Movie Capital

Alan Livingston, Capitol Records President Who Signed the Beatles, Dead at 91

Industry Veteran Alan Livingston Dies At 91
March 16, 2009 - Rock and Pop

By Associated Press

Alan W. Livingston, the music executive who signed the Beatles during his tenure as president of Capitol Records and created Bozo the Clown, has died. He was 91.

Livingston died Friday of age-related causes in his Beverly Hills home, said his stepdaughter, Jennifer Lerner.

Livingston began his multifaceted career in show business as a writer and producer of children's read-along record albums for Capitol Records.

When he moved into executive positions at Capitol Records in the early 1950s, Livingston signed Frank Sinatra, then at a low point in his career, and introduced him to arranger Nelson Riddle. Together, the pair produced "I've Got the World on a String" and "Young At Heart," which led to Sinatra's comeback.

Livingston left the record label in the late 1950s to work in television, where he produced the western series "Bonanza." He returned to Capitol Records as president in the 1960s, when he signed the Beach Boys and Steve Miller and the Band.

When Livingston heard the Beatles song "I Want to Hold Your Hand," he agreed to release the single and brought the Fab Four to the United States in 1964 to promote it. Capitol, which was partly owned by the Beatles' record company EMI in the United Kingdom, earlier had rejected the group's initial hit singles as unsuitable for the American market.

"He had great taste and judgment, as far as musical talent, and as an executive, he was always very mentoring, very supportive," said Neil Portnow, the president and CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, who worked with Livingston in the 1970s.

He came up with the Bozo the Clown character for the 1946 album "Bozo at the Circus," which became a hit and spawned a cottage industry of merchandise and the television series featuring the wing-haired clown.

In addition to Lerner, Livingston is survived by his wife Nancy Olson, one son, one daughter, and another stepdaughter.

His late brother Jay Livingston, who died in 2001, was a composer who teamed with songwriter Ray Evans to produce such standards as "Mona Lisa," "Silver Bells" and "Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be)" and the theme music for "Bonanza."

The Legacy Of Capitol Records!

Songwriter Johnny Mercer created Capitol Records in 1942 with Hollywood music store owner Glenn Wallichs and movie producer Buddy DeSylva. According to Stephen Fratallone's 60th anniversary tribute article, "Like Mercer's musical genius, Capitol Records was new, fresh and revolutionary. He wanted to form a record company where music that was recorded and the artists who recorded it were treated differently. He wanted to give new artists and veteran artists alike the freedom to grow and to expand their artistic palette. Capitol Records provided a competitive alternative to the three major record companies of the day -- Victor, Columbia and Decca -- all established in New York. With his new record company, Mercer helped to change the sound of American pop music and the way it was made. In her autobiography, It Might As Well Be Spring, singer Margaret Whiting, a close personal friend of Mercer's and one of the first singers to record on the new label, wrote that he "was a man bursting with talent and always looking for a place to channel his energies. This idea of a record company seemed ideal." Mercer took his idea to one of his best friends, Glenn Wallichs, the owner of Music City, the biggest record store in Los Angeles situated across from NBC. Wallichs loved the thought of being a part of such a venturesome endeavor. It was agreed upon that Wallichs would run the business while Mercer would find the artists and supervise their artistic output. All that was needed to set Capitol Records into motion was financial backing. Mercer looked to Buddy DeSylva, who, besides being a great songwriter in his own right, had become head of production at Paramount Studios. He had hired Mercer to do the score with Victor Schertzinger for The Fleet's In, a musical with William Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton. DeSylva was also excited about Mercer's new project and quickly wrote him out a check for $25,000. Capitol Records was now in business."

