Apple Changes Tune on Music Pricing
"Apple Inc. unveiled significant pricing and copyright changes to its iTunes Store, moves by the dominant online music seller that could spur similar action across the industry.
"Apple Inc has agreed to start selling digital songs from its iTunes store without copy protection software.
"Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.
"Apple announced today that effective immediately 8 million songs on iTunes would be DRM free, and that by the end of the quarter all 10 million songs on the popular music site would be DRM free. DRM stands for Digital Rights Management, otherwise known as copy protection. DRM-free music can be shared between all your devices without complicated registration and proprietary software.
"Apple Inc. is cutting the price of some songs in its market-leading iTunes online store to as little as 69 cents and plans to make every track available without copy protection.
In Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's top marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said Tuesday that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents.
Apple gave the record labels that flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of "digital rights management," or DRM, technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. Apple had been offering a limited selection of songs without DRM, but by the end of this quarter, the company said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available that way." [AOL]
ITunes Price Change Leads Apple's Moves At Its Last Macworld; No Cameo From Steve Jobs; CEO's absence weighs on show; analysts rate slew of announcements as ho-hum
“In the two-and-a-half-year standoff between Apple and music publishers over song prices on iTunes, it appears that both sides blinked.
1/10/09
Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09
1/9/09
Music News Bulletin - 09/01/09
"Apple has come to an agreement with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music that will give iTunes their songs in MP3 format. The majors get a three-tiered pricing structure (not dynamic pricing, and only slightly variable pricing) that finally gives them the ability to price according to demand. There is also word that iPhone users will be able to download from iTunes through their cellular carrier.
The news has been covered widely, and there has been some interesting opinion out there. One blogger thinks there is no reason to ever shop at anywhere but iTunes (I wholeheartedly disagree, compatibility with the iPod is only one reason to shop there). Another believes allowing iPhone users to download via cellular carriers could lead to explosive mobile music sales (if that happens they will probably just replace normal downloads and result in a wash). No, the important effects of this news are further under the surface." [Coolfer]
Changes Coming to the iTunes Store
"Apple today announced several changes to the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com/uk). Beginning today, all four major music labels — Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group and EMI, along with thousands of independent labels, are now offering their music in iTunes Plus, Apple’s DRM-free format with higher-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding for audio quality virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings. iTunes customers can also choose to download their favourite songs from the world’s largest music catalogue directly onto their iPhone™ 3G over their 3G network just as they do with Wi-Fi today, for the same price as downloading to their computer. And beginning in April, based on what the music labels charge Apple, songs on iTunes will be available at one of three price points: 59 pence, 79 pence and 99 pence, with most albums still priced at £7.99." [RecordOfTheDay]
Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
"Le groupe informatique a annoncé qu’il allait supprimer d’ici à la fin mars les dispositifs anticopie de la musique qu’il vend sur sa plateforme. Les maisons de disque ont longuement milité pour que les internautes ne puissent pas acheter de chansons ou d’albums sans ces dispositifs qui lient le fichier à un seul utilisateur.
Apple vendra sur iTunes sans dispositif anticopie
L’annonce a été faite lors du salon Macworld Expo à San Francisco (Californie, ouest des Etats-Unis) à l’occasion de la présentation par le vice-président du marketing d’Apple, Phil Schiller, du nouveau modèle de l’ordinateur MacBook Pro et d’améliorations aux logiciels qui équipent la gamme Macintosh." [LeSoir]
12/15/08
Music News Bulletin - 15/12/08
“British music company Chrysalis Plc has terminated all talks related to a possible offer for the company, but says it continues to evaluate other opportunities. Shares of the company were down 12% or 7.75 pence (11.6 cents) at 57.25 pence (85.6 cents) this afternoon.
