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Feb 10
Long before the advent of music filing sharing, there was the "home taping is killing the music industry" debate. While the head of the European Tape Industry Association was hardly a neutral party, in this 1978 Billboard Magazine piece, Henry Pattinson frames the issue with some quotes that sound very similar to modern arguments about file sharing:
Continue reading “Friday Flashback Fun: Debating Music Sharing in 1978” »
Feb 06
Buy It, Cherry Pick It, Stream It, or Steal It?
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Randall Roberts's review of the new Van Halen album in the L.A. Times does a great job of summing up the choices today's music listeners have:
Continue reading “Buy It, Cherry Pick It, Stream It, or Steal It?” »
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Jan 27
The Right to Re-Sell Purchased Digital Content
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I've long believed that the pricing of digital albums, with the exception of the sub $5 specials at Amazon MP3 and the cheaper offerings in the eMusic catalog, too often fails to account for the loss of the potential resale value that purchasers of music CDs enjoy.
But from the details in this WSJ piece on Apple's foray into the digital textbook market, it appears that Apple is offering a substantial discount from physical book prices, one that is much greater than that of most digital music: Continue reading “The Right to Re-Sell Purchased Digital Content” »
But from the details in this WSJ piece on Apple's foray into the digital textbook market, it appears that Apple is offering a substantial discount from physical book prices, one that is much greater than that of most digital music: Continue reading “The Right to Re-Sell Purchased Digital Content” »
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Dec 30
The Top 7 Digital Audio Insider Posts of 2011
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The seven posts below generated the most page views, comments, and e-mails for this site over the past year. Thanks to everyone who read, commented, linked, and e-mailed. Happy New Year!
Spot the Spotify Payment
...the average streaming rate is small enough that it'd take 244 Spotify spins to equal the label cut of a 99-cent iTunes download. But the real question here, in terms of artist/label compensation, is what Spotify activity actually represents. That is, is it simply a new revenue stream, providing income from listeners who don't normally purchase music, or is there also a cannibalization factor, where ...
Spot the Spotify Payment
...the average streaming rate is small enough that it'd take 244 Spotify spins to equal the label cut of a 99-cent iTunes download. But the real question here, in terms of artist/label compensation, is what Spotify activity actually represents. That is, is it simply a new revenue stream, providing income from listeners who don't normally purchase music, or is there also a cannibalization factor, where ...
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Dec 28
Another Advantage for Google
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Something I noticed for the first time this morning -- Google is plugging its Android music market on its home page:
Given the number of page views, Google ability to advertise on its main page gives it a huge built-in advantage for almost any market. Continue reading “Another Advantage for Google” »
Given the number of page views, Google ability to advertise on its main page gives it a huge built-in advantage for almost any market. Continue reading “Another Advantage for Google” »
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Dec 15
Christmas Layaways
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My apologies for the lack of recent posts -- I'm working on an in-depth piece on the economics of Spotify for next week. It'll address the cannibalization issue and the recent decisions by various acts and labels to withhold new material from the streaming service.
In the meantime, if you're in the mood for some seasonal music, please give a listen to "Maybe Next Year," the 2009 holiday album by the Layaways:
Continue reading “Christmas Layaways” »
In the meantime, if you're in the mood for some seasonal music, please give a listen to "Maybe Next Year," the 2009 holiday album by the Layaways:
Continue reading “Christmas Layaways” »
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Dec 08
Thursday Odds and Ends: Digital Magazine Archives, eMusic Redesign, and Rumblefish and CD Baby
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I'm no follower of fashion, but as someone who read every single issue of Rolling Stone in my high school library's archive from cover to cover, I'm intrigued by Vogue's new online archive: Continue reading “Thursday Odds and Ends: Digital Magazine Archives, eMusic Redesign, and Rumblefish and CD Baby” »
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Dec 01
One pleasant surprise: Google Music waives the $25 setup fee if an act is already included Google's database. (Thanks to Chris, who mentioned the fee waiver in a comment to my post at Hypebot.) The Layaways were already there, so I claimed the page for no charge.
Continue reading “Some Details About the Google Music Store and Self-Released Artists” »
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Nov 28
For Love or Money: Minimum Wage Musicians
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Digital Music News put a more negative spin on the TuneCore blog post I wrote about last week. Jeff Price of TuneCore responded over at Hypebot.
Instead of writing something new, I'm going to be lazy and quote myself, from an interview I gave to the excellent Fingertips music site two years ago: Continue reading “For Love or Money: Minimum Wage Musicians” »
Instead of writing something new, I'm going to be lazy and quote myself, from an interview I gave to the excellent Fingertips music site two years ago: Continue reading “For Love or Money: Minimum Wage Musicians” »
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Nov 23
TuneCore Releases Some Fascinating Sales Numbers
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To combat the blog meme that "artists not signed to major labels do not sell music or make money," TuneCore posted a fascinating document on its blog -- a July 2011 sales spreadsheet for all of the TuneCore-distributed artists who earned more than $100 in digital music royalties for the month.
Clearly, some TuneCore-distributed artists have a lot to be thankful for tomorrow -- 60 of them had digital royalties of more than $10,000 for the month, with three of them breaking into six-figure territory:
Continue reading “TuneCore Releases Some Fascinating Sales Numbers” »
Clearly, some TuneCore-distributed artists have a lot to be thankful for tomorrow -- 60 of them had digital royalties of more than $10,000 for the month, with three of them breaking into six-figure territory:
Continue reading “TuneCore Releases Some Fascinating Sales Numbers” »
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Nov 21
As I wrote last week, as a self-released musician, I was happy to see that Google Music includes the option for musicians to add their material to its music store, without having to through a distributor. I wish the same option were available for Apple's iTunes.
But what's the real upside for Google? Most self-released artists don't sell a lot of music and most music fans coming to the Google Music store for the first time won't be looking for such material. Also, even if this music were considered a necessity for the Google Music catalog, Google already has ...
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Nov 17
Maybe it's a coincidence, but the Artist Hub feature of Google Music, which allows self-released musicians to upload and sell their albums, reminds me a lot of Bandcamp. As with Bandcamp, Artist Hub allows musicians to set their own prices. Changes are apparently instantaneous, as Google is touting the ability offer "flash sales" with short-term price reductions. And both services can be used to quickly release live recording or demos.
Continue reading “What I Like About Google Music for Self-Released Musicians” »
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Nov 15
ReDigi and the RIAA
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And so it begins -- from today's NY Times article on ReDigi:
Last Thursday the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record companies, sent ReDigi a cease-and-desist letter, accusing it of copyright infringement.Continue reading “ReDigi and the RIAA” »
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Nov 10
CD Baby has lowered its commission for direct-sold mp3s and is encouraging musicians to direct their fans to the CD Baby website for download sales. From an e-mail that went out today:
On every digital purchase (single song or album) made from CDBaby.com, you'll get paid 75% of the selling price. That means for a single-song download priced at $0.99, CD Baby has lowered our cut, so you'll now make $0.74 per song.Continue reading “Thursday Odds and Ends: CD Baby Pushes for Direct Digital Sales” »
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Nov 03
As a self-released musician and self-published composer, I'm intrigued by TuneCore's new Songwriter Service. While some of the royalties that TuneCore wants to collect for songwriters already appear on my BMI statements (YouTube plays, Internet streams, etc.) I have no idea what's not making its way into my account. And I know for certain that I'm not receiving mechanical royalties for downloads of my band's music by eMusic subscribers in Europe. For European downloads, eMusic pays the mechanical royalty directly to the Dutch author society Buma/Stemra. While I had always assumed that those royalties would eventually make their way ...
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