Music News Bulletin - 17/11/08

Behind the music: The power of synchs Nov 13 2008
"Music Week recently reported that Staten Island artist Ingrid Michaelson has sold more than 250,000 copies of her self-released debut album and nearly 1m copies of her first single, highlighting a perfect example of the opportunities that have opened up for independent artists through synchs.

A synch (meaning a synchronisation licence) is when music is used in TV shows, movies, advertising or computer games. After Michaelson set up her own label - Cabin 24 Records - to release her music, she was discovered on MySpace by film and TV licensing company Secret Road. Through them, four of her songs were featured in Grey's Anatomy, and Old Navy (the Gap clothing store offshoot) used her debut single in their American advertising campaign." [Guardian]

Movie tunes move away from marketing: Many soundtracks are better suited to an afterlife Nov. 17, 2008
"Tracking soundtracks and their potential in the iTunes age has started to feel like spinning the big wheel on "The Price Is Right." One season it lands on major studio labels, the next year the indies hit the jackpot, and the next the whole thing is dead -- and then there's always the fluid issue about cost.

This year the soundtrack leader is Rhino's "Juno" album, which has moved 1 million copies since its release Jan. 15. That record, dominated by songs from Kimya Dawson, who wrote one track specifically for the film, stands as an anomaly in a year that has been good only for musicals, Disney products, TV-based pics and holdovers such as "August Rush," which was still in the top 200 a year after its release. "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," which has sold fewer than 50,000 copies, demonstrates that not all indie compilations are equal." [Variety]

Websites showcase new performers: Portals aim to do heavy lifting for music execs Nov. 17, 2008
"It can be a time-consuming task seeking out the next hot new music act to plug into a project, with music supervisors having to spend hours inside cramped clubs or listening their way through stacks of CDs sent by band reps. But an increasing number of websites are doing some of that heavy lifting, showcasing up-and-coming performers looking to land a big break.

Among them, Yahoo Music's Who's Next regularly spotlights new acts that have crossed over and struck a chord with mainstream auds. The series, which reaches Yahoo Music's more than 20 million visitors each month, kicked off in 2004 with a performance by My Chemical Romance. Soon after, the young goth-rock band landed several major tours, saw their album go platinum and earned a Grammy nom." [Variety]

Fall Film & TV Music: Penny serenade Nov 12, 2008
"Resourceful composers are adapting to shrinking music budgets, but the bleak economic reality is affecting everyone from engineers to musicians. When Jan Kaczmarek was asked to score last year's indie release "Evening," he knew exactly what he wanted.

"It was a really complex story," he explains, "but it also had something in it which called for a very lush sound. That smoothness called for a large ensemble of strings with mute -- with the musicians on violins, cello and viola putting a small piece of rubber next to the bridge, which makes the sound less bright. The musical term in Italian is 'con sordino.' I needed this extremely smooth, extremely precise sound."

But to achieve that, he also needed to work with musicians who could pull it off -- and that meant recording in either London or Los Angeles, the two capitals of film music. The problem was, the movie could not afford it." [HollywoodReporter]

Music News Bulletin - 19/09/08

Legal digital music is commercial suicide
"Opinion Lala, for those who don't know, is a free streaming music venture. Invested in by Warner Music group to the tune of $20m it streams about five million songs, but also offers 89 cent MP3 sales, and song rentals for 10 cents each. But why is almost nobody using their well-designed, expansive, free streaming service?" [TheRegister]

Best Buy snaffles Napster 15/09/08
"Napster's board has unanimously accepted a takeover bid from US retail behemoth Best Buy, worth $120m. Thus ends a bumpy four-year ride as an independent company. Like Frankenstein's monster, the reanimated Napster was constructed from the parts of formerly deceased music companies. Software vendor Roxio acquired the assets of the bankrupt rebel P2P outfit for just $5m in late 2002, and acquired the remains of Sony's unsuccessful music service PressPlay six months later. After the injection of electricity, and $20m, Napster went live five years ago this month." [TheRegister]

China's nonstop music machine: Baidu versus business
"Exclusive Baidu is renowned as China's glittering internet success story, and as the start-up that gave Google a bloody nose. It dominates the web in the world's second biggest economy with 70 per cent market share, and on Wall Street carries a market cap of almost $12bn. But Baidu's success comes at a price, for the legitimate music business, for the development of China and of its intellectual property (IP) law, and for any internet company wishing to do business in China." [TheRegister]

12th century thinking haunts digital music: On serfs, fanbois and bandits 17/09/08
"British digital music company 7Digital claimed a coup yesterday by becoming the first online music store to carry DRM-free catalog from the "Big Four" major record labels. Calling it a coup is misleading, however. It's really further confirmation that the top of the music business is run along feudal lines: closer to the 12th century than the 21st." [TheRegister]

Media standard backers attempt Apple-less solo run: 'We don't need no stinkin' iTunes' 17/09/08
"Computer and entertainment companies have announced a plan to standardise video and music files so that they play on any device. The ambitious plan has not been backed by the dominant force in digital downloads, Apple." [TheRegister]

Yahoo Search Adds Free Streaming 18/09/08
"As a part of its "play the web" mission, Yahoo has partnered with Rhapsody to offer free audio streams to Yahoo search results (read press release). Search results for some artists -- 10,00 at the time, reports Alley Insider -- will have an artist short cut at the top of the page. There are also links to lyrics (Yahoo has licensed lyrics from GraceNote), videos and albums." [Coolfer]

Research on Student Piracy Confirms Market Research and Anecdotes 17/09/08
"Now it's even more official. A professor at the University of Idaho has for years studied students and piracy. His findings echo what everybody else says. According to Woolley, who has been analyzing piracy among university students for several years, students aren’t even ashamed to admit illegally downloading music off the Internet. More than 95 percent of respondents in his research freely admitted to illegally downloading music, and some 63 percent admitted to copying a CD. Students indicate that they expect the trend to continue after they graduate and move into the workplace." [Coolfer]

MySpace Music Already Faces Legal Challenge 19/09/08
"MySpace Music hasn't even launched yet, but already it is facing anti-trust allegations from independent record labels. MySpace Music has the backing of its parent company, News Corp., as well as three of the four major labels, and the joint venture is being billed as the biggest music retail launch of the year. Together, the three major labels involved - Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG - account for 70 percent of the U.S. recorded music business. Meanwhile, smaller independent labels feel that they are being frozen out of selling their music on the site, which expects to become the MTV of the Internet. This has the indies crying foul." [FMQB]

A Conversation With Tunecore's Jeff Price
"Tunecore In this exclusive Hypebot interview, Ethan Bauley sits down with Jeff Price for a wide ranging conversation between two creative thinkers who know the industry. Price ran successfull indie label spinArt (Pixies, Apples In Stereo) before founding TuneCore which is democratizing digital distribution with its low cost flat fee model. Ethan Bauley is a musician and Director of Social Media Strategy at M80, a WPP agency. M80's sister company, m80 Music, is Dengue Fever's record label." Part One [HypeBot] Part Two [HypeBot] Part Three [HypeBot]