affordable even for indie artists.
23.INTERNET SURROUND MUSIC
PROJECT TO PROMOTE THE CREATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF
MULTICHANNEL MUSIC ONLINE Back
to the top >
America Online, Cakewalk, Coding Technologies,
Richard Devine, Jazz Mutant, Nasseri Music Business
Solutions, Minnetonka, Native Instruments, Steinberg,
Amon Tobin, and Tuner2.com Join in an Effort to Publish
More Surround Music Online using MPEG aacPlus Format
Los Angeles, CA – May 25, 2005 – Coding
Technologies, the leader in audio compression for
Internet, mobile, and broadcast, today announced the
formation of the Internet Surround Music Project with
these additional charter members:
•America Online’s Winamp® media player
•Cakewalk
•Recording artist Richard Devine
•Jazz Mutant
•Minnetonka Software
•Nasseri Music Business Solutions
•Native Instruments
•Steinberg
•Recording artist Amon Tobin
•Tuner2.com
The Internet Surround Music Project
has already started an Internet forum at www.tuner2.com
for artists to publish 5.1 surround music and will
run contests to encourage aspiring artists.
Recognizing the dynamic that radio
has traditionally driven demand for new music formats
by providing broad exposure, the Internet Surround
Music project has a two fold purpose. The first is
to provide a way for artists to get their multichannel
music heard by publishing it on the Internet. The
second is to encourage more artists to produce content
in surround sound by running contests where artist
submissions are judged and awarded prizes based on
quality, originality, and popularity.
With the specific goal of making artists
aware of the opportunity in surround music, the group
will outreach to musicians and encourage them to submit
their multichannel music to contests hosted at Tuner2.com.
Artists who register will receive free MPEG aacPlus
encoder software from Coding Technologies to encode
their content for electronic submission to Tuner2.com.
The Internet Surround Music Project will host that
content and run the contests on Tuner2.com, delivering
the content both on-demand and in aggregated “radio”
streams.
“Our goal in creating the Internet
Surround Music Project is to increase awareness of
the benefits of surround music for both artists and
consumers,” said David Frerichs, Vice President and
US General Manager for Coding Technologies. “By increasing
the amount of surround content being created by artists
and distributing that content on the Internet using
MPEG aacPlus, the demand for surround music will increase,
even beyond the PC.”
“Our Winamp audience is on the leading
edge of adoption, for both technology and music,”
said Scott Brown, Director of Media Systems Development
for America Online. “With aacPlus and the Internet
Surround Music Project, we can now bring that same
audience the latest in 5.1 surround music while increasing
the reach of artists.”
“I hope that this project will open
new doors for musicians and artists who are interested
in creating music for surround environments. I think
the surround sound format is an exciting new way to
hear music now. You have so many options, and now
have the ability and technology to add multi-dimensional
qualities to sound, that make the musical listening
experience even more interesting,” said recording
artist Richard Devine. “This will particularly be
interesting for music in the electronic/glitch/techno
genre where all the layers and sounds can be manipulated
at pin point accuracy. The possibilities seem endless,
so I feel it is important to get involved with as
many projects that push for support of surround sound
music.”
“With the release of SONAR 4 Producer
Edition, musicians, engineers, and producers have
been empowered with a new level of creative surround
editing and mixing tools,” commented Carl Jacobson,
Marketing Director for Cakewalk. “With MPEG aacPlus
encoders from Coding Technologies and the launch of
the Internet Surround Music Project, these artists
are now being given tools they need and the venue
they have been looking for to air their surround projects
online.”
Artists are encouraged to visit www.tuner2.com
for more information on the Internet Surround Music
Project and to register for the latest contest and
to have their music published.
About MPEG aacPlus
Already standardized by MPEG, DVD Forum, and 3GPP,
aacPlus is AAC coupled with Coding Technologies' SBR
(Spectral Band Replication) and Parametric Stereo
technologies. SBR is a unique bandwidth extension
technique, which enables audio codecs to deliver the
same quality at half the bit rate. Parametric Stereo
enhances the codec efficiency a second time for low-bit-rate
stereo signals. Both SBR and Parametric Stereo are
backward and forward compatible methods to enhance
the efficiency of any audio codec. As a result, aacPlus
delivers streaming and downloadable 5.1 multichannel
audio at 128 Kbps, near transparent stereo at 32 Kbps,
excellent quality stereo at 24 Kbps, and great quality
for mixed content down to 16 Kbps and below. This
level of efficiency fundamentally enables new applications
in the markets of mobile and digital broadcast.
Press contacts:
Karen DeMarco
mPRm Public Relations
5670 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 2500
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Tel + 1 323 933 3399
Fax + 1 323 939 7211
kdemarco@mprm.com
www.mprm.com
Gerald Moser
Coding Technologies GmbH
Deutschherrnstrasse 15-19
90429 Nuernberg - Germany
Tel + 49 911 928 91 14
Fax + 49 911 928 91 99
press@codingtechnologies.com
www.codingtechnologies.com
Anne Klein
Axicom GmbH
Junkersstrasse 1
82178 Puchheim - Germany
Tel + 49 89 800 908 23
Fax + 49 89 800 908 10
anne.klein@axicom.de
www.axicom.de
24.Onlinegigs
& ICON Magazine Announce Partnership
Back to the top >
Email:
eharvey@icon-magazine.com
Url: http://www.icon-magazine.com
Houston, TX 05/10/05 - Onlinegigs and ICON Magazine
are proud to announce a brand new partnership. The
two companies will join forces to organize the necessary
tools and resources for running an independent music
career. The power of the internet and modern database
systems now provides equal access to all that seek
it out. Both companies have a huge wealth of data
and resources that will compliment each other.
Onlinegigs virtually automates the
administration of booking and promoting a band or
multiple bands. It provides an easy to use, step by
step guide to finding booking and promotional opportunities,
tracking correspondences, issuing contracts, creating
itineraries and generating press releases to the local
media in any market in the country. Much of this functionality
happens with the click of a button or even automatically.
In the past this kind of administration was only achievable
with a large staff or an extremely organized team
of agents, managers, interns and publicists.
ICON Magazine is an online publication
as well as a community and search engine/directory
that helps to network, educate, and inform talent
and industry professionals in the film, television,
and music industries.
ICON Magazine is dedicated to educating
the music community in all facets of the industry
by providing news, advice, classifieds, features,
and interviews.
Members of ICON Magazine will get
a discounted subscription to Onlinegigs and Onlinegigs
members will have an opportunity to become a featured
ICON artist. Onlinegigs and ICON Magazine have consistently
empowered independent bands, agents and record companies
with the most cutting edge technology and information
on the market. But working together now truly levels
the playing field.
http://www.onlinegigs.com
http://www.icon-magazine.com
The Source: Music Industry News Network
