Jay Sean & Lil Wayne Team Up On New Single: Album To Drop In Spring.

Jay Sean teams up lil Wayne again for Sean's new single, "Hit The Lights," which MTV News reports will be out digitally February 8. The track is the second single from Jay Sean's upcoming record Freeze Time, due out in the spring.

Panic! At The Disco: New Album Due Out March 29

Panic! At The Disco will make a comeback with Vices & Virtues, due out March 29. Remaining members Brendon Urie and Spencer Smith shot a video for lead single, "The Ballad Of Mona Lisa," and told MTV News the new record "in one way or the other, at least one to 10 virtues or vices are represented in every song.

© 2011 WMG. A clip of Panic! At The Disco's new single 'The Ballad of Mona Lisa'

50's New Album, Black Magic" To Be Out This Summer

50 Cent tells MTV News that his next album, Black Magic, is about 80 percent completed and should be out this summer. "[Fans] should look forward to the actual album this summer, so I have to release something soon," he said. "I'm not sure if I'll make a full mixtape [beforehand]. That's what I was doing when I was making collaborations with new artists: I was working with artists that wouldn't exactly be my equal because they don't have a successful track record. But at some point you have to make the decision to just be an artist and work because you enjoy the music and you think it's a good idea, as opposed to it being someone of your caliber."

Wiz Khalifa To Release Album March 29 On Atlantic

After his smash performance at the AFC Championship Playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets, up-and-coming rapper Wiz Khalifa announced online that his new album is titled Rolling Papers, and will be out March 29 on Atlantic. The Pittsburgh native is currently riding the success of his hometown AFC Champion Steelers with the hit "Black And Yellow."

Will Cloud, iPad Apps, Music Limited, and the Service Sector Salvage The Music Industry

With the launch of the new music service from the major record companies, "Music Unlimited", and the popularity of the iPad from Apple which now boasts over 6,000 apps, and the intervention of "cloud" based IT networks, the music industry is evolving once again.

How soon will we see a difference in the falling revenue from music sales (physical and now digital) and live concerts? Only time will tell, but at least companies are becoming more aware of how important it is to stay on top of technology as it is developed. I can't say the same for most artists who still have the meandering dreams of glamour and fame, but most never realize this because they are not taking their "music careers serious enough and looking at it as a business "first".

The whole digital, connected, cloud, apps and services sector are at the heart of the evolving music market, if you are still stuck on archaic ways to deliver your music to the masses, then you need to get in the know of the evolving music business.

The digital sector and data in particular is the life blood of business and if you look at any other industry everything is automated and if the music industry is to move forward we are going to have to go down this route.

With MIDEm wrapping up it's 2011 convention in France, everyone is now talking about cloud based music services, and so many are unfamiliar with or are unaware what it truly means to the delivery system of information not only in the music business but business period.

With "cloud based" services like Music Unlimited offered up by the majors (SONY in partnership with EMI, UNIVERSAL and WEA), Music Anywhere by Britain's Carphone Warehouse, and a new upstart mSpot trying to secure licensing from the majors, will it be enough to compete with a fast-growing number of free and paying music streaming services that include Spotify, Pandora, Last.fm, Groove Shark and We7 that are already sharing a big chunk of consumer revenue globally through "ownership" of intellectual property? Or will the idea of cloud based services that are pushing "access" over "ownership" be the saving grace of the entire global industry? Only time will tell, especially since Nokia has already closed down its unlimited music service in most of the 33 markets in which it operated.

Cloud-based services differ from the music streaming services that download onto a computer by allowing users to house all their music on a remote server (or cloud) as well as giving them access to millions of tracks.

The cloud also acts as a "locker" for their own music collection so that users can access their music on different devices.
The big question mark is whether these services will bring the new revenue for the music industry, particularly after Nokia closed down its unlimited music service in most of the 33 markets in which it operated.

One potential new market is the auto industry, after Ford announced it would integrate the US-based Internet mobile radio streaming service, Pandora, into its new vehicles.

SonyCloud services are attracting a lot of attention at MIDEM this year, as they promise to help music lovers connect their music to a host of digital devices at home and on the move.




FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Cloud computing is location-independent computing, whereby shared servers provide resources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand, as with the electricity grid.

