hypebot

Music Grabs 9 Of Top 10 Most Viral Videos Of 2009

With the excpeption of the trailer for the mega-hit film Twilight Saga: New Moon, every spot in the Ten Most Viral Videos of 2009 went to music. Tracking firm Visible Measures counts on YouTube plus videos shared across social networks like MySpace as well as MTV networks and Viacom.

                      Title                   '09 True Reach   Placements

1. Twilight Saga: New Moon     592,049,402      21,255
2. Beyonce: Single Ladies       333,233,982       1,932
3. Lady Gaga: Poker Face       317,708,763        518
4. Soulja Boy: Crank Dat         313,861,193       2,253
5. Susan Boyle Britain's Got    313,177,779       1,390
6. Michael Jackson: Thriller      257,016,016        930
7. Miley Cyrus: The Climb        211,165,578       2,166
8. Michael Jackson: Beat It      190,583,064        981
9. Mariah Carey:Touch My...    173,736,822       1,467
10. Lady Gaga: Just Dance        170,636,272        531

Source: Visible Measures via TechCrunch

More New Music Industry News: Google Almost Bought Lala, SeeqPod, Pandora In-Car,

• Google almost bought Lala just before Apple did. (WSJ) If only...
• The latest on the wind-down of music startup SeeqPod. (paidContent)
• "4 Ways One Big Database Would Help Music Fans, Industry" (Epicenter)
• The AFL-CIO has added its support the fight for the Performance Rights Act 
• Yesterday's promising music stars: where are they now? They had the right backers and the buzz, but suddenly ... nothing happened. What went wrong with these three much-touted noughties acts, Girl Thing, the Bravery and Andrew WK? (Guardian UK)
• Pandora working on free in-car access. (FMQB)
• Peter Jenner: Exploring the future of copyright. (MidemNet)
• Beatles Rock Band topped 1 million sales, but Harmonix is laying off 13% of it staff. (Music Ally)
• Digital Economy Bill: UK House Of Lords Want To Stamp Out Piracy Chasers -  Members of the House of Lords recently voiced concerns over the UK government’s Digital Economy Bill, stating that the problems facing the entertainment industry are largely of their own creation. There was also criticism of companies who demand cash from file-sharers in the UK, and ideas were put forward to end their scheme. (TorrentFreak)
• Nokia to launch new music phone model. (Reuters)
• How got is Spotify? (GigaOm)

Billboard & The Hollywood Reporter Sold

Are Layoffs Ahead?

(UPDATED) A variety of sources are reporting that Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter have been sold to group led by James Finkelstein and Pluribus Capital Management. Rupert's son, Lachlan Murdoch reportedly dropped out of the purchase group at the 11th hour.  Also included in the sale are Adweek, Mediaweek, Brandweek and Backstage.

Estimates of a total purchase price vary, but $70 million is the most common number given for all 6 publications. Editor & Publisher will reportedly be shuttered as part of the deal and a number of staffers from all publications have been summoned to mid-day meetings. Surprisingly, Billboard is one of the group's healthier publications and may experience the lightest staff cuts.

A letter to staff from Nielson Pres. Greg Farrer via Gawker:

EMI & IODA Sign With Ad Supported Guvera

 U.S. Launch Coming February 2010

Ad supported music has become a mindfield for digital music startups. We7, Spotify, MySpace and YouTube have their own take on the model and level of success, but SpiralFrog, imeem and iLike are gone or going and new investments in the sector have dried up.

Into that landscape, comes Australian based Guvera with a take on ad supported downloads that this week gained the support of EMI and indie distributor IODA endorsed yesterday. Universal signed on last week setting the stage for a U.S. launch in February 2010.

On Guvera, after a fan logs in, they can search for a specific song, artist or genre. From the list of results, Guvera displays a list of brands that will pay for it for them. The consumer clicks on a brand and are are taken to a branded channel where they can download or stream the music or other digital media file free without DRM.

Can VEVO Recover From A Rough First Day?

Yesterday was a tough day for  new music video site VEVO. The backing of 2 major labels, $300 million form Adu Dhabi and tech from Google and you still couldn't sign up or get a page to load. Many that could get  on to look around were seriously underwhelmed.

Hypebot Associate Editor Kyle Bylin wrote in: "Like a growing number of you, I wake up, go out into the kitchen, grab a bowl of cereal, sit down in front of my computer, and open up Hypebot to see what’s happening in the music industry today.  So, when I checked out VEVO this morning and typed in a few of my favorite artists, I knew exactly why I wasn’t able to view music videos by them, as some of them are represented by Warner Music." 

