We've finally reached #TCVideoFridays! Enjoy these videos from TuneCore Artists as you're getting ready for a few more days of sun...

There are a multitude of reasons to love Canada, but there are eleven in particular that musicians should take note of, and they all come from the Canadian performing rights organization, (PRO) SOCAN. Although not perfect, SOCAN is a shining example of how a performing rights organization should work for songwriters. The rest of the world should sit up, take notice and follow its lead.

I, like many people, had my life altered by the Beastie Boys. I can still recall pretty much every line from “Hold it Now, Hit it,” and even still have a Cooky Puss vinyl kicking around. My affection for the Beasties never waned over the years: I went through a weird period of flying-induced anxiety that was only allayed by listening to Paul’s Boutique; I delight (much to my wife’s dismay) in dancing around the house with my two young kids to “Shake Your Rump.” So, again, like many people, I was stunned, staggered, and profoundly saddened by the death of Adam Yauch. Far better writers than I have already, and will continue to memorialize Mr. Yauch’s work (as musician, filmmaker, and activist). As but one example, Holly Gleason’s piece in Hits just killed me when she used the phrase “chronic artistic thrust” to describe the Beasties’ later work.

For those of you who don’t know Topspin, you should. It’s a great company, actually the best in the world at what it does. Topspin allows artists to sell their music, merchandise and tickets directly to their fans. It also has a killer software application that artists can use to acquire new fans while learning what works/does not work to gain them.

DJ Pauly D may be best known as one of the stars of MTV's Jersey Shore, but his roots are in music. He's got a new track in stores, "Night of My Life (feat. Dash)," which is the theme song of his current show, The Pauly D Project, plus a gig as the resident DJ for the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Read on to learn how "Night of My Life" came to be, how the vibe of a crowd affects his set, and what we can expect next from DJ Pauly D.

What's your view on sampling another artist's work? Let us know how you feel by participating in this week's poll!

Ever since Michael Rapino took the helm at Live Nation, he's been saying he wants to improve the concert going experience at their amphitheaters, and yesterday he announced a variety of upgrades. One addresses a key complaint: the concert giant is now be offering cheaper beer - $4 dollars for a 12 oz. domestic draft (except for Toronto and Houston). As well, the company has "upgraded" its food quality at concession stands, including "restaurant grade" hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, chicken tenders, and corn dogs. (What "grade" food were they serving before?). Other "upgrades" include:

• Enhanced audio and video capabilities at select venues across the country.

• More concession service areas open as well as adding increased service in VIP club and in-seat areas to match demand.

• At select venues, Live Nation will be inviting food trucks and local food vendors to serve food on site, though, which venues Live Nation has selected was not announced

Several of the music tech startups we've covered here at Hypebot have recently launched new intiatives or upgraded their services. StoryAmp is doing a bit of promotion with a music tech trading card series while StageBloc has introduced ecommerce options and new themes to their content platform. Thefuture.fm has launched an iOS app while wahwah.fm has upgraded theirs. Plus, FANtastic4bands is holding a contest for bands who make free mobile apps this month.

StoryAmp Creates Music Tech Trading Cards on Pinterest

StoryAmp, a platform for connecting indie artists with journalists, is currently promoting themselves and a variety of figures in the music-tech scene with a series of Music Technology Trading Cards on Pinterest.

Cards include one for Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud Co-Founder and CTO, who recently released an iPad app version of his new album Ecclesia.

Thefuture.fm Releases Free iPhone App

DJ mix platform Thefuture.fm, which recently relaunched in its current form, released a free iPhone app this week.

The app offers access to all the mixes from Thefuture.fm along with the ability to search, browse and create playlists. Among other features, the app syncs with one's web account to access saved playlists and listening history.

StageBloc Introduces Audio Ecommerce & New Theme Options

StageBloc is continuing its development of a content platform for musicians with multiple updates. Stagebloc has added the ability to upload audio and make it available for free download. They've also created an ecommerce layer which allows for the sale of digital downloads.  In addition, album preorders are integrated into the site. Once a musician has set up preorders, StageBloc then takes that live automatically on the release date.

