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Organic's Top Tips For Any Aspiring Band - Check It Out On Takeout Magazine Online

2009-02-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

My Ten Tips For Any Aspiring Band

1. Have a band agreement established before you record or release any material. What I mean by that is that you have to decide if you are going to split the writers’ share of your publishing equally between all members of the band or if IP ownership and other such earnings will be divided in other ways. In the big picture, it’s better to have this figured out sooner than later.

2. Write great songs. Seems like an obvious statement but I’d be remis to not mention it straight away. Have a work ethic that consistently provides a product that your audience enjoys listening to and will purchase. Be committed to the craft of creating innovative and honest art. That means you got to put out more than 1 EP every 4 years while still being true to yourself. I’m a firm believer that the overall success of any musician resides in their ability to write a substantial catalogue of memorable songs.

3. Expensive hobby or a career? Understanding that your band is a BUSINESS and that the recording industry is a BUSINESS – and treating it as such - will provide proper perspective as you develop and build your bands’ career. Otherwise, you’re just investing in an expensive hobby.

4. So you got talent but do you have tenacity? Tenacity is what keeps artists in the game and growing. I wish it were more of the former. Be willing to play for very little pay for a long time. It can take up to a decade to build a viable career that pays well. That’s a serious financial and time investment for anyone.

5. To that end, play out as much as possible, wherever you can get a gig. Any stage is a stage worth building your business on. I find it funny when bands think they are too good to play certain places when they can’t even get a guarantee in that city to begin with. I once encountered a band touring through Wilmington, NC a few years ago that is actually fronted by a respected Hollywood actor. I was putting on a show down there at the time that they wanted to be on the bill at the last minute. I was so inspired by the band’s humility and willingness to play 2 shows that night for no money and shared backlines. That kind of attitude is what gets you in the better venues.

6. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Have it for those that work for you, for those who have gone before you, for your fans (especially) and even for those that seem like they have no bearing on your success. Word spreads much more quickly about difficult bands to work for than those who understand the principle of respect for others.

7. Build only a team of people to build your business that understands your music and shares your values. It’s important to work with people you trust at every level of your career. Also, it’s okay that not everyone who will want to work with you and vice-versa will. What is important is finding those that do and holding on to them.

8. It’s not 1977. It’s not 1997 and it’s not even 2007. Again, that’s another obvious statement but I would remis again not to not mention this either. The music industry has change significantly in the last decade and even in the last 5 years. The traditional concept of a record label may not even exist within the next 5 years. The one thing I know for certain is that artists who see a label deal as the answer to their financial woes or even the final destination usually end up sorely disillusioned and not making music after they are dropped from a label or have had to go to court over a really bad deal that they rushed in to out of desperation.

9. Don’t go looking for managers and booking agents. Good ones are really tough to get. Build a viable business and they will find you, rest assured.

10. Never give away ownership of your publishing or your master recordings. Never, ever - no matter how much advance money is thrown in your face. If you’re on a label, you’re going to have to pay your label to afford the production and marketing expenses of your releases (depending on the label – some don’t provide that – but that’s another discussion). One option could be to simply take fewer royalties in both areas earlier on to avert having to pay your label or publisher back with what would be the equivalent of equity in your company. Think of it like this: a percentage of revenues in a million dollar corporation is still much less to give up than actual ownership. Giving up ownership usually equates the relinquishment or the compromise of control, creatively and otherwise.

2008 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth In Overall Music Purchases Exceeds 10% -From Nielsen

2009-01-18T10:55:00.000-08:00

2008 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1.5 Billion; Growth In Overall Music Purchases Exceeds 10%

Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, Nielsen BDS, the music industry's leading music performance monitoring service, and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases, have announced their 2008 U.S. year-end sales and performance monitoring data for the 52-week period December 31, 2007 through December 28, 2008.

2008 Year End Factoids:

* Music purchases in 2008 reached 1.5 Billion, marking the fourth consecutive year music sales have exceeded 1 billion; 1.4 billion (2007) vs. 1.2 billion (2006) vs. 1 billion (2005).
* Music sales exceeded 65 million in the final week of 2008, representing the biggest sales week in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. The previous record was Christmas week 2007 with 58.4 million music purchases.
* Overall Album sales (including Albums and Track Equivalent Album sales) declined 8.5% compared to 2007.
* Total Album sales declined 14% compared to 2007.
* Metallica's "Death Magnetic" is the best selling Internet album for the year with 144,000 sales.
* During 2008, more Vinyl Albums were purchased (1.88 million) than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. The previous record was in 2000, with 1.5 million LP album sales.
* Note that more than 2 out of every 3 vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during the year.

Digital Factoids:
* Digital Track sales break the 1 BILLION sales mark for the first time with more than 1,070,000 digital track sales. The previous record was 844 million digital track purchases during 2007; an increase of 27% over 2007.
* Digital Album sales reached an all-time high with more than 65 million sales in 2008; up from 50 million in 2007; an increase of 32% over the previous year.
* Note that digital album sales account for 15% of total album sales compared to 10% in 2007 and 5.5% in 2006.
* In the final reporting week of 2008 the following digital sales records were broken:
* Digital Track sales surpassed 47.7 million. The previous sales record was 42.9 million, week of 12/23 -12/30/07.
* Digital Album sales this week broke the two million mark for the first time with sales of 2.4 million sales; breaking the previous record of 1.9 million (12/30/07).
* The top 200 digital songs for the week posted an all-time high with 13.6 million sales; breaking the previous record of 11.9 million during the last week of 2007.
* The first time that the Top 5 digital songs (combining all versions of the same song) sold more than 300,000 downloads in a week with Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" selling 419,000. The record for most downloads for a digital song in one week continues to be Flo Rida's "Low" with sales of 467,000 set during the last week of 2007.
* 2008 is the first time a digital song broke the 3 million sales mark in a single year. There were 2 songs that achieved this milestone; Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Lil Wayne's "Lollipop;" with sales of 3.4 and 3.2 million respectively.
* In 2008, there are 19 different digital songs with sales that exceeded 2 million compared to 9 in 2007.
* 71 Digital Songs exceed the 1 million sales mark for the year compared to 41 digital songs in 2007, 22 in 2006, and only 2 digital songs in 2005.
* Rihanna is the biggest selling digital artist in 2008 with nearly 10 million track sales compared to Fergie in 2007 who had 7.5 million track sales.
* There are more than 450,000 different physical albums that sold at least one copy over the Internet during 2008 compared to 390,000 in 2007.

Best Seller Factoids:
* Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is the biggest selling album of the year with 2.8 million sales.
* Taylor Swift is the biggest selling solo artist, with sales greater than 4.0 million albums and AC/DC is the biggest selling group in 2008 with sales of 3.4 million.
* Taylor Swift stands at the top of the list, marking the 2nd time in the last three years that a country artist is the top selling artist for the year. Rascal Flatts was the biggest selling artist in 2006 with 5 million sales. Josh Groban took the honors last year (2007) with 4.8 million sales.
* Taylor Swift's Fearless and her self-titled album finished the year at #3 and #6 respectively with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. This is the first time in the history of Nielsen SoundScan one artist had two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart

Holiday SeasonFactoids: (last 6 weeks of year).
* Overall Album sales during the 2008 holiday season were down 19% compared to 2007, with sales of just over 80 million.
* Album sales during the holiday season accounted for 19% of all album sales for the year.
* Digital Album sales during the holiday season experienced significant growth over 2007 with an increase of 37% to 9.9 million sales.

Strata Factoids:
* Album sales at Non-Traditional music outlets (digital, internet, mail order, venue, non-traditional retailers) hit an all-time high in 2008 with sales breaking the 100 million mark for the first time. Non-Traditional is the only strata that experienced album growth over the previous year; with an increase of 15% over 2007.
* Non-traditional outlets account for nearly 25% of all album sales, compared to 18% in 2007, 12% in 2006, 9% in 2005 and 5% in 2004 (4% in 2003).
* Digital services account for 65% of the Non-Traditional album sales.
* The last two weeks of the year produced the two biggest album sales weeks for Non-Traditional outlets; 3.3 and 3.2 million sales.
* The percentage of album sales at mass merchants declined for the second straight year after experiencing year over year growth from 2002 – 2006. In 2008, 37% of all albums purchased were at a Mass Merchant outlet compared to 40% in 2007, 41% in 2006, 40% in 2005.
* Chain music stores account for 33% of all album sales in 2008; compared to 36% in 2007; 41% in 2006, 45% in 2005 and 48% in 2004.
* Album sales at Independent music stores account for 7% of all album sales; up 1 point from a year ago (6% in 2007 and 2006, 7% in 2005 and 9% in 2004).

Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, Nielsen BDS, the music industry's leading music performance monitoring service, and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases, have announced their 2008 U.S. year-end sales and performance monitoring data for the 52-week period December 31, 2007 through December 28, 2008.

2008 Year End Factoids:

* Music purchases in 2008 reached 1.5 Billion, marking the fourth consecutive year music sales have exceeded 1 billion; 1.4 billion (2007) vs. 1.2 billion (2006) vs. 1 billion (2005).
* Music sales exceeded 65 million in the final week of 2008, representing the biggest sales week in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. The previous record was Christmas week 2007 with 58.4 million music purchases.
* Overall Album sales (including Albums and Track Equivalent Album sales) declined 8.5% compared to 2007.
* Total Album sales declined 14% compared to 2007.
* Metallica's "Death Magnetic" is the best selling Internet album for the year with 144,000 sales.
* During 2008, more Vinyl Albums were purchased (1.88 million) than any other year in the history of Nielsen SoundScan. The previous record was in 2000, with 1.5 million LP album sales.
* Note that more than 2 out of every 3 vinyl albums were purchased at an independent music store during the year.

Digital Factoids:
* Digital Track sales break the 1 BILLION sales mark for the first time with more than 1,070,000 digital track sales. The previous record was 844 million digital track purchases during 2007; an increase of 27% over 2007.
* Digital Album sales reached an all-time high with more than 65 million sales in 2008; up from 50 million in 2007; an increase of 32% over the previous year.
* Note that digital album sales account for 15% of total album sales compared to 10% in 2007 and 5.5% in 2006.
* In the final reporting week of 2008 the following digital sales records were broken:
* Digital Track sales surpassed 47.7 million. The previous sales record was 42.9 million, week of 12/23 -12/30/07.
* Digital Album sales this week broke the two million mark for the first time with sales of 2.4 million sales; breaking the previous record of 1.9 million (12/30/07).
* The top 200 digital songs for the week posted an all-time high with 13.6 million sales; breaking the previous record of 11.9 million during the last week of 2007.
* The first time that the Top 5 digital songs (combining all versions of the same song) sold more than 300,000 downloads in a week with Lady Gaga's "Just Dance" selling 419,000. The record for most downloads for a digital song in one week continues to be Flo Rida's "Low" with sales of 467,000 set during the last week of 2007.
* 2008 is the first time a digital song broke the 3 million sales mark in a single year. There were 2 songs that achieved this milestone; Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and Lil Wayne's "Lollipop;" with sales of 3.4 and 3.2 million respectively.
* In 2008, there are 19 different digital songs with sales that exceeded 2 million compared to 9 in 2007.
* 71 Digital Songs exceed the 1 million sales mark for the year compared to 41 digital songs in 2007, 22 in 2006, and only 2 digital songs in 2005.
* Rihanna is the biggest selling digital artist in 2008 with nearly 10 million track sales compared to Fergie in 2007 who had 7.5 million track sales.
* There are more than 450,000 different physical albums that sold at least one copy over the Internet during 2008 compared to 390,000 in 2007.

Best Seller Factoids:
* Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III is the biggest selling album of the year with 2.8 million sales.
* Taylor Swift is the biggest selling solo artist, with sales greater than 4.0 million albums and AC/DC is the biggest selling group in 2008 with sales of 3.4 million.
* Taylor Swift stands at the top of the list, marking the 2nd time in the last three years that a country artist is the top selling artist for the year. Rascal Flatts was the biggest selling artist in 2006 with 5 million sales. Josh Groban took the honors last year (2007) with 4.8 million sales.
* Taylor Swift's Fearless and her self-titled album finished the year at #3 and #6 respectively with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. This is the first time in the history of Nielsen SoundScan one artist had two different albums in the Top 10 on the year end album chart

Holiday SeasonFactoids: (last 6 weeks of year).
* Overall Album sales during the 2008 holiday season were down 19% compared to 2007, with sales of just over 80 million.
* Album sales during the holiday season accounted for 19% of all album sales for the year.
* Digital Album sales during the holiday season experienced significant growth over 2007 with an increase of 37% to 9.9 million sales.

Strata Factoids:
* Album sales at Non-Traditional music outlets (digital, internet, mail order, venue, non-traditional retailers) hit an all-time high in 2008 with sales breaking the 100 million mark for the first time. Non-Traditional is the only strata that experienced album growth over the previous year; with an increase of 15% over 2007.
* Non-traditional outlets account for nearly 25% of all album sales, compared to 18% in 2007, 12% in 2006, 9% in 2005 and 5% in 2004 (4% in 2003).
* Digital services account for 65% of the Non-Traditional album sales.
* The last two weeks of the year produced the two biggest album sales weeks for Non-Traditional outlets; 3.3 and 3.2 million sales.
* The percentage of album sales at mass merchants declined for the second straight year after experiencing year over year growth from 2002 – 2006. In 2008, 37% of all albums purchased were at a Mass Merchant outlet compared to 40% in 2007, 41% in 2006, 40% in 2005.
* Chain music stores account for 33% of all album sales in 2008; compared to 36% in 2007; 41% in 2006, 45% in 2005 and 48% in 2004.
* Album sales at Independent music stores account for 7% of all album sales; up 1 point from a year ago (6% in 2007 and 2006, 7% in 2005 and 9% in 2004).

College Radio Maintains Its Mojo

2008-12-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

The New York Times

December 7, 2008
Music
College Radio Maintains Its Mojo
By BEN SISARIO

A PIZZA box and half a dozen laptops lay open in the poster-lined basement lounge of WRPI, the radio station of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. As a soda machine hummed, students prepared to record a local metal band and debated whether reggae is fundamentally a 1970s style or “transcends the boundaries of time.”

It was the kind of scene that has played out countless times at campus radio stations, which for generations have served as a clubhouse for connoisseurs and a training ground for the music industry. But when WRPI’s student D.J.’s leave the studio, they said, they are unlikely to listen to the radio at all.

“Even when I’m in the car, I’m usually listening to my iPod and not that much to the station,” said Blair Neal, the music director.

In the age of blogs and MySpace, college radio might seem an anachronism, an analog remnant in a digital world. With young people listening to the radio less, student stations no longer enjoy the influence they had when they gave bands like R.E.M. and Nirvana an early boost to stardom.

But instead of clashing with the Internet, the 700 or so college stations around North America have persevered alongside it, settling into a role as the slower but more loyal foil to the fickle blogosphere. And thanks to the continued passion of their personnel, the stations remain surprisingly successful at promotion, according to many in the music industry, playing a bigger part in breaking new acts than is usually acknowledged.

“College radio is still tremendously important,” said Kris Chen, an executive at XL Recordings, whose artists include Vampire Weekend and Devendra Banhart. “And as college radio reaches farther now because of the Internet, its usefulness has increased and adapted.”

In many cases, the D.J.’s are bloggers themselves. Mr. Neal, a laconic 23-year-old studying for a graduate degree in electronic arts, contributes to a WRPI blog.

“I love being the first person to hear about something and toss the album to a bunch of friends to see what they think,” he said in the station’s bare auxiliary studio, where local bands are recorded weekly.

For decades the lifeblood of college radio has been programming that veers between anarchic and insightful, as young D.J.’s indulge their whims free from the narrow formats of commercial stations. (Most campus stations are financed by their colleges.) At their peak in the 1980s and ’90s the stations served as a crucial cheering section for new bands and were courted attentively by the major record labels.

With record companies’ promotional budgets now slashed, and a wide gulf between mainstream and collegiate tastes, few expect college stations to be catalysts for large-scale pop crossovers anymore. And for many students captivated by doing radio — and getting a call from a listener at 3 a.m. — that’s just fine.