"I don’t care and neither does any music fan..."

"And, you know what?,"  Bylin continued.  "I don’t care and neither does any music fan with realistic expectations about what they should expect from a site that streams music videos.  If a VEVO doesn’t stream the music video you want to see then it doesn’t matter that it has a rather pretty interface or a nicely sized viewer.  This is beside the fact that right now I’m trying to stream a music video that I don’t even want to see and am suddenly reminded of what the Internet used to work like during the days of dial-up.  Oops, there it is, VEVO is sorry, because “there was an error processing [my] request.”  I look forward to seeing how this site grows, but until that point in time I’ll just continue using YouTube if I want to see a music video."

#VEVO = fail

The buzz on Twitter was much the same:

• KitAkira I don't get the hype over #vevo.... slower youtube with ads and bugs for a tiny bit higher res?

The Square = More Mechandise Sales

This guest post is from Christopher Joel, an independent musician from Nashville, TN who plays with The Intrepid Travelers and is the author of Your Band Blog: How to Use WordPress As Your Band's Website.

I just read about a new product coming out early next year that will be a massive help to performing musicians running into an age-old problem.  You have an excited fan who really wants to buy your CD, t-shirt, sticker, whatever, but they only have a credit/debit card.  For most of us, this means a lost sale.  However, this new product, called the Square will remedy this nicely!

The Square is a card-swiper that connects to your iPhone that reads credit and debit cards.  It’s from the guy who started Twitter, Jack Dorsey.  You don’t have an iPhone?  The best part is, this can be used with just about any phone (iPhone and Android phones right now).  The website says it can be used with any device with an audio jack.

Tube Time Continues To Rise

Nielsen’s latest Three Screen Report shows strong year over year viewing growth with online video up 34.9% and DVR use up 21.1%.  Given the consistent spike in usage among the three screens of television, Internet and mobile, consumers are actually adding video platforms to their schedule, rather than replacing them.

click on image to enlarge

Read a pdf of the full report here.

More New Music Industry News: Ian vs. Bob, Apple Tablets, Imeem Anger, Facebook Privacy & More

• Ian Rogers: @lefsetz vs. @iancr: Mixing sincerity and marketing on Twitter. (Fistfulayen)
• A new platform for iTunes LP? Expect a spring launch of Apple's $1000 tablet. (AllThingsDigital)
• Digital music distributor WaTunes will now enable widgets from other distributors on its social music platform. Widgets from music distributors including Nimbit, TuneCore, and ReverbNation have been enabled giving artists from each service the ability to create their own profiles free and share their music on WaTunes.
• Fans are not happy with the shut down of imeem and transfer to MySpace Music. Check out the reaction on Twitter.
• Why Google's glad to dance to Vevo's tune. (CNet)
• Getting Past The 'But Artists Should Just Be Artists' Myth (TechDirt)
• Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Settings (NY Times) The EFF also weighed in.
• Malaysian Firm Buys Friendster (You Forgot Friendster?) (Wired)
• Variety.com is going behind a pay wall...again. (paidContent)

More On MySpace Music's Imeem Purchase

Sources tell Hypebot that the primary reason for yesterday's abrupt shift of imeem users to MySapce Music was because the deal only worked economically if imeem were shuttered. That meant that they no longer had the licenses or assets to continue operating the site. MySpace essentially bought the few parts of imeem that it cared about after the shutdown.

Visitors to imeem are now directed straight to MySpace Music and the special page above where they are told that "imeem is now part of MySpace".

Artist pages are gone. The only explanation offered is, "We suggest you sign up as a MySpace Music artist". The net is ablaze with unhappy fans. Why? "MySpace is working to migrate your imeem playlist to MySpace Music. We’ll email you about that once we have more details." MySpace better hurry.

More: Imeem To Be Integrated Within MySpace Music

UPDATED: VEVO's Online, But...

(UPDATE 4) I got up at 5AM EST to check out Universal and Sony's new music video mega-site VEVO and write about it, but...

While the design and interface is sleek, and it features the requisite channels, social networking and saveable video playlists, for now at least, it's plagued by painfully slow loads and time outs.

It's a disappointing launch for a high profile launch backed by the two largest label groups, tens of millions of dollars from Abu Dhabi and tech from Google and YouTube.  As of a 3AM tweet, they are working on it:

launch overload!

