Going beyond beta

Back as a hot topic in the music + tech arena this week is Google Music, which follows the company’s halfhearted initial step into the cloud-music sector earlier this year with Music Beta. Now it appears that Google will be launching a digital music store in the coming weeks, but with a “twist,” as it is being reported, following Android chief Andy Rubin’s appearance at the AsiaD conference this week. Cnet reports that the twist will likely be social features, which will enable sharing capabilities among users – social enhancements are being touted as a big driver behind Spotify and similar services recent rapid growth. According to multiple reports, the only major label close to an agreement with Google right now for the new music service is EMI, while a number of independent labels are apparently already onboard. Other bits concerning the new Google Music talk include whether or not it will have a ‘mirroring’ component or ’scan and match’ that finds music already on a users’ computer – a feature that Apple’s upcoming new iCloud music offering will feature. Or as noted by Evolver.fm – if Google follows up their digital store by offering their own streaming-music subscription service, it could achieve the same outcome. Currently users of Music Beta have to upload their music to Google’s cloud-based music locker. While seemingly late to the game in all this, some observers are noting what a huge advantage and launching pad Google-owned YouTube will be for any new music service they bring, as the video site continues to reign as the largest free music site around… Following the recent acquisition of Napster, veteran music-subscription service Rhapsody continues on the publicity trail, with executives recently interviewed by Business Insider among others and speaking at this week’s CMJ Music Marathon conference. The biggest question has been about sustainability and relevance in light of all the new similar services, mainly Spotify, and how they plan to compete. But Rhapsody maintains that their business is healthy, they received a boost from all the press surrounding the aforementioned European startup’s launch in the U.S., and with the new Napster customer-base and planned wireless and cable provider deals, they’re doing just fine, and without a free offering to entice new users, for now… And how much of all the optimistic talk surrounding the bourgeoning on-demand and streaming music territory is hype vs. substance? A new report from the NPD Group, studying music listening habits, does show that in America at least, newer ways of accessing music are gaining real ground on traditional radio and CD listeners, with possibly the most revelatory statement being that “a tipping point is approaching when vehicles and portable devices move from a tethered connection to a more integrated one” – read more in the press release… In other quick items… Pandora has named its first chief marketing office in Simon Fleming-Wood… New music service Beyond Oblivion Inc., also known as Boinc and partially owned by News Corp., is reportedly close to finalizing licensing agreements with the four major label groups… Jimmy Iovine isn’t the only Universal Music exec with a penchant for high-end audio, as music industry veteran and co-CEO of Sanctuary 5B Artist Management, Carl Stubner, has been named to the advisory board of high-definition audio company Max Sound… And the popular music curating and aggregating site The Hype Machine has reached 1 million users.

Monday afternoon saw the official news of a major deal that has been in the works for months that unites Live Nation Entertainment and Universal Music Group in a new pact joining UMG’s management properties, including Sanctuary, Twenty First Artist (and presumably the new producer management arm Twenty First Republic that was formed earlier this year with World’s End) and 5B Artist Management, all under LN’s Front Line Management… Apprehension by banks to finance private-equity firms in buyouts and mergers is growing, according to an WSJ article this week, and that might mean the stable of bidders for EMI is shrinking. It might also mean the likelihood of the music group being sold intact is also lessening… Tomorrow is Facebook’s big f8 conference, where they will announce many new features and major redesigns, and music fans are looking forward to the expected integration of new streaming services like Spotify, MOG and Rdio. Some are expecting Pandora to be added to that list as well, given the redesigned and relaunched player from the web radio service today, which includes among other things increased sharing capabilities and the removal of the cap on free-listening hours. Exactly how seamless the integration of media services into the social network is unclear, as MediaMemo points out, FB was originally planing on allowing users to access music and video services without ever leaving the site, however now that has changed. Announced speakers and panelists at the conference will include CEO’s from Spotify and Turntable.fm along with Clear Channel Chairman’s Bob Pittman who has been busy promoting iHeartRadio and manager Troy Carter among many others…  Elsewhere, video site Vimeo has launched a Music Store in a new partnership with Audiosocket, that will help video creators easily find and license music… R.E.M. is calling it quits after three decades… Van Halen is reportedly ending their longtime relationship with Warner Bros. Records and heading to Columbia Records… And Jeremy Summers has been named EVP/Chief Marketing Officer at Interscope Geffen A&M.