“I think the station is less about the people who listen to it and more about the people who are involved in it,” said Lyzi Diamond, the music director of KWVA at the University of Oregon at Eugene, where each week she proudly hangs up a copy of the Billboard pop chart with an X drawn through it.

She has two blogs: one for her playlists and one for her poetry.

In New York in October for the CMJ Music Marathon, which exists at the nexus of college radio’s past and present, Ms. Diamond, 19, was determined to raise her station’s profile. Between cigarettes outside Lower East Side clubs, she handed out ballpoint pens with KWVA’s slogan (“You can’t get your bachelor’s without it”) and put faces to the phone voices and e-mail handles of promoters and fellow D.J.’s from around the country.

That close-knit group is as valuable a grass-roots promotion network as the most influential blogs are, many in the music industry say. But some worry that few people are still listening.

Hard numbers about ratings for campus radio are scarce, but trends show that the college-age audience pays less attention to radio every year. From 1998 to 2007 the amount of time 18- to 24-year-olds spend listening dropped 18 percent, while for people 35 to 64 it slipped 9 percent, according to the Arbitron ratings service.

“For today’s college students radio listenership is down considerably,” said Norman Prusslin, a media professor at the State University of New York at Stony Brook who is president of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, an advocacy organization.

At WRPI students operate and maintain all the equipment, from the elaborate 1970s phone system — its bizarre tangle of wires takes up a wall in an electrical closet — to the Power Mac G5 and the sleek 24-track mixing board. Dan Weeks, 20, the chief engineer, said that he is too busy with the equipment to do a show, but that the station’s stature on campus was what attracted him.

“My parents went to school here,” Mr. Weeks said, “and when they were here the radio station was awesome. Everybody listened to it. I came back hoping that it would be the same thing.”

Is it? Does the station have the same influence?

“Maybe not as far reaching,” he answered, “because radio was probably a lot more popular then. But we definitely still have an impact.”

To reach new audiences, college and other noncommercial stations have taken the lead in Internet broadcasting: 60 percent have Web streams, compared with 36 percent for all stations, according to RadioTime, an online service.

KALX at the University of California, Berkeley, one of the most influential college stations, averages about 60 listeners at a time for its stream, and often has more than 100, said Sandra Wasson, its general manager. But most stations have seen only a trickle.

“We can see in our logs that we’re being listened to in Sri Lanka and Australia,” said Joel Willer, director of broadcasting at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. “But we’re still looking at an average worldwide of less than two dozen people.”

In response to the erosion of audiences for terrestrial stations, labels and artist managers have looked to the Internet to promote their music. Tom Gates, a manager of indie-rock bands like Brand New and the Format, said that for many of his acts — especially the younger ones — college radio is an unnecessary expense.

“That’s $1,500 I could use to film a show and service it to five different blogs, which may get us a few hundred thousand eyeballs,” Mr. Gates said. “As opposed to college radio, which might reach a few hundred.”

Some think those few hundred might be worth the money to reach. Two of the most successful independent rock bands in recent years, Vampire Weekend and Arcade Fire, are often called emblematic of the quick-moving blog era. But their record companies say college radio played a far greater role in their good fortune than Web sites. “The Internet has gotten too much credit for the success of Arcade Fire,” said Mac McCaughan, an owner of the band’s label, Merge. “College radio is more of a real barometer of what people like and what people are listening to than blogs.”

Promotion aside, the stations have long served another important function: providing a link to jobs in the recording industry, which at every level is peopled with campus radio alumni. Bobby Haber, the chief executive of CMJ Network — and a former music director of WBRS at Brandeis University — created a trade magazine, College Media Journal (now CMJ New Music Report), in 1978 after failing to secure a promotion job at CBS Records. “I was devastated,” he said.

Many of those positions at the major labels have disappeared. But in their place is a large and decentralized job market for promoters, publicists, managers and merchandising specialists, mostly at small, nimble independent companies.

Ms. Diamond of the University of Oregon station said she was first stung by the radio bug while in high school in Oakland, Calif. For no apparent reason a local commercial rock station interrupted its programming, and she was stunned by the sense of mischief and power. “All of a sudden the radio cut out and they started playing cartoon noises for the day, just cartoon noises,” she recalled. “And I was like: ‘Wow, they can do that. That could totally happen.’ ”

But Ms. Diamond, who is studying planning and public policy, said during a packed afternoon show at Cake Shop, a tiny club on the Lower East Side, that she was not considering a career in radio, or in the music business at all; she wouldn’t want to work at a station where she couldn’t play anything she wanted.

As the crowds pushed forward and another band began playing, she said that for now her life was consumed by KWVA.

“At the end of the day your friends might not be there, your job might not be there,” Ms. Diamond said, “but radio will always be there. And it’s really cool to have something you can depend on.”

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company

Myspace's Future?

2008-12-07T09:52:00.000-08:00

From My Favorite Business Week Writer:

Fine On Media
Michael Wolff's Calm, Reasoned Analysis Of MySpace, And The "Cretins" That Flock To It

Posted by: on December 01

Part of writing my latest column required interviewing Michael Wolff, a friend and the author of the new Rupert Murdoch bio “The Man Who Owns The News.” After some negotiation, the interview took the form of a lengthy discussion-cum-argument. Sort of like what we do sometimes for this outfit, only with dinner and at much greater length.

Portions of what we discussed were entertaining enough—at least to me—to warrant posting here. In excerpt below, which is lightly edited for clarity and profanity, Michael and I argue over the value and prospects of MySpace.

Michael Wolff: MySpace. They [meaning News Corp] know they have a huge problem. They’re quaking in their boots about MySpace. It always was a little rustling when I was there, there was this rustling—

Jon Fine: What do you identify as the problem?

MW: Facebook.

JF: OK. But Facebook is still smaller in America, and—

MW: Absolutely. But you know the rhythms of the Internet business, which I think are still, at this point, immutable. Something else comes along—a better technology, a better flavor of the month—and you, the former, are downgraded. Possibly to the point of being downgraded out of existence.

JF: I think there you are falling into a fairly common thing. Facebook—it’s a better experience than MySpace. But the traffic on MySpace and the people on it...

MW: All of the growth now in MySpace is international.

JF: Sure. Because once you get to 75 million in the US, where are you gonna go?

MW: I know they recognize this: “We got to monetize this thing. We got to get this thing off the books.”

JF: Your magazine or my magazine would give both ears to get to $750 million in revenue [which is, very roughly, what MySpace’s revenues are]. The funny thing about MySpace . . .

MW: What they understand, is their $25 billion to $30 billion valuation.—

JF: But that’s [expletive]. We both know that’s [expletive].

MW: It doesn’t make any difference. That’s gonna go down. What they are looking at is the distinct possibility that it can go down to nothing.

JF: How do you find that plausible? It’s not even a utility like—-the anti-Google argument is this: If someone builds a better search engine tomorrow, I have zero switching costs. If I am on MySpace, I have 500 friends. I use it to communicate with people. You can’t just move. It’s a pain in the ass. All your stuff is there.

MW: But that’s exactly what they said about AOL.

JF: You did not develop that relationship with AOL.

MW: You did. You exactly did.

JF: How?

MW: Your email was there, because your friends were there. I mean, AOL operated actually as the community of its day. There were all of those—

JF: But besides the email and, OK, the—

MW: There were the infinite number of chat rooms. Layer upon layer upon layer of sex chat rooms.

JF: Of course. And I give you credit for having pointed to that as the secret driver of its success. But, all you need is a different chat room. You don’t have pictures up [on AOL]. You don’t have your history up there. You don’t have—

MW: It doesn’t matter. What they saw at the time was that [users] were absolutely wedded to AOL. That was Time Warner’s bet on that.

JF: AOL was monodimensional in a way that MySpace is not. I don’t think that’s particularly debatable.

MW: I don’t think that’s true. I think it is--if you’re on MySpace now, you’re a [expletive] cretin. And you’re not only a [expletive] cretin, but you’re poor. Nobody who has beyond an 8th grade level of education is on MySpace. It is for backwards people.