On Sept. 17, Chrysalis said it had received very tentative approaches from a number of parties "suggesting a variety of collaborative transactions, including a possible offer for the company". The company now confirmed it was no longer deemed to be in an "offer period."” [BillBoard]
Warner expand Northern Europe Indie Distribution
“And now news of expansion in the distribution sector - because it does happen on occasion. Warner Music's independent label distribution division, the Alternative Distribution Alliance, has launched a new Nordic operation providing digital and physical distribution services for indie labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
The new division will be run by Jesper Thorsson, formerly of Swedish indie the Bonnier Amigo Music Group, who told reporters: "ADA Nordic has been created specifically to offer the best service and support to the region's diverse, dynamic community of indie labels. We will provide our partners and their outstanding artists with a host of new opportunities via our powerful distribution footprint, strong sales philosophy and commitment to assist in long-term artist development".” [CMUDaily]
[PIAS] UK DVD extends service
“[PIAS] UK DVD will refine its service from January 2009 to enable its labels to benefit from an improved product management, marketing and sales offering.[PIAS] UK DVD will continue to represent all labels currently on its roster, but will also offer an enhanced label management and marketing service. In addition, Lace Digital Media Sales (LDMS), the DVD sales specialists, will be employed as the sales agency for [PIAS] UK DVD distributed releases.” [RecordOfTheDay]
Music sales defy the crunch
“The doom and gloom surrounding the economy was given short shrift by record buyers last week, with sales topping the equivalent 2007 levels for the second week in a row and Take That’s new album, The Circus making a huge debut. Overcoming the fact that - like many of last week’s new releases - it isn’t available in Woolworths, The Circus by Take That nevertheless scorches to sensational first week sales of 432,490 to earn the Mancunian quartet its fifth number one, while simultaneously eclipsing the band’s own previous best first-week sales and setting a new 2008 benchmark.
Selling for as little as £5.88 on CD (Asda) and £3 as a download (Amazon) – both the lowest prices ever for a number one album in those formats - The Circus was released two years to the week after Take That’s comeback album Beautiful World, which opened at number one on sales of 168,954. Beautiful World subsequently sold 443,070 copies on its fourth week in the chart to secure the second highest one week sale by any act in the 21st century, behind the 464,471 copies that Coldplay’s X&Y sold on its first week in 2003.” [MusicWeek]
Rumor: Apple's iTunes going DRM-free starting Tuesday
“Apple is believed to be on the verge of an end-of-year push that would start by finally offering unprotected iTunes Store music from all major labels and would switch a special post-holiday campaign giving away music and videos to Europeans.
A report from last week brought to AppleInsider's attention by French technology site ElectronLibre asserts that it's now "clear" Apple will spark new interest in its music store by removing DRM from tracks published by Sony, Universal and Warner on December 9th.” [AppleInsider]
11/21/08
Music News Bulletin - 21/11/08
"The wholesale value of the French recorded music market in the first nine months of 2008 decreased to €382 million ($484 million), down 13.9% from the corresponding period last year, according to new figures issued by labels trade body SNEP. It follows a 20.5% year-on-year shortfall registered for the first nine months in 2007.
i
The reduction in the rate of decline is mainly due to a stronger growth in digital sales, up 52.6% to €52.8 million ($66.9 million). Digital represented 14% of the French market during the period." [Billboard]
The impact of iTunes on the music industry came under the spotlight at the latest MusicTank session earlier this week.
"Sincere Management’s Peter Jenner, the keynote speaker at the Coalition of The Billing event, said that digital retailer has “had the disastrous effect on the record industry of debundling the album”. He told delegates at the third session in the Lets Sell Recorded Music think tank series that iTunes had the effect of converting “a £10 product, the album, into a £1.60 product, the two singles that are worth buying"
Beggars Group director of digital Simon Wheeler argued, “iTunes set a level that took power out of rights holders. Whether it's right or not, it has set the price for a la carte downloads."" [MusicWeek]
Amazon.com launch artist pages
"With MySpace looking to now sell MP3s off artist profile pages, and Live Nation-owned Musictoday, who run official onlines stores for hundreds of artists in the US, announcing last week that they would start selling MP3s from their artists' pages, Amazon US have announced a move in the opposite direction. Already selling CDs and MP3s via their e-tail website, they are launching a new website of artist profiles which will include both editorial and commercial content for each featured singer or band.
Commercially, the new service will basically aggregate all the CDs, MP3s and DVDs Amazon already stocks for any one artist, so that fans can browse all available content on an editorially-driven page, rather than having to work their way through album or artist searches. Amazon US VP of Music & Movies, Peter Faricy, told reporters: "These [artist pages] allow our customers to easily find and discover the music they love in any format along with a variety of artist content, like exclusive music videos and behind-the-scenes footage, all in a single place"." [CMUDaily]
Sources: Apple, music labels talk DRM-free songs
"A year after iTunes began offering music without copy protection software from EMI, Apple is in discussions with the other three top recording companies about acquiring DRM-free songs, according to two music industry sources.The talks are still preliminary and no deals have been finalized, but one source said one of the major labels is close to a final agreement. Rumors have been swirling on the Internet for a week that Sony would soon be offering music without the controversial digital rights management software. My sources could not confirm this.