By 1946 Capitol has sold 42 million records and was established as one of the Big 6 studios. In 1950 Capitol built its own studio on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. In 1955, EMI acquired Capitol Records for $8.5 million. The Electric and Musical Industries (EMI) company was created in Britain in April 1931 by the merger of British Gramophone Company and the Columbia Graphophone Company. In November 1931 it had opened one of the world's great recording studios in North London at 3 Abbey Road. By 1955 Capitol was the fourth largest American record company, emphasizing popular music with Nat King Cole, Stan Kenton, Peggy Lee, Dean Martin. Frank Sinatra made 19 albums with Capitol 1954-62, with arrangers Axel Stordahl and Nelson Riddle. EMI decided to build a new studio in Hollywood that would be state-of-the-art equivalent to its Abbey Road studio in London.

The present Capitol Tower building was constructed in 1956 at 1730 Vine Street near Hollywood Boulevard. According to James Bayless, "In February of 1956, Capitol Records reached a long planned-for goal when West Coast operations were consolidated in a new combined studio and office building in Hollywood. The building is unique in a number of ways. It has already become a Hollywood landmark as it is the world's first office building in fthe form of a round tower. Now widely known as the 'Capitol Tower', the building was designed by Welton Becket, noted architect, and is a modern, striking, earthquake-resistant reinforced-concrete structure. It is 13 stories tall and 150' high, the maximum building height permitted in Los Angeles. The decor is in keeping with the outward appearance of the building. The ground floor, the only rectangular part of the building, is actually a separate structure which surrounds the tower and was joined to it after the entire tower was completed. It houses the Recording Department offices, tape-to-disk dubbing rooms, and three recording studios which were designed to be as modern and striking as the building itself."

I had to good fortune to watch Nik Venet, my mentor and partner produce The Chicago Conspiracy Trial at Capitol Records in front of a live audience.

Mary Hopkin's first single was Those Were The Days, released on Apple Records on August 30, 1968

Apple Suicide: Obsessive Control

Written by Ian Paul

How does a tech company spell suicide in 2009? D-R-M. Word is going around that the masters of the universe at Apple have embedded a DRM-type chip into the headphones of the new iPod Shuffle. That means that without that chip -- either in an adapter or a new pair of headphones -- you can barely control your new device and the new VoiceOver feature is rendered obsolete.

The assertion came from iLounge during its recent review of the new iPod Shuffle. The blog, famous for its detailed product reviews, doesn't say how it knows Apple included an authentication chip in the new headphones, only that it has.   A further investigation by BoingBoing discovered a mystery chip named 8A83E3 buried in the Apple earbuds' architecture that may be the authentication chip.

The reaction to this rumor has been mild surprise. Some have argued this policy has been good for Apple financially and may lead to higher quality headphones from third-party vendors. However, I have to say, if the rumor is true then this is a horrible path for Apple to tread. By forcing consumers to constantly buy something as commonplace as headphones every time a new feature is added will only serve to upset the public and distance Apple from its dedicated base of consumers.

More troubling is a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation that suggests Apple may be embracing the authentication model after it pushed other industries to abandon copy protection. The EFF points out that several of Apple's core products have some sort of DRM or authentication chip embedded in them, including iPods, the iPhone, OSX, and video ports on the new MacBooks. In its report, the EFF accuses Apple of trying to "shove competitors to the fringes and wrest control out of the hands of users."

In other words, by forcing manufacturers to license Apple's authentication technology to create third-party products, Apple inflates prices and reduces choice, while increasing its own profits. Now, I don't want to suggest that Apple doesn't have the right to make money; of course it does. But its methods should not put undue pressure on consumers to purchase only from a "walled garden" of products -- no matter how beautiful that garden may be.

In 2007, Steve Jobs wrote a letter entitled "Thoughts on Music," which turned the music industry on its ear. In that letter Jobs saw a rose-colored world free from copy protection where "any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players." Jobs then went on to state that, "this is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat." Apple has promoted DRM-free music. So if DRM-free music is the best alternative for consumers, why isn't DRM-free hardware? Why should you be forced to switch one method of DRM protection for another?

I want to reiterate that this mystery chip in the Apple earbuds may not be an authentication chip. However, considering the DRM protections in some of Apple's other products, the rumor is not outside of the realm of possibility. If it is true, then it's a very bad idea and I hope Apple reconsiders.

