In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
One Million + Sold
The clock is ticking for Terra Firma to come up with enough funds to keep control of EMI – recent reports indicate Guy Hands has rallied some of the investment firms’ largest backers in an effort to raise the minimum needed by the fast approaching deadline… Apple announced at the start of the week that they have already sold one-million iPads, that’s less than half the time it took to sell the same amount of iPhones… Elsewhere, Warner Music Group reported a 15% rise in digital revenue in its most recent quarter… Tunecore delivered stats from 2009 that included a total of $35-million in download and streaming income for artists… And The Register takes an interesting look at Beggars Group in an interview with indie label-group head Martin Mills…
04.30.10In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Always Front & Center... This Week: Adobe, iAds & Lala
Last weekend saw the news that EMI Music chairman Charles Allen is reportedly pulling back from his strategy to sell-off parts of the music group in an effort to righten the company’s state of financial disorder… The New York Times published a lengthy piece focusing on the new Live Nation Entertainment and its leading duo Irving Azoff and Michael Rapino… Rhapsody beat out other mobile music services this week by being getting its new iPhone app approved by Apple, making it the first service in the U.S. market to allow users to store subscription music in the phone’s memory… A lot more Apple in the headlines this week as Steve Jobs publicly sounded-off on his company’s continued stance against supporting Adobe Flash on its mobile devices. Billboard takes a look at what that means for music, while questions remain on how it all could relate to Apple’s imminent iAds platform that will likely cost advertisers at least $1 million dollars to buy into the new ad network… UK-based streaming service We7 announced that during the month of March, and for the first time ever, it had covered all operating and royalty costs with advertising revenue, making it the first company in the the ad-funded space to do so… Elsewhere, David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants Inc. has started a record label, and its first release will be Orange County’s Runner Runner… And many are wondering if the freshly posted notice from Lala that it will be shutting down on May 31st and is no longer accepting new users means an iTunes in the cloud is finally on the way…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Sold-Out Coachella Weekend Starts Today
Coachella starts today and the sold-out festival has many feeling optimistic about the upcoming summer festival season. In a New York Times piece this week, organizer Paul Tollett addressed the 3-day only passes, a first for the event, as a move to step-up to the level of Europe’s huge festivals, saying “I want to take the training wheels off”… An initial ad-based business model was announced by Twitter this week in the form of Promoted Tweets… UK songwriters association BASCA has cast more doubt publicly on Spotify’s ability to generate income for songwriters; makes call for more transparency from the start-up streaming service… Concord Music Group has acquired the Massachusetts-based Rounder Records, who recently celebrated their 40th anniversary… The most recent Apple patent includes details that are causing some to speculate on a possible future concert ticketing application called Concert Ticket… And questions are arising as to the future of the apparently stagnant Lala. With the acquisition by Apple last year, many expected the service to quickly become a key component in an anticipated cloud-based iTunes service…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Buh Bye bebo; AOL Plans to Sell or Shutter the Social Network
The week began with a report that EMI was apparently still in talks with Sony Music about a possible catalog licensing deal, though some have pointed out that contracts with key EMI artists might prevent such a deal from going through. No further updates followed, other than a cheery financial outlook from Terra Firma boss Guy Hands… AOL revealed that it was planning to sell or shutter the social networking site bebo that it paid $850 million for in 2008, while Rhapsody spun off into an independent company shedding former partners RealNetworks and Viacom/MTV; the subscription music service now also counts Universal Music Group as a new minority investor… Digital royalty collection organization SoundExchange announced that its 2010 Q1 payouts to artists and copyright holders topped all previous quarters… Details about the Solid Sound Festival were released this week, the Wilco-currated three-day event will take place in June at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA… And Sonicbids owner Panos Panay talks about the artist-as-entrepeneur…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Chrysalis acquires over 45K copyrights in First State Media Group deal
All eyes were on EMI this week with the end of the quarter looming and no clear indication as to what kind of licensing deal, if any, would be struck at the last minute. At the end of day no deal was made, and the new default deadline for the beleaguered music company and its parent Terra Firma appears to be June… Chatter that American Idol owner CKX, Inc. is in discussions to sell the company was confirmed on Monday… As we alluded to last week, Chrysalis has announced its acquisition of First State Media Group, whose S1 Songs and State One Music trade names control over 45,000 copyrights including the former Dreamworks catalog and Wind-Up catalog… MP3.com founder Michael Robertson is preparing to take on internet radio with the rollout of his new service BYO.fm… Australian music start up Guvera launched a public beta in the U.S. on Tuesday… And Roadrunner Records will be releasing Korn’s upcoming Ross Robinson-produced album Korn III – Remember Who You Are sometime this summer…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Acquires Cherry Lane Publishing - Eyeing EMI
One of the latest wrinkles in the unfolding tale of Terra Firma and EMI comes this week with a report that the struggling music company is in talks with competing major labels to license portions of its catalogue… Universal Music followed up with a denial that it was speaking with the music company, while as rumored here, Bertelsmann and KKR’s BMG Rights Management expressed that it is indeed interested in EMI’s assets. In related news, the newly launched publishing company made its largest acquisition to-date by purchasing Cherry Lane Publishing… In what could be interpreted as another step toward ISP bundled music subscriptions, AT&T announced a new music “experience” that will combine song downloads, streaming radio, lyrics and more in a single mobile application for subscribers… Next Big Sound compiled social media data to find the fastest rising bands at the SXSW music festival last week, and it was announced that online radio WOXY.com would be closing its doors.
