Welcome to MusicTank
Welcome to MusicTank, a business development network for the UK music industry, owned and operated by the University of Westminster - it's purpose; to engage with industry, innovation and change across the music business.
News
Apr 09, 2008
Fan-Financed Recordings Service Sellaband Raises $5 Million
Sellaband, a Netherlands-based company that helps bands raise funds for recording by enabling fans to contribute online, has raised $5 million in new financing from Prime Technology Ventures. Founded in 2006, Sellaband has to date funded recordings from 18 bands from 11 countries, using a model that provides a $50,000 budget if a band can accrue $10 investments from 5,000 fans.
Apr 09, 2008
Master Of Timing With A Million Downloads On His Mind
Rob Lewis is a master of timing. Having sold an internet venture at the height of the dotcom boom, the chief executive of Omnifone is now using some of the millions from the deal to build a mobile music business just as the market begins to take off. This is a lucrative but challenging proposition: the mobile music market is expected to be worth about $11bn by 2011, but it is dominated by some of the world's biggest and most ag-gressive technology companies, inc-luding Nokia and Apple.
Apr 08, 2008
Global Radio Goes National In Cost-Cutting Drive
Global Radio is planning to nationalise programming as part of its biggest shake-up at its Heart and Galaxy networks since it acquired the former Chrysalis stations last year. The radio group, which last week agreed to buy Capital 95.8 owner GCap, is implementing a cost-cutting drive across its networks, which will see local programming slashed and a major increase in networked shows.
Newsletters
Apr 09, 2008
RACONTEURS SPIN LATEST INDUSTRY YARN
With talk of Radiohead’s much-publicised thought-experiment into the value of music finally dying down...step up Jack White’s The Raconteurs, who’ve chosen to put a much-needed cat amongst the pigeons with the surprise release of their follow up to their 2006 debut, “Broken Boy Soldiers”...
Feb 22, 2008
SPINNING THE MUSIC BUSINESS
Have you noticed how vulnerable the music business is to spin? A combination of glamour (= sells papers), fast moving technology (=plenty of room for confusion), a continuing stream of new start-ups (= need for investor confidence) and arguably the most complicated business in the world leaves a huge amount of space for misinformation and good old-fashioned cock-ups.
Hot Topic
Record labels' market share, 2007: Universal 28.8% (up from 25.7 in 2006); Sony BMG 20.1%, Warner 14.4% and EMI 10.9%. Trade value of physical and digital recorded music sales fell 8.3 percent in 2007 to $18.9 billion. Of that, digital sales rose to $2.9 billion (1.5 billion pounds) from $2.1 billion in 2006, equivalent to slightly less than 15 percent of total sales.
Music publishers' market share, 2007: Universal 22.2%, EMI at 19.8%, Warner Chappell 14.8%, Sony/ATV had 7.4%. Independents comprise 35.8% of the market.
Source: Music & Copyright, Informa Telecoms and Media
MusicTank Events
UPCOMING: May 12, 2008
Buzz Building For The Digital Teenage Generation: LONDON
Rob & Chris of Enter Shikari fame are confirmed for this second panel, complementing the 'Build A Band Campaign' which sees the winners from a round of regional auditions go through to form a band to perform at Glastonbury's Left Field stage, June 2008.
UPCOMING: May 19, 2008
Buzz Building For The Digital Teenage Generation: MANCHESTER
MusicTank visits Manchester to deliver the third of 4 regional seminars to complement the 'Build A Band Campaign' which sees the winners from a round of regional auditions go through to form a band to perform at Glastonbury's Left Field stage, June 2008.
May 06, 2008
Celestial Jukebox: Free Streams Or Pipe Dreams?
This Think Tank will consider whether on-demand streaming can fulfil the celestial jukebox fantasist’s dream to become the predominant method of mass music consumption.