Now some thoughts by me: My take is that you need to use a third party headphones with your iPod or iPod touch. Why? It has been proven that the Apple iPod earphones can cause permanent hearing loss. Why? You need to wear headphones that are "open" and allow air. If you have comments or questions, feel free to write me now at: msantell@mac.com

The Film Industry Dilemma

Written by Mitch Santell

There is a a strange Dilemma in Hollywood right now. It all has to do with the credit crunch. On one hand you have major filmmakers like Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson who get turned down for funding....read on....

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson don't hear "no" very often.

But after they submitted a final budget of $130 million for their 3-D animated movie "Tintin," based on the Belgian comic strip, to Universal Pictures, the studio balked. The decision has left the two powerful filmmakers scrambling to find another financial partner.

When even Spielberg and "The Lord of the Rings" director Jackson, who have made some of the biggest blockbusters in history, can't get their movie made, you know something is up in Hollywood. Universal's refusal to finance "Tintin" underscores how in today's tough economic climate, bottom-line concerns trump once-inviolable relationships between studios and talent.

Until now, however, filmmakers of Spielberg's and Jackson's stature were thought to be immune to the brass-knuckles tactics of the studios. Squeezed by a business trapped between rising costs and leveling revenues, the two filmmakers are Hollywood's latest -- and most prominent -- victims of cost containment.

Movie studios have long entered into financial arrangements with talent for reasons other than pure economic reward. Sometimes a deal is made for the prestige of associating with a famous actor or director; sometimes it is done in the belief that half a financial loaf from a proven hit maker is less risky than a whole one from an untested filmmaker; and still other times it happens simply to keep relations warm so the talent will want to work for the studio.

The particular problem for Universal with "Tintin" is that Spielberg's and Jackson's involvement comes with a huge price tag. The two filmmakers together would command such a large percentage of the movie's revenue as part of their compensation -- without putting up any of the capital themselves, as is typical in Hollywood -- that it takes a substantial slice of the profit off the table for the backers.

Studios in recent times have shunned some costly deals with filmmakers and stars. Fox decided not to make the comedy "Used Guys" in 2006 with Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller after concluding the deals with the actors outweighed the odds of making its money back. And many in Hollywood also remember how Paramount Pictures just barely broke even the same year on "Mission: Impossible III." Even though the movie grossed nearly $400 million worldwide, its star and producer Tom Cruise pocketed more than $80 million.

The main reason these two dynamic filmmakers were turned down was something Hollywood can't tolerate in a down market. What is that? Paying in this case 30% of the profits to Speilberg and Jackson. Directors just like actors are going to have to tighten their belt.

The other side of the equation is the public is now picked up the pace in going to the movies. Check this out:

In Downturn, Americans Flock to the Movies

By MICHAEL CIEPLY and BROOKS BARNES

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood could get used to this recession thing.

While much of the economy is teetering between bust and bailout, the movie industry has been startled by a box-office surge that has little precedent in the modern era. Suddenly it seems as if everyone is going to the movies, with ticket sales this year up 17.5 percent, to $1.7 billion, according to Media by Numbers, a box-office tracking company.

And it is not just because ticket prices are higher. Attendance has also jumped, by nearly 16 percent. If that pace continues through the year, it would amount to the biggest box-office surge in at least two decades.

Americans, for the moment, just want to hide in a very dark place, said Martin Kaplan, the director of the Norman Lear Center for the study of entertainment and society at the University of Southern California.

“It’s not rocket science,” he said. “People want to forget their troubles, and they want to be with other people.”

Helping feed the surge is the mix of movies, which have been more audience-friendly in recent months as the studios have tried to adjust after the lackluster sales of more somber and serious films.

As she stood in line at the 18-screen Bridge theater complex here on Thursday to buy weekend tickets for “Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience,” Angel Hernandez was not thinking much about escaping reality. Instead, Ms. Hernandez, a Los Angeles parking lot attendant and mother of four young girls, was focused on one very specific reality: her wallet.

