Barack Obama’s aide has reported that the president gave the Queen of England an iPod, containing video and photos of her 2007 trip to Virginia and Washington, DC, in 2007, as well as some Broadway show tunes and accessories. Read more...
3.4.09
Obama Gives Queen Elizabeth an iPod
2.4.09
Dubstep in the US with Rusko, Tour Dates
For those who appreciate the electronic genre, Rusko is currently touring in the US, and will end the tour with performances in New York and Los Angeles on 10-11 April. The track in the background is “Marco Del Horno ‘Samurai’ - Rusko ‘Safe Sex’ mix”, available on 12″ at Bullet Train Records.
The 23 year old from Leeds has remixed artists such as Adele, A-Trak featuring Kid Sister, and Leon Jean-Marie, and over the past years has gained popularity with other artists, having been remixed by Buraka Som Sistema, Diplo, Drop the Lime and the Scratch Perverts. Check out another track and more US tour dates after the jump: Continue reading...Study: Teens Stream Music Instead of Purchasing
A new report from the NPD Group says that teens (age 13 to 17) bought 19 percent less music in 2008 than they did in the previous year. CD purchases also declined 26 percent, and paid digital downloads fell 13 percent compared to 2007. Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group, says in the report:
Continue reading...“With popular music sites like Pandora, imeem, and MySpaceMusic complementing offerings by terrestrial and satellite radio, more teens may be getting their fill of music and feeling less compelled to buy music or share it with others.”
YouTube Blocks Music Videos in Germany
Today, German music fans visiting YouTube will be frustrated, because certain videos have been blocked as the result of a failed licensing deal between Google and German organization GEMA.
GEMA represents 60,000 German artists, and said in a statement that incident is “similar to what happened in Britain two weeks ago.” We reported on the blocked videos in Britain, and the ensuing revolt of PRS for Music and the Featured Artists Coalition. Will there be a similar rebellion in Germany? Continue reading...
1.4.09
Warner Bros. Acquires Pirate Bay for $13.37 Billion
In a press release, The Pirate Bay announced a deal with Warner Bros. that sold the file sharing site for $13.37 billion. After years of hostility, the conflict between the largest Bittorrent tracker and the media conglomerate has finally been resolved, with cash. Read more...
EMI Launches the First Major Label Blog
The first major label blog, The In Sound From Way Out, has been launched. EMI Australia has a smartly designed blog that promotes EMI signed artists and includes audio and video streams, tour dates and links to sites with mp3 downloads. It’s such a good idea, that it’s surprising how none of the other major labels have started their own blogs to promote their wares yet. This is 2009, how archaic can they possibly be? Continue reading...
Josh Freese Sells Mini-Golf with Rock Stars for $20,000
As I reported last week, drummer Josh Freese released his solo album, Since 1972, with a marketing plan that included a price “menu” that packaged the album along with extras like taking 3 items of your choice out of his closet, a private tour of Disneyland, getting drunk with Josh, and Josh doing your laundry. The prices ranged from $7, for just the album, to $75,000 for Josh to join your band for a month, amongst other goodies. Read more...
BMI Projects Mobile Music Sales for 2009
Performing rights organization Broadcast Music Inc. (BMI) today announced its mobile music market revenue projections for 2009, with predictions that “ringback” tones will hit a new high in sales this year. The company calculates that sales will surpass $235 million in 2009, up 15 percent from last year, and Richard Conlon, Vice President of BMI, justifies the number by saying that:
Continue reading...“The relationship with the mobile phone has transcended voice communication, and the increase usage in music and audio-visual offerings illustrates that. Ringback tones’ revenues are growing as more subscribers sign up for and increase the number of tones in their libraries. It is a music use area that we see a continuing growth rate for.”
Spotify Sells Music Downloads to Compete with iTunes
Music streaming service Spotify will now sell music downloads after striking a deal with online music store 7digital, stepping up the competition with iTunes’ in the music downloads market. Users will be able to click a link associated with a song, be redirected to the 7ditigal site, and purchase the respective track. Read more...
31.3.09
Google Launches Free Music Downloads in China
Today, Google launched a free, licensed music download service exclusively in China. The plan is to share advertising revenue with major music labels, instead of banking on CD sales, while providing a music download feature for Google in the Chinese mainland. Continue reading...