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MusicShift
The Time is Right for Direct-To-Fan Marketing of Music
As the music industry continues to evolve and search for a sustainable and profitable business model, the direct-to-fan (D2F) approach is making great advances, from artists just starting their career up to superstars with massive fan bases. Artists marketing and selling directly to their audience is not necessarily a new or revolutionary concept -- one can find examples of artists...
more »MusicShift
MusicTech Summit Breaks Through Tired Memes of Music Confabs
Survival in the music industry, particularly moving forward into the digital space, comes down to two core elements -- relationships and knowledge. And if you have the first one, you might not even need much of the second. One of the quickest, most effective, and fun ways to increase both your relationships and knowledge at the same time is attending...
more »MediaShift Innovation Spotlight
BronxRhymes Uses Locality, Maps to Track History of Hip-Hop
BronxRhymes is an attempt to raise awareness of the history of hip-hop in the Bronx, the northwestern borough of New York City where the musical style is thought to have originated. The history of hip-hop is illustrated through rhymes and plotted on an online map.
more »Jennifer Woodard Maderazo
Last.FM, Jango, Pandora Trounce Music Discovery via Radio
Back before the Internet, listening to the radio was a one-sided experience. Beyond the occasional call-in request, music radio was about listening to whatever the DJs decided to play whenever they decided to play it. But a new breed of online music services are giving listeners access to music content on demand, and most are for free. Can these...
more »Your Take Roundup
Musicians Should Diversify Income in Post-CD Era
"If you love somebody, set them free." It's an old adage that Sting eventually made popular set to music, but it also applies to recorded music these days. More and more artists are giving away some tracks to help market themselves, either by selling other tracks, going on tour or hawking merchandise. As CD sales go down, and digital...
more »Digging Deeper
6 Maxims for Music Promotion in the Digital Age
Not too long ago, there was an established route for promoting musical talent. The music would go into heavy rotation on the radio and MTV, the artist would play in a record store, and promotion might include an advertisement in a music magazine. But the old formula has been updated with the advent of digital distribution, social networking sites...
more »Your Take
How do you think bands should make money?
With digital distribution and file sharing online, bands have been able to get their music in front of more fans than ever before. But because of file sharing and cheaper downloads, bands also might feel like they can't make as much money by selling music and will often give away some MP3 tracks. In fact, Radiohead recently decided to let...
more »MusicShift
Music Industry Losing Control Over Album Sales
Why is the retail price of a new music CD $15.98? Where does this price come from and how is it set? Is it fair? For a long time, I've wondered about the high price of music, especially when bought in physical form as a compact disc. As longtime music buyers, we have a certain mindset about the CDs...
more »MusicShift
A Heated Conversation with the iPhone
Last night, I was visited in a dream by the new Apple iPhone, which strangely enough I was able to converse with. The phone hovered above my head vaporously, its disembodied voice coming out of the speaker in silky, hushed tones. This is what I can remember from the conversation.
more »MusicShift
SpiralFrog Misses the Point of Digital Music
First, let's congratulate the traditional music-on-wax industry for trying something new in digital music -- outside of suing its customers. The largest of the music companies, Universal Music Group, announced it would offer free music downloads through a startup called SpiralFrog supported by advertising. The other big music companies are negotiating with SpiralFrog, too. Clap, clap, clap.
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