Even with the movie carrying a premium price of $15 because of its 3-D effects — children’s tickets typically run $9 at the Bridge — Ms. Hernandez saw the experience as a bargain.

“Spending hundreds of dollars to take them to Disneyland is ridiculous right now,” she said. “For $60 and some candy money I can still be a good mom and give them a little fun.”

A lot of parents may have been thinking the same thing Friday, as “Jonas Brothers” sold out more than 800 theaters, according to MovieTickets.com, and was expected to sell a powerful $25 million or more in tickets.

Other movies kept up their blistering sales pace, too, including “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” about a gun-toting grandma. Even “Taken,” a relatively low-cost thriller starring Liam Neeson, is barreling past the $100 million mark this weekend.

Historically speaking, the old saw that movies do well in hard times is not precisely true. The last time Hollywood enjoyed a double-digit jump in attendance was 1989, when the unemployment rate was at a comfortable 5.4 percent and the Gothic tone of that year’s big hit, “Batman,” seemed mostly the stuff of fantasy. That year, the number of moviegoers shot up 16.4 percent, according to Box Office Mojo, a box-office reporting service.

In 1982, theater attendance jumped 10.1 percent to about 1.18 billion (the top seller was “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial”) as unemployment rose sharply past 10 percent. Then admissions fell nearly 12 percent, an unusually sharp drop, in 1985 (the “Back to the Future” year), as the economy picked up — suggesting that theater owners have sometimes found fortunes in times of distress, and distress in good times.

Academic research on the matter is scant. One often-quoted scholarly study by Michelle Pautz, of Elon University, was published by the journal Issues in Political Economy in 2002. Over all, it said, the portion of the American population that attended movies on a weekly basis dropped from around 65 percent in 1930 to about 10 percent in the 1960s, and pretty much stayed there.

The film industry appears to have had a hand in its recent good luck. Over the last year or two, studios have released movies that are happier, scarier or just less depressing than what came before. After poor results for a spate of serious dramas built around the Middle East (“The Kingdom,” “Lions for Lambs,” “Rendition”), Hollywood got back to comedies like “Paul Blart: Mall Cop,” a review-proof lark about an overstuffed security guard.

“A bunch of movies have come along that don’t make you think too much,” said Marc Abraham, a producer whose next film is a remake of “The Thing.”

Certainly exhibitors are looking for a profit lift in the downturn. A new report from Global Media Intelligence on Friday predicted that the fortunes of movie theater operators like Regal Entertainment and Cinemark Holdings would be “increasingly favorable against a backdrop of highly negative economic news.”

Cinematic quality has little to do with it. The recent crop of Oscar nominees has fared poorly, for the most part, at the box office. Lighter fare has drawn the crowds.

“It would take a very generous person to call these pictures anything other than middle-of-the-road, at best,” said Roger Smith, the executive editor of Global Media Intelligence.

The box-office surge started just before Christmas with the comedy “Marley & Me,” in which Jennifer Aniston was upstaged by a dog. And it has continued, weekend by weekend, with little sign of let-up, analysts say.

“Watchmen,” a dark superhero film, opens March 6 and is expected to do megawatt business. It is to be followed by “Monsters vs. Aliens,” a 3-D behemoth from DreamWorks Animation that analysts expect to have the biggest March opening ever for a nonsequel.

Movie theaters are already adding 3 a.m. screenings for “Watchmen” next week, and advance sales by online ticket companies like Fandango and MovieTickets.com have been strong.

“Fandango is experiencing the best first quarter in its history for ticket sales,” said Rick Butler, its chief operating officer. “I see no signs of a drop-off.”

From my view if film directors are willing to take less personally from the overall profit of a film, you may see a lot more "green lights" given to upcoming productions. (Of course in Speilberg's case he just received 350 Million Dollars!

ASCAP, I Create Music!

Written by Mitch Santell

 

In 2006 I attened the first ASCAP I create music event in Los Angeles. It was the single best deal in the music industry. I've been a member of ASCAP since 1977 when I launched L.A. Music Publishing.