Spokespeople for Apple and the major labels declined to comment." [CNet]
11/14/08
Music News Bulletin - 14/11/08
"EMI Music chief executive Elio Leoni-Sceti is meeting staff today to unveil the plan.
He will also report half-year results, which show that EMI Music made £59m of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the six months to September 30, compared with a loss of £14m last year.
The date is the first in a series of strategy meetings, which will take in offices in LA, New York and Milan, to unveil the plans to key territories.
It will also be the first time that Elio Leoni-Sceti, who was appointed chief executive of EMI’s recorded music division in July, meets many of his staff" [MusicWeek] [Billboard] [CMUDaily]
Sony DRM-Free To iTunes?
"The Apple rumor du jour is that Sony Music Entertainment will license DRM-free tracks to iTunes, under the iTunes Plus program. The speculation began on Apple blog 9to5mac.com, which provides very little information other than hinting its more than just a hunch.
A Sony Music spokesperson did immediately respond to requests for comment.
To date, EMI Music Group is the only major label licensing DRM-free tracks to iTunes. The others license DRM-free to other services, notably Amazon.com, but have resisted doing the same in iTunes." [Billboard]
Is the Datz Music Lounge Worth the Money?
"Of all the new music services, the most innovative is Datz Music Lounge, which UK consumers can buy for £99.99 per year. Its interface is nothing special. There is no editorial content, no lists, no hints that Datz is acting as a gatekeeper of any kind. What is so innovative is its revenue model, and what is amazing is that many labels -- including two majors -- have signed on.
Datz allows for unlimited access to its catalog of music. Subscribers get MP3 downloads of any song on the site. There are no restrictions, no protections. Subscribers keep everything they download. The revenue model is a great leap of faith from the typical per-track/per-album model." [Coolfer]
LIVE NATION'S ARTIST WEBSITE COMPANY TO SELL MAJOR-LABEL MP3S
"More digital, and according to Digital Music News three of the four majors - EMI, Sony and Universal - have licensed their DRM-free MP3 catalogues to Live Nation's US-based Musictoday outfit which operates websites and merchandise stores from numerous artists, including The Rolling Stones, Eminem, Dave Matthews Band and Christina Aguilera. It means artists signed to those majors whose official online shops are managed by Musictoday will be able to sell DRM-free MP3s directly to fans. Musictoday's Chas Patrizia told DMN: "We're going to allow artists to control the presentation of their content; it's a totally different experience. They don't have to go to iTunes, they can go directly to the artist. Most of our bigger artists have opted in"." [CMUDaily]
10/17/08
Music News Bulletin - 17/10/08
Giving your music away
"I’ve been thinking some more about my post last week, debating how much you actually earn from selling your music online these days. Coupled with the news that’s been finally weaned from Radiohead’s ‘In Rainbows’ Album and the fact that the more forthcoming Trent Reznor’s figures on Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Ghosts I-IV’ album, I thought I’d blog further on the topic of what you can earn by giving your music away.
Universal Music CEO Still Doesn't Believe In The Promotional Value Of Music
"As we had suspected, the early reviews of MySpace Music make it sound like a dud. It sounds, not surprisingly, like the focus was on appeasing the big record labels, rather than actually making a service that's fun and easy to use. Farhad Manjoo, over at Slate, makes the argument clear, contrasting MySpace Music to Muxtape, the small indie site that the RIAA shut down when it couldn't own a big chunk of it. As Manjoo notes, Muxtape was fun, it worked well, and people liked it. MySpace Music, on the other hand, is just not that compelling. He notes that it doesn't offer anything other sites haven't offered for a while, and on top of it, makes the whole interface cluttered and confusing, while limiting what you can actually do. Once again, we see the RIAA shut down a useful service and put up a dreadful competitor." [TechDirt]
9/19/08
Music News Bulletin - 19/09/08
"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]
7/29/08
Music News Bulletin - 29/07/08
"With 9.8% of the market, the leading music download store passed Amazon.com and ranked behind Wal-Mart (15.8%) and Best Buy (13.8%). Showing that not even market research experts have moved beyond the album format, NPD counted units sold, not total value of sales. To account for iTunes' single sales, NPD counts every 12 tracks as one album on CD." [AP]
Declines in physical sales continue
"A joint study by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the IFPI and Singapore-based Soundbuzz predicts the global music industry's physical product revenue will drop 61% by 2009." [Coolfer]
Who wants a music tax?: This blanket is no comfort 29/07/08
"In Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow, set in WW2 London, a character called Slothrop begins to realize that everywhere he has sex, a V2 rocket subsequently lands on the same spot, obliterating the area. If you dig a little, you may notice something spookily similar with the idea of a Music Tax in the media.
