bmg

Will recorded music survive the 2010s?

I have no doubt musicians will continue to perform throughout the 2010s, but they'll make less and less money from recorded music. The passion to make and sell recorded music is already starting to wane.

Big record labels will be increasingly irrelevant so I wouldn't be surprised if Warner, Universal, Sony/BMG, and EMI eventually merge into one mega-label to sell and license back-catalog music. New music, that's another story. Already established bands, like Radiohead, have already proved the point: they don't need record companies anymore. They can sell their music directly to fans.

But that model won't work for smaller groups. Recorded music for them may survive purely as a promotional tool, as fewer and fewer bands have any expectation of seeing recording as a potential source of income. Buying music, in physical form or by legal download, doesn't seem to have much of a future. So why would a band make an effort to make music people would want to listen to decades from now? The art of making albums--a suite of songs if you will--may become a rare pursuit. … Read more

Dada offers free tunes from a limited menu

When Dada.net, a music site run by a joint venture between major label Sony BMG and Italian mobile-entertainment company Dada, first launched, $9.99 got you 15 "tokens" that could be redeemed for ringtones or MP3s.

Unfortunately, it offered only songs from Sony BMG, as other download services with a much larger selection--notably Amazon.com and Apple's iTunes--began to offer DRM-free downloads for a buck or less.

The service now has a free tier that offers unlimited streaming, and unlike other free streaming services such as Grooveshark or Spotify, you also get three free MP3 downloads … Read more

Do major record labels have a future?

Record stores are fading fast, the big labels--EMI, Sony/BMG, Universal, and Warner--are on their last legs, and commercial radio stations rarely play new music. The big music retail chains: Tower, Virgin, and HMV are all gone.

People still listen to music, it's how they hear it and find it that's changed. Oh, and they don't want to pay for it.

The Beatles didn't get a big, fat advance when they signed a record contract. They hooked up with EMI to make records; the band couldn't do it by themselves. Luckily for the Beatles, they had a terrific producer, George Martin, who encouraged John, Paul, George, and Ringo to keep growing. Without Martin the Beatles might have been just a minor footnote. He set the scene and created the right environment for the Beatles to bloom.

The artist/producer relationship is crucial, and back in the day, the great labels--Motown, Stax, Electra, Atlantic, Columbia, Blue Note, and Warner Brothers--had the best producers. The labels promoted the music and got it on the radio.

Nowadays, any 12-year-old could make a record in his or her bedroom, put it up on a site,and sell it. Up-and-coming local bands do the same--but without the input and direction from the right producer, the band won't tap its full potential. … Read more

Good news for Project Playlist: Sony BMG strikes deal

Project Playlist has struck a deal with Sony BMG to bring the label's catalog to its streaming-music service. It's the first major-label deal for Project Playlist, which recently brought former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta on as CEO but has been dealing with legal problems that have seen its widgets banned from social network MySpace.

Currently, Project Playlist has been sued by Warner Music, EMI, and Universal Music Group, as well as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), because of the amount of unauthorized content that members have uploaded to the service. Industry rumors have persisted that … Read more

Sources: EMI talks to rivals about giving up U.S. distribution

UPDATE 5:15 p.m. In a move that underscores the waning significance of CDs, the EMI Group has spoken to the other three major music labels about taking over the company's U.S. music distribution, according to two industry sources.

EMI, which represents artists such as The Beatles and Coldplay and makes up about 8.2 percent of U.S. album sales, is looking to outsource distribution to one of its three larger competitors: Universal Music Group, Sony Music, or Warner Music Group, according to two sources familiar with the talks. EMI's representatives met with one of … Read more

Sony BMG signs mobile-marketing deal with Mozes

Sony BMG, one of the top four recording companies, has signed a deal with Mozes, a start-up that connects communities through mobile phones.

Mozes will hand Sony BMG music artists a way to communicate with fans through text and voice messages. Right off, this isn't spam, says the company's CEO Dorrian Porter.

He says Mozes only sends messages to people who have opted into the program. If you're a hard-core fan of musician Teddy Geiger, Porter says, you'll want him texting you with his next concert date or leaving a voice message about an upcoming release (… Read more

EMI and XM Satellite Radio reach settlement

EMI Group is the latest major music label to reach a settlement with XM Satellite Radio over the Pioneer Inno device, the companies announced Tuesday.

EMI, one of several music labels that filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against XM in May 2006, is withdrawing from the complaint. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

The initial lawsuit stems from XM's Pioneer Inno, which has the capability to record and store music delivered over satellite radio. EMI, along with other major music labels, had contended that the device could violate their copyrights.

With the settlement, EMI is joining Universal Music … Read more

Sony BMG releases more DRM-free music

Sony BMG, one of the top four recording companies, is releasing more DRM-free songs through a partnership with Dada USA, a mobile-entertainment company based in Italy.

Songs from Sony BMG artists such as the Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson, and The Strokes, will be offered through a new music service, Dada Entertainment, where users can pay $9.99 to obtain 15 tokens. Each token can be redeemed for a music download or ringtone or other content such as games or wallpaper.

The unprotected MP3 files can be transferred to an iPod, mobile phone, or any other digital music-playing device, the companies … Read more

RIAA: DRM not dead and likely will make comeback

LOS ANGELES--News of DRM's death has been greatly exaggerated, according to an executive with the Recording Industry Association of America.

At a time when the top recording companies appear to be phasing out digital rights management (DRM), the RIAA is predicting that the highly controversial software will make a comeback.

"(Recently) I made a list of the 22 ways to sell music, and 20 of them still require DRM," said David Hughes, who heads up the RIAA's technology unit, during a panel discussion at the Digital Hollywood conference. "Any form of subscription service or limited … Read more

Sony BMG in talks with Project Playlist, bucks other labels

Kudos to Silicon Alley Insider for answering the question about why Sony BMG was not among the major record labels filing a copyright lawsuit against Project Playlist.

Hilary Lewis at SAI reported that Sony BMG is in negotiations with the music start-up.

On Monday, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) claimed in documents filed in New York that Project Playlist makes it easier for users to find unauthorized reproductions. The company provides an embeddable music player used at MySpace and Facebook and claims not to infringe on intellectual property rights because it doesn't host any music files on … Read more