Cloud computing is a natural evolution of the widespread adoption of virtualization, service-oriented architecture and utility computing. Details are abstracted from consumers, who no longer have need for expertise in, or control over, the technology infrastructure "in the cloud" that supports them.

Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption, and delivery model for IT services based on the Internet, and it typically involves over-the-Internet provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources. It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet. This frequently takes the form of web-based tools or applications that users can access and use through a web browser as if it were a program installed locally on their own computer.

Most cloud computing infrastructures consist of services delivered through common centers and built on servers. Clouds often appear as single points of access for consumers' computing needs. Commercial offerings are generally expected to meet quality of service (QoS) requirements of customers, and typically include service level agreements (SLAs)

The key characteristic of cloud computing is that the computing is "in the cloud" i.e. the processing (and the related data) is not in a specified, known or static place(s). This is in contrast to a model in which the processing takes place in one or more specific servers that are known. All the other concepts mentioned are supplementary or complementary to this concept.

Generally, cloud computing customers do not own the physical infrastructure, instead avoiding capital expenditure by renting usage from a third-party provider. They consume resources as a service and pay only for resources that they use. Many cloud-computing offerings employ the utility computing model, which is analogous to how traditional utility services (such as electricity) are consumed, whereas others bill on a subscription basis.

With Cloud now taking precedence over delivery of information, e-mail blasting, and the older approaches to disseminating music to the masses will dissipate over time and all those choosing to remain in the fray of the innovations that technology presents to the "New Music Industry", will more than likely still have a tremendous opportunity to capitalize as the industry continues to evolve.

Diddy-Dirty Money's 'Last Train To Paris' Hits Big Internationally

Diddy-Dirty Money's 'Last Train To Paris' album has officially pulled into European territories with its 24th Jan release and became the smash hit release of the new year.

In less than two days, the album has already made top 20 in 6 European countries. It has seen top 10 iTunes chart success as #4 in the UK, #3 in Ireland, 8 in Austria and #6 in Switzerland. 'Hello Good Morning,' the thumping single released last year, is also now certified platinum with over 1 million sold.



The debut album from the new super-group comprising of music mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs, singer-songwriter Dawn Richard (a founding member of the platinum-selling girl group Danity Kane) and songwriter Kalenna Harper (whose credits include work with music luminaries such as Jill Scott, Jennifer Lopez and Timbaland) was released in Europe via Bad Boy/Polydor Records on 24th January 2011, following its December Top 10 U.S release.

The album's latest single, 'Coming Home,' went into the Official UK Single Chart last week at number 4 and will be followed by the hotly anticipated Usher collaboration track 'Looking For L

Talib Kweli on The Music Industry, Kanye West, and New Album

From his favorite MC's of the 'new era' to his thoughts on Kanye West to what we can expect from his new album, Talib Kweli offers his thoughts on all.

Jennifer Lopez Excited About New Single And Her Long Anticipated Album

Jennifer Lopez recently spoke to MTV News about how much she emotionally connects to her new single, "On The Floor." She said that the minute producer RedOne played the track for her, she instantly loved it and made him play it 20 times in a row. "I really feel like, emotionally, I connected to it, but also because of how much I love to dance and how much that's always been such a big part of who I am since I started," J. Lo explained.

Christina Aguilera To Sing National Anthem At Super Bowl XLV

It has been confirmed that Christina Aguilera will sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl in Dallas on February 6. "I have been performing the anthem since I was seven years old and I must say the Super Bowl is a dream come true," the singer said in a statement. "I am really excited to be part of such an iconic event." Aguilera previously performed at the Super Bowl halftime show in 2000. This year, the Black Eyed Peas will do the halftime show honors.


Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Green Bay Packers Sunday, February 6, 2011 - 6:30pm ET on FOX www.nfl.com

Is Piracy Killing The Music Industry?

"A lot of people in the industry want to blame downloading for the state of the business. But I think if most music wasn't (expletive) to begin with people wouldn't be downloading it for free,." "Seriously – who wants to risk hard-earned money on music that's maybe 98 percent crap? I'm not going to. I still buy new albums, but people ask what my favorite new album is and nine times out of ten I don't have one. Music is garbage. - Slipknot's Corey Taylor

Piracy is killing music, and the music industry will never make as much money as it did back when everyone was replacing their tapes and records with compact discs, according to the latest reports. Sound cliche? Let's take a look.

