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Digital Round Up: Grooveshark legal spat takes interesting turns; Will Vevo swap YouTube for Facebook?; Megaupload action & more

admin — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:09:11 +0000

If you’ve been following the story of Grooveshark’s most recent legal fray with major labels, spearheaded by Universal Music Group, you know that the federal lawsuit charges that executives at the digital music company personally uploaded illegal content. In an odd twist to the case, an incriminating anonymous post on Digital Music News from a supposed employee, lead to Grooveshark’s parent company serving the industry blog with a subpoena last weekend, which DMN responded to today. And in the midst of all the activity surrounding the lawsuits, Grooveshark released a new iPhone app this week, and also pulled the plug on its service in Germany citing too high of licensing costs from GEMA… Elsewhere this week, Ticketmaster launched its new robust Facbook app, which allows fans to see what shows or events their friends are attending as well as buy tickets within the Facebook platform, among a number of other social aspects, and it also features an integration with Spotify… Other Facebook news includes reports that major label-backed video site Vevo has been in talks with Facebook about moving the service over to the social network’s platform upon the conclusion of its current deal with Google-owned Youtube. Such a deal would be a considerable boon for Facebook’s music component, and while Vevo has grown to the second largest online video destination, its quick rise to popularity did come on the back of Youtube’s dominant position as the #1 online video destination… The bizarre saga of Megaupload (remember the song and promotional video featuring Will.i.am and other celebrities that was pulled offline recently?) may be coming to a close with major federal action being taken against the internet ‘locker’ service and its executives yesterday. The arrests and seizures were followed by retaliations from Anonymous hackers who targeted multiple websites including those of the DOJ, MPAA, Universal Music Group and others… Meanwhile, an interview this week on Fast Company tries to pin-down Slacker Radio’s CEO Jim Cady on the hotly-debated issue of whether or not streaming-music rates create a sustainable source of income for artists.

Bits & Pieces: More Executive Changes at RCA, EMI-MP3Tunes Ruling, AEG, Ticketmaster & more…

admin — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:22:02 +0000

More changes emerged at Sony Music this week under new CEO Doug Morris, who appears to be positioning all operations to fall under four main groups – Epic Records, Columbia Records, RCA Records and the yet-to-be-named Dr. Luke-helmed label. The new executive team under RCA was announced, and includes Joe Riccitelli as the head of pop/rock promotion while Keith Naftaly, Rani Hancock and David Wolter will hold senior A&R posts – more details and names of new promotion and marketing executives can be found here. Along with the good comes the bad for some, as various reports today have layoffs in the double digits coming from within previous Jive/RCA aligned marketing, promotion and A&R departments. Meanwhile, it appears that other executives have left the Sony fold on their own accord recently, with the new direction being taken and company atmosphere cited among reasons… A judge’s decision this week in the EMI vs. MP3Tunes case left no clear winner and it is being seen as a mixed result for both sides. While MP3Tunes’ protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, was upheld, the ruling claims that the service is responsible for acting on ‘take down’ notices and that users who upload copyrighted material can be held liable, including founder Michael Robertson. CNET has more on what is left up in the air with the ruling… A newly appointed marketing executive at the Specific Media-owned MySpace, talks to AdAge about the site’s new direction and claims that iTunes, Vevo and Spotify will be more appropriate competitors for the network rather than Facebook… Elsewhere, AEG has entered the ticketing arena with the launch of axs.com – a result of a new partnership with Outbox Enterprises – the new service is presided over by former Ticketmaster CEO Fred Rosen… Facebook and Ticketmaster have announced a new partnership that will provide added connectivity via the social network for interactive seating maps, Fast Company has all the details… And the L.A. Times examines the results so far of Arbitron’s latest research gizmo, the Portable People Meter - (we wear short shorts).

