Record labels are desparate to recover some of the money lost to lower CD sales, and one option they're checking out is selling tunes through social networking sites. An article today in iPod Observer looks at how the labels are seeking options to compete with iTunes, which they have long complained charges too low a price (99 cents per track)... and of course, iTunes takes a cut out of that amount.
One leading choice for the record labels, the story notes, as been SnoCap, which runs a service on musicians' MySpace pages. I've seen these SnoCap "MyStore" options on more and more MySpace pages, and I recently bought a new single from The Donnas via SnoCap. When it first appeared on the band's MySpace page, the SnoCap store didn't work. Clicking on buttons for "register" and "buy" didn't take me anywhere. A few weeks after that I tried it again and, presto, it worked flawlessly, and I had The Donnas' latest single for 99 cents. The tracks are in MP3 format, so they'll play on iPods and just about any other music player.
I'm all for SnoCap and similar ventures, especially if they mean more of my payment goes to the artist (which I'm not sure about).
Monday, July 30, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Jonatha Brooke Rocks Weehawken Waterfront
Though it's accurate to call Jonatha Brooke a singer-songwriter, the term doesn't really do justice to her. Though she usually plays acoustic guitar on stage, she can rock out (and often does) on her CDs and especially in her concert appearances, as with her free performance on the Weehawken, New Jersey waterfront Wednesday night.
Brooke became known in the 1980s as part of the acclaimed folk-pop duo The Story (with Jennifer Kimball), which featured innovative variations on the tradition pop song. Brooke has been forging her own solo career over the course of more than a half-dozen albums. She puts on a great show, especially with her tight four-piece band. Catch her on tour if you can.... here is her upcoming schedule of U.S. gigs (all dates, including European shows, can be found at her Web site (above):
The Stephen Talkhouse / Amagansett, NY
08/02/2007, 8:00 PM / Band
Ridgefield Playhouse / Ridgefield, CT
08/03/2007, 8:00 PM / Band
Foy Hall - Moravian College / Bethlehem, PA
08/04/2007 / Solo
Copley Square / Boston, MA
08/16/2007, 5:00 PM / FREE!
U. Of Hartford, Millard Auditorium / Hartford, CT
09/07/2007, 7:30pm
Belcourt Theater / Nashville, TN
10/26/2007, 8:00 PM / Band
Varsity Theater / Minneapolis, MN
10/27/2007, 7:00 PM / Solo
The Tangier Cabaret / Akron, OH
11/03/2007, 9:00 PM / Solo
Lyric Theatre / Stuart, FL
11/04/2007, 8:00 PM / Solo
Tampa Bay Peforming Arts Center / Tampa, FL
11/05/2007, 7:30PM
Sellersville Theater 1894 / Sellersville, PA
11/10/2007, 8:00 PM
Rams Head / Annapolis, MD
11/14/2007, 8:00 PM
Barns at Wolftrap / Vienna, VA
11/15/2007, 8:00 PM
Rubin Museum of Art / New York, NY
11/16/2007, 'Naked Soul' acoustic un-amplified series
Tupelo Music Hall / Londonderry , NH
11/17/2007, 7:00 PM & 9:15 PM / Solo
Stone Mountain Arts Center / Brownfield, ME
11/18/2007, 8:00 PM / Solo
Joni Mitchell Signs With Starbucks' Record Label
In another sign that conventional music labels are seen as inflexible and out of step with the times, legendary singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell has signed with the new record label started by the Starbucks coffee house chain.
Mtichell becomes the second high-profile artist to have recently signed with Hear Music, the label that Starbucks and Concord Music Group formed. Paul McCartney's latest album, "Memory Almost Full," was released on the new label.
McCartney was said to be unhappy with the sales of his last few CDs (which were on a major label), and so was willing to give the upstart Hear Music label a try. "Memory Almost Full," which came out last month, has been McCartney's bestselling CD in years. Starbucks says that the disc has sold nearly 450.000 copies, and that 45% of those sales have come in Starbucks stores.
Mitchell's new CD, "Shine," is to be released on September 25th and will be her first new album of new compositions in almost a decade.
Mtichell becomes the second high-profile artist to have recently signed with Hear Music, the label that Starbucks and Concord Music Group formed. Paul McCartney's latest album, "Memory Almost Full," was released on the new label.
McCartney was said to be unhappy with the sales of his last few CDs (which were on a major label), and so was willing to give the upstart Hear Music label a try. "Memory Almost Full," which came out last month, has been McCartney's bestselling CD in years. Starbucks says that the disc has sold nearly 450.000 copies, and that 45% of those sales have come in Starbucks stores.
Mitchell's new CD, "Shine," is to be released on September 25th and will be her first new album of new compositions in almost a decade.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Podcasters Seek System for Using Ads
Nobody likes to hear ads on podcasts, but let's face it, ads can give podcasters the income they need to get a return on the time and money they spend on podcasting.
An article in today's New York Times examined some initiatives to help standardize and track ads on podcasts, so advertisers can get a better idea of how much exposure their ads are getting. This in turn will give advertisers more of a reason to place ads on podcasts, and thus bring more income to podcasters, so they can keep doing podcasting. (It's always sad to see a good podcaster stop because he or she couldn't keep spending the time and money to produce their program while holding down a regular job.)
Several developments are in the offing, including improvements in delivering and tracking ads, and the formation of a new industry group, the Association for Downloadable Media, which seeks to "help executives improve methods for creating, distributing, and tracking advertisements in podcasts." About 15 organizations are said to be in the new group, including Apple Inc. and National Public Radio (NPR), which produces dozens of podcasts based on its programming.
