It looks like the music industry has figured out a new way to piss off fans.

Suretone Records, a label distributed by the Universal Music Group, plans to start distributing video files featuring popular acts like Weezer and new bands like Drop Dead Gorgeous on file-sharing networks.

The music videos will not be wrapped in protective software to limit copying. Instead, they’ll be incomplete.

Users who download them will see half the video and then will be directed to the label’s Web site to watch an ad-supported complete version.

The industry has been dabbling with unprotected content, allowing the sale of songs from artists like Norah Jones, Jessica Simpson and Jesse McCartney on Yahoo and other sites. However, distributing incomplete videos seems like it will just anger fans and drive them to sites that offer complete downloads.

via New York Times

Universal Music is finding that it pays to chase after the “long tail”.

The company has found that there’s significant interest in downloading older music no longer available in stores. The albums made available in 20 countries, mostly in Europe, stretched back to the 1960s, including Brigitte Bardot’s interpretation of “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus”, which was one of the top five downloads.

The sales of these tracks is being described as an example of the “long tail” theory, the idea that the infinite shelf space allowed by the Internet and digital files means that companies can tap into huge markets for niche content.

“We are now able to respond to and quantify the appetite for more eclectic, diverse recordings from the past,” said Olivier Robert-Murphy, vice president of strategic marketing at Universal Music’s international arm.

“It’s clear that this is a ‘tail’ worth chasing.”

Continue reading ‘Universal: Bridgette Bardot’s Tail Still Worth Chasing’

MarketWatch reports that at least three major music companies have cut off CD shipments to Tower Records after record executives said the retailer stopped paying its bills, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

The newspaper said Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group Corp and EMI Group sources confirmed privately that each of the companies had stopped sending albums to the Sacramento, Calif.-based chain, which has struggled with declining sales as digital technologies have changed the way consumers buy music.

The L.A. Times, citing industry sources, said Sony BMG Music Entertainment also suspended shipments.

While the trend to digital distribution has been 10 years in the making, it appears to have blindsided Tower Records. Music retailers will have to reshape their businesses in line with digital distribution and playback, or their market will shring to oblivion.

TechCrunch, a blog that reviews new Internet businesses, is bullish about Amie St, a new music community, currently in alpha testing.

This is a very alpha site and there are a few bugs (I can only get the flash player to work on Firefox on a PC, no luck with IE or Firefox on Mac), and the interface could use some help with flow. But the core business model is killer, something I haven’t seen before.

Artists can upload their music to Amie Street for promotion and sale. Users form social networks with friends, listen to, and purchase music. All songs are DRM-free in MP3. Songs appear to be at 192kpbs quality level, although it may just be whatever the artist uploads.

All songs are free to start. Prices fluctuate over time based on demand for the song - currently the highest priced song, “Against the Wall” by Danny Ross, is $0.36. 273 songs have been uploaded so far. This demand based pricing model seems like a good way to sell music.

The core business model is killer….if you don’t understand the economics of music, you like to charge $.17 to your credit card and you love websites where every link goes to the same page:

Continue reading ‘New Music Site Wows Analyst, Boggles Music Fans’ Minds’

Apple is using digital rights management (DRM), copy protection on audio files purchase through the iTunes Music Store, to lock users into using iPods, argues Cory Doctorow, a fellow with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In a keynote presentation at the Red Hat Summit in Nashville, Doctorow pointed out that Apple is trying to prevent users from switching from iPods to competing devices by making sure that music from the iTunes music store plays only on the iPod.

“Apple [turns] every iTune you buy into a 99 cent price tag on switching from Apple to a competitor’s product,” said Doctorow.
“If you start with an iPod and you want to move to a Creative product and you have spent $50 on music, that’s a $50 investment that you abandon.”

via vnunet.com