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Zimbalam enters U.S. market - What will it mean for Tunecore?
The New York Times‘ recent profile on Pandora examines how the internet radio company avoided the start-up graveyard, became profitable and whether an IPO is imminent… A report commissioned by trade group BPI on behalf of Universal Music Group says that bundled digital music services could earn U.K. ISP’s roughly $155 million in extra earnings… New IFPI report breaks down the cost to record label’s for investing in music talent; total reaches roughly $5 billion annually – $1 million is the average price-tag to “break” a new artist… EMI Music CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti is out as of March 31st. Charles Allen, the former CEO of British broadcaster ITV, is set to take over the position… Europe’s Zimbalam, a flat fee digital distribution service backed by Believe Digital, is entering the U.S. market and will use upcoming SXSW for promotional offer.
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Apple Sets Sights on Amazon Daily Deal Promotion
Unlike the recent hoopla over Abbey Road, no public outcry surrounding EMI’s recent sale of Olympic Sound Studios, birthplace of classic recordings from The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Who and Queen… Apple is starting to flex its iTunes market share muscle with labels over their use of Amazon’s Daily Deal promotion that features deeply discounted albums for new artist releases… Music start ups MOG and Spotify to go toe-to-toe at SXSW, MOG to announce new mobile app… Time Magazine profiled soon to be Universal Music Group head Lucian Grainge…And Peter Gabriel’s The Filter has announced a new deal with video site Dailymotion…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
Sellaband Gets New Owners
A lot of talk recently about Sellaband, the music startup that allows fans to fund projects, first with the revelation that Public Enemy had fallen severely short of their proposed $250K goal for their next album and was even losing fan investors. That was quickly followed by speculation that Sellaband itself was out of cash and on the brink of bankruptcy, which was soon confirmed, but quickly reversed as German investors stepped in to buy the company… At the Digital Music Forum East, an analyst with the NPD group said “We’re eating our young” – claiming that services like Spotify don’t generate music sales while a company like Pandora does. Spotify was quick to respond stating there is evidence that proves the opposite… Music video site Vevo continues to show strong numbers, a quarter of them apparently owed just to Lady Gaga… The BBC announced that among a broad range of changes, it was closing alternative music station 6 Music, though it looks like Absolute Radio (formerly Virgin Radio) will make a bid on the station… Elsewhere Music Mastermind the virtual music creation startup co-founded by Matt Serletic announced $4.85-million in Series A funding… And The Agency Group agent Dave Shapiro in partnership with Rise Records has launched his own label Velocity Records…
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In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap
London's Abbey Road Studios up on the block
More EMI headlines this week, as it was reported that company is trying to sell the legendary Abbey Road studios in London. An anonymous source told the AP that the search for a buyer has actually been going on for several months. After the news broke, stories appeared naming The National Trust and Andrew Lloyd Webber as both interested in buying… A face-off in the cloud may be brewing between Apple and Google, with reports that the latter is in talks with cloud media start-up Catch Media. Initial chatter of a possible showdown began at the end of last year with Apple’s high profile purchase of music service Lala… Ad-supported music service Guvera has announced their U.S. launch will be on March 30th. The Australian-based company also announced new licensing deals with BMI, SESAC, Harry Fox Agency and INgrooves, those following previous deals with Universal Music Group, EMI and IODA. Advertising in Guvera is less intrusive than similar services says LA Times writer Jon Healey, who recently took the new service for a test-drive…
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