The @VEVO team is working on it... stand by

8 AM: Still problems. Even new user sign up times out, for example. Things are getting a bit better, but its early morning in the East; so most users are just getting up. No Twitter updates for 5 hours on all the problems. Overall, not good.

10:25 AM: Load problems persist. New user sign-up still times out No update from the VEVO team.

12:45: This tweet from VEVO just came across:

"The traffic to VEVO.com has exceeded our expectations by several orders of magnitude! Bear with us as we try to smooth everything out."

4:45PM: It seems to be getting a little better, but problems persist.

Stay tuned...Or try for yourself and let us know what you think.

More background on VEVO.

Music as Commerce: Understanding a Mindset

 

Kyle Bylin, Associate Editor

It is unfortunate, that, at a time when the record industry is coming to terms with some of the most complex, multifaceted problems it has ever faced — that what is being talked about, debated about, and is at the fore-front of this conversation is not music as culture, the role it plays in our society, and how significant it is to our personal and national identities.  Instead, music as commerce, as it pertains to the media conglomerates and multi-national corporations whose business models are based it, is what’s being discussed, and, from a purely commercial point of view, critical decisions are being made that affect music, creativity and copyright.  The problem with this perspective is that causes people to see ‘music as only something through which money is made.’¹

"it only distracts those in a position of influence..."

Popkomm Back For 2010

After being forced to cancel 2009, Popkomm is making a comeback in 2010 on new dates, in a new location, and with more live music and a free day for fans.

"We are happy to announce that Popkomm will be back between 08/09 - 10/09/2010.

Popkomm 2010 will land at the extraordinary location "Airport Berlin Tempelhof". The international trade show will take place in this very historical building, often referred to as the “mother of all airports”, and still today´s third largest building in the world. see above pictures. Popkomm will provide several networking possibilities and meeting options within its market place.

MySpace Opens API. Issues Developer Challenge.

MySpace has announced a suite of new API interfaces to encourage developers to leverage public data (status updates, music, photos, videos) in real time and create applications to socialize content on and off the site.

To encourage developers, MySpace has launched a Developer Challenge competition, which kicks off January 4, rewarding developers who create the most interesting use of the new APIs with cash prizes and promotion on MySpace. (Details after the jump.)

The new API includes:

Economy Doesn't Slow Move To Portable

Even the weak economy isn't slowing the migration to mobile and portable devices and shipments will grow more than 10% in 2009 over the previous year according to market research firm, In-Stat.

The category includes MP3 players, portable media players, digital radio receivers, e-readers, edutainment toys, handheld game consoles and personal navigation devices, is expanding to over 400 million units in 2009. By 2013, it will approach 600 million units. While some segments, such as handheld game consoles and MP3 players have hit maturity other segments continue to emerge according to the study.

Research by In-Stat found:

iTunes 2009 Best Sellers

iTunes 2009 Top 10 Albums

1. Kings of Leon, Only By The Night

2. Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You

3. Lady Gaga, The Fame

4. The Prodigy, Invaders Must Die

5. Florence & the Machine, Lungs

6. Beyoncé, I Am… Sasha Fierce

7. Kasabian, West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum

8. Michael Jackson, Number Ones

9. Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies)

10. The Script, The Script

iTunes 2009 Top 10 Tracks

More New Music Industry News: Vinyl Pricing, Lala Updates, Pirate Bay, LA Record & More

• A look at the resurgence of vinyl. The owner of NYC's Other Music argues that the labels could sell even more if the lowered the price a bit. (Village Voice)
• Did Apple pay $80 million or $17 million for Lala? (CNet)
• What the Apple-LaLa deal could mean for video streaming. (PC World)
• Apple boots 1000 apps after developer scam. (Wired)
• MIDEM has chosen South Africa as it's featured country for 2010.
• Warner/Chappell Music, the music publishing arm of WMG, has strengthened its Urban A&R team with the appointments of Juan Madrid, VP, Urban A&R, and Ryan Press, Senior Director, Urban A&R. 
• Lawyer in Tenenbaum music piracy case to seek retrial. - Harvard Law professor will push fair-use claims in seeking new trial. (ComputerWorld)
• Russell Simmons’ Global Grind buys CelebrityTweet.com (paidContent)
• Music Publishers Lawsuit Against Yahoo, Microsoft, Real Tossed For Failing To Prove They Hold Copyrights (Techdirt)
• The Pirate Bay Will Not Appeal Order to Remove Torrents - Last month a judge ruled that similar to Mininova, The Pirate Bay has to remove a list of ‘infringing’ torrents from their website and block access to Dutch users. Lawyers for the founders said the trio were considering filing an appeal, but according to anti-piracy outfit BREIN, that did not happen. The site now has until March 1st 2010 to comply. (TorrentFreak)
• Indie music press: Who's Afraid of the LA Record? (Huffington Post)