More Bits & Pieces: Former EMI Head Among Bidders for Label, Live Nation Links with Walmart & Lockerz, Palmese Departs & more…

admin — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 18:05:33 +0000

According to an article in the New York Post, private-equity firm Apollo Global Management was among the initial bidders in the Citigroup auction of EMI, with former EMI North America head Charles Koppelman onboard as part of the effort. Those keeping score remember that Apollo recently acquired CKX, who among other properties, owns American Idol production company 19 Entertainment. It’s unclear whether more recent EMI chairman Charles Allen, is among any of the groups who bid on the music company – Allen expressed his interest back in April… A new partnership between Ticketmaster and Walmart was announced this week, with the retail giant set to sell tickets in stores via kiosks, offering fans a “very convenient way to learn about upcoming events, purchase and take home tickets without leaving their neighborhood,” said Ticketmaster CEO Nathan Hubbard… Ticketmaster owner Live Nation Entertainment is also reportedly a new investor in e-commerce start up Lockerz, a social-oriented service that allows members to earn points to put toward purchases, which now includes concert tickets. EMI is also ready to begin utilizing Lockerz, in a partnership that will see the label providing up to 10,000 videos to users, according to Billboard.biz. Insiders point to the Seattle-based service’s alliance with a full-service big name agency as a key component in the new tie-ups in the music space… Elsewhere, today is the last day on the job for RCA EVP of Promotion Richard Palmese, who is expected to head to Azoff Music Management Group in some capacity, reuniting Palmese, Irving Azoff and their middle fingers. As recounted in music business tomes, the two famously worked together at MCA Records during the 80’s and 90’s… And The Guardian examines the “on air, on sale” practice, recently adopted in the UK in an attempt to combat piracy, a policy which apparently has not been embraced by all labels uniformly. Meanwhile, music revenues in the UK were revealed to have dropped by £189 million in 2010.

More Bits & Pieces: Rdio Taps WBR Chief Rob Cavallo, AEG Launching Ticketing Venture & more…

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 19:35:51 +0000

Rdio taps WBR's Cavallo

Music-streaming start up Rdio has raised $17.5million in new funding with a round led by Mangrove Partners. The company, founded by Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom of Skype notoriety, also announced the addition of Warner Bros. Records chief Rob Cavallo to its board of directors. The addition of Cavallo is said to be an effort to “strengthen” relationships with the music industry. Rdio currently offers a two-tiered paid subscription service, which fits in with Warner Music Group ruler Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s stance on services offering free levels of access, as in they “will not be licensed” by WMG… Yesterday’s News Corp. earnings call has led to more reports of an impending sale of MySpace. Company executives are not really saying anything new from what’s already been reported over the previous weeks, this time it is just more official… Anschutz Entertainment Group has announced a new joint venture called Outbox Enterprises, which sees the promoter entering the ticketing arena. As a result of the regulatory judgement in the Live Nation merger with Ticketmaster, AEG is allowed to compete for ticket sales. The new venture will be headed by former Ticketmaster executive Fred Rosen who will act as CEO. The company plans on beginning to sell tickets through Outbox in the next six to twelve months… Elsewhere, Inc.com checks in the eMusic after last years customer kerfuffle over the addition of more major label catalogues to the once indie-only music service, as well increased prices and the departure of indie stalwart labels Domino, Merge and Beggars Group… And The Fader Fort, a staple of the SXSW music festival for the last decade, has announced a new sponsor this year in Fiat. They’ll also be streaming live performances in conjunction with, err, MySpace Music?

In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap

admin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:14:25 +0000

Interactive Grammy Show Sees Big Ratings

The 52nd annual Grammy Awards show on Sunday night reached its highest ratings since 2004, surely do in part to the show being more interactive than ever before thanks to staff and attendees use of Twitter, Facebook and other crowdsourcing features setup for fans… Terra Firma is back in the news and reportedly looking for its investors to pump additional millions into troubled EMI… In a recent LA Times Q&A with Tim Leiweke, the AEG chief executive discusses how he sees a place for AEG to compete in the concert business even with the newly approved Ticketmaster – Live Nation merger… And a new Billboard analysis looks at the potential benefits for ISP companies if they were to offer a music service to customers.

In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:23:44 +0000

Apple's New Game-Changer?

