Guess Who's Back

Okay, Okay, Okay... I am a BAD BLOGGER... I realize that I may have not given this quite the college try initially... so I am back.

Much has changed in the world of music, yet my opinions by and large remain the same. In order to catch you all up, I will summarize the past 6 or so months; DRM is dead... Amazon assured that. Thank god! I was getting tired of defending my stance (and that of the general population) on that issue.

 

 

 

 

DRM - Killing Music

 

Apple Launched the iPhone... This was of course supposed to revolutionize the phone industry and I must admit, it is pretty damned cool, but the exclusive deal with Cingular (Now AT&T [oh yeah, that happened too]) makes it incredibly unattractive to those of us who actually like to use our cell phones for talking.

<Insert Cheesy Verizon Ad Here>

All of the major labels are in shambles... EMI is laying off 2500 people. Let me say this again, EMI is laying off 2500 people. That is like 55 Naxos'. Amazing.... I am so glad I came to work for an independent label!

 

And I still don't like the RIAA!

 

 

 

Okay... so that pretty much catches us up.

 

More to come... stay tuned :-)

The Big Box affect...

"In a story that ties in nicely with a recent discussion about the possible reprieve for Net Radio, the Wall Street Journal asks Can Music Survive Inside the Big Box? The article discusses how the 'big box' stores (e.g. Wal-Mart, Best Buy) are cutting back on space and acceptance of music CDs. With 85% of music sales still coming from CDs, maybe this is another thing to push the music industry towards better online sales models? 'Thanks largely to aggressive pricing and advertising, big-box chains are now responsible in the U.S. for at least 65% of music sales (including online and physical recordings), according to estimates by distribution executives, up from 20% a decade ago. Where a store that depends on CDs for the bulk of its sales needs a profit margin of around 30%, big chains get by making just 14% on music, say label executives who handle distribution. One of these executives describes the shift as a tidal wave.'"