Imeem To Be Integrated Within MySpace Music

(UPDATED) Beginning today, imeem will quickly cease to exist; with only select remnants finding a new home within MySpace Music. As part of an announcement making it's acquisition of  imeem public, MySpace let users know that imeem playlists will be temporarily disabled and directed to MySpace Music.

Unlike after its iLike acquisition, which saw its executives named to key positions at MySpace, just four members of imeem's team have been hired as consultants to help manage the transition: CEO Dalton Caldwell, CTO Brian Berg, COO Ali Aydar and VP of Sales David Wade.

VEVO Launches Tonight. What To Expect.

WHO: Universal, Sony and You Tube put it together. The Abu Dhabi Media  Company invested $300 million.

WHAT:  Videos and other music related content, some of it exclusive, from Universal, Sony, EMI (who signed up just yesterday without an equity stake) and many indies, but not WMG. Ads from 20+ national brands including AT&T, McDonalds and MasterCard.

WHEN: Tonight (Tuesday 12/8). I hear its going live around 8PM Eastern.

WHERE: VEVO.com

WHY: Universal and Sony are trying to regain control of how their video content is presented on the net and to hold onto a larger slice of any revenue generated. The goal is to build a top music destination with enough traffic to attract major advertising dollars.

"“What we’re really doing is taking back control of everything…this is really like MTV on steroids, Universal CEO Doug Morris told CNet. We’re starting with that kind of audience. But now we’re in control of it. We don’t have to go through a middleman anymore.”

Video: A First Look @ Georgia Wonder's Free Recording Experiment

Last week I introduced you to Georgia Wonder's experiment recording an album for free inside a UK music store.  Now the band's Julian Moore shares a bit more info and gets inside Nevada Music to have a look around.

Made in Nevada on MUZU.

$5 Buck Music Truck Circles LA For Charity

I've wondered why the music industry wasn't doing more with the pop up store phenomenon like setting up a short term retail outlet just for Christmas or across the street from a big concert. One charity is using music and taking the concept further with a unique charitable effort called the "12 Stops of Christmas". Music fans who give a suggested donation of $5 to LA's City of Hope cancer center get a free album.

Fans can meet the $5 Buck Music Truck at any of the "12 Stops of Christmas" in the Los Angeles area from December 12-17, text "SONG" to 90999 to donate $5 to City of Hope, and receive a free album featured at that location. Included are albums from Janet Jackson, Nirvana, the Jackson 5, the Rolling Stones, Yusuf (aka Cat Stevens), Katharine McPhee, John Fogerty, Diana Krall, U2, Bob Marley, Morrissey, and the Carpenters.

A list of locations for the 12 Stops of Christmas:

Creating Better YouTube Videos

I've been researching adding some original video to Hypebot or perhaps creating a This Week In Digital Music that's more consumer oriented and syndicating it via one of the music sites. (Anyone interested?) At the very least, expect a bit of Flip video action from MIDEM this year.

This led me down the rabbit hole of internet sites that teach about creating web videos and related topics.  Many aren't very well done or are outdated, but I found  some useful info in a place on YouTube that I didn't know existed: The Creator's Corner and its accompanying Video Toolbox Channel. 

How many times a video has been watched and its user ratings eliminate some of the crap I watched elsewhere. YouTube is also hosting a Basic Editing Techniques online course on December 17th at 11 a.m. PT / 2 p.m. ET. You can register here.

Spend some time in The Creator's Corner and share what you find. Please also share your favorite techniques for creating budget videos. What free or cheap editing software do you use? Where do you go online for ideas? Here's a basic video on editing for YouTube:

Overheard @ SF MusicTech

• Celia Hirshman: "iTunes market share is down from 90% to 69%."  Is there an opening for more niche stores?
• Updates on MySpace are now fed directly to Google search.
• "If your label and your manager don't get digital or social media, FIRE them."
• "Panelist asked how many people still check their MySpace page, and not many hands went up"
• Rhapsody's Tim Quirk: 
• • "People who say 'musicians should just be artists' are feeding bullshit to musicians."
  • "Facebook doesn't need a music strategy, music needs a Facebook strategy."
• Steve Jenkins of Third Eye Blind: "Piracy gave our band a second chance" let new generation of fans discover them...

