Quote of the Day - (very refreshing!!)

"It seems the feuding factions of the music industry realize it's smarter to strike a balance and stay afloat than rearrange deck chairs on the Titanic."
      - entertainment attorney William Hochberg

Quote of the Day (talking about the new PEEK)

"I love it so far… KISS is the key…It's now what the device can do, it's what you can do with the device….
- The Peekster from Tennessee

Favorite Quote of the Day

"...The recording industry is destroying the "recording industry"..."
          - Robert X. Cringely

African American Women Embrace Tech Gadgets

Interesting new research from Time Inc's Essence Magazine:

• "...The findings defy an image of technology consumers focused on young men..."

• "...Overall, black women are savvy tech shoppers...."
  
• "...They see technology as a way to express style and personality..."

HD Radio Not Ready for Prime Time

According to a recent Billboard article, U.S. HD radio sales totaled about 300,000 units in 2007, with about 1 million units expected to be sold this year.  Even though some radio models have tumbled below $100, consumers aren't swallowing the pill....One reason may be the fact that there are over 13K stations, but only 8k ones with 'different or original content' for the side channels...

Also, according to a consumer survey conducted in January by Arbitron and Edison Media Research, "only 24% of respondents said they had "heard/read anything recently about HD radio," down slightly from 26% a year earlier."

If you can't win the loyalty (and wallet) of the American consumer the ol' fashioned way, well, just cheat......"As satellite broadcasters XM and Sirius await FCC approval of their proposed merger, some members of Congress have voiced support for iBiquity's request that the FCC require all new satellite receivers to include HD radio capability."  So, let me get this straight.  The service isn't compelling enough or affordable for the mass market to adopt it, so let's just force it down their throats instead?  

Video-Game Makers Are the Newest Rock Gods

Click HERE to read the an interesting article about the music industry's newest source of revenue - "While a connection between the increase in digital sales at sites like iTunes and Napster and "Guitar Hero III" isn't definitive, the evidence strongly suggests that the game played a role in the huge increase in single sales."

Quote of the Day

“It should not be against the law to make a program that interacts with third-party web sites in a way that they haven't given permission for.”

            - Bennett Haselton

U.S. Internet Advertising 2008-2012 Forecast and Analysis

IDC Finds Internet Advertising Keeps Growing Fast Despite Economic Difficulties

According to IDC's recently released study, U.S. Internet Advertising 2008-2012 Forecast and Analysis: Defying Economic Crisis  - “Internet advertising in the United States will continue to grow fast even as the current economic woes will lead to a contraction in ad spending overall, essentially accelerating the transfer of marketing budgets from the traditional media into the new. During the forecast period, Internet advertising will grow about eight times as fast as advertising at large. IDC finds overall Internet advertising revenue will double from $25.5 billion in 2007 to $51.1 billion in 2012.

The Internet will go from the number 5 medium all the way to the number 2 medium in just 5 years, making it bigger than newspapers, bigger than cable TV, bigger even than broadcast TV, and second only to direct marketing. Video advertising will be the principal disruptor of Internet advertising over the next five years by attracting the most new marketing dollars. Its revenue will grow sevenfold from $0.5 billion in 2007 to $3.8 billion in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.4%. This growth will take place because brand advertisers will shift significant amounts of money into these video commercials, primarily from broadcast television and to a lesser extent from cable television.

Search advertising will remain the one advertising format that will garner the most revenue over the forecast period in the United States. This means that for any media company, search must be a key part of its strategy. Any media company that is not Google cannot ignore this segment even if Google is towering above all others as segment leader with about 70% share of the segment's revenue.”

 

A Sad State of Affairs....

With respect to longtime Walmart rackjobber Handelman’s recent decision to exit the music business,  Chief Executive Al Koch says that even after aggressive cost cutting, his company couldn't continue selling music profitably. "In the short term, it's not possible to downsize as fast as revenue is declining," says Mr. Koch.

Music Licensing & Royalty Basics 101

David Oxenford, a partner in Davis Wright Tremaine's Washington, DC office, summed up the basic royalty regulations for streaming music on the internet at this year’s Annual Broadcast Cable Financial Management Conference (BCFM). Anyone looking to brush up on their royalty basics can see his PowerPoint presentation HERE.  Definitely worth downloading, reading and storing for a later date.  Also, he’s got a great blog HERE too (Thanks Kurt!)

Quote of the Day!

“Music is the space between the notes…”

            - Claude Debussy 

 

Don't Let Congress Orphan Your Work!

This travesty of proposed legislation is set to have a huge effect on ALL works that would normally now be protected under the Copyright Law.  That would include not only illustrations and photographs, but all other creative works, such as music, stories, novels, screenplays, personal journals, sketches and designs.  The lawmakers have been led to believe that it would be a good thing to require an artist to register not only the final work, but every developmental sketch that led up to it, each time paying a fee to some so-far nonexistent commercial registry, or else risk the theft of the work for someone else's use.  That someone may be required to pay you for your intellectual property, but at a price that THEY consider appropriate, without any opportunity for you to negotiate or deny the sale.  If this does not sound fair to you, then you should go to the website listed below, pick one of the pre-packaged letters, and send it to the congressmen and senators who represent you.  I've already done it, and it's easy.  You don't even have to know who your reps are; addressing is automatic.  In some cases, you can add your own personal story to the letter, or even write your own version altogether.  But don't let this thing get passed without having your say.

 

2 minutes is all it takes to write Congress and protect your copyright - Please forward this message to every artist you know!

 

 

http://capwiz.com/illustratorspartnership/home/

 

Sharing Profile Data...

Apparently, MySpace ("Data Availability" initiative) and FaceBook ("Facebook Connect" initiative)  think this is a pretty cool feature, as both companies have made announcements in the last week regarding the capability to let users connect their identities and personal profile data to third-party websites.

Another DRM Store Sees The Light!

According to Hypebot’s report from yesterday's Digital NARM, a spokesperson for Napster “hinted that they would go DRM-free within a month…”

A New Player in Song Recommendations...

I discovered a new eur-centric BETA recommendation engine today called www.mufin.com, which comes as a free 27 MB download in 6 different languages.  The software app is available at MAGIX.net and according to the parent website, “Our goal is to personalize the Mufin music recommendation. Music on PC, Mac, online or on the move: All that counts is sound.” 

 

Initial reactions: too much advertising, incomplete catalogue, intermittent album artwork.  Streaming versions are available with some links to legally buy downloads from Amazon, Musicload and MusicShop…

 

Overall, a C+