JF: [unsuccessfully stifling laughter] I don’t mean to get all Murdoch’s-kids on you [an obscure reference to an earlier part of the conversation], but if you are in a band, you are on MySpace. You have to be on MySpace. That’s a powerful driver. And second of all-- if I am to accept your reasoning, even though I don’t--as the success of [News Corp’s British tabloid] The Sun will tell you, there are lot of cretins out there and you can make a lot of money off cretins. By appealing to their essential--

MW: No! That is the difference. And that is one of the interesting points of Murdoch. He wants to make money off of what he rightly saw as a rising lower class. He came to this country and he sees, that’s just not really true. No one really identifies with being lower class [in the US]. As soon as it comes to you—‘I am lower class’--you run, and you have to rehabilitate all of your aspirational identifiers.

JF: [mentally substituting 'working' for 'lower,' and flashing on this and this, for starters] Whatever. Evidently I’m not gonna convince you, even though you’re wrong. Anyway, MySpace is a sideshow. You barely mention it in the book. Which I kind of like.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/12555.1361912595
Reader Comments
Don Resnitch
December 2, 2008 12:25 AM

What a mess. I am sorry I read this - it's such nonsense. In the economic climate - green is king - let's chat when FB starts monetizing those eyes.
L Martin Johnson Pratt
December 2, 2008 02:26 AM

this is why OLD MEDIA is consistently losing money. So much for basic research LOL Old media guard doesn't get it nor do they even use Pew Research on Internet www.pewinternet.org or www.nielsen-online.com/ Come on Business Week why even print this garbage?? But since you did here is the factual data:

"Wolff goes into detail on exactly why he thinks MySpace will go the way of AOL. He also makes some blatantly incorrect statements, such as “All of the growth now in MySpace is international,” which is incorrect. In the last year MySpace has grown about 10% in the U.S., adding 7.5 million monthly unique users to a total of 76.4 million. Non-U.S. users have grown from 45 million to 54 million, a 17% increase. (source: Comscore)

And those comments about MySpace users being poor and uneducated aren’t entirely correct either. Of MySpace’s U.S. users, 52% make more than $60,000 per year, which is far from poor. 23% make more than $100,000 per year. Just 11.6% make less than $25k/year.

Facebook’s numbers are 65% and 33%, respectively, which is more impressive. But MySpace has 30 million more U.S. users than Facebook (76 million v. 46 million), so MySpace’s aggregate numbers are higher. 17.6 million U.S. MySpace users make more than $100,000 per year.

Also true of MySpace users, according to Nielsen: 63% own homes, 86% are registered voters and 28% are college graduates. Facebook has similar numbers." from TechCrunch Blog
Eric Hamilton
December 2, 2008 06:23 AM

Why listen to Michael Wolff? Ten years ago - “I think the myth of the Internet is that it is going to come into everybody’s home.”

Hilariously wrong about the internet -- hilariously wrong about MySpace. If you're in entertainment, you're on MySpace, or you're stupid.

In fact, if Michael Wolff was not hilariously wrong about all things internet, nobody would even know his name.
Mediadavid
December 2, 2008 08:59 AM

Once again, Mr Wolfe seems to have confused his media hopes with reality.
MySpace won't collapse. AOL was never even remotely close to the MySpace phenomenon.
Only someone who is not very familiar with both entities would make this argument (or someone who just doesn't like MySpace and wants it to disappear).
While it's true MySpace isn't for Mr. Wolfe, it is for a lot of folks.
(although personally, I prefer Facebook)
Erin C
December 2, 2008 09:44 AM

Actually, if you're in "entertainment" legitimately, you'd have an agent who'd advise you against such idiotic behavior as a MySpace profile. Unless of course your target market is tweens/teens, in which case it could be beneficial from a marketing standpoint.

Indie bands aside, the 'entertainment industry' on MySpace consists of countless D-grade amateur "models" and "actors" attempting to be discovered, a fact which is sadly hilarious. If you want to be in entertainment, get an agency. If you can't get one, well, perhaps it's time to explore other career options.

MySpace is over and has been for a long time. When BusinessWeek's doing an article about it, you know the online community has already left in droves.
Second That
December 2, 2008 10:43 AM

Michael Wolff isn't just wrong about the internet; all his media predictions are wrong too. Pick any of his VF columns from the past 2 years and the arguments in them are guaranteed to be wrong. MySpace does eat balls though.
Rebecca Lieb
December 2, 2008 11:37 AM

linkbait.
nothing but patently obvious linkbait.
Sean
December 2, 2008 11:46 AM

What's so great about the Facebook "experience" vs. the myspace "experience?" The whole point of online social networks is voyeurism, and there's precious little of it on Facebook. Instead, try thumbnails, low-quality pix (it appears they downgrade JPEG quality in order to save server space) and a helter-skelter interface that's annoying and illogical.

At least myspace is simple, well-organized and focused on communication of one person's info--and photos, and blogs, and videos--to another. Comparatively, facebook is just a mess. It's telling that the people who use facebook are inevitably old friends from high-school who are "just getting into this online networking thing." Their interest in it as a service, as a useful part of their daily life, is minimal at best. Most younger people have both a facebook and myspace account.
Don
December 2, 2008 12:01 PM

I counter that Erin C should show even one single B list celebrity who is not a long-established star who does not have a legitimate MySpace presence.

We are aware that MySpace is where people trying to get a start post their headshots, but that banal enormity has existed in every single casting guide since the Academy Players Directories (I own copies going back to 1939 and they are filled with character actors half-remembered from westerns and never-were starlets with Pasadena Playhouse credentials).

I am not aware that any single agent has advised against a MySpace profile and cannot fathom an agent doing that. The concept she uses of being in entertainment "legitimately" is a clue that Erin C is not speaking from industry experience. Legitimate new actors and musicians use MySpace as fan club management, following a pattern that made Dane Cook a hit.

That said, it's also silly to suggest that the MySpace model has infinite legs and will exist with this level of popularity and valuation for time immemorial is just silly, and I presume not exactly what Jon was suggesting.

The AOL example is a good example. The AOL-only features kept people from switching until their were enough alternatives and negative publicity about AOL for many users to jump ship. The next MySpace could well be an 11th generation combination of Twitter, Flickr and google maps. It could be classmates.com mixed with youtube and internet radio dedications. The idea that none of us here could have predicted the popularity of Scrabulous 5 years ago shows that for the most part, this kind of prediction doesn't work.

But MySpace will fall some day, just as we will all die some day.
Heather Mansfield
December 2, 2008 12:29 PM

Yeah... MySpace is abundant in "Cretins":

http://www.myspace.com/nonprofitorganizations
Ex Wolff New Media Employee
December 2, 2008 12:36 PM

Michael Wolff wouldn't know an Internet success story from the failed company he created and then left, taking all his staffers deferred salaries with him and his beard to Italy.
Bryan
December 2, 2008 01:09 PM

Michael Wolff is a NOBODY. That's probably because he can't make an educated argument. These media characters pop-up all the time like blips in the cosmos of the bigger picture.

While I dont care for MySpace and think it's eventually gonna whither away into obscurity, I don't think this guy is anywhere near being on point.

Myspace will be eventually forgotten like most general social networking sites because it depends soo heavily on people finding enough spare time in their day to keep their pages and habits.

All social networking sites will have discover new ways to make themselves relevant to users' real, daily lives.

I also don't think MySpace ads have that high a click-through and pay-off rate. It's all junk for the most part.
Ron Mwangaguhunga
December 2, 2008 04:10 PM

Yeah, but does anyone here go on MySpace hourly or even daily to check theor messages? I think Wolff was unnecessarily harsh -- some high school kids do go on MySpace to hook up -- but aside from bands keeping in touch with their fans the prospects for the site appear pretty bleak.

The odd thing is that News Corp could have pushed MySpace using the hugely influential Page Six and popular Fox TV (24, Prison Break, House) and FX properties(The Shield, Nip/Tuck). Could you imagine if you had to register through MySpace to get your gossip fix at PageSix (instead of PageSix.com)? Or what if friending characters like Jack Bauer of 24 or Dr. House or The Simpsons on MySpace would get you updates on show plotlines or a robust MySpace Simpsons-Springfield community.

But they didn't. And now facebook is eating MySpace's lunch.
Neil Suttree
December 2, 2008 04:20 PM

Cretinism is in. Sarah Palin and Foxworthy prove that people are proud of being ignorant. This can only bode well for social networks.
BridgeTroll
December 2, 2008 04:56 PM

"And those comments about MySpace users being poor and uneducated aren’t entirely correct either. Of MySpace’s U.S. users, 52% make more than $60,000 per year, which is far from poor. 23% make more than $100,000 per year. Just 11.6% make less than $25k/year."