Photo via TechRepublic

Official: VEVO Signs EMI

With an early morning Tweet, VEVO confirmed rumors that it has signed EMI just one day before the launch of its music video service.  Sony, Universal and Google's You Tube are already partners in the site which launches late on Tuesday, December 8th.

Unlike the other two major label groups, EMI does not appear to be a partner in the venture. Talks to have WMG contribute to VEVO do not appear close to bearing fruit.

From the press release:

Ian Rogers Is Excited Apple Bought Lala, But I'm Not

One of music tech's most innovative players has slipped behind Steve Jobs' iron curtain.

Apple confirmed on Sunday that it had bought Lala. Sources close to the deal suggest a number of reasons for the purchase including Lala's bright engineers, its micro-payment system, and its music in the cloud technology.

Whatever the reasons behind Apple's purchase, it should be viewed through the lens of an increasingly consolidated digital music space, as well as, a broadening of Apple's influence on the music industry.

But while he admits the purchase shifts the competitive landscape, Topspin's Ian Rogers says that "at a very high level as a music fan this makes me very excited about the future ubiquitousness of music". Rogers has strong praise for Lala's simple and shareable "in the cloud" home for music, as well as, it's take on streaming.

Should we be happy that Apple still cares about music?

Ian Rogers is, however, most excited that Apple isn't abandoning music. "I always thought Apple would move up-market away from music, into movies and living room apps in general", Rogers writes on his Fistfulayen blog. "But it appears they are going to move up-market "with" music...the entrepreneur and music business person in me is worried about Apple’s dominance and intends to work with Apple to make sure the future of music isn’t available solely via Apple hardware and services. But the music fan in me is excited to think about a beautiful experience in my living room and car where all music is available all the time and easy to share legally, without syncing and managing files."

Does Apple ever play nice?

Cory Doctorow: Why Music Streaming Will Fail

Author and Boing Boing co-editor Cory Doctorow does not believe that streaming is the future of music. In addition to technical issues (i.e. "will it work on a plane?", "wireless companies are consistently rated the worst in the world"), Doctorow sites human behavior in an interview with P2PNet when explaining why he believes that music streaming will not gain traction:

"...Because collectors like to own things. Because people download music today and don’t show any sign of stopping. Because your plan to stop the chaos can’t be predicated on a massive, totally speculative shift in the behavior of the majority of Internet users if it is to be plausible."

Vote and comment: Is streaming the future of music?

Vote: Is Streaming The Future Of Music?

Online Surveys & Market Research

Vote and add your comments.

Google Buys Ads On Microsoft's Bing To Boost Music Search Use

The fact that search advertising helps reach a well targeted audience is no secret. But when one search engine buys ads on another, it feels a bit like an act of desperation. It felt that way when Microsoft bought ads on Google seach  to promote it's own Bing search engine; and it feels that way now when Google is buying ads on Bing to promote Google Music Search.  (via TechCrunch)

Analysis From Around The Net On Lala + Apple

• ars technica: "...for the moment, there's nothing about the purchase that seems to provide the company with any key technologies it was missing in terms of diving into markets. Until another company demonstrates that there's money to be made (or iPods to be sold) through streaming, there's no reason to think that a move of this sort is immanent.
• Billboard: Glen Peoples writes, "With its acquisition of online music start-up Lala, Apple appears to have bet on a digital music strategy that places ownership – no matter how ephemeral - over subscription. And more than competing services, Lala best fits into Apple's desire for well-designed applications that complement other Apple products. The iPod wouldn't be the same without iTunes, and the iPhone should be better with Lala".
• CNET: Greg Sandoval writes, "If things keep going this way, pretty soon there won't be any digital music space to cover."
• WIRED: "Lala fills a big hole in Apple’s digital music strategy and could bring streaming down music from the cloud into iTunes-ready devices everywhere," writes Eliot Van Buskirk.
• HYPEBOT: Ian Rogers Is Excited Apple Bought Lala, But I'm Not. "With its purchase of Lala, Apple has just taken one of the more innovative companies in music tech and put it and its bright creators behind its iron curtain."