Over the years I've admired how much ASCAP cares about the people that join their organization and the seem sincere in their desire to educate new as well as established composer and publishers. When I attened my first event they had RANDY NEWMAN himself teaching a class on film scores and what he does and what to look for every cool.

Next, I had a great connection and presentation by Seth McFarland, the creator of Family Guy. Why was he there? Seth is also a composer on his own show. Family guy uses an orchestra of 55 musicians each week to produce this award winning show.

From the ASCAP Web Site check this out......

"About the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO

Build your network. Develop your craft. Boost your career.

Succeeding in today's music business depends on connections - with the right people, information, advice, tools, services and technology that are available to music creators. But discovering what is truly important can be challenging. ASCAP's annual three-day "I Create Music" EXPO makes it easy and worthwhile. It is the one place where serious songwriters, composers and producers like you can connect face to face at panels, workshops, performances, exhibitor demos, One-on-One sessions and networking events with the real people who can make a difference in your career - from the world's most successful music creators to industry experts and technology innovators. If you are committed to developing your craft and advancing your career, join the growing community of participants at the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO, get your music heard and connect with your future success.

Launched in 2006, the ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO is the first and only national conference dedicated to songwriting and composing. Selling out in its inaugural year, the EXPO immediately provided a unique opportunity for songwriters, composers, publishers, producers - and those in the industry that support them - to come together in an unprecedented way to share their knowledge and expertise. In its short history, the innovative programming offered to attendees has grown to include celebrity Q&A's, master classes, songwriting and composing workshops, publisher and business panels, One-on-One sessions, DIY career building workshops, showcases and performances, song feedback panels, state-of-the-art technology demos as well as leading music industry exhibitors.

Some of the biggest names in music, both on the creative and business side, have participated at ASCAP's EXPOs. The EXPO's headliner interviews have been with Jon Bon Jovi & Richie Sambora, Jackson Browne, Steve Miller, Randy Newman and Tom Petty".

Come Together!

Written by Mitch Santell

Thank God the old music business is dead. Why is that? For many years teenagers complained about the fact that CD's cost way too much money. What kid is going to plop down 17.00 Dollars (USD) for a plastic disk. This is especially so when you can get it all on line. There are some amazing artists out there who are taking back their control of their music. In the old days of the "biz," the label was basically the "bank" for the artist. The bottom line is the labels would always manipulate the numbers so that the loan would never be paid back. My view is that artists need to come together, build their own fan base and that base of fans become your customers. The Fascist RIAA has stopped their individual lawsuits. Hooray! Their new plan is simply to now sue and harass major ISP companies. My prediction? Within 10 years organizations like the RIAA won't be around any more. Come together mates!

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The lean, mean, music machine!

Written and edited by Mitch Santell

Each and every day I am amazed at the challenges and changes in the music business. Here is an interesting article I uncovered recently. Click on my name above to email me your thoughts. Tomorrow, I'll look at the other side of the music business. What is that? Real music groups that kick ass and work as a unit.

Live music? That’s so Old-fashioned, Dude!

House DJs are replacing live music and becoming the mainstream, writes Benjamin Moshatama

Shove the talented songstress off the stage. Take the microphones away from the MCs and kwaito lyricists. Even the jazz ensemble is no longer in demand.

Step aside — and make way for the new master of music.

He arrives with two turntables, a mixer, a stack of music vinyls and his outsized earphones to dish up a platter of musical delights for you.

He’s the street-smart club DJ, who is taking over South Africa’s music industry. And he’s no slouch.

The greasy-haired DJ of the ’80s has given way to a cluster of edgy, young, educated, business-minded and fast-talking youngsters who have turned the local music industry on its head.

These young DJs have taken electronic dance music, known as house, from the underground club culture to the middle of the mainstream music industry.

Although the club scene is not new — as it was pioneered by the likes of Oskido, DJ Fresh and Glen Lewis, among others, in the mid ’90s — these young clubbers have come up with a successful, leaner and meaner formula to make the genre more popular.