Another upgrade involves the introduction of new themes for websites with one example being the new site for Dirt Nasty.  In addition to new themes as part of the service, designers are being offered the option to upload themes to be made available for sale to StageBloc users. Theme docs are available on GitHub.

FANtastic4bands Holds Mobile Band App Contest

FANtastic4bands, a free drag-and-drop mobile app maker, is holding an app making contest for bands. You have until the end of May to create a free app for your band and register to win a $500 pro version of your app plus a $250 Telefunken M80 Microphone.

wahwah.fm Releases Free Upgraded iOS App

wahwah.fm, a free app that allows you to turn your iPhone into a radio station, recently released an upgraded app. The new version improves playback, reduces file size and is speedier among other fixes.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

The Polish Ambassador, a "beat machine from the future," raised a number of interesting questions on Facebook about "what it would mean to be an 'open source' musician." Discussion ensued. Mike Masnick pointed to this discussion on TechDirt. More discussion ensued.

I've taken some elements from these commentaries and remixed them with related material. I hope you find this remix useful in your own considerations of what open source music might be and how to become an open source musician.

Mike Masnick alerted us to the news that "Kevin H alerts us to the news that electronic music/DJ artist The Polish Ambassador recently began musing on Facebook about what it would mean to be an 'open source' musician."

Mike Masnick is "reminded of the experiment by K-OS, where rather than having fans remix an album, he pre-released all the stems, and let fans create their own original mixes, and then took the best for each song and released a combo album: one of his own mixes, and a second of the best fan mixes."

Clyde asks: "Is this available without having to purchase it?" Clyde can't find it.

The Open Source Definition includes "Free Redistribution."

Clyde says: "If K'OS redistributed Yes! It's Yours freely, it would probably be easy to find without facing the choice of purchase or pirate."

Clyde points out: "No! It's Not Mine."

The Polish Ambassador asks "If an artist like The Polish Ambassador were to become an open sourced project what might that look like?"

The Polish Ambassador has many questions.

The Polish Ambassador is a "beat machine from the future."

The Polish Ambassador is giving away his entire discography for free.

The Polish Ambassador practices Wildebeest Tactics for the 21st Century.

Discussion ensued on Facebook:

Kevin Miller: "That is one of the most forward thinking concepts I have heard in music in my life."

Justin V ForVendetta: "soundcloud seems like a step in that direction, as many unsigned artists are collaborating and sharing on a sort of open source platform..."

Clyde recalled mentioning the Disquiet Junto project:

Back on Facebook discussion continues:

Alan Kapow Masciangelo says "Its not about the fortune or fame.... its about the music and our love for it."

Sean Casmey encouraged people to check out RAC "=remix artist collaboration":

RAC says: "We provide re-interpretations/remixes of individual songs for artists/labels."

Clyde says: "RAC is a service provider not an open source project instigator."

Back on Facebook discussion continues:

Dalton Salisbury: "I think Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero. Was a great implementation of this philosophy."

Zach Warr responds: "I'm glad you brought up NIN...he open sources a ton of his music now."

Trent Reznor Year Zero Interview

Back on Facebook Jess Ceja has questions:

"But why would you want to be. Want to lose control? Open source sounds like mainstream. Which isn't bad. Who doesn't want to sell out. & I mean sell out shows sell out records & merchandise."

Jesse Burke points out: "Look at the monetization of android which is open source and you will see that it is very possible to make money."

Richard Stallman explains: "Why Open Source misses the point of Free Software"

Richard Stallman clarifies: "This is a matter of freedom, not price, so think of 'free speech,' not 'free beer.'"

Clyde thinks: "This is getting complicated but maybe even misinterpretations and disagreements can be productive as long as people are creating freely and not suing each other."

Back on Facebook discussion continues:

Alexi Girgis: "I use of only open source software, but am not a producer. I would say it means providing everything that somebody else would need to recreate the song from scratch or make a remix of it. This would be samples, patches, etc. Also probably a project file that could be opened in ableton, or whatever daw you use."

The Polish Ambassador: "Of course, music is the obvious one, but there's all sorts of artforms/ideas that could be incorporated into/pulled from this concept. Think outside the box!"

Shawn Conte has concerns: "I think it could easily become a breeding ground for shitty music and art, just my opinion."

Andrew Hatsworth counters: "Shawn: As opposed to the current way the music industry works which never leads to shitty music and art?"

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Limiting one's creative awareness by focusing only on music is increasingly as big a career mistake as avoiding understanding the world of business. Social media has turned musicians into publishers, business is embracing design and creative networks are offering additional opportunities for musicians to find community while marketing their artistic brand. Such creative networks range from digital zine platform Convozine to creative center The New Hive to Diaspora and its increasing focus on creative expression.

If you don't follow business news beyond the world of music industry blogs and related publications, you might not realize that design thinking as a business process and design as a source of creative inspiration are currently major themes for innovators. Business-related publishers such as Fast Company, with Co.Design, and Wired, with Wired Design, are making major commitments to this emerging trend. Since musicians are already creative individuals, one way to connect to such developments is to become involved in new creative networks.

[Above thumbnail from The Soulful Sound Lounge on Convozine.]

Convozine: Digital Zine Platform

Convozine is a unique new platform for creativity in the form of digital zines. You can post to existing zines or start your own. You can focus on publishing, networking or just hanging out and soaking in creative expression.

Featured zines are organized around a variety of themes including some related directly to music and others related to topics for which music can be easily considered an important aspect.

You can find out more about what's happening with Convozine via Zine Support as well as this recent interview with the founders.

The New Hive: Blank Canvas for Creativity

The New Hive exists to offer a blank canvas for creativity. In fact, except for a grid to help you get organized as you drag and drop content, The New Hive literally provides a blank page with which to create.

The work you create can be kept private or made public. There are discussion and sharing options and you can even embed the work you create on other sites.

People have already created a bunch of pages and you can tour the music section for examples of what's possible. For more background on The New Hive, check out this post at BetaKit.

Diaspora: Creative Social Network

I've written before about Diaspora, a social network that sprang up in response to Facebook's disregard for user privacy, among other concerns and interests.

Diaspora has gone through a lot of ups and downs over the last couple of years, including the suicide of cofounder Ilya Zhitomirskiy, but they've continued developing the project.

Diaspora has moved beyond being an open source, distributed network with an emphasis on user privacy and data ownership to developing an additional focus on creativity. Users have a wider range of design choices and related apps, such as cubbi.es for the creation of photo collections, extend the creative possibilities.

Creative Networking Advice

Keep in mind that even if you're getting involved with something for marketing purposes, you need to get involved. Taking the route of joining and then dropping comments everywhere with a plea to check out your music makes you look kind of lame. Seriously, if it looks bad on Hypebot, think about how much worse it looks in communities that don't feature music marketing as a regular topic of discussion.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

We’ve just received word of a promising-looking new online music outfit out of Australia whose main premise is to help bands sell tickets to online shows, which they can then webcast using their own equipment to fans worldwide, or just in specific regions. PlayFi is a fairly standard online music store that lets fans set prices for MP3s and sell them while giving 30 percent to PlayFi, which is the standard deal.

We’ve seen plenty of online music stores, as you probably have too. PlayFi’s works pretty well, with a clean design and the ability to preview tracks (again, standard). What interests us more about this service is the live online music aspect. Although live music and online music are the two most powerful trends in the music industry, delivering both simultaneously in the form of a live online concert has proven to be, as they say down under, a “sticky wicket.” The main problem is that any online live music service has to fight so hard for its right to party, so to speak, because it has to please a multitude of rights-holders — artists, labels, publishers, managers, venues, promoters, tour managers, videographers, sound guys, etc.

PlayFi cuts through all that clutter rather neatly, by putting the band themselves, rather than the venue or some other entity, in charge. They decide to use PlayFi, secure the rights, make sure everyone’s happy, hire their own videographer and sound guy (or handle that themselves), and then just use PlayFi to sell tickets and stream the video.

Yes, the bands (or their people) are responsible for streaming the video and audio from a live venue or practice space (PlayFi recommends at least 10Mbps upstream on a wired connection). PlayFi recommends hiring a pro A/V geek to ensure high quality, so that fans enjoy the show and recommend the next one to their friends. The company says it can recommend videographers in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, in case they don’t know someone with that skill set.

PlayFi also knows that splitting the revenue from these tickets will still be a bit sticky from a rights perspective.

“The distribution system makes it possible to split revenue between band members, the venue, videographers and anyone else who has entered into a revenue sharing arrangement with the performer,” according to the website.

For fans, using PlayFi is simply a matter of finding out about a show, and committing to buy a ticket. However, they are not charged until after the show. Audio and video quality can vary, depending on the band’s equipment and A/V expertise, because they can use anything from a webcam with a tinny-sounding built-in mono mic to a high-definition 1080p video feed with stereo condenser mics.

Regardless of quality, fans can chat with each other using an included live chat feature, which even has a system for “virtual applause.” Fans can also request songs and tip the artist above the cost of the ticket (which can be free). They can also buy the currently-playing song, or band merchandise — T-shirts and the like.

After the show, artists can sell the video right alongside their music in the PlayFi downloads store, giving them a new income stream, as well as providing fans with a way to catch the shows they’ve missed. Or, if they want, bands can keep the video themselves and upload it to YouTube to give away for free (i.e. they keep the rights).

Of course, streaming high-quality audio and video can be expensive, and PlayFi is not giving that away (see membership plans). Artists can start with a free account, but that comes with zero hours of live video; plans range all the way up to $495 per month, which comes with 3,000 viewer hours.

 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/16/bricolo-mechanical-music-system-hand-on-video/

Justin Bieber has a net worth of $80 million and counting, according to Forbes; and he and manager Scooter Braun have invested a substantial portion of it in technology.  Bieber's dozen or so tech investments include Tinychat, social ­curation app Stamped, gamer Sojo Studios and... Spot­i­fy.

These deals aren’t the usual equity endorsement deals, according to Forbes. Bieber put $250,000 or more in cash into each of the dozen or so startups in his portfolio. And unilke most celebirty investments, few of the companies he's involved in have ever promoted their ties to the singer. 

In fact,Spotify, "wouldn’t even discuss" Bieber’s involvement with Forbes.

Is Spotify missing an opportunity to reach his millions of fans? Or did EK & Co calculate that there are many millions more that are far less likely to follow the young entertainer's lead?

FanCulture: The Evolution of Influence is a nearly 30-minute documentary focused on the relationship of brands with their fans. Created by Amplify, an agency specializing in "brand strategy, experiences and amplification," the documentary is somewhat of a meditation on the nature of fans and their interest in brands from a group of marketers and superfans. In some cases the brands are bands and in all cases the discussion is relevant to marketing music.

Amplify's FanCulture: The Evolution of Influence won't be making the rounds of movie theaters for general audiences but is a useful tool for chilling out and considering one's own position on building a fanbase. The key takeaway is that developing a fanbase should be approached as a long term process intended to build a lifetime relationship.

FanCulture Trailer [Full Length Doc]

Amplify is based in London so the FanCulture documentary has an added cool accent bonus for those of us who are Stateside. Their site includes info on a number of campaigns relevant to music including a European festival strategy for Converse and a curious but related sideshow for Red Bull at the Big Chill and Camp Bestival festivals.

I took notes and made connections as I watched the FanCulture doc and they include a mix of things we should all know by now and things we should be figuring out by now. I'll let you decide which is which.

True fandom is about a deeply organic relationship with a band that can't be manufactured. The difference between a consumer and a fan is the difference between a one night stand and a relationship. This relationship can extend throughout one's lifetime as we see with older bands who make a solid living touring independently after leaving major labels and chart topping hits behind.

True fans give more to bands but also expect more. Often this expectation can be fulfilled through honest dialogue as well as rewards for superfans in the form of interaction and recognition from featuring fans in one's marketing campaigns to making fans the stars on one's blog or social media account.

Serious fans want to be part of the process. That might mean giving them opportunities to choose their own album tracklist, as did Kaiser Chiefs, or have input into a concert playlist, as does Umphrey McGee.

One of the superfans included in the doc is a bit obsessive about Marmite. Superfans can seem a bit weird at times. Respect that. Artists are kind of weird too.

Just because somebody Likes your Facebook page doesn't mean they're a fan. As one marketer put it, clicking like is more like a "grunt of acknowledgement" in a conversation. Take it as an invitation to engage but recognize that focusing on one's Like count is the opposite of building a deep affinity with one's fans.