Back in March, talk of a Music Tax suddenly exploded at the SxSW music conference in Austin. WiReD's blog ran a story by Frank Rose, entitled Music Industry Proposes a Piracy Surcharge on ISPs." [TheRegster]
7/25/08
Music News Bulletin - 25/07/08
Deal or no deal?: Artists need to think twice before signing a 360-degree deal - it could leave them in a spin
Ever since Robbie Williams signed his notorious £80m deal with EMI in return for handing over the profits from all his musical ventures - including touring and merchandising - the 360-degree deal has been the biggest buzzword in the record industry. But who does it actually benefit?
Music industry: Sky sets up rival for iTunes with Universal deal
6/17/08
Music News Bulletin - 17/06/08
Where did all the money go? It's in the Black Box...: As revenues from music become increasingly diversified, it's becoming more and more difficult for artists to keep track of what they're owed
"If you are going up against a giant, it helps if you too are a giant. And scrappy.
4/22/08
Music News Bulletin - 22/04/08
Seems like I'm the only person who thought Sony BMG's download cards were a good idea. Little plastic cards that are redeemable for music downloads? At least one other person likes the idea. On its blog, Phonelopie, Toronto Montreal indie record store Phonopolis encourages labels to sell download codes -- not cards, but codes -- and offers a rough sketch of how it could work. [Coolfer]
BusinessWeek on Other Music and New Strategies 21/04/08
BusinessWeek.com has an article on brick-and-mortar retail's adjustment to falling CD sales. New York City's Other Music is a centerpiece of the article.
Filter through the requisite industry statistics and analyst quotes and you get to a few interesting things. First, the article claims its download store now account for a quarter of all Other Music sales. Second, Other Music hopes to have sponsors underwrite the in-store performances it records and streams from its website. [Coolfer]
What last.fm's sales increase means to me 10/04/08
Last.fm issued a press release saying its "free music boosts CD and download sales"...which makes you wonder how bad CD sales would be without all those free streaming services.
Yes, free music looks to improve music purchases, but be careful how you word the claim. Just being free won't do it. It's the type of free service that matters. (You have to dig into the press release to see co-founder Martin Stiksel relate the type of service to the sales.) [Coolfer]
The Race For The Silver 26/03/08
A good post over at Alley Insider pointed me to a USA Today article about the battle for bragging rights as runner-up to iTunes in digital music sales. Amazon.com says it is number two. eMusic says it is number two. The USA Today reporter called up four majors -- who have no relationship with eMusic outside of equity ownership of some indies -- and they all said Amazon.com. [Coolfer]
TVT's Bankruptcy A Warning For Chart-Driven Indies 21/02/08
Word broke the other day that TVT filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It may have surprised some people. After all, indies are taking away market share from the majors, right? They're enjoying the benefits of digital distribution. They don't have a reputation for high-salaries executives. [Coolfer]
Sony BMG Debuts MP3 Gift Cards 07/01/08
On the heels of news that it would drop DRM from its downloads, Sony BMG has announced it will sell artist-branded gift cards redeemable for MP3 files. Consumers will redeem cards an initial run of 37 different cards at Musicpass.com. Though its catalog will eventually be available at the proven digital retailers, Sony BMG's move shows a desire to develop its own solution. Not all of the money will not be kept in-house, though, as the cards will be available at 4,500 brick-and-mortar retailers (Best Buy, Target, Fred's, f.y.e., Winn-Dixie) by the end of the month. [Coolfer]
The Economist On Britain's Music Retail 19/01/07
There's a good but brief article at The Economist about Britain's music retail climate. Low-margin supermaket chains which account for ___% of sales, are bringing downward pressure on music-specialty stores. [Coolfer]
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