They have created their own up-tempo electro dance beats, giving them a kasi (township) flavour by incorporating local lyrics that their club-hopping audience can relate to.

Themba Mbongeni Nkosi was only 13 years old when he started collecting cassettes as a hobby, and took advantage of any chance to play music for his friends and family on his parent’s humble cassette player. Little did he know that his hobby would lead him to becoming one of the most popular DJs in Johannesburg.

Ten years later, Nkosi dropped out of university, in his second year of studying marketing, to pursue a career as DJ Euphonik.

Any teenager or young working professional can easily relate to the 25-year-old Euphonik.

He dresses in simple gear — a skateboarding T-shirt, designer jeans and sports sneakers. When he speaks, his sentences are punctuated by the word “dude” and he constantly fiddles with his BlackBerry phone.

The BlackBerry keeps him in touch with his office and updates him on his busy daily schedule.

Without it, Euphonik wouldn’t cope. After releasing six compilation albums, three of his albums reached gold status, each selling more than 20000 units. He has become one of the forerunners on the local club music scene.

These spin meisters are competing on an equal footing with other genres and their music is readily available at most local music outlets.

“We are the modern superstars,” says Euphonik, with a confident swagger.

“We are like what kwaito stars were back in the day. Every second kid I come across wants to be a Euphonik. They are no longer interested in being Mandoza. These young kids love the cars we drive, envy the places we eat in and want to stay in the places we live. Dude, to be a DJ is now a cool thing,” he says.

Euphonik started out as a DJ in high school. After dropping out of university, his career began taking off.

“I left varsity because I wasn’t enjoying what I was studying. I was playing at gigs almost every night and I couldn’t completely focus on my studies. I made the brave decision to quit and pursue a career being a DJ.”

While he was doing club gigs, he hooked up with the DJs Kent and Tumi and they started remixing songs for the likes of poet Ntsiki Mazwai, and producing their own beats, which became popular in clubs. Among their most popular remixes are Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time and Masingita.

DJ Clock (Kholile Gumede), is another newcomer to the music industry but with his album, First Tick, he reached gold status in just under four months.

Highly successful DJs insist on being well paid when playing in clubs and at corporate gigs. Most of them charge between R6000 and R9000 an hour or even more, depending on the gig.

They often play at more than one club a night, which increases their earnings.

And, unlike in the past, when clubbing only happened over weekends, these dudes are in demand throughout the week.

“We treat this career like a business. I have set up my own office. I have people to help market me as a product, and a personal assistant who is responsible for my bookings,” says Euphonik.

The DJs are in demand because events promoters and club owners have noticed that it’s cheaper and logistically easier to hire them.

“They have also noticed that, unlike musicians, we actually play different kinds of music. For example, if you ask Afro-pop band Malaika to play at an event, they are limited to their repertoire and they are limited to performing for a few hours. We play a variety of tunes and we don’t mind playing for more than two hours,” said Euphonik.

These groovemasters don’t have their eyes set exclusively on the club scene. Many are employed at influential radio stations such as youth station YFM, 5FM and Metro FM.

Euphonik himself presents a radio slot on 5FM, titled My House, where he plays his house tunes and is able to inform listeners of the latest gigs and update them on the house music scene.

Unlike conventional musicians, who are largely indebted to a record label, only earning royalties from sales, these people are individual entities in their own right.

Some have even opened their own music labels to record and produce their own music, while signing other musicians and DJs.

Lately, house is even doing well at local music awards.

In yesterday’s Metro FM Musical Awards, popular house outfit Rhythm Elements received three nominations for their album The Offering.

Arthur Mafokate, one of the pioneers of kwaito music and owner of 999 record company believes that the dominance of house over kwaito is over-hyped.

“I hate the politics of this subject because the two genres are related. Kwaito is influenced by dance music.

“Yes, house music has become more popular, but I think there is space for everyone — both house DJs and musicians of other genres,” he says.