As FanCulture: The Evolution of Influence reminds us, today one can be a fan of anything, even a brand. But, as in any relationship, if you take your fanbase for granted the relationshipuhk may be over before you realize you've lost it.

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Guest post by Langston Collin Wilkins (@LangstonVillain), a Ph.D. Candidate in ethnomusicology, who blogs all things music, tech, and culture at Soul 4 Sale.

Whenever I read about the state of Black music on the internet, one of the main complaints I hear is that it no longer has meaning or that it's not "saying something." These "critics" recall a yesterday where all black music consisted of impactful lyrics that fell deeply on the ears of listeners, stimulating their brain muscles while penetrating into the deepest regions of their soul. I'm not certain that this magical period ever existed, but I won't quarrel with that here.

I will say that music consumers of today are no different those of any other period in terms of the motivations behind their listening choices. Most people seek aesthetically pleasing music that provides various functions. While I recognize that robotic-like radio stations and the ever-consolidating recording industry must be taken into account, I feel that part of the reason for the lack of mainstream politically-oriented music is that a lot of it isn't good and the content no longer resonates with audiences.

I go to music primarily for entertainment, not for intellectual stimulation. This is not to say that I don't like or even sometimes desire a more scholastic mode, but it comes secondary to the need to bob my head, or in the most rare occasions, execute a two-step. For me, my music choice is mostly motivated by emotion. If I'm feeling moody or angry, I'll listen to Z-Ro or Atmosphere. When in a more amorous state, maybe its Anita Baker or Beyoncé. If I want to break something, its Flockaveli. These musics, like all, all vehicles for emotional release. For me, music is the process of internalizing others creativity in order to expel my own emotions, whatever they may be.

I am by no means suggesting that I do not enjoy more politically-oriented music. I definitely have and do. It's just that such musics\ must be aesthetically rich or I won't pay attention to the messages. Public Enemy is one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time not because of their nationalist messages, but because the Bomb Squad were incredible beatsmiths and Chuck D was a great lyricist with a dope voice. The reason why Curtis Mayfield's message-music was so impactful is because he was an immensely talented singer/songwriter/producer. Over the last few years I've witnessed some mediocre artists get props solely because of their political content and I couldn't help but wonder why? Why would I listen to this artist's underwhelming music just because of his/her content? I could go read an article about the same topic and get more insight. I'm all for "intellectually enriching" content, but if they musical package is not tight, you gets no play in my ride (iPod).

In short, all music has meaning. Out most popular artists make aesthetically relevant music that provides particular functions for a large amount of people. Before you get up in arms about why MC Politics isn't on WorldStar, really think about whether his/her music is actually quality. This may shock some, but most people want to be entertained by music, not lectured to.

Recently both Hypebot and Music Think Tank posted a number of interviews with music supervisors and related industry figures on getting your music placed in movies, tv, video games and commercials. Here are the top tips and insights from those posts organized into five categories. The names of the supervisors are featured with a link back to each post which will have additional information of interest.

The key concepts are to understand how the process works, to present your work in a manner that music supervisors prefer and to make sure you have a visible audience and a strong web presence.

Do Your Research

Sarah Gavigan

"You need to do some well thought out research. Find a show or brand that you like and work backwards. Look up the Music Supervisor online, and learn a little bit about them before reaching out. Are you thinking of a certain brand you think your music might be good for? With good research, you can find the name of the ad agency, and then the name of the music producer or creative director at that agency that works on that brand."

Gary Calamar

"To get onto one of my TV shows, do music that's appropriate for one of my shows...do your homework to see what kind of music I use on these projects and to pitch music to me that is appropriate."

Josh Kessler

"Read trade magazines and blogs, as well as developer and distributor websites. Production timelines for games are very long, so keep in mind music decisions are usually made about 8 or 9 months before the game is released."

Find Intermediaries

Thomas Golubic

"The smartest way in general is for people to reach out to licensing representatives, because licensing representatives will do specific searches based on specific criteria we will send out to them, and they themselves become filters."

Sarah Gavigan

"Join music libraries that can help distribute your music to buyers in the licensing market."