No question about it, this week saw two stories dominate the headlines and bloglines and pretty much anywhere that covers music and media, and it wasn’t the Grammy’s… First was the announcement that the DOJ had approved the Ticketmaster – Live Nation merger, much quicker than most anticipated, with the result being the formation of Live Nation Entertainment. As to be expected the reactions were plentiful and varied, including a thumbs up from influential artist manager Jim Guerinot, while Spaceland Productions founder Mitchell Frank and other indie promoters see reason for concern – both stories appearing this week in the L.A. Times music blog Pop & Hiss… The other widely reported and debated news this week was the unveiling of Apple’s new iPad. The announcement of the one-of-a-kind device was greeted with praise and skepticism, as most new Apple products do, including estimations as to what the iPad will mean for the music industry, how it will take down the Kindle, why a rebuilt iTunes is more important and Bob Lefsetz explains why he won’t be buying one.

In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap – Extended Remix Edition

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:09:29 +0000

Linkin Park charity releases digital compilation to benefit Haiti

A lot to stay on top of over this short week, so enjoy this special extended edition of our weekly recap…

More chatter about a possible new iTunes streaming service from Apple continued, fueled by Michael Robertson’s prediction that the service will come in the form of a version update allowing users to access their iTunes media library from anywhere via the proverbial “cloud”… The lineup for Coachella 2010 was announced, and headliners include Jay-Z, Muse, Gorillaz and Thom Yorke… Ad-supported download service Free All Music announced a deal with EMI, who joins Universal Music as the first major music companies to strike agreements with the start-up… Elsewhere, Sony and Warner Music appear to be engaged in an eMusic pricing battle… YouTube launched a new music discovery and playlist experiment… Comcast appears to be taking steps toward an a la carte music streaming service for internet and cable customers… Other ISP news includes a report that Virgin Media’s long delayed “unlimited” subscription service might be called MusicFish, it might not be unlimited and could be arriving this summer… It looks like Live Nation is putting its venues on the block in an effort to ease regulatory concerns over the Ticketmaster merger… And Prince revealed a new song “Purple and Gold” that he penned for his beloved Vikings - sorry Purple One, we’ll be rooting for the Saints…

** If you haven’t yet, make sure to visit www.musicforrelief.org, where Linkin Park took the “pay what you want” model to their charity’s digital album that benefits the crisis in Haiti. The band quickly assembled a compilation of unreleased songs from Peter Gabriel, Alanis Morissette, All-American Rejects and many others. The effort saw a quick and impressive collaboration of artists, labels and publishers who all granted full gratis rights for the compilation, and over a holiday weekend no less.

In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:41:49 +0000

Does Voyeurism have a taste?

Not So Fast > An article on Thedeal.com revealed that U.S. regulators were prepared to approve the merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, but other sources quickly dispelled the report saying both sides are prepared for litigation… (Reuters)

Sleeping Giant > New court documents reveal that after nearly 3 years Viacom’s $1 Billion copyright lawsuit against Google may soon see a conclusion… (CNET)

New Diggs > Style Section L.A. takes a tour of Dangerbird Records new Barbara Bestor-designed compound… (StyleSection)

Status Update> VitaminWater will soon be releasing a Facebook inspired new flavor called “Connect”… (TechCrunch)

On the Block > Philadelphia’s longtime bar and music venue the Khyber is up for sale… (PW)

In Case You Missed It: Reading Recap

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:01:16 +0000

Twitter Announces Deals with Google & Microsoft

Three Letter Circus > It was reported on Sunday that Citigroup was “lining up” buyers (including WMG) for EMI in an attempt to pressure owner Terra Firma into selling the music company (Guardian)… However the next day a statement to the contrary was released by the bank claiming that they were not seeking buyers, implying they couldn’t do so being a debt holder not an equity owner (Reuters)…

Tweet Deal > Twitter’s seeming indifference to being labeled “profitable” ends with the micro-blogging service’s announcement of two content-search deals with Google and Microsoft (specifically Bing). The deals, worth a combined $25 million, will allow tweets to appear in both service’s search engine results (BW)…

It’s All Good > UK regulators approved the proposed merger of Ticketmaster and Live Nation, an about-face for the Competition Commission who previously expressed serious concerns over the deal (NYTimes)…

Freedom of Choice > Hulu makes further inroads in the music video arena by adding content from Warner Music Group, who is also the only major music group yet to make a deal with the label-backed video service Vevo. A similar arrangement between Hulu and EMI was announced last month (MediaMemo)…