More New Music Industry News: Lala Price?, Artists Sue Labels, Tenenbaum, Chinese Crackdown & More

• What did Apple pay for Lala? $80 million (Media Memo) or $17 million (TechCrunch)?
• Music video site VEVO launches this evening. (Vevo.com) I've confirmed that unlike Sony and Universal, EMI does not have an equity stake in the new company.  WMG talks continue.
• Google has added live results from Twitter to its search engine results. (NY Times)
• Canadian artists' lawsuit: major record labels are the real pirates. Between $50 million and $60 billion may be owed to musicians and artists in Canada, but not from your run-of-the-mill file sharers. The Canadian recording industry itself is being accused of massive copyright infringement, and the list of miffed artists just keeps getting longer. (ars)
• Yesterday the judge finalized the Joel Tenenbaum ruling (He owes $675,000.) and trashes Harvard Prof. Nesson for his chaotically bad defense (Techdirt, AP)
• Chinese Authorities Shut Down BitTorrent Sites - During the last two years the Chinese government has taken an aggressive stance against video sites they claim damage children’s health or undermine national security. In the last month they have taken further action, this time taking down several BitTorrent sites for operating without an appropriate government license. (TorrentFreak)
• RCA will release a full advance stream of Alicia Keys' upcoming album, “The Element of Freedom,” exclusively on her Facebook page. (press release)
  

More New Music Industry News: Rolling Stone, Imeeem, UK Label Boss Resigns & More

A wrap up that I wrote of music industry trends, lessons and highlights from 2009 appears today on About.com: Music Careers.

• UK based Tunechecker.com from consumer champion Martin Lewis exposes large differences in music download market. (Guardian)
• Rolling Stone to open nightclubs starting next year. (press release). Just like the magazine these days, they won't be centered around music. 
• Who killed Imeem? Executives blame The Orchard...(Digital Music News)
• Music Industry Inches Forward into Reality. (Huffington Post)
• UK Record Label Boss Resigns From BPI/IFPI Committees Due To Mandelson's Digital Economy Bill. (Techdirt)
• Music-lovers watching their favorite acts at live concerts are increasingly becoming targets for gangs of mobile phone thieves, British police said on Monday. (Reuters)
• Stay tuned for news coming out of the San Francisco Music Tech Summit or follow it on Twitter at #SFMusicTech.

Apple Buys Lala

(UPDATE 2) An Apple spokesperson confirmed on Sunday that Apple has bought Lala.com.

Apple is reportedly close to acquiring Lala. "Talks are very advanced." according to CNet. "One of the sources said that the sides have already agreed on terms and have only to sign a final agreement."

Exactly what Apple's plans are for Lala remain unclear, but its an indication that the the tech giant finally understands that music consumption is moving to more than the buy an iTunes download model.  Lala's dual focus on free streaming, bolstered by its new relationship with Google, as well as, play anywhere music in the cloud, could both be attractive to Apple.

Neither company has commented yet, but Lala's founder has a strong history of building company's to sell.

Several new sources are adding insights:

• The deal is done; not tentative.
• As I speculated Apple is buying primarily music in the cloud tech and the smart engineers at Lala that created it.
• Apple may have gottent Lala at a bargain price. "One person with knowledge of the deal," a source to the NY Times, "said that the negotiations originated when Lala executives concluded that their prospects for turning a profit in the short term were dim and initiated discussions with Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president in charge of iTunes".

REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

• Apple is buying online music service Lala.
• As record labels struggle is artist income on the rise? A chart and analysis.
• Harvard Study: 1/3 Of Sales Drop Due To Digital, Creative Bundles May Be Answer
• $5 unlimited music streams launches from MOG. A Hypebot first look.
• Two absurd royalty statements from WMG: Too Much Joy and The Guardian
• Whosampled.com matches sample to original song.
• 50 Cent's 4 Rules Of Fan Engagement
• Georgia Wonder has innovative lan to record an album with no money.
• More Free Music: Windows 7 And ReverbNation, RCRD LBL And MySpace Music
• Interview: Scott Kirsner of book "Fans, Friends & Followers"
• VEVO adds CBS Radio and Last.fm. To launch Dec 8th.
  
• Seth Godin: Watch The (Music) Money
• MySpace Music launches in the U.K..
• SoundExchange and ReverbNation partner to deliver royalties.
• Shorefire Media restructures. Lets three go.
• Musicians - Be brilliant or get out of the way.
  

Weekend Fun: Dave Mathews Does Ozzy On SNL

Too funny not to share: