Diddy Attempts To Revive MTV Model In A World That's Moved Past It

Rapper/entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs is set to launch a new cable music channel in December called Revolt TV, which will be available on both the Comcast and Time-Warner networks. According to various interviews, Diddy’s vision for Revolt is that it look more like MTV used to (playing music videos and being music-centric) rather than what it’s now become (a lifestyle channel based around reality programs). Indeed there may be a hole in the market for it, since Fuse now seems to be the only music network dedicated to current music. Still, some might wonder if a network based on early MTV can be successful in our current Music 3.0 world.

Many within the industry would like the answer to be yes, since the music business rose to its greatest financial peak during the years that MTV played videos and had programs built around them. Read the entire article on Forbes.

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You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

The Reality Of QR Codes

Here's a great infographic from Lab 42 that shows the reality of QR codes. As you'll read, only 42% of people are actually familiar with QR code, but 62% of those have used it as a ticket. Check it out.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

8 Logos With Hidden Subliminal Messages

Every artist, band or musician is a brand (whether they realize it or not), and one of the major distinguishing factors of a brand is its logo. Take a look at the logos on famous musical brands on the left. As you can see, all are instantly identifiable.

When coming up with a logo, sometimes there's a lot more to it than meets the eye. Here's a short video that illustrates the subliminal factors found in 8 well-known corporate logos.





There's a lot more about musical branding in Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In the Internet Age.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this blog with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

5 Reasons Why The Album App Will Fail

It seems that all the hype coming from the recent Jay-Z Magna Carta Holy Grail album release has dissipated now that that everyone has actually seen what all the hubbub was about. Most of the heat from the release came from the fact that the artist made a deal with Samsung where the company purchased one million digital albums. Jay-Z then began a fight (that he eventually won) to have those albums counted as sales on the Billboard charts.

But what all those Samsung/Jay-Z users received left many feeling violated because of the amount of private information that was necessary to download the app in the first place, including their physical location, their phone number, and data about their phone calls and email. The users were then asked to sign in to the app via Facebook or Twitter, and send out a post or tweet about doing so if they wanted to unlock the lyrics to a song. 

Continue reading on Forbes.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Warner's Pays Up

One of the primary operating principles of major labels has always been to get away with as much as possible when it comes to underpaying artist royalties. The idea is something like, "Let's not pay this, and if he ever finds out, he'll have to sue us first. Then maybe we can settle for less that we owe." That's the way it's always worked, and that's why record labels in general have received the reputations they now live with.

Another example of this came to light recently when singer Michael McDonald settled with Warner Bros for deliberately underpaying him on itunes downloads for his Doobie Brothers big hits. He's not the only one though. Artists like Kenny Rogers, Peter Frampton, The Cars and Queen's producer Roy Thomas Baker have all received recent settlements as well.

This particular line of suits came about as a result of the Eminem suit a few years ago, where his production company successfully argued that a download constituted a license and not a sale. As a result, the royalty should be 50% of the sale instead of the normal 12 to 20%.

Even though this might seem like a win, it's never really a total victory with record labels, since you never know for sure what the exact sales of your records are. Sure they send you a statement, but chances are the numbers favor the label and not the artist.

Even in todays online world of vastly improved measurement, it doesn't necessarily mean you're seeing the real numbers. No wonder so many artists would rather go the DIY route.

But let's face it, record labels aren't in the business to make money for their artists. The major labels only care about their shareholders, and well they should, since that's their real business. The real fact of the matter is that they care more about the artist's audience than the artist themselves. Every artist should understand this going into a record deal, and expect that they may have to do what Michael McDonald and all the others did if they have some success. It's just the way the business is.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

Consumers More Willing To Pay For Streaming

Streaming music is coming to the forefront of music delivery more and more, and much of that can be attributed to the hype of new services like Apple's iRadio, Google Play and even Beats project "Daisy," but also because subscriptions to both Spotify and Pandora keep rising. The good news for these services is that people in some countries are now more willing to pay for streaming services than they were before.

A new survey sponsored by WiMP found that the percentage of willing payers has risen to 48% from 33% in Norway, 30% from 14% in Denmark, and 28% from 25% in Germany.

On the surface that sounds great for streaming, except for the fact that in Sweden (which has had paid streaming the longest, and streaming accounts for 90% of recorded music revenue), that number has decreased from 36% to 33%.

The Swedish data makes you wonder why it's going in the opposite direction. Are they unhappy with the services they have? Will the trend change with the introduction of new and potentially better services? Is there an issue with the amount being charged?

None of these questions were addressed by the survey, so unfortunately only part of the streaming picture is being painted.

That said, music streaming is now a boulder rolling down a hill that's picking up speed, and music is going to change substantially because of it in the future.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.

The Importance Of Social Media Marketing

I"ve been working on a new book called Social Media Promotion For Musicians that shows artists, band and musicians the best way to promote themselves online. This infographic by Emarketed.com is a good example why social media marketing is so important. The numbers are a little dated but the broad scope of the graphics shows that you need to know how to market online with social media, otherwise you're missing a very big opportunity. By the way, Social Media Promotion For Musicians will be out in August.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

Follow me on Forbes for some insights on the new music business.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.