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MusicTank endeavours to maintain a comprehensive library of industry news. Some links may require subscription to be read in their entirety. MusicTank is not liable for the content of external links.
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
No Business Like Show Business?
If the entertainment industry wanted an early warning of how filesharing over the internet was going to affect business, it might have been wise to check what middle-aged craft hobbyists and sock-knitting grannies were up to. By the time record labels had begun fretting about the impact of Napster, back in 2000, the business of needlework and knitting patterns had been left for dead: on peer to peer (P2P) sites, craft enthusiasts were sharing needlework designs and knitting patterns freely, and within a couple of years the industry's major players were brought to their knees, their businesses in ruins.
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
BBC And ISPs Clash Over iPlayer
A row about who should pay for extra network costs incurred by the iPlayer has broken out between internet service providers (ISPs) and the BBC.
Apr 08, 2008
Music player Slacker Signs Deal With Industry’s Big Four
Slacker, a portable music player/radio service that some have billed an iPod-killer (though the killer phrase is getting bothersome; Nokia is prepping an iPhone killer, Tube, for example), announced today that it’s signed deals with the big four music publishers. This is good news for Slacker, but it’s also another sign you don’t need to be a big tech player to strike deals the major music companies.
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.
Apr 08, 2008
Is Sonicbids' Pay-for-Play Music Promotion the New Payola?
A new generation of middlemen is emerging in the music industry as it continues to morph into whatever it is going to become. A reader recently e-mailed us an accusation that Sonicbids, which assembles and distributes electronic press kits to websites that discuss music, is gaming the system to the detriment of artists and music journalism.
Apr 08, 2008
Turmoil In Digital Music Distribution - Orchard Voices MySpace Music Concerns
One of the largest digital music distributors, The Orchard, has expressed concerns about MySpace Music and the deal being offered - or not offered - to independent artists and labels.
Apr 07, 2008
Noise At Work In The Music And Entertainment Sectors
In April 2008 the existing regulations protecting workers in the music and entertainment sectors from exposure to excessive noise will be replaced by the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (Noise Regulations). A draft Sound Advice web-guide, containing practical advice on controlling noise at work in the music and entertainment sectors, was out for consultation between 23 July and 12 October 2007. The guide has been developed by an industry working group with support from the Health and Safety Executive. Currently Sound Advice is being revised and finalised, particularly in relation to the more general areas. The principles behind the sector-specific downloads are unlikely to change a great deal and still provide useful advice. The final version will be available in July 2008.
Apr 07, 2008
Caller Ring Back Tone Commands 65-70% Mobile Music Sales In India
Caller ring back tone (CRBT)—a single music-based application— commands close to 65-70% of all the mobile music sales in India. All other applications that include monophonic, polyphonic ringtones, truetones/mastertones, full track download, video download etc together account for the rest of 30-35% of the $228 million mobile music purchases.