MOG launches free music service

In addition to revealing more details about investors in the recent funding round, Turntable.fm has also announced that the company is indeed seeking licensing deal with the four major label groups as well as indie labels. This would help the service grow internationally according to CEO Billy Chasen, presumably in addition to offering new and more robust features that licenses would allow for. It appears Turntable is attempting to forge a new kind of licensing deal with labels, something that would fall in between the low-rates that web radio services like Pandora pay and higher ones paid by on-demand services like Spotify… Music streaming service MOG launched a new free ad-supported version of the service called FreePlay yesterday, in a what can be seen as a direct move against Spotify. The concept puts a twist on the freemium model, by giving free-users a “gas tank” of music, which they can refill in perpetuity through various actions like listening, sharing with friends, making playlists, and exploring MOG. A possible leg-up for the new service, will be utilizing its large blog-directory, MOG Music Network, with integrated blogs now able to share songs and playlists with readers via FreePlay tools… Rdio is also releasing a free version of their music service, though details are still few. It’s expected that more information will be disclosed when Facebook reveals its new music-plans next week at its f8 conference; Rdio along with MOG and Spotify are all expected to be partners in the new FB music features – Deezer is also expected to be announced as a Facebook Music partner in Europe… On the heels of all the streaming-music announcements this week, the results of a new study commissioned by mp3-retailer eMusic were released, and they show that 91% of those polled still prefer to own their music, while 76% use streaming services to discover music before buying. More details from the study are here… Meanwhile, Clear Channel has seriously bolstered its online radio service iHeartRadio after recently acquiring Thumbplay, and the company is quickly taking shots at Pandora, who until now has not faced any serious competition in the non-interactive web-radio space. Clear Channel media chief Bob Pittman told Forbes that he doesn’t see Pandora’s business as a “free-standing platform,” and that more functionality will continually be added to iHeartRadio, including possible features similar to Turntable.fm.

CBS to relaunch site

An article on the New York Times Media Decoder blog yesterday claims that Apple now has agreements in place with Universal Music Publishing and Sony/ATV for its cloud service, while a report in the New York Post this morning has Apple with deals now in place with “all labels and their publishing units,” which would include EMI Music Publishing and Warner/Chappell Music as well. The Post story, citing sources, also pegs advance payments of between $25 and $50 million going to each label, which it points out, would likely mean that Google will have to pay even higher upfront fees going back to the bargaining table. Multiple reports have the iCloud service probably being free at first to customers purchasing music from the iTunes store, with a subscription price later being tacked on, presumably when the service is expanded beyond just music purchased from iTunes. While all the talk has centered around negotiations with the major music groups, in what appears to be the first public comment from independent labels, today Billboard has an editorial piece from Merlin CEO Charles Caldas addressing indies being once again left out of the conversation… Meanwhile, CBS is planning on relaunching MP3.com this summer, which it acquired as part of its purchase of Cnet Group… Pandora has set its IPO price at between $7 and $9, a public offering that would end up valuing the company at over $1 billion…  And Interscope Records has announced a new label endeavor with producer Alex Da Kid called KIDinaKORNER. Da Kid’s recent hits include Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie” and B.O.B’s “Airplanes”… Those in the know expect to see more hit-producer helmed labels soon being launched from the top music groups, as they continue to be reshaped after recent executive shake-ups…

Apple reaches agreement with EMI for cloud-music service

The news of Apple inking a cloud-music deal with EMI Music was first reported late yesterday on CNET, and according to the industry sources the report is based on, the company is close to reaching similar agreements with both Sony Music and Universal Music Group – a deal with Warner Music was reported to have been reached last month. By now having licensing agreements with two of the four major label groups, the implications are numerous, but mainly it’s that Apple will likely once again be the driving force behind the latest shift in the digital music arena, and that Amazon and Google jumped too soon by releasing services without label deals in place… While lately the tech and music industries have been hot on the cloud-music future and closely watching developments unfold, it remains to be seen how much consumer demand there is, and on a large scale, what are people willing to pay. A new survey from Nielsen that targeted people with ‘connected devices’ (smartphones, iPads, etc), asked how much they would be willing to pay for a monthly subscription for various types of content (music, TV, movies, news, etc), and the average seems to come in right around $10/month. That falls in line with some current services that are available, and isn’t a bad number, but of course that is all in theory, and an important point to keep in mind is that an overwhelming majority of people still do not use smartphones or other high-priced ‘connected’ devices… Some attention has also turned to Apple’s patent-pending pre-buffering technology that is supposed to make its streaming experience better than other current services, though as Evolver.fm points out, Pandora and Spotify have been using similar technology for some time already… And in related news, which is receiving less excitment than the Apple-EMI deal, is that EMI Music has now also reached an agreement with digital music subscription service eMusic.