James Alvich

"Start making relationships with the different music houses, libraries, and sync pitching agencies out there. Let them represent your music, but you still retain ownership of all of your stuff. This way they can send your music to agencies, editors, and producers for consideration."

Josh Kessler

"You can also link up with a pitching company with a proven track record of pitching songs to game companies."

Go Where They Like To Be Found

Andrea von Foerster

"I go to a lot of music conferences and festivals...Every time I get invited to an event, I go because I want to meet people who pitch music on the label side, development side, agency side, management side, the artists themselves."

Chris Mollere

"Hit me up, definitely. They can go through my website and just hit submissions. I check those all out."

Be Organized & Give Them What They Want

Chris Mollere

"Make sure to put in a link that doesn't expire. Sometimes it'll take me a month to get back and download from a link I've been sent."

Andrea von Foerster

"Never never never never never send an mp3 to somebody's inbox without asking them first. We all get a lot of emails and that many people sending you mp3s will just clog up your inbox. I like things that don't expire: ftp sites, box.net, Dropbox, Yousendit."

Chris Mollere

"One thing all artists should do is to include metadata in their MP3 files, so that when I press Apple-I to check it out, I can see your phone number or email address. Gracenote your CDs, it makes it a lot easier to track artists down, especially because the track names don't always transfer."

Andrea von Foerster

"I don't need an entire press kit. I don't need a bunch of pictures. What if I think you look kind of silly but I love your music? I really just want to know who has the publishing, who has the master, where are you from, and are there any samples."

Build an Audience and a Strong Web Presence

Sarah Gavigan

"You need to create an audience and create buzz if you want major music supervisors to notice your music. You want to use Facebook and Twitter to help you to establish your brand."

Liza Richardson

"The best way to get on my radar is to be a great band and to get somebody excited about you. I try to pay attention to what people are digging."

Gary Calamar

"Sometimes I'll hear of a band three different places in one week. I start to think, 'Oh, I'm starting to hear more about this band. It sounds like they'd be worth checking out.' I'll go ahead and check it out."

Thomas Golubic

"Hype Machine is great. Music blogs in general are great. In many ways, I find more music that way than I do through some of the resources I reach out to."

Sarah Gavigan

"We usually head to social media channels once we know about an artist to see what the buzz factor is. If I have heard a song of an artist and I want to know more I will Google their name and visit their Facebook & Twitter profiles to see how large their audience is."

Josh Kessler

"Build an audience and demand for your music commercially is the best way to get noticed."

Sources:

• Music Supervisors Explain How They Find Indie Music For Movies And TV [Part 1]
• Music Supervisors On How They Find Indie Music For Movies & TV
  [Part 2]
• Music Supervisors On Finding Indie Music For Movies & TV Shows
  [Part 3]
• Q&A: Getting Music Placed in Advertising
• Q&A: Getting Music Placed in Video Games
• Ariel Hyatt: 7 Questions For A Real Live Music Supervisor Sarah Gavigan of Get Your Music Licensed

Hypebot Features Writer Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business & Revenue Models and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

Music industry veteran Jay Boberg has been named Chairman of the Board of Isolation Network, the parent company of INgrooves Fontana and the music distriubutor's marketing arm INscribe Digital.  Boberg replaces Vincent Freda who served as Chairman of the Board since 2008. Freda becomes the company's COO and founder Robb McDaniel remains CEO.

Boberg, who co-founded I.R.S. Records and served as president of MCA Publishing, has been on Isolation's board since 2010, when Shamrock Capital Growth Fund II made a significant investment. Broberg is said to have played a mjor role in the company's recent acquisition of Fontana Distribution from Universal Music Group.

Additional changes to the Isolation Network Board of Directors include the departure of Peter Morrissey and the addition of Christine H. Park, a Vice President at Shamrock Capital Advisors.

A common problem that Chris Hacker of Cyber PR encounters is a band contacting the company to promote their new album that is coming out the following week. Before promoting a new album, bands need to have a marketing plan in place. In part 1 of a 3 part series, Chris outlines areas that need to be addressed before announcing a new album release.

“Make sure your online presence is complete, effective and contains all the necessary promotional tools.”

(Read On)

Guest post by Eliot Van Buskirk of Evolver.fm.