I’d hate to break the news to all the suits in the music business but the CD is dying, and the album is dying with it. Sure, the true music enthusiast will appreciate the art that a well orchestrated album is, but the masses are increasingly spending their money on singles. The album has lost much of it’s appeal and function to the iPod generation.

In 2010 the UK music industry sold 161.8 million singles (digital and physical) compared to 66.9 million in 2006.

the BPI points out that album sales overall were down by 7%. Although digital album sales were up 30.6%, physical CDs were down by 12.4%.

Everyone tends to want to blame the artist, but even an indie artist gets hurt by piracy, they still at at the mercy of digital pirates on file sharing services, because they don’t have the legal backing or financial resources that a major does to go after every single violation.

Sorry but ITunes, Amazon, CD Baby, etc. still charge the artists just like a label does, yes the artists get a larger share of sales, but the total cost of promotions, marketing, manufacturing, merchandising falls on the lap of the artist, and whether or not the artist sells one cd or not, these sites still get an upload fee to their sites, and they make money off artists that have not even sold one single song or very little. So who is getting raped here?

Of course the majors are directly responsible for the digital revolution in a negative way because of their MAPS agreement in the 90′s, and instead of capitalizing off of the digital revolution, they railed against it. They are now attempting to play catch up by shutting down all the competition whether legal or illegal, so I get that one. But this argument over numbers that seem to be inflated only because most of these tech zines and sites complaining about the RIAA and piracy in itself, tend to negate the years between the numbers they usually post in these articles, does not make a legitimate argument.

In each of the past two years, the rate of increase in digital revenue has approximately halved,” reads a Times’ article. “If that trend continues, digital sales could top out at less than $5 billion this year, about a third of the overall music market but many billions of dollars short of the amount needed to replace long-gone sales of compact discs.

There are a few problems with assertions that the sky is falling where music is concerned. For starters, revenue (including services like Pandora, Spotify, YouTube) is not the same thing as sales (CDs, iTunes, Amazon), so when the Times talks about “digital music sales,” it’s leaving many of the most popular music services out of the discussion. - From Wired.com

So is that to say the numbers are being padded for digital and cd sales because music subscription services are being left out of the equation? Digital downloads in my opinion do count as a "sale", so these numbers should always be included, even if a consumer signs up for one of these music subscription sites and has free reign to download whatever they like.

Contrary to "popular belief" or whatever any industry professional or insider may be telling you, the US music industry has seen numbers fall over the past several years (http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/amplifier/70991/2010-album-sales-way-worse-than-2009-album-sales/) as compared to other countries. File sharing and piracy are not responsible for that? Ok, then who or what is, ghosts?

In a previous post I wrote about a new music service that will be offered by the major record companies in the U.S., seems they now want to jump on the digital bandwagon instead of sitting on the sidelines. Music Unlimited, which has more than 6 million songs, lets Sony Music Entertainment and partners Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group effectively cut out middle men and gives them more control over revenue. Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, which Sony unveiled in September, started in the U.K. and Ireland in December and in France, Germany, Italy and Spain this weekend.

Will this curtail piracy or help the industry salvage falling numbers? Only time will tell.

On another note, consumers(who tend to pirate on these file sharing sites) need to pipe down! You can’t get a free car, free gas, free bottled water, a free radio component system, a free stove, a free meal at your favorite 5 star restaurant, so why should you not want to pay for music that is “property” as the aforementioned items?? Bottom line, this music belongs to the artists and to the distributors that put them in the marketplace unless the artists are completely independent and not even using a digital distribution service.

Artists need to learn the business, and then they won’t be signing one sided contracts. It is quite alarming to say the least when one artist in particular, Michael Jackson owns %50 of the publishing (an artists largest source of income), of some of the world’s major artists through several of his acquisitions of music publishing catalogs. That includes The Beatles, Justine Bieber, Lady Gaga, The Black Eyed Peas, Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Rick Ross, etc., etc… In 1984 he acquired ATV’s 4000 song publishing catalog and then merged it with SONY’s music publishing wing in 1995, which has generated over a billion dollars since his untimely desmise.