Podcasting, and advertising, has a lot of room to grow, as the article points out: only a little more than 10% of all Internet users have listened to a podcast, and the amoutn of money spent on advertising on podcasts was only $80 million last year, a research firm reported.
Let's hope these initiatives mean a long future for podcasting, and some remuneration for podcasters for all the hard work they put into creating their programs.
An article in today's New York Times examined some initiatives to help standardize and track ads on podcasts, so advertisers can get a better idea of how much exposure their ads are getting. This in turn will give advertisers more of a reason to place ads on podcasts, and thus bring more income to podcasters, so they can keep doing podcasting. (It's always sad to see a good podcaster stop because he or she couldn't keep spending the time and money to produce their program while holding down a regular job.)
Several developments are in the offing, including improvements in delivering and tracking ads, and the formation of a new industry group, the Association for Downloadable Media, which seeks to "help executives improve methods for creating, distributing, and tracking advertisements in podcasts." About 15 organizations are said to be in the new group, including Apple Inc. and National Public Radio (NPR), which produces dozens of podcasts based on its programming.
Podcasting, and advertising, has a lot of room to grow, as the article points out: only a little more than 10% of all Internet users have listened to a podcast, and the amoutn of money spent on advertising on podcasts was only $80 million last year, a research firm reported.
Let's hope these initiatives mean a long future for podcasting, and some remuneration for podcasters for all the hard work they put into creating their programs.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Podcasts to Satisfy Your Harry Potter Fix
In honor of the publication of the final Harry Potter novel, and the release of the latest movie, it's time to look at some of the podcasts out there devoted to the fabulously wealthy boy wizard.
I haven't listened to these, but they are the best-reviewed ones I'm aware of (and the first couple have won awards):
* Pottercast, hosted by the popular Harry Potter fan site The Leaky Cauldron
* Mugglecast, hosted by the creators of Mugglenet
* Hog's Head Pubcast, from the creator of the Web site Sword of Gryffindor
* Snapecast, dedicated soley to the menacing Hogwarts professor Severus Snape--"All Snape, all the time"
* Spinnerscast, whose slogan is "Lighter talk on darker matters"
You can find these and others by doing a search for "Harry Potter" in iTunes or other podcast programs.
I haven't listened to these, but they are the best-reviewed ones I'm aware of (and the first couple have won awards):
* Pottercast, hosted by the popular Harry Potter fan site The Leaky Cauldron
* Mugglecast, hosted by the creators of Mugglenet
* Hog's Head Pubcast, from the creator of the Web site Sword of Gryffindor
* Snapecast, dedicated soley to the menacing Hogwarts professor Severus Snape--"All Snape, all the time"
* Spinnerscast, whose slogan is "Lighter talk on darker matters"
You can find these and others by doing a search for "Harry Potter" in iTunes or other podcast programs.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Harry Potter, Boy Wizard, is King of All Media
A few facts and tidbits about the Harry Potter-mania, building toward a crescendo this weekend:
* Amazon.com says it has received 1,383,311 pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as of 7pm Wednesday night.
* In addition, Amazon has named Falls Church, Virginia as the "Harry-est town" in the U.S.: it has bought more copies of Deathly Hallows per capita than any other town in America. It lists the "Harry-est" state as District of Columbia (even though it's not a state). (The five top actual states are: Vermont, Utah, Washington, Massachusetts, and Maine.)
* While it might not be the "Harry-est" town in America, Crawfordsville, Indiana may be the country's Harry Potter Central. It's rumored that that's where the book is being printed. Employees of the RR Donnelley & Sons printing plant have been instructed not to comfirm or deny questions about whether Harry Potter is indeed in the house.
* The film of the fifth Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," has pulled in more than $159 million dollars... in just seven days.
* Lots of bookstores and other places are holding Harry Potter parties on Friday night going into the wee hours. (My almost-17-year-old niece in New Mexico will be one of them.) Perhaps the biggest one will be in New York City, where a block-long street fair will be held in front of the headquarters of Scholastic, Inc., Harry Potter's publisher, in trendy Soho. The party goes from 5 to 11 pm.
With all those late-night Harry Potter parties taking place Friday, be prepared to run into a lot of bleary-eyed young people stumbling around on Saturday. And if there's a teenager behind the counter at your local coffeeshop or convenience store, be sure to count your change twice.
* Amazon.com says it has received 1,383,311 pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as of 7pm Wednesday night.
* In addition, Amazon has named Falls Church, Virginia as the "Harry-est town" in the U.S.: it has bought more copies of Deathly Hallows per capita than any other town in America. It lists the "Harry-est" state as District of Columbia (even though it's not a state). (The five top actual states are: Vermont, Utah, Washington, Massachusetts, and Maine.)
* While it might not be the "Harry-est" town in America, Crawfordsville, Indiana may be the country's Harry Potter Central. It's rumored that that's where the book is being printed. Employees of the RR Donnelley & Sons printing plant have been instructed not to comfirm or deny questions about whether Harry Potter is indeed in the house.
* The film of the fifth Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," has pulled in more than $159 million dollars... in just seven days.
* Lots of bookstores and other places are holding Harry Potter parties on Friday night going into the wee hours. (My almost-17-year-old niece in New Mexico will be one of them.) Perhaps the biggest one will be in New York City, where a block-long street fair will be held in front of the headquarters of Scholastic, Inc., Harry Potter's publisher, in trendy Soho. The party goes from 5 to 11 pm.
With all those late-night Harry Potter parties taking place Friday, be prepared to run into a lot of bleary-eyed young people stumbling around on Saturday. And if there's a teenager behind the counter at your local coffeeshop or convenience store, be sure to count your change twice.
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