This got to be a joke! If you REALLY think those stats are real, i have a bridge to sell you.
Nate
December 2, 2008 11:45 PM

I second "BridgeTroll."

No way in hell over half of MySpace users make upwards of $60,000. No way.
William Gaultier
December 3, 2008 02:47 AM

I second BridgeTroll, the data that MySpace publishes has been talked about in the advertising industry for a long time. A lot of it is really bad data that can't be relied on. Most importantly though, for many of our clients, all advertising buys/tests we have conducted on MySpace have done REALLY poorly in terms of clickthrough, viewthrough and good old ROI. So MySpace's audience is not as valuable as it seems.
Jay Krall
December 3, 2008 09:01 AM

Great point. If you're in a band, you have to be on MySpace. That's a good lesson in finding your community online: don't assume they're on Facebook just because it's the newer and hipper of the two.
Dave
December 3, 2008 11:41 AM

Marketers who are not savvy with social media will not get the right ROI on their ad campaigns on social networking sites. They don't know what to measure and how to measure them, so they use CTRs or view-throughs as success metrics. My suggestion is - don't blame the social networking sites (Myspace or Facebook), but instead, try to learn how to effectively market in the social media space.
John
December 3, 2008 10:10 PM

Eric C-- please define "legitimate" entertainment. Please, do tell... I'm dying to hear. Oh the half-wits you will meet.
Ben Joven
December 4, 2008 04:22 PM

Being a man "of ethnicity", I took an offense to a comment and observation recently made by an ex-girlfriend(who is also a fellow online marketer), that may or not hold some truth, stating, "...Myspace is for poor, black, Hispanic uneducated kids and Facebook is for white college kids."

At the time I was taken aback but the truth was I was growing tired of MySpace. It seemed like most of my "friends" were complete strangers and by the looks of their profiles they were aspiring porn stars and not to mention, the blaring music was killing me-an obvious bust at work, announcing that no work was being accomplished in my cubicle.

On a positive note, MySpace is EXCELLENT for musicians. There is not a more effective and cheaper virtual "stage", barring YouTube, to get huge exposure. Some bands wouldn't exist or be as successful if it wasn't for MySpace.

But for the most part I hate generalizations, and Michael Wolfe's inductive reasoning is the type of thinking that spreads dogmatic, narrow mindlessness and if I get a friend request from Michael Wolff I will, politely, deny it.
linda
December 5, 2008 11:56 AM

Cretins? Ha, you utter snob. I have a college degree and wouldn't be caught dead on Facebook. I've been on MySpace since it began and I'm not leaving.

You have some nerve!
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The media and marketing world continues to shapeshift on a near-daily basis, as new forms arise and old assumptions erode. Where is it all going? No one knows, least of all Media Columnist Jon Fine. But on this blog he promises ample helpings of scoop, provocation, sharp analysis and (we hope) wit as he tracks and annotates this constantly changing terrain.

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Sirius XM Takes $4.8 Billion Charge Due to Share Plunge

2008-11-11T16:04:00.000-08:00

November 10, 2008
Sirius XM Takes $4.8 Billion Charge Due to Share Plunge
By REUTERS

Filed at 7:07 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sirius XM Radio Inc posted a $4.8 billion write-down of goodwill related to its acquisition of satellite radio rival XM, and said the auto industry's "dramatic" woes have hurt subscriber growth.

The company blamed the write-down, which added to its operational losses in the third quarter, on the significant decline in its share price from February 2007, when the merger was first announced. At that time, Sirius traded at about $3.79, compared with 27 cents at the close on Monday.

Chief Executive Mel Karmazin defended the company, saying that while it provides a radio service that subscribers enjoy, it is powerless to fix the economic troubles that have beset the auto industry -- its biggest source of new subscribers.

"We think the environment sucks," he said on a conference call with analysts. "It is not like we're doing something wrong. It is that, unfortunately, we do not have a whole lot of control over what cars are getting sold. We do our best."

Sirius, whose stock price has since plunged on concerns about subscriber growth and its ability to repay debt, posted a net loss of $4.88 billion, or $1.93 per share.

It said its pro forma third-quarter loss was $217 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with $265.5 million, or 18 cents per share, a year ago. The pro forma figures assume that Sirius and XM were one company a year ago.

Pro forma revenue rose 16 percent to $613 million. Analysts were looking for revenue of $575 million and a loss per share of 9 cents for the quarter.

Sirius reiterated its outlook, but analysts said that was overshadowed by concerns over its ability to pay its debt, and the moves it is planning to bring its stock back over $1 a share.

"It will be hard to get investors focused on the financial results until Sirius obtains the refinancing for the debt that is due in 2009," said Janco Partners analyst April Horace.

Karmazin said he expects the company to work through the refinancing of more than $1 billion in debt due on 2009. He added that a $300 million portion due in February has been reduced to $210 million, and that the company is talking to its lenders about refinancing.

"We remain optimistic," he said on the call. "The company remains confident that we will in short order get the February '09 refinancing done."

Sirius is also considering a reverse stock split in an effort to lift its depressed share price and avoid the risk of being delisted from the Nasdaq stock market.

It said it added 344,100 net subscribers in the quarter, ending the period with 18.9 million subscribers. That is an increase of 17 percent from one year ago.

The company said churn, the rate at which users quit the service, was about 1.7 percent for the first nine months of the year, about the same as in 2007.

Sirius repeated that it expects to end 2008 with 19.1 million subscribers and end 2009 with 20.6 million subscribers. The company added that it remains confident in its guidance for revenue and adjusted earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization for 2008 and 2009, reiterating figures that it gave last week.

(Reporting by Franklin Paul, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Richard Chang)

Copyright 2008 Reuters Ltd.

Nic Harcourt Steps Down at KCRW - From CMJ 11/10

2008-11-11T15:58:00.001-08:00

KCRW Music Director Steps Down
Nov 10, 2008
Story by: Lisa Hresko

Nic Harcourt will serve his last day as KCRW music director on Sunday November 30. Harcourt has spent the past ten years as the voice and lifeblood behind KCRW staple program, "Morning Become Eclectic," which has been known for breaking new bands and highlighting bright young international acts. During his tenure as music director, Harcourt co-produced the Latin alternative compilation, KCRW Sounds Eclectico, featuring Manu Chao, Cafe Tecuba, Theivery Corporation and others.
Although he will no long play host to MBE, Harcourt will follow in the footsteps of KCRW music directors past and host a three-hour weekend segment. You will be able to hear him on Sundays from 6-9 p.m.

"I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to come to work every day and be surrounded by creative and passionate people, and I want to keep the connection alive on my Sunday show," said Harcourt in a Monday morning press release. "Since I arrived here, I've fulfilled many of my dreams as a music lover, meeting and interviewing legends like Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Willie Nelson and Cat Stevens (Yusuf). I've also been able to set the stage for future stars, introducing artists like Coldplay, Damien Rice, Dido and Norah Jones on KCRW's airwaves. I'm equally proud to have played many unsigned and independent artists and to be a champion for Latin Alternative music."

©2008 CMJ Network, Inc.

Radio Gaining Audience -- but Not Ad Revenue - From Ad Week This Week

2008-10-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Radio Gaining Audience -- but Not Ad Revenue
Medium Holding Its Own Against the IPod, Trying to Embrace New Media

By Andrew Hampp

Published: October 20, 2008
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Radio has been right behind newspapers as the old-school medium most adversely affected by digital developments. New research, however, shows that radio is actually gaining audience, even in spite of its closest competitor, the iPod.

A recent online study from Paragon Research polling more than 400 14- to 24-year-olds about their music-consumption habits found that the youth demo has increased its time spent listening to radio 11% this year, while its time spent listening to iPods has actually decreased 13%. The study coincides with the Radio Advertising Bureau's annual RADAR report, which shows that AM/FM radio listeners increased by 3 million in 2008, bringing the number of weekly radio listeners to 235 million.