LOOK AT THIS LATEST REPORT FROM THE BBC ON THE GLOBAL PUSH TO END PIRACY

Sony, Labels to Rival Apple's ITunes With Music Service

Sony Corp. and the world’s major record labels, are starting their own music streaming service in the U.S. this quarter that will challenge Apple Inc.’s iTunes, after years of letting start-ups license their artists.





Wait, stop, hold the presses!! Did I hear that correctly? The majors are finally waking up out of their technology slumber and jumping on the band wagon after years of licensing music to digital distribution start ups like Itunes, and are now launching a music site that will rival them? The industry has long struggled with how to keep up with consumer's music alternatives like Itunes, Tune Core, garage band, and numerous others, including the illegals like Lime Wire and Pirate Bay. They now may have their answer.

Music Unlimited, which has more than 6 million songs, lets Sony Music Entertainment and partners Universal Music Group, EMI Music and Warner Music Group effectively cut out middle men and gives them more control over revenue.

Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, which Sony unveiled in September, started in the U.K. and Ireland in December and in France, Germany, Italy and Spain this weekend.

The move helps record companies take on Apple’s iTunes Music Store, which in February reported its 10 billionth song download. ITunes, introduced in 2001, is the largest destination for buying music in the U.S., bigger than Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., according to researcher NPD Group Inc. As of September, the company had registered 11.7 billion downloads.

Will this finally be the solution that has evaded the majors for years? Only time and consumers will be able to tell. One thing for sure though, this will never slow piracy or new online start ups, that are now popping up like popcorn in a hot microwave. This is something the majors should have jumped on over 20 year ago, when the dawn of the digital revolution was about to bust open the doors to new horizons in the digital music landscape. They too could have been on the learning curve, instead of chasing the front runners and trying to hold on to the old broken industry model of physical distribution.

Media Broadcasting Associations

AAAA) American Association of Advertising Agencies
http://www.aaaa.org/eweb/startpage.aspx

(ABM) American Business Media
http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

(AFTRA) American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
http://www.aftra.org

(AWC) Association for Women in Communications
http://www.womcom.org

(BCCA) Broadcast Cable Credit Association
http://www.bccacredit.com

(CAB) Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau
http://www.onetvworld.org/main/index.shtml

(CBI) College Broadcasters, Inc.
http://www.askcbi.org/

(CC) Center for Communication
http://www.cencom.org

(GRHOF) The Georgia Radio Hall of Fame
http://www.grhof.com/

(IWMF) International Women's Media Foundation
http://www.iwmf.org

(IAB) Interactive Advertising Bureau
http://www.iab.net/

(MFM) Media Financial Management Association
http://www.mediafinance.org

(NABOB) National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
http://www.nabob.org/

(NAB) National Association of Broadcasters
http://www.nab.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home

(NAMIC) National Association of Multi-Ethnicity in Communications
http://www.namic.com

(NAMME) National Asssociation of Multi-Cultural Media Executives
http://www.namme.org

(NATPE) National Association of Television Program Executives
http://www.natpe.org/

(NAA) Newspaper Association of America
http://www.naa.org/

(OAAA) Outdoor Advertising Association of America
http://www.oaaa.org/

(RAB) Radio Advertising Bureau
http://www.rab.com/

(RTNDA) Radio & Television News Directors Association
http://www.rtnda.org/

(TDGA) Traffic Directors Guild of America
http://www.tdga.org/

(TVB) Television Bureau of Advertising
http://www.tvb.org/nav/build_frameset.aspx

Chinese Culture Ministry Cracks Down On Piracy (Finally)

The Chinese culture ministry has shown proof that they are willing to finally start cracking down on piracy in the country by shuttering sites that have been shown to be the biggest culprits.

They removed 100 “unauthorized" songs from music websites, including Eminem's “Cold Wind Blows," K.T. Tunstall's “Push That Knot Away" and Bruno Mars' “Grenade." Government regulating online music sharing.