In the early days of Web 1.0 beta (i.e. the ’90s), most of us who were paying attention thought music middlemen were on their way out.

Technology on the near horizon allow bands to sell tickets, merchandise, and recordings directly to fans, while promoting their music through early internet radio, where payola and corporate sway over the FM dial weren’t factors. Everything looked like it would operate outside the usual confines of labels, publishers, distributors, marketers, retailers, ticket sellers, promoters, and the rest of the middlemen that had built up over the past hundred years or so between artists and fans.

It didn’t happen, in part because music doesn’t take place in a vacuum. Musicians, like anyone else, need a support system in order to create a market. And so Ticketmaster still dominates ticketing, and in just about every other area (sales, radio, promotion, social networking), bands still go through intermediaries to reach fans — often at the expense of considerable friction, even if they run their own label. There’s that 30 cents they have to pay music retailers from every sale on Amazon or iTunes, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and equity paid out by Spotify and other start-ups as artists complain of sub-penny royalty checks.

Maybe it’s the social media bubble, which recalls those heady days in ’90s San Francisco when your pet turtle could have secured funding for a catfood-to-dogs startup, but we’re sniffing a return of the “direct to fan” ecosystem. This time, some of it could stick:

Ticketing: Crowdsurge

Let’s start here, because people love to hate on Ticketmaster. The kneejerk haters are somewhat justified in their revulsion by a company that appears to charge music fans for doing extra work by replacing cashiers. But the haters are at least partially wrong because they tend not to acknowledge that “convenience fees” are typically shared between Ticketmaster, the promoter, the venue, management, the bands themselves, and possibly other parties. Yes, many of the bands you love as you hate Ticketmaster are snatching up some of those fees.

That’s one reason Ticketmaster isn’t going anywhere - especially now that it has merged with Live Nation. It’s just too entrenched, and pretty much everyone except music fans loves those fees. However, there’s a crack in Ticketmaster’s armor: the allotment of tickets given to bands themselves. As noted by the New York Times’ account of the jam band String Cheese Incident’s Ticketmaster fee circumvention, Ticketmaster’s standard practice is to give bands 8 percent of the tickets to a show, with which they can do whatever they want — sell them, give them to friends, family, and super-fans, sprinkle them on homeless people, or whatever.

Bands are monopolies. There’s only one of them. That gives them some negotiating power to ask for more than that 8 percent of the door. They can sell that, or 10 percent, 20, or even 30 percent of tickets, assuming they can pressure Ticketmaster and venues for more tickets, as one industry insider who wishes to remain nameless told Evolver.fm they will. Among the contenders for helping them offload that inventory, Crowdsurge holds particular promise. It’s a white-label service that charges nothing at a basic level — a thin middleman that lets bands (and venues and promoters) essentially run their own mini-Ticketmaster.

Music and Merchandise Store: Bandcamp

Most fans don’t go directly to Bandcamp when they want to buy a download, because it doesn’t have everything, the way iTunes and Amazon do. However, if they visit a place on the web that the band controls at least part of (the band’s website, Facebook, YouTube, Vimeo, Twitter, etc.), they might find themselves directed to Bandcamp to buy stuff or even download it for free.

Unlike the standard 30 percent charged by Amazon MP3 and iTunes, Bandcamp takes half that — 15 percent. In addition, it includes all sorts of options, such as free music giveaways and variable pricing, and other goodies missing from the bigger players, like the ability to sell T-shirts.

Funding: Kickstarter

As with Bandcamp, you’ve almost certainly heard of Kickstarter, which funds everything from post-urban cowboy movies to light-up guitar fretboards. Kickstarter has recently grabbed the spotlight as a source of funding for bands, following Amanda Palmer’s ridiculously successful campaign, which looks like it’s going to top $700K with 15 days still to go. As noted by Techdirt, Jordis Unga is also seeing some money flow in via Kickstarter.

In a traditional sense, record labels are banks. They loan bands money to make an album, and then get them to pay it back. Of course, bands can record most of an album themselves these days, and often just need to pay for mastering and maybe some studio time/production expertise. Kickstarter is perfectly positioned to hook them up with the money to do so, as these latest campaigns proved beyond any doubt.