Lance Stehr, owner of Ghetto Ruff Records, is more direct: “I think this is a sad phase for the industry because you no longer find artists on stage but these DJs behind their turntables.

“What’s also unfortunate is that they are inclined to play their own music (on radio stations). It’s rare to find, in any other country, more than five club DJs working at national radio stations and promoting themselves.”

Call it whatever you like, but this genre has become possibly the most democratic musical style around, absorbing unknown beat makers all across the country, who have surpassed the likes of kwaito kings DJ Sbu and DJ Cleo.

Just like hip-hop eclipsed other musical forms in popularity in the US, and became the money-making machine for many “heads from the hood”, for restless creative youngsters, house music is the next step to being a modern-day capitalist in South Africa.

You need no huge studio or budget, no manager, no middle man — only a dance floor in the middle of a party.

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The Decline of The Music Business.

The old music business is fading and it's a good thing. Artist's are now reclaiming their art and greatness. The music business had a big shift in 1985 when major music companies were no longer run by Artistic Executives, they were run by accountants.

Watch and listen as Frank Zappa gives you his take on the decline of the music business.

Want to know where you go?

Check out:

Tune Core
SoundCloud
ArtistShare
Broadjam

Plus, there are a truck load of music social networks.....

There are a lot of social networks online and more are created each and every day to compete in niches such as dating, pet owners, and sports fans. Knowing which ones will provide you with the resources and interaction you need to market your music is hard.

To help you get started in that process, here are ten of the best music oriented social networks currently on the Internet (that are not MySpace). If you are in a band, these are absolute must use sites for the promotion process. You should have accounts on as many as possible, at least to explore and test out their features.

MusoCity - This social network is designed around the concept of bringing together fans, musicians, artists, venues, and retailers. You can sign up for free and start sharing profiles, music preferences, and local stores to see what might be going on in your area.

Flotones - This site provides resources for fans and artists to interact with their material. Its main feature is one that allows you to promote your content through cell phones with wallpapers and ringtones. You can do this through your MySpace profile, at your shows, or on a website.

Sellaband - The Sellaband concept was controversial at the start but has turned into a surprisingly agile idea that has grown exponentially since its launch. The idea is that fans and listeners become the producers, investing money into their favorite bands to give them a recording opportunity. The investors get a small cut of the profits and the artists get a chance to record their music, as well as pick up half of the ad revenue from their music being downloaded.

Last.fm - This classic and extremely popular music networking site allows users to keep track of what music they listen to, then search for new music based on their past listening habits. Other features include the ability to listen to new music, learn more about artists, find people who have similar tastes, find local shows, create charts of top songs, and publish any of this information to a different website. Artists can upload and promote their music and videos for free.

Haystack - Another social network that allows users to search through and create their own music preferences lists, Haystack brings musicians and fans together with free, shareable videos, images, music and review content.

Mercora Radio - The social network at Mercora allows you to listen to music for free through its online radio service. It allows you to search your own hard drive as well and broadcast all legally purchased music on a radio channel to the world. Bands and artists can create their own playlists, mixing their tracks with favorites from other bands.

Sonific - The sonific interface has two sides. Side one is devoted to allowing musicians to upload and share their music through widgets on the Sonific home page. Side two allows users to access and listen to that music for free, wherever they want to put it - either on a blog, a social networking profile, or a different website. Direct downloads are not allowed.

Midomi - This site combines the same popularity of regular music social networking with some interesting and exciting new technology that allows people to actually search for songs and artists by humming or singing part of a song. It is the perfect way to find that song that you just cannot remember the name of. While it is not quite as streamlined for artist use, the novelty of its design makes it a probably contender for future growth and expansion, perfect for getting in on the ground floor of now.

MOG - This social network allows you to find new music to listen to by filtering through peoples’ profiles with custom search parameters. You will also find news, music reviews, streaming audio, TV features, and YouTube clips. Imagine MySpace Music as its own site with a few new features.

iJigg - This site allows you to comment on other songs and share your own favorites or home made tracks. The rating system allows people to decide what becomes popular and there are two different account-types - listener and artist.