Mumford sells 31K on Grammy day

While Glassnote Entertainment’s Mumford & Sons didn’t walk away with a Grammy award Sunday night, they did see a huge bump in one-day sales for their debut album Sigh No More. It currently is sitting atop the iTunes album chart at #1. Other winners and performers from the night, which saw the largest ratings for the award show in over a decade, are also getting a sales spike in the wake of the event… As anticipated, Pandora filed for an IPO last Friday seeking to raise $100 million, making it the first Internet-music company to go public since Napster went bankrupt in 2002. In filing, it was revealed, among other things, that the company spends half of its revenues on acquiring content, a fact that AllThingsDigital’s Peter Kafka points out, isn’t a bad thing… Reports over the weekend have Apple considering the possibility of turning its paid MobileMe storage service, into a free “locker” for personal memorabilia such as photos, music and videos – reigniting talk of the company’s move into offering a streaming-music function. Meanwhile today, Apple announced the launch of a content subscription system for music, videos, newspapers, magazines and other forms of content, which will work similarly to app purchases, except that customers choose their type of subscription. As for what it might mean specifically for music, Evolver.fm points out; on-demand subscriptions like MOG, Rhapsody, Napster and Spotify, and the paid version of interactive radio services such as Last.fm, Pandora and Slacker, can now charge you for a subscription right within iTunes, with the same convenience for you — and the same loss of revenue for them... Radiohead has announced details about their new album The King of Limbs, which will see a digital release this weekend, a month ahead of a physical release via XL Recordings. The band’s co-manager explains to Music Week the reason behind not releasing the new album in the same manner as In Rainbows… Former EMI Music A&R prexy Nick Gatfield has been named President Of Music Division for Sony Music UK, reporting to Chairman and CEO Ged Doherty… And does Guy Hands really want to double down and make a bid for both Warner Music and EMI?

Which way is the river flowing?

Over the weekend The New York Times published what has become an annual gloom and doom report regarding the state of music sales, using the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s report as the guidepost. In addition to the continued slump in physical, the recap for 2010 concentrated on the plateauing of digital sales and “not a lot of progress” in digital after a decade. However as Evolver.fm points out, the piece focused heavily on the slowing at marketplaces like iTunes and Amazon, while paying less attention to revenue generated from newer services like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, etc – which is not the same as digital sales. The IFPI’s report contains various points of optimism, like in the growth of mobile access to subscription services due to new technology and compatibility improvements, as well as the significant expansion in the customers of new “freemium” services… Elsewhere, a Financial Times piece this week adds to the growing reports of Doug Morris seeking an early exit from his contract with Universal Music Group owner Vivendi, although it’s still unclear if he will get released in time for a presumed takeover for Sony Music CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, whose contract is up at the end of March. More red rover continues between UMG and Sony, as Lucian Grainge taps former Sony A&R executive Larry Jackson as EVP of the IGA family of labels…. Meanwhile Guy Hands reportedly will get a last chance to hang on to EMI Music, as Citigroup asks the Terra Firma boss to make an offer to keep control of the music company, which is thought to be valued around £1.6 billion.

Web TV Means Opportunity for Music

News, commentary and opinions in the tech + music arena were particularly plentiful this week, with many of the current players making headlines… Vevo and MTV are still at an impasse for a deal that would allow the former to sell ads on the latter’s properties and target their viewers, a scenario that MTV is not comfortable with. While publicity battling over who has the #1 spot in views has become common, the heart of the matter is that Vevo continues to capture the majority of the online music video market, with deals in place with all the major labels except Warner Music Group, but its sights are set on bigger targets in the form of deals like the recent Google TV partnership. AdAge has more on the standoff… And television increasing looks likes the next platform to conquer for digital music, with set-top boxes growing in availability and increased features, mainly apps.  As smartphones multiply and the user base for those who get their music delivered via web and mobile apps increases, TV is quickly becoming a big part of the equation. More on why this is at Evolver.fm… The founder of the now deceased Imeem, Dalton Caldwell, gave some cautionary words to those looking to enter the music startup world this week, pointing to the difficulty to innovate in the current landscape… Though MOG CEO and founder David Hyman, was quick to share his opposing opinion via TechCrunch, saying, “digital music seems to be a game that every 20-something wants to try and play, and it’s almost as if creating a digital music product is a rite of passage for millions of young buck programmers. It’s unfortunate that because it’s a sexy space, and because there are tons of entrants into the field, all of the noise creates an impression that winning can’t be done. It certainly can”... [Update: Rhapsody weighs in on opportunity for music startups via SAI]… Former young buck behind Napster, Sean Parker, is feeling confident about Spotify in spite of continued roadblocks in the U.S., saying of the company’s model, which is creating most of the hesitation from labels in the states, “You have no choice. We’ve got you by the balls, you’ll have to become a subscriber.” Parker, who was speaking at a DailyBeast event, also claimed a launch of the service in the states will still happen before the year ends … Elsewhere, Google has launched its music service… In India… Viacom has tapped a new big gun lawyer to lead its next round in court against YouTube… The L.A. Times catches up with Tim Westergren on what’s next for Pandora… And Chamillionaire schools tech entrepreneurs and talks to ThisWeekIn…