Jeff Haley, president-CEO of the RAB, said the Paragon study confirms what the radio industry has heard anecdotally by reflecting the "lack of inertia in the MP3 experience. You don't have the ability to refresh or any kind of automated way to come across great new music. As a result, that isolated programming effect does not allow you the serendipitous experience the way radio does."

But more listeners are not doing much to boost radio's fortunes. Industry revenue has been largely flat to down in the past five years due to the gradual migration of listeners to MP3 players and online radio -- not to mention advertisers' simultaneous migration to other niche media such as cable TV, web portals and, to a smaller extent, satellite radio. Its two core advertisers -- the automotive and retail industries -- are being slammed the hardest by the financial crisis, particularly at the local level, which is where radio makes more than 65% of its total ad revenue. Radio ad revenue was down 6.5% during the first two quarters of 2008, making it the second-most-declined medium next to newspapers, which suffered a 7.4% decrease in ad spending during the same period, according to TNS Media Intelligence's spending report on the first half of 2008. Internet spending was up 8%, a margin notably smaller than the increases it posted in recent years due to the stabilized growth of display advertising.

And it's not as if radio can blame the iPod for the ad declines. Jim Boyle, senior radio analyst for C.L. King & Associates, said although the iPod has had some affect on radio listening, its impact on radio ad revenue has been minimal at best. "It's not as though you have to compete with the iPod to go to the local auto dealer in Ohio for an ad," he said. "Even if they chew into your listenership, the pie is still a much bigger pie. You may only lose a very small percentage of your cost-per-thousand point."

Self-inflicted wounds
And as the industry's highest-ranked executives have readily admitted in recent years, radio hasn't done a good job of embracing new media. As Frank Flores, chairman of the New York Market Radio Association and VP-general manager of the Spanish Broadcasting System, put it, "We've let everybody brand us and put us in different places. The internet branded us as slow and a dinosaur, iPods and streaming just made us seem like your father's brand of communicating, and we've done nothing to dispel that."

That's why its biggest industry initiative to date, dubbed "Buy from FM," is aimed at making FM radio tuners available on every MP3 player and cellphone in the next five years so consumers can identify and buy the songs they hear on the radio directly from their devices. Its first partner in FM song tagging, Microsoft's Zune, just rolled out in 450 stations nationwide, with the RAB and National Association of Broadcasters in "aggressive talks with many carriers to extend the platform," Mr. Haley said.

The RAB has also embarked on a similar partnership with the American Association of Advertising Agencies called the "universal ad ID program," designed to make radio commercials as interactive as the purchase-enabled songs to which they're attached. Mr. Haley said 56 of the top 100 advertisers have adopted the technology thus far, with initial tests expected to roll out in the second half of 2009.

Of course, it's going to take a lot more than Zune's 4% to 5% share of the MP3 market if radio wants to make major inroads in monetizing the music-discovery market, particularly among young influentials. And convincing Washington and the major wireless companies to get onboard "Buy from FM" without Apple's initial support will be tricky at best. "If you don't have the top market-share leader who is dominant in the field, you have your foot in the door, but the door is harder to open," Mr. Boyle said.

Lisa Delio, exec VP-managing director, local broadcast at MPG, said the ad market for reaching young listeners is very finite, so even if overall listening is up, there are only so many ad dollars that can be dedicated to reaching them.

Organic Entertainment and September Gurl Present: CMJ All-Day

2008-10-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

Free Redhook beer for badgeholders, vegetarian platters courtesy of Candle Cafe and music,too! Join us all-day at CMJ '08!

More Matt Keating Tour Dates - A Little Message From Matt Himself

2008-10-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

Just back from a full month of touring, promoting my new double CD
QUIXOTIC, had a week off, and now...I'M BACK OUT!! check out the
dates, and if you're near one, come by. Also, for New Yorkers...i'm
playing CMJ with a full band on October 23rd at a club called
Rehab...it' sounds like an intervention on me so bring all of your
friends...details below...cheers, mk

Oct 8 2008 5:15
Austin, Texas
Momo's
618 West 6th Street, Suite 200
http://www.momosclub.com
special afternoon show

Oct 9 2008 8:00
Ft. Worth, Texas
The Fairmount
http://www.thefairmountlive.com/

Oct 10 2008 8:00
Memphis, Tennessee Java Cabana
http://javacabanacoffeehouse.com/events.html

Oct 11 2008 7:30
Alexander, Arkansas Jim Apel's Barbeque/House Concert
2209 Karen Ln
Alexander, Arkansas
This is a really cool guy who i met when i played The White Water
Tavern a few weeks ago...should be a fun hang..barbeque and house
concert with yours truly providing solo acoustic songism

Oct 13 2008 10:30 AM
Knoxville, TN WDVX Blue Plate Special
http://www.wdvx.com/programs/blueplate.html
a live performance on this cool radio show!!

Oct 13 2008 8:00
Knoxville, TN Time Warp Tea Room
1209 North Central St.
Knoxville, TN 37917
865-524-1155

Oct 14 2008 8:00
Chapel Hill, NC The Cave
http://www.caverntavern.com/

Oct 15 2008 8:00
Decateur, Georgia Eddie's Attic
http://www.eddiesattic.com/

10/23/08 8:00-NYC CMJ Show
Rehab
25 Ave B
New York, New York
http://www.clubmidway.com/indexfull.htm
CMJ SHOWCASE/Kaiser Cartel to follow at 9:00

PRESS FOR MATT KEATING'S QUIXOTIC

Veteran popster with a double CD just crammed full of first-rate
songs, some ballads, some more rock-oriented, but quality all the
way." -- USA Today

His songwriting genius is in abundant display on his fantastic new
album. -- Philadelphia Inquirer

It may take a sprawling affirmation of his relentless talent the
likes of his latest two disc album QUIXOTIC to finally turn heads. A
self-assured, prolific song man who avoids the blustering pomp of
similar coffee-shop heartthrobs. -- Nashville Scene

Fantastic two-CD set from the terrific singer/songwriter, turning in
23 new songs that roll out like a comforting road trip with an old
friend. -- River City Reader

to buy QUIXOTIC:
http://www.indiekazoo.com/mattkeating
to listen:
http://www.mattkeating.com
http://www.myspace.com/mattkeating

Handcuffs Video For “Can’t Get The Girl” In Rotation at Fuse On-Demand in September and October

2008-09-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release

Handcuffs Video For “Can’t Get The Girl” In Rotation at Fuse On-Demand in September
New Record “Electroluv” To Release This Fall

(Chicago, IL)—September 9, 2008

The video for “Can’t Get The Girl” off of the debut album, “Model for a Revolution” by Chicago songwriting/performance/production team Brad Elvis and Chloe F. Orwell, who perform as The Handcuffs, will be added in to rotation on Fuse On Demand throughout the month of September. The video can also be seen free of charge on the band’s myspace page at www.myspace.com/thehandcuffs.

The duo is currently hard at work finishing up their second studio album “Electroluv,” due out this fall via Oofl Records.

“Model for a Revolution,” their 12-song debut release, is Inspired by life’s trials and tribulations, an array of music (from Sparks to Garbage and Brazil 66 to Led Zeppelin), and the innovative fashion and photography of the late designer Rudi Gernreich, iconic mod 1960s fashion model Peggy Moffitt and renowned photographer William Claxton (the latter of whom are also partners in life).

The record provides a litany of indie rock songs that will make you tap your feet, bang your head and shout out loud just for the fun of it. Songs from Model for a Revolution, as well as unreleased (as of yet) Handcuffs’ tracks, have been placed in numerous television shows and feature films, including MTV’s The Hills, Laguna Beach, Next and Pimp My Ride; programs on A&E, E! and other networks; and the Sundance and SXSW award-winning documentary The Education of Shelby Knox.

To pick up your copy of “Model for a Revolution,” to watch and listen and to get more more information on the band please visit www.thehandcuffs.com.