The Culture Ministry said the move was about regulating online music-sharing sites and that it culled songs that lacked authorization or registration, including some by popular Chinese singers such as Jay Chou, S.H.E and Jolin Chai, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Why Learning The Business Of Music Is Key

No matter how many books, forums, or online sites that disseminate information readily to be accessed, artists today just don't seem to care about treating their music as a business first. Many are stuck in one sided contracts at the indie and major level, because they simply did not take the time to learn what they possibly could before inking that infamous deal that would bring them riches and fortune. Although I will only touch on a few areas, they are key in what any artist needs to know and understand completely.

First, publishing is not part of record sales, it is completely separate! Neither is it similar to publishing a book. Music publishing is just what it is (performance royalties from radio, television, video, movies, commercials, sheet music, etc.) which is entirely separate from record royalties! Publishing is collected from one of the several performance rights agencies (ASCAP, SESAC, BMI,etc.) and then distributed to those owners and contributors of the song itself.

PERFORMANCE RIGHTS AGENCIES WORLDWIDE - http://www.royalty-free.tv/rftv/performance_rights.htm

NMPA (National Music Publishers Association)
http://www.nmpa.org/legal/music101.asp

Second artists need to learn the business, PERIOD!

Most don't know what the 5 exclusive rights of protection in the copyright law are, what music publishing is (and that by law you don't have to give up more than 50% of it), that the distributor owes you money upfront not to be considered an advance or recoupable for mechanical royalties (royalties collected from the immediate and actual physical manufacturing of your copyrighted works at 9.1 cents X the number manufactured), etc. The Harry Fox is the largest agency for collection of mechanical royalties: http://www.harryfox.com

Numerous others as independent artists don't know that release scheduling is important because you are now competing with the majors. They don't understand that leveraging your business is highly important, and that you must register your music with BDS to track radio airplay or with Soundscan to track record sales, or join NARAS to be nominated for a Grammy, to make sure that you get in contact with a radio consultant because no matter how many dj's, music directors or program directors tell you they are in control of their station's "play list', they are not telling the truth, because the majority of stations now belong to a broadcasting company network and must go through a corporate board that gets it's suggestions from a radio consultant (wonder why all stations sound the same now?).

United States Broadcasting Companies: http://www.rbr.com/broadcasting-companies.html

BDS & Sound Scan: http://www.nielsen.com/content/corporate/global/en.html

The internet is a viable tool, and should be utilized to leverage your business so that you will be able to fully benefit from it.

The majority of artists find themselves in what is called a "non-recoupable" status in the industry today. What this means is that the artist is responsible for whatever costs are incurred by the distributor and record label. So let's say an advance of 1 million dollars is given to the artist, then 2-3 million dollars is put of for marketing, promotions, advertising, and tour support (mini tours and in-store appearances to help support the pending release of an album and build the artist's buzz), then another 1-2 million is put into the creation of the videos, branding materials, etc., the distributor and record label would first need to recoup all costs from whatever they spent, and only then would the artist be able to earn any money from the sale of their music. The artists would need to sell a ton of albums and digital downloads in order to recoup what was spent, but the sad thing is that most don't or ever will, because the same process goes through for each consecutive album that they are contracted for.

One more tragic scenario is that a lot of artists don't even own the masters to their music, or even the publishing, or have such a small interest in it because they didn't take the time to find out what it is. Michael Jackson through several business deals and acquisitions (ATV, Pye Records, Baby Mae Music, Acuff-Rose, Dial Records, Four Star Records, Challenge Records, Famous Music, etc), owns a large majority of the publishing or a large stake in it of some of the biggest artists today, which includes a list of who's who in the music industry: The Beatles, Lady Gaga, Willie Nelson, Charlie Pride, The Back Street Boys, Eminem, Rick Ross, Justin Timberlake, Gretchen Wilson, Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, The Everly Brothers, Jay-Z, Lil Kim, Flo Rida, India Arie, Hillary Duff, Gorillaz, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez, Patsy Cline, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Tim McGraw, Jonas Brothers, etc. etc. Besides his genius as a performer, composer and writer, this displays Jackson's desire to be the best in business by asking what was needed to know for him to succeed through Paul McCartney, Berry Gordy and others in his circle. All artists should strive to be the busineman that Jackson certainly was. http://www.sonyatv.com/

No person or entity, other than the copyright owner, can use or employ the music for gain without obtaining a license from the composer/songwriter.
Inherently, as copyright, it confers on its owner, a distinctive 'bundle' of five exclusive rights:

(a) to make copies of the songs through print or recordings
(b) to distribute them to the public for profit
(c) to the 'public performance right'; live or through a recording
(d) to create a derivative work to include elements of the original music; and
(e) to 'display' it (not very relevant in context).

