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Grex > Music2 > #112: Changes in the Music Business | |
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| 25 new of 189 responses total. |
krj
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response 58 of 189:
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Oct 15 20:03 UTC 1998 |
From the Thursday New York Times. Headline:
"Crossing Racial Bounds, Rap Steamrolls Rock."
... "According to information released yesterday by Soundscan, a
company in Hartsdale NY that monitors music sales, 9 of the top 15
albums on the pop chart are rap.... Last week the three top-selling
albums in the country were all by rap acts -- Jay-Z, Outkast,
A Tribe Called Quest -- followed by Lauryn Hill at No. 4. ((Ms. Hill
is not a pure rap style.))
... "In the meantime, rock stars aren't selling rock albums
anymore. Some of the most anticipated albums of the year --
by the Smashing Pumpkins, Hole and Marilyn Manson -- are quickly
sliding down the charts after disappointing first-week sales."
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orinoco
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response 59 of 189:
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Oct 16 00:18 UTC 1998 |
what would the Digital Millenium Copyright Act do if it passed.
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lumen
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response 60 of 189:
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Oct 16 01:33 UTC 1998 |
re #58: Doesn't surprise me a bit. Rock is just flat lately and guitars are
being abused (after the backlash against synth). So back swings the pendulum,
I suppose, and techno didn't get the favor-- it was rap, the next genre which
uses quite a bit of electronic devices and studio techniques.
I'm surprised no one remembers that Bono of U2 mentioned hip-hop had
tremendous technological resources of the electronic variety. The band
started when the electronic sound in Europe and then the UK was beginning.
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krj
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response 61 of 189:
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Oct 20 16:08 UTC 1998 |
More on the MP3 player lawsuit:
http://news.webnoize.com/temp/3067.html
"A federal court of the Central District of California issued a
Temporary Restraining Order to enjoin distribution and sale
of a product of Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc., the Rio PMP300
portable MP3 player, on Friday."
The order is for ten days. The RIAA puts up a $500,000 bond
to compensate Diamond if the RIAA eventually loses the case.
There is also a link to a nice story on the user-driven
growth of the MP3 market.
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goose
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response 62 of 189:
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Oct 20 21:04 UTC 1998 |
Gad I hate the RIAA...
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krj
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response 63 of 189:
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Oct 28 22:12 UTC 1998 |
More on the MP3 player lawsuit:
http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/15847.html
"Reversing her ruling of 10 days ago, US District Judge Audrey B. Collins
on Monday denied the request of the Recording Industry Association of
America to issue an injunction against Diamond Multimedia. The RIAA
sought to prevent Diamond from releasing its Rio PMP300 portable MP3
player, a Walkman-like device that lets users upload music files directly
from their computers.
"'We're free to distribute the Rio,' an elated Ken Wirt, spokesman
for Diamond told Wired News from outside the Los Angeles courtroom.
The company plans to ship the unit in November.
...
((Testimony submitted on behalf of Diamond)) "asserted that the RIAA
'gave an inaccurate account of the legislative history of the
AHRA ((Audio Home Recording Act)).' Only if the Rio could accept
input from a consumer-electronics device -- like a stereo -- would it
be covered by the act, he said. Since Rio is designed to record from a
computer, the statute should exempt the player."
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krj
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response 64 of 189:
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Dec 16 15:37 UTC 1998 |
http://www.billboard.com/daily/1211_01.html
and many other stories on the completion of the
acquisition of the Polygram music conglomerate by Seagram's
Universal Music Group (formerly MCA). The expanded UMG controls a
25% market share, becoming the biggest of the Big Five labels.
Staff layoffs of about 2000-3000 are expected, and the New York Times
indicated that somewhere between "dozens" and 200 artists would be
dropped.
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mcnally
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response 65 of 189:
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Dec 16 19:33 UTC 1998 |
Urgh.. "Universal Music Group" sounds much more sinister than "MCA".
Which is probably fitting since this is *not* going to be good for
artists or music consumers.
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lumen
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response 66 of 189:
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Dec 19 04:05 UTC 1998 |
Yeech, well, that's the music business..The Smiths sung about that..
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krj
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response 67 of 189:
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Jan 21 17:39 UTC 1999 |
The Great Universal Music Group Massacre, II:
Excerpts from a Reuters story today, via Yahoo:
Seagram's Universal Music Group is absorbing the Polygram conglomerate.
"On the West Coast, UMG will fold Interscope, Geffen and A&M Records
into one music group -- dubbed IGA -- with 290 of the 345 employees of
the latter two labels being let go.
"Around 140 of the 205 artists across the three labels are expected
to eventually be jettisoned, though the acts are expected to be cut
gradually over several months.
"Mercury Records ... will lose more than half of its 150 stafers and
two-thirds of its 145 artists as it is merged with Island and DefJam
to create the Mercury-Island Group..."