Anton Sword Announces Revised Tour Dates For September

2008-09-03T19:14:00.000-07:00

For Immediate Release

Anton Sword Announces Revised Tour Dates For September

(New York, NY)—September 2, 2008

A few adjustments were made to unforeseeable snafus in his original tour itinerary but electro-pop raconteur Anton Sword along with his loyal band of music makers will still be making a short east coast run in early September with additional dates in Europe in October. The revised east coast dates are as follows:

9/7 – Tritone (Philadelphia)
9/8 – Felix Lounge (DC)
9/9 – Night Light (Chapel Hill)
9/10 – Hexagon (Formerly, Lo-Fi Club-Baltimore)
9/11 – Soapbox Laundrolounge (Wilmington, NC)
9/12 – The Camel (Richmond)
9/13 – Rehab (NYC)

Sword continues to support his debut album “A Sentimental Education” which became available at online stores such at iTunes and Rhapsody earlier this year. Shows will feature live drums via Kristin Mueller (Lucinda Black Bear), Jessica Hallman on cello and bass guitar and Julian Maile (Losers Lounge) on guitar along with Sword’s vocals and keyboards. Please visit www.myspace.com/antonsword and/or www.myspace.com/organicbooking for a complete listings and links to purchase advance tickets.

What if Thom Yorke did the music for "Shaft"? The Lovin' Spoonful scored "Forbidden Planet"? Stereolab wrote the "Peanuts" theme? My Bloody Valentine covered Miles Davis? Fatboy Slim wrote with Burt Bacharach? Johnny Mathis sang Nick Cave? Point being, that Anton Sword has never fit into or enjoyed genre labels. His debut album “A Sentimental Education” is a hybrid, an intersection of several tentacles reaching out from different styles, different decades, different markets, to shape something new in music. Please visit www.antonsword.com to learn more about the songs from “A Sentimental Education,” and Sword’s upcoming new record.

"Anton Sword is good at invoking time and place in his music. The time is the late 1980's, the place is a basement in the suburbs where vaguely displaced teens hang out and listen to Robert Smith & The Cure or some other mildly depressed but incredibly talented band. A Sentimental Education is dark and scintillating and full of texture imbued with an anachronistic melancholy. Anton Sword is a storyteller with an artist's ear for music, constructing vast musical landscapes against which his bard's tales are told. Many of the songs here segue one into the other almost like an epic tale made of smaller stories. The overall effect is very entertaining yet mellow."
--Wildy's World Music Blog

"Should you have forgotten what a beautiful ballad is or what a finely crafted good pop song sounds like, Anton Sword has A Sentimental Education ready for you: 11 wonderfully produced songs of melancholy, love and the fleetingness of human existence...dark but tender."
--Roman Elsener, in The Roman Games Diary Music Blog

Check Out Matt Keating on Tour in September

2008-08-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

From Anti-Music This Week

.
Matt Keating Books Impressive Backing Band for Upcoming Tour

08/19/2008
.
(PR) On his upcoming September tour, Matt Keating will be accompanied by a band comprised of some pretty fantastic musicians.

For September 3 - 15, he'll have guitarist Chris Masterson (Son Volt), bassist Jason Mercer (Ron Sexsmith, Ani DiFranco), and drummer Mark Brotter (Hem.)

Then for September 19 - 28, he'll be touring with bassist Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams) and drummer Greg Wieczorek (Joseph Arthur.)

Matt Keating On Tour

August 21- Comet Tavern- Seattle WA
August 23- East Burn- Portland OR
September 3- Wonderland Ballroom- Washington D.C.
September 4- The Camel- Richmond VA
September 5- Village Tavern- Mount Pleasant SC
September 6- Time Warp Tea Room- Knoxville TN
September 7 - Hi-Tone Cafe - Memphis, TN
September 8 - The Fairmount - Fort Worth, TX
September 9- Scoot Inn- Austin TX
September 10 - Dan Electro's Guitar Bar - Houston, TX
September 11 - White Water Tavern - Little Rock, AR
September 12- Wonder Root- Atlanta GA
September 13- Common Grounds- Lexington KY
September 14- The Milestone- Charlotte NC
September 15- The Cave- Chapel Hill NC
September 19- NYC Housing Works Benefit- New York NY
September 21 - The Elevens - Northampton, MA
September 22- Hi-Fi Concert Club- Lakewood OH
September 24- The Frequency- Madison WI
September 25- Reggies- Chicago IL
September 26- 400 Bar- Minneapolis MN
September 27 - Sam's Saloon - Indianapolis, IN
September 28- Club Café- Pittsburgh PA
October 10 - Java Cabana - Memphis, TN
October 11- House Concert- Little Rock AR
October 23 - CMJ - New York, NY
November 2 - Zuzu's - Beacon, NY
December 6 - Mocha Maya's - Shelburne Falls, MA

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• 08/20: Dave Matthews Band Death- Linkin Park Mock GNR, Metallica Release Party, Free Coldplay Download, Premature Bloc Party, New Zeppelin Bio- more

• 08/19: Guitarist Collapses On Stage- Metallica Singer St Angers Trespassers- Avril Deemed Too Sexy- Coheed and Cambria Expand Neverender Plans- Rock Band Goes New Wave- more

• 08/18: AC/DC Officially Announce New Album- Jared Leto Responds to Virgin Lawsuit- Virgin Vs 30 Seconds to Mars, Limp Manson, Jerry Wexler RIP, Ozzy Not Retiring- more

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TODaY'S NEwS

Slipknot Rejects Blame In Teen Slaying

Crap Sells, Britney TV, Are You Smarter Than A KISS Member, Ozzy Osbourne Afflicted, Pink Fun House, Oasis Sells Out and more

Guns N' Not Guilty

Country Star Hit With Beer Can

Dave Matthews Says Goodbye To Bandmate

Rise Against Set Rocktober Release

Injury Sidelines Slipknot Tour Plans

Don't Hold Your Breath For A Jane's Addiction Reunion

Ryan Adams and The Cardinals Extend Road Plans

Legends Live At Montreux 1997 Coming To BluRay

Misheard Lyrics of the Day: R.E.M.

Peter Bjorn and John CD Details

An Evening with Slash

Tour NYC With the Kooks

Deicide One Night Stand

All Shall Perish On The Road

The Presets Plot American Return

Earlimart Go West

Gojira Preview

Delta Spirit and Dr. Dog Tour

FODfest 08

Felix Da Housecat Goes Global

Free Wisdom on iTunes

Linkin Park Mock GNR, Metallica Release Party, Free Coldplay Download, Premature Bloc Party, New Zeppelin Bio[most read on Wed]

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Chris Seefried, Jay Nash, Joe Purdy and Meiko at the Living Room Tomorrow

2008-08-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Come join us and our new found west-coast songwriter friends this Friday evening at the Living Room. Music should kick off at 8PM. Their sounds reminisce on Laurel Canyon circa 1969 but is better-made for the Starbucks generation. Get in touch with me if you would like to find out more info or would like to come down. xo, Margo

CD Baby Sells Business To Disc Makers, What's the Big Deal?

2008-08-07T11:51:00.001-07:00

Posted on Brooklyn Vegan in industry | music on August 7, 2008
CD Baby sells business to Disc Makers

"But now my new projects are exciting me so much that I decided to hand over CD Baby to someone that's going to make it better than ever for you. I chose Disc Makers as the new owner because their president Tony Van Veen has been one of my favorite people for years, and I always felt they'd do a better job of running CD Baby than I would." [CD Baby founder Derek Sivers]"

Trust me, this is good thing for indie artists.

Merlin Issues Statement Regarding Last.fm Artist Royalty Program from Mi2N

2008-08-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

Business News [07-13-2008]

Merlin Issues Statement Regarding Last.fm Artist Royalty Program

The bulletin highlighted the following important points:
* "The Program announced today does not appear to offer any compensation for any past illegal use of repertoire. It is unclear to us whether or not the terms and conditions of the Program are intended to prevent master owners pursuing such compensation.

* "As you will be aware, we have for the last few months been negotiating with Last.fm regarding a non exclusive blanket licence and a settlement agreement on behalf of Merlin members. Unfortunately, these negotiations have stalled - in particular due to Last.fm's unwillingness to properly address its illegal infringing activity.

* "Several provisions of the licence terms and conditions of the Program appear ambiguous and open to legal interpretation. We note that this would tend to lead to uncertainty as to the "true" meaning of the licence. The licence points out that if you are unsure about any of it "YOU ARE ADVISED TO OBTAIN INDEPENDENT LEGAL ADVICE" - we would endorse that view."

Merlin membership numbers over 12,000 labels - representing, without a doubt, the largest and most commercially significant bundle of music rights outside the majors.

This brings their current market share in the US alone to over 8%, equal to that of EMI Music. Worldwide, members were responsible for 72% of Europe's top 60 independent albums for the past three years and a 75% market share of the top UK's 75 independent albums in 2007.

Merlin's remit is to represent the world's independent sector and act as an efficient central point of entry to the music it represents, in particular for digital, new media and web 2.0 rights. Merlin provides an unprecedented efficiency in bringing together the world's most commercially important independent repertoire in one place.

From Businessweek 7/24 - Why Indies are So important to Artist Success Now More Than Ever

2008-07-26T12:27:00.001-07:00

Media Centric July 24, 2008, 5:00PM EST text size: TT
Drowning Out the Big Labels
Some indies are selling more records than ever while the majors limp along

by Jon Fine

This is how crazy the music business is right now. Certain veteran independent labels, which in some cases spent the 1990s alternating between slamming the majors and begging them for emergency funding, are starting to look as if they know what they're doing.

The grievous state of selling music is well annotated, with total album sales falling 11% in the first half of '08. Major labels struggle to keep platinum sellers (acts that sell a million units) from backsliding to gold (500,000 units) or worse. But some smaller labels—among them Sub Pop, Merge, and Matador—have hit a pocket of relative prosperity, with many of their top stars selling more records than ever.

Seattle's Sub Pop, famed for signing a then-unknown trio called Nirvana in the late '80s and long adept at minting a hit moments before the label's lights went out, has recently notched three gold records. One of them, The Postal Service's Give Up, is nearing platinum. Another, the Shins' Wincing the Night Away, debuted at No. 2 on Billboard. This, for a label and milieu in which selling 50,000 records was once considered an ungodly feat.

According to Sub Pop, in 2007 it posted record revenues, which rose 79%, to around $20 million—14% from licensing its bands' music to advertisers and entertainment properties. It also sold more records in '07 than in any other year. (Sub Pop is private, so these figures cannot be independently confirmed. Some executives familiar with similar labels say that revenue level sounds high. And—disclosure—I play guitar on one Sub Pop release.)

What explains the indies' staying power? For starters, the Web's flattening of distribution, and the growing appetite for licensing less mainstream music. The Shins have provided music for ads by McDonald's (MCD), Microsoft (MSFT), and Gap (GAP). "Advertisers realize: 'I don't have to get the Beatles to have a successful commercial,'" says Ira Antelis, former music director for ad agency Leo Burnett—and indie bands come cheaper, to boot. Other aspects of the indie world—small staffs, modest expense structures, and strong relationships with an audience and its musicians—are built for a music environment that's shrinking even as niches become more important.

Sub Pop, which sold a 49% stake to Warner Bros. for more than $20 million in 1994, is not necessarily the most profitable of its peers. And while indie labels in the late 1980s and '90s typically danced on the cliff rim of insolvency, Sub Pop was especially prone to lurching over the ledge. "The company hemorrhaged millions of dollars" last decade, says CEO Jonathan Poneman, who's been with the label for 20 years. (No flashy music biz type, he. Slap a baseball cap atop his skull and wrap him in a windbreaker, and the 48-year-old could be a weary suburban dad coaching the local Bad News Bears.) By Poneman's account, beginning in 1995 he started throwing in his own funds to keep the label afloat, sums that "ended up being millions of dollars." The label did not begin paying lenders back until 2003; now, he says, all are paid in full.

The Warner deal "allowed me to have a cushion. Normally, if labels make the kind of mistakes I made, there is no cushion to fall back on," says Poneman. At one point, overextension forced him and founder Bruce Pavitt to lay off more or less the entire staff. Later, an abortive mutiny ended with Poneman firing several key employees. Another cushion: Sub Pop still gets a small cut of two Nirvana records on major label Geffen, the cumulative sales of which top 12 million, and maintains the rights to its platinum debut Bleach.

Still, even as Sub Pop et al stumble into what passes for comfortable middle age, such comfort remains tenuous. Label executives admit that the continuing disappearance of traditional music retail outlets will hurt. In response, Poneman says Sub Pop is mulling selling managerial services to bands on its label and others. Which—who knows?—might allow Sub Pop and its peers to stagger onward longer than the major labels that once invested in them.

Fine is BusinessWeek's MediaCentric columnist and Fine On Media blogger .
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Natalie Walker Last Night at Joe's Pub

2008-07-22T09:44:00.000-07:00

For all of you who didn't go, Ms. Natalie Walker played Joe's Pub last night and boy, did you miss out! As always, she sounded great. What I wouldn't do to have a voice like that.

Not only did we get to hear some great new songs like "Now Or Never," she played some old favorites like "Quicksand" and "Crush."

What you need to know about Natalie Walker:

Born and raised in Indiana, vocalist Natalie Walker is an artist whose lilting, melodic voice and lyrical reveries reflect a life journey of determination and self-discovery. Natalie delivers her own unique, haunting sonic landscape that is at once organic, ethereal, elegant and entrancing.

Recorded in late 2007, 'With You' is a diverse and dynamic album rooted in classic pop and new wave soundscapes. The release comes on the heels of last year's 'Urban Angel', Walker's debut that has become an indie favorite among electronic fans. Armed with a voice that softly swirls and induces chills just the same, 'With You' doesn't so much depart from her debut as build on its strengths. It also reflects Walker's increasingly varied influences from the upbeat to sublime and serious. 'With You' firmly establishes Natalie Walker as one of the electronic genre's brightest new stars.

Her latest album, With You, releases in a month on August 19th. Here's the latest single, "Pink Neon." Give it a listen.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=283417763&id=283417473&s=143441">http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/images/badgeitunes61x15dark.gif" />

From Billboard Yesterday ....Finally!

2008-07-17T11:46:00.000-07:00

MTV Launches TV 'Soundtrack' Site
July 16, 2008 - Digital and Mobile

By Antony Bruno, Denver

MTV unveiled an online, interactive music guide designed to help viewers learn more about the music they hear on the various MTV channels.

Soundtrack.mtv.com is a real-time listing of all the music being played on every MTV show and every MTV channel. This includes the short music clips heard as the soundtrack for such shows as The Hills and The Real World. The guide will also keep archives of all songs played as of today's launch -- providing listings by day, show, and time -- as well as a look ahead to what songs will be played in the next 24 hours at any given time.

Going further, MTV will allow viewers to play 30-second clips of each song discovered via the guide, as well as link through to a more robust artist profile page, where fans can listen to songs in full, view music videos and see other details about the act.

MTV is positioning the Soundtrack site as a music discovery tool first and foremost, touting the 1,500 songs featured in its shows every week, not including music videos, across all channels.

"We are playing more music than we ever have in our entire history," says Amy Doyle, senior VP of music and talent.

But MTV is also angling the site as a forum for new artists to promote themselves. Artists will have the opportunity to create their own profile pages, where they can upload as much music as they like for fans to stream, post videos and promote upcoming events. A soundtrack ratings system will rank artists and songs that receive the most votes from fans on the site.

These profiles are open to all artists, not just those with music currently airing on MTV. The company says its music supervisors will monitor the rankings, and in some cases may decide to place certain songs on air if they receive enough votes.

Exactly how music is streamed from the service varies by artist. Indie and unsigned acts can choose to have their entire album available for full-song streaming, so long as they upload their music to the site. Songs by major label acts will be heard, at first, by streaming the music video - which MTV has licenses to stream.

In time, MTV will incorporate the Rhapsody backend service into the site so users can stream any song in full, with a limit of 25 songs a month for non-Rhapsody subscribers or unlimited plays for members.

And as MTV adds links to Rhapsody's new MP3 DRM-free music store, all songs featured in the Sountrack.mtv.com site will feature buy buttons as well.

Lou Reed Interviews Sky Cries Mary About Their New Album, Small Town

2008-06-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

Lou Reed, yes THE Lou Reed recently sat down with Roderick Romero from Seattle's Sky Cries Mary to talk about everything from their new album Small Town to the state of music today. Newer bands take note on how to take your career in your own hands from two men who know how to survive successfully in the music industry.

"[The track] Small Town had the finest sound of them all." -Lou Reed