The Beatles:  Rock Band 

"Most Important Video Game Yet Made" - Sep. 1st

The New York Times' Seth Schiesel touts the new Beatles Rock Band as perhaps the "most important video game yet made," because it's the first game to establish such powerful intergenerational significance. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/06/arts/television/06schi.html?_r=1&hp

Nokia's "Comes With Music" Program Postponed in US - Sep. 1st

Nokia's all-you-can-eat music subscription service has faltered in Europe and its release has now been postponed in the US,

device and DRM issues are to blame.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/nokia-music/

Digital Music Sales Help Bolster Vivendi Profits - Sept. 1st

Between their gaming division (Activision Blizzard) and music division (Universal Music Group) Vivendi was able to create 15% revenue growth from this time last year... apparently U2 and Lady Gaga are indeed recession-proof. 

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-earnings-vivendi-h1-up-on-games-digital-music-growth/

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh

iTunes Introduces Indie Spotlight - Feb. 26

iTunes has created an area of the iTunes Store specifically for fans of independent music. This area will allow musicians to easily discover talent outside of the 4 major labels, through an indie podcast, playlists, and label samplers.

Live Nation and Ticketmast Merger - Feb 25

Live Nation and Ticketmaster, two of the largest forces in the music industry, have recently announced details of a merger between the two companies. The CEOs of the two companie are currently trying to convince Congress that the merger does not violate anti-trust laws. The combined company will be called Live Nation Entertainment, and will provide "a full-service connection between artists and fans."  

Music and Memory Connection Found in Brain - Feb. 24

People have intuitively known for ages that music and memory are closely tied together - songs and melodies are often closely tied to certain memories from life. A new brain scan study has revealed where this happens in our brains - an area known as the medial pre-frontal cortex. Researches hope that this link to memory could help them develop treatments for Alzheimer's disease. Check out this fascinating article to learn more about music and the brain.

New Album Releases this Week

J.J. Cale - Roll On
Lamb of God - Wrath
Chris Isaak - Mr. Lucky
K'Naan - Troubadour
Cecilia Bartoli - La Sonnambula

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh

Muzak Files For Bancruptcy. Elevators Rejoice - Feb. 10 

Muzak Holdings LLC, the "over-leveraged" company infamous for making "elevator music" famous, has filed for bankcruptcy protection. Muzak hopes to weather the storm and continue to supply its more than 2 million song library to retailers who want to set the right mood. In "honor" of this turn of events - tell us your all-time favorite muzak version of a song?

The Resurgence of Vinyl- Feb 8

This article suggests that the growing dominance of digital music has contributed to a renewed interest in vinyl. There is something special about owning a physical product complete with artwork and liner notes. Also, many people prefer the analog sound to MP3s and CDs. Several of us here at Indaba has adopted a "digital and vinyl" strategy, whereby we buy both the digital version for our iPod etc. and the vinyl for collecting and home use. Anyone out there with us on this approach?

Case Study: Trent Reznor and the Future of The Music Industry - Feb 11

Here is an interesting article and video on a case study about how the RIAA and traditional music industry can learn from innovators such as the band Nine Inch Nails. Since embracing a more open form of releasing their music, NIN has achieved both commercial and creative success. Using the same licensing that we like to use here at Indaba - the less restrictive Creative Commons licenses - NIN made the entire album "Ghosts I-IV" avaialble to fans to remix and do what they please with the stems.

The Learning Power of Music! - Feb. 11

A study in the journal Social Science Quarterly reinforces what many already believe - that music participation in and out of school "has a positive effect on reading and mathematic achievement in early childhood and adolescence." This adds to the building evidence for keeping robust music programs in schools.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh and Oresti

Lineup Announced for Bonnaroo Music Festival 2009 - Feb. 2

The popular 3-day outdoor music festival that takes place in Tennessee is shaping up to be pretty killer this year, with Bruce Springsteen, Phish, Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, David Byrne, and Wilco among the headliners. Check out the full line-up.

2009 Grammy Awards  - Feb. 3

The 2009 Grammy Awards Ceremony will take place this Sunday at 8PM EST on CBS. To get psyched up for the ceremony (and to impress your friends) test your Grammy trivia here.

Epic Records Names New President - Feb. 3

In a bold effort to put the business back in the hands of creative talent, Epic Records has named British singer-songwrighter Amanda Ghost its new president. Ghost has written tunes for James Blunt, Beyonce, and Kanye West, but has little to no management experience.

Google - Moving Deeper into Digital Music? -Feb.4

Many people think that it is only a matter of time before Google attempts to conquer the digital music world. This article suggests that one day Google may create a huge digital music market by creating a searchable music store of its own.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh and Oresti

Create Music With Your iPod - Jan 27

For all of you iPhone lovers out here, here's an article listing all the latest ways that you can use your iPod to compose, record, and produce music.

Zune Sales Plummeting - Jan. 27

Microsoft reported Zune sales were down a devastating 54-percent in Q4 of 2008. The player has about 4-percent market share in the MP3 player market, compared to iPod’s striking monopoly at 71-percent.

Jury to Tour Spector's Home - Jan. 28

Phil Spector is set to give jury a tour of his castle in order to prove a point regarding the noise of a fountain. He is currently in a retrial for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

 iPod as Cab Fare? - Jan 27

After her credit card was declined in a cab ride to JFK airport, a California woman paid her cabbie with her MP3 player. She later mailed the driver $100 for the $49 ride and the driver returned the player in turn.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh

Study Shows that Most Music Downloaded is Illegal (Suprise, Surprise) - Jan 17

A study by the International Federation of the Phonographic industry found that 95 percent of online music downloads in 2008 were completed illegaly. It shouldn't come as a huge surpirse in this day and age that most music downloaded is done so illegally, but the fact that only 5% is actually purchased is an interesting statistic.

Google Tells Music Industry to let "innovation thrive" - Jan 20

In response to Warner Music Group's order to take down all clips from Google-owned YouTube in December, Google has responded by saything that the music industry should "allow innovation to thrive, encourage it" rather than "suffocating it."  Google VP of content partnership Danid Eun said that "there are a lot of people who are still very defensive as opposed to offensive" when dealing with the current challenges in the industry.

Highlights from The Namm Show 09 - Jan 17

The huge music product show NAMM took place last week - check out this summary of all the new and cool gear that was announced (including Abelton Live 8, Cubase a whole bunch of software synths, and the return of the keytar)

BBC Creating Web 3.0 Music Site? -Jan 21

The BBC is currently working on a new online project that will use open source and semantic web technology to create an advanced resource for music fans. The BBC Artist pages have been running in private beta since June, and is using semantic web technology to aggregate a ton of relevant information across the web about a particular artist. A public beta is planned for some point in the near future.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh

Guitar Hero and Rock Band Survery: Music Games Inspire Kids to Play REAL Instruments - Jan. 15

MTV reported today that an informal survey conducted last November by Fender and music education organization Little Kids Rock shows that games like Guitar Hero actually encourage students to learn a real instrument. Now all you aspiring Guitar Heroes have an excuse for all those hours you put in mastering "Cliffs of Dover" on Expert!

Top Sales of Vinyl in 2008 - Jan 9 

This is for all of you vinyls lovers out there - a chart of the top 10 vinyl releases for 2008. There's an interesting mix of new releases (In Rainbows at #1, Chinese Democracy at #3) and classics (Abbey Road at #2, Dark Side of the Moon at #7) Click here for the chart.

Facebook's Streaming Music Service Stalled - Jan 14

Facebook has been in talks with the major labels in an effort to launch a free streaming music service that would compete with the recently launched MySpace Music. According to sources, Facebook reached an agreement with 3 of the 4 major labels, but development stalled when Warner Music refused to participate. 

MySpace Music Adds Several New Labels to Streaming Service - Jan 15

MySpace Music has added several independent labels to its roster - including Nettwerk Music Group (K-OS' representation), INgrooves, IRIS Distribution, and Royalty Share. These labels are additions to the 4 major labels and indie rock aggregator The Orchard, who are already part of the service, and will add several hundred thousand songs to the MySpace Music catalog. Many around the industry were speculating whether MySpace Music would leave the indy labels behind - these new partnerships signify that they are indeed interested in music outside of the big four.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by Josh

iTunes Drops DRM and Adds New Prices - Jan. 6

Apple announced at this years MacWorld Expo that iTunes has finally reached an agreement with the major labels to offer all songs without DRM restrictions, at a higher quality amd with new pricing options.  Songs already on the service will immediately become DRM free, with independent labels to follow in April. Of great interest to anyone who cares about audio quality: these songs will be encoded at a higher leverl than the DRM versions (256 kbps as opposed to 128 kbps).  You can upgrade all of your previously purchased DRM songs to the better sounding non-DRM versions for 30 cents a song. Apple also announced two new pricing levels for the store in addition to their standard of 99 cents - 69 cents and $1.29 - which gives labels and artists more flexibilty to determine pricing.

Digital Music Sales Rise While Total Sales Fall - Dec. 31

Hampered by the recent economic turmoil and decline in physical music purchases, sales of recorded music fell sharply in 2008.  Total album sales in the United States dropped 17% - and have dropped 45% since the industry's peak in 2000. On the good side, sales of digital music continued to rise sharply - with a 27% increase in songs donloaded over 2007, and passing the landmark of 1 billion downloads. However, the money made online is still way too low to make up for declining physical sales.

RIAA Dumps MediaSentry - Jan. 5

It appears that the RIAA is slowly backing away from their draconian anti-piracy stance. They have fired MediaSentry, the company that it used since 2003 to gather evidence across the internet for mass lawsuits against people who were uploading copyrighted music. While the RIAA appears to be backing away from mass lawsuits, they sill plan to closesly monitor people who are illegally uploading copyrighted music.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by guest bloggers Oresti and Josh

Amazon Launches MP3 Store in the UK - Dec. 3

Amazon has expanded its MP3 downloading service outside of the States to the United Kingdom.  They will compete for market share with iTunes and the recently launched 7digital.

Digital Sales Surpass Physical at Atlantic – Nov. 25

For the first time in recorded music history, a major label’s digital sales have surpassed their physical sales. This is at odds with music data across the industry as a whole - digital accounts for only a third of the total pie.

MySpace Music Names New President – Nov. 26

Former executive vice president of digital music for MTV Networks, Courtney Holt, has been named the president of Myspace Music after a long search for an adequate leader.

Bono Launches AIDS Charity via Download Service – Dec. 1

Bono unveiled a new segment to his (RED) charity on World AIDS Day, (RED)WIRE will be a music subscription service whose proceeds get split between the artists and medicine costs for AIDS victims in Africa.

Madonna On Track for Record Grossing Tour – Dec. 1

With $91.5 million grossed during the American leg of her tour, Madonna has pulled in over $200 million in ticket sales alone. Estimates have her topping $282 million, making this the highest grossing tour by a female or solo artist ever.

A summary and link to cutting-edge news from around the music industry by guest bloggers Oresti and Josh  

MySpace Hints at Developing iPod Competitor – Nov. 7

MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe claims there are no current plans to develop a device to compete with Apple’s iPod, but there very well could be something in the works soon. Within a few days of MySpace Music’s launch, there were over one billion streams logged, so they’d like to harness that potential into device sales

The Orchard Reports 118% Revenue Increase – Nov. 11

Leading digital music distributor, The Orchard, has cut its net loss from $3 million this time last year to only about $59,000 this quarter. And with total revenue up to $14.6 million from $6.7 million last year, The Orchard is one of the fastest growing companies in America.

Sony BMG Rumored to Offer DRM-Free iTunes Downloads – Nov. 10

To date, EMI is the only Major to offer DRM-free downloads on the iTunes Store. Sony BMG is looking to be the next to offer DRM-free downloads through iTunes. Amazon MP3 has the Majors’ catalogues available DRM free, so it’d only seem plausible for Apple to follow suit.

New Toolbar For Bands and Fans to Connect

Conduit (a custom web browser toolbar developer) and FanBridge (a site that helps bands connect with their fans) are working together to allow bands to create custom toolbars for their fans. FanBridge claims that fans will respond to your messages with their product well over twice as often as on MySpace and competing services.