The Ever Changing Music Business

 

Record labels are struggling with piracy from consumers and direct marketing by artists. Radiohead, for example, offered its last album, "In Rainbows," as a direct download before putting it out on CD.

But former music producer and self-described artists' rights advocate Moses Avalon said the music business -- and music in general -- isn't doing as badly as some observers say.

"I don't think the music industry is doing badly. I know that's the common thought. It's doing badly from the point of view from people who went from making tens of millions a year to now making a few million a year, and for them it probably feels like a financial Armageddon," he told CNN.

"But for the vast majority of recording artists, managers and producers who are people who make a decent living just like anyone else, just like any other professional -- to them, things are pretty much as they've been."

Avalon said sales are down only in the short term. In the long term, the music business has continued to grow, he said.

"One has to remember also that when people say sales are down -- sales are down compared to what? Compared to the year 2004? Yeah. Sales are down compared to the year 2004," he said. "But sales are up compared to the year 1991. So what are we talking about? We're talking about trends -- ebbs and flows of business, which are natural to all businesses."

Besides, he added, there's always a desire for music. It's just the form that it takes -- shellac 78s, vinyl LPs, CDs, Internet downloads, audio blasts through sites like Last.fm or MySpace -- that always changes.
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"People always buy music no matter what. It can even be argued that economic hardship increases the need for music and entertainment," he said.

The new reality of the music business is simple. There is no buisness model! It's all about branding and content.

Will 2009 in the Music Biz Be Like 1979?

Written by Mitch Santell

I'll never forget back in 1979 as I walked into my office to find a letter from Joe Smith. Who was he? Back then is was the Chairman of the Board of Asylum Records. The letter I received went like this:

July 24, 1979


"Dear Mitch,
Thank you for your letter and interest in Elektra/Asylum Records. We've already made moves to correct our A&R posture and think we're reasonably under control at this time.

The climate in the record industry is not good now and the chances our adding to our staff are remote for the foreseeable future. I wish you well and hope that you can get more positive feedback elsewhere.

Sincerely,

Joe Smith

Now let's fast forward shall we? The music business is only weeks away from 2009. There is a huge continued battle in the business between independents and major labels. In the past, not only did the record label act as "bank, promoter, and distributer" for the artist, they actually did something called "Artist Development." If you recall the original launch of Asylum Records included Jackson Brown, The Eagles and Linda Rondstadt. This label eventually became a division of Warner Brothers Records. Today? Warner Brothers is actually going fairly strong in an industry "trying" to get traction.

So here is my take for 2009 so hold on:

1) Physical CD sales will continue to drop.
2) More 360 deals will happen.
3) Artist's will continue to keep the rights to their content.
4) The big four may turn into the big two unless ego's are
    held in check.
5) People will by more music and P-2-P music as the global recession turns in to a global depression.

Of course on the other hand, maybe it just that Chuck E's In Love?

Each artist must remember that their career is not just one track or one album. Also, don't forget that there is a resurgence right now in vinyl, so why not press some LP's at 33 RMP and pass them round. You never know what your going to get.

forward shall we? The music business is only weeks away from 2009. There is a huge continued ba

ttle in the business between independents and major labels. In the past, not only did the record label act as "bank, promoter, and distributer" for the artist, they actually did something called "Artist Development." If you recall the original launch of Asylum Records included Jackson Brown, The Eagles and Linda Rondstadt. This label eventually became a division of Warner Brothers Records. Today? Warner Brothers is actually going fairly strong in an industry "trying" to get traction.

A little bit about Chuck E's In Love:

The album was released in the spring of 1979 to favourable reviews, propelled by the substantial jazz-pop hit single "Chuck E.'s in Love," based on a rumoured romance of her friend Weiss. The single became a US #4 hit during the summer, while the album, which went on to become a million seller, hit US #3. A second single, "Young Blood," cracked the US Top 40 in late 1979, when Jones went on an international tour.

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