Perhaps because it grabs headlines outside the music world, The generally-themed Kickstarter appears to be succeeding where music-focused fan-funding efforts foundered. Slicethepie, Sellaband, and other services that let fans fund bands enjoyed a brief heyday, in the press if not in the market, but Kickstarter seems to have cracked the code. Bands that can put together a compelling video and have a decent-sized fan base on the internet can use Kickstarter to rack up serious funding in weeks, all without answering to any sort of overlord. (See also: Indiegogo.)

Tour Funding: GigFunder

For funding tours specifically, GigFunder has a unique appeal in the crowdfunding space. It counts on fans who really, really want a band to show up in their city (or, more likely, their town or village) to help make it happen. To do that, fans pledge to pay money to see the band if they make it to that location — and if the band doesn’t raise enough to do that, nobody has to pay anything to anyone.

GigFunder charges 7 percent if the tour happens, which covers the 3 percent PayPal fee for the transactions. In addition to show tickets, fans who pledge money to a successful campaign can be rewarded with just about anything, just like on Kickstarter: T-shirts, signed merchandise, Playbuttons, and so on.

Subscription: Distro.fm

Hey people in bands: Do you think you could operate your own music subscription, like a little version of Spotify Premium that only includes your music — not only the stuff you release on albums, just after you’ve recorded it, but your live shows, rehearsal tapes, tour van observations, remixes, and everyone’s various side projects? Sounds complicated, right? Not anymore.

The recently-launched Distro.fm can handle all the technology stuff for you, so you can charge your fans 10 bucks a year (or so) for everything you want to send them. When that year is up, you can ask them to resubscribe. Your fans can stream all of that stuff, download it, or play it within Distro’s upcoming app, which will be able to cache the songs so they can play them without eating up their precious little data plans.

What’s not to like? Not much, from what we could tell. Bands from Atlas Sound to Phish are already using Distro.fm, even in these early days. If people are fans of more than one band on the service, they can subscribe to them all in that one place. All the bands have to do is upload the music and send people there.

We just have one request: Can Distro.fm please add a way to remove bands? We really didn’t mean to subscribe to Phish (see screenshot).

Radio: My App Idea That Nobody Has Built Yet (Honorable Mention)

When people listen to online radio, most of them choose stations based around a specific artist, and most of them do it on Pandora. My idea, which nobody has built yet so far as I can tell, is to make those “artist” stations into actual artist stations, delivered as standalone apps.

These would include music handpicked by the artist; played by those artists on their devices; and rated by the artist. If so many people listen to artist radio anyway, my thinking goes, why not do artist radio for real? The reason we include this idea here, aside from the fact that we really like it, is that an artist radio app could embed everything else listed on this page. That would offer artists a simple, sticky platform on which to promote their tours, Kickstarter campaigns, subscription options, ticket sales, and so on.

Did we miss anything? Let us know.

 

Google Music is upsetting users with device-deauthorization rule. (CNet) A forum posting on XDA-Developers says Google now only allowing users to de-authorize just 4 devices per year for its Google Music platform.

• Harvey Geller, Universal Music Group’s Top Lawyer, Is Out. Geller was often at the center of UMG's digital music/music tech negotiations and lawsuits. (MediaMemo)
• iHeartRadio Hits 10 Million Users Faster Than Facebook or Twitter (Mashable)

MORE:

• The Merger Music Fans and the Government Should Fear: Universal + EMI. (Atlantic)
• Pinterest has raised $100 million in funding in a round led by Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten, pushing the valuation of the hot social site towards $1.5 billion.
• Myspace to Broadcast Hangout Music Fest Performances from Jack White, String Cheese Incident and others on 5/18-20.
• Bandsintown, the concert recommendation and notification app, has added new features that take advantage of Facebook Timeline by adding tour histories. Fans can click on a new “I Was There” button to add the event to a personal concert history displayed on their own timeline.
• Veteran agent Joe Brauner has joined WME from CAA bringing with him longtime clients Norah Jones and Amos Lee.
• Nominations are open of Billboard's 40 under 40. (here)
• Drip.fm remixes music industry models with its new members-only platform (TNW)
• R.I. P. - D.C. musician Chuck Brown, the Godfather of Go-Go.