So, that sums up to about 250 major label artists being cut. So far.
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scott
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response 68 of 189:
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Jan 21 18:15 UTC 1999 |
Sounds like a fantastic opportunity to jump-start new music distrbution
channels.
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scott
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response 69 of 189:
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Jan 21 18:19 UTC 1999 |
(What with all that talent [both music and promotion] being cut loose, I
mean.)
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tpryan
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response 70 of 189:
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Jan 21 22:50 UTC 1999 |
Think I heard someone say Motown labels is now down to 7 employees.
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orinoco
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response 71 of 189:
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Jan 23 22:25 UTC 1999 |
140 out of 205 artists being cut? As in, almost three quarters? Eep!
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lumen
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response 72 of 189:
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Jan 25 07:16 UTC 1999 |
Maybe they're finding they just can't compete. I was watching an MTV special
about how thinly money is sliced in the music business, and I can see why
execs are getting shook up.
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cyklone
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response 73 of 189:
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Jan 25 13:57 UTC 1999 |
I'd be curious to see that show if anyone has a tape. I'd also be curious
to know how much of that money is funnelled into transaction costs for
recent mergers and for lawsuits, etc to preserve old (and possibly
archaic) systems of production, distribution and promotion . . . .
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krj
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response 74 of 189:
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Apr 12 15:56 UTC 1999 |
I've been letting this item languish while I waste too much time in party.
So, some of the references are not as fresh as they should be.
About two weeks ago USA Today ran a big article on the rumors about
artists being cut from the Universal Music Group rosters. The rumors
are now up to 400-500 artists being cut. Reportedly every artist who
is not a superstar, or is not regarded as having superstar potential,
will be axed.
On the retailing front: Universal and BMG are going to combine their
Internet marketing efforts. This is considered significant because
together, Universal and BMG have about a 40% market share.
The Universal/BMG venture, which will be called "GetMusic," will
be doing "mail order," but not yet Internet delivery. Still,
retailers are a bit nervous about having two of the Big Five labels
going into a direct sale venture.
Amazon.com, after a very short period of selling CDs, has become the
biggest CD retailer on the net, surpassing CD Now.
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cloud
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response 75 of 189:
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Apr 13 01:39 UTC 1999 |
I'm not to surprized, actually. They have far more information on bands,
individual albums, etc. A lot of this stems from them letting the listeners
rate the band, write comments, etc. It's really a pretty classy show--
'though I don't actually but anything there, instead prefering to order from
local retailors these days.
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krj
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response 76 of 189:
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Apr 19 14:37 UTC 1999 |
A news article tacked up on the wall at Schoolkids-in-Exile reports
that Laura Love is one of the artists dropped by the Mercury label
in the Universal Music Group consolidation. One down, 499 to go...
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krj
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response 77 of 189:
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Apr 27 03:31 UTC 1999 |
USA Today ran a big feature on Friday: "Is Rock Dead?"
RIAA sales figures indicate that rock's share of the market place
shrank again in 1998:
1988: 46.2% share of sales is rock music
...
1997: 32.5%
1998: 25.7%
Lots of quotes from old geezers like Jimmy Page and Tom Scholz, and
young geezers like Billy Corgan and members of R.E.M.
The article points out that the industry is no longer willing to nurture
budding careers. Mike Mills said that if R.E.M. began its career
in the 1990's, "we would never have made it. Our first record
would have been put out there by someone expecting it to sell a
million copies. And when it didn't, we'd be out."
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mcnally
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response 78 of 189:
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Apr 27 07:10 UTC 1999 |
Who decides what counts as "rock"? Are there things like "alternative"
that are now counted seperately from "rock" that would've been counted
together in 1988?
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krj
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response 79 of 189:
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Apr 27 14:29 UTC 1999 |
As far as I can tell from the article, "alternative" sales are lumped
in with rock. The article talks about those high numbers from about
a decade ago as representing the commercial success of Nirvana.
Country and rap sales have grown strongly in the decade while rock
sales have been declining.
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lumen
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response 80 of 189:
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May 28 05:15 UTC 1999 |
All I can say is that SUCKS, especially as I see unoriginal rap material
being very popular-- i.e., Puff Daddy-- just a step away from
encouraging his acts to do nothing but cover tunes..
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carson
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response 81 of 189:
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May 30 06:20 UTC 1999 |
(maybe people like oldies.)
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cloud
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response 82 of 189:
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May 31 22:20 UTC 1999 |
I recently read an interesting passage by a musicologist named Edward Macan
which speculated that rock as a whole is going into decline. "the power of
rock, after all," he says, "stemmed from the power of the cultural revolution
that spawned it, a cultural revolution the likes of which we have seen only
one other time in this century-- in the early 1920s, with the birth of the
jazz age." Wouldn't it be interesting to see rock and roll go the way of
classical music?
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