Where the score and the lyric of a composition are contributions of different persons, each of them is an equal owner of such rights.
These exclusivities have led to the evolution of distinct commercial terminology used in the music industry.

They take four forms:
(1) royalties from 'print rights'
(2) mechanical royalties from the recording of composed music on CDs and tape
(3) performance royalties from the performance of the compositions/songs on stage or television through artists and bands, and
(4) synch (for synchronization) royalties from using or adapting the musical score
in the movies, television advertisements, etc. and with the advent of the internet, an additional set of royalties has come into play: the digital rights from simulcasting, webcasting, streaming, downloading, and online "on-demand service.

If more artists would first learn the business than having the burning desire to be famous first, then a lot of "one sided" contracts would not exist in the music industry. They would then have more leveraging power through them already securing the rights to their music by completely protecting it, and the rights to their "brand" by trademarking their name and image before stepping to a major label. No major distributor (EMI, WEA, SONY, UNIVERSAL) or any of the record labels they distribute (Tommy Boy, Bad Boy, Def Jam, Cash Money, Maverick, Road Runner, etc.) holds a gun to these artists heads and make them sign on the dotted line without understanding what they are signing. Then most get their family members, friends and "homies" to represent them as personal managers, and they too have no clue as to what the artist may be signing and agreeing to.

Third, the entire infrastructure of the business is broken due to the MAPS agreement made between what was then 6 major distributors to level the median price of the compact disc, but the FCC caught them in price gouging and forced them to abandon it, but by then it was too late. The internet and various technologies P2P, etc., had already infiltrated the market place, and the rising cost of music forced the hands of these new technologies and consumers began to pirate, trade and exchange files over the net, while at the same time the majors railed against the digital revolution instead of embracing it. They too had the same opportunity to get on the learning curve and be ahead of these file sharing sites but instead chose to sit back and let it blossom into what it has become today. They definitely would have not stopped all piracy, but they could have curtailed it tremendously by being more fair and competitive with the pricing of their products. This has directly affected the traditional radio industry, the physical retail market, and several sub industries formerly supported by the success of the music business as a whole.

Fourth, the RIAA is not to blame here. It is acting as a union should, to protect it's members, just like the Teamsters, the Screen Actors Guild, The UAW, etc., that stand as a direct representative for it's members rights. Bottom line, you can't go into Sears and get a free appliance, you can't walk into McDonalds and get a free meal, you can't go to your dentist and get a free cleaning, or to your doctor and get free surgery, you can't go into a car dealership and drive out with a free car, so why should you be entitled to receive free music unless it is part of a promotion? Just as you would hurt the employees and the executives at the aforementioned companies and industries, so you do the same to these artists, executives and their individual families because they are depending on the sale of music to take care of their responsibilities.

Even the RIAA admits that the decrease in record sales can't be attributed wholly to P2P sites: http://www.zeropaid.com/news/91984/riaa-admits-p2p-not-solely-to-blame-for-decreased-music-sales/ We are in one of the worst economic times in the history of this country over the past several years, but don't think for one second that P2P sites have not put a dent in the business, because they have.

Fifth, the big problem that the industry faces today is the sudden exodus of brand-name artists away from the traditional recording companies. The digital revolution has opened up more avenues for artists today, that already have a brand name. In the case of both Prince and Radiohead, they have made inroads on how to survive and prosper without depending on the wings of a major distributor. Their business models that were launched by them, have been a guide for all artists to follow or at least gain some insight on how to conquer the marketplace without the "eyes" of a major hovering over all facets of your music business career. Record companies have always depended on the revenue and cash flow generated from platinum-selling artists to finance new talent. If that revenue stream disappears, how can they compete with the new digital technologies that are already here and on the horizon?

You do not get into a for profit industry just to be a provider of "free services", you get into a for profit industry because it is what you chose to do with your life, as these individual artists chose to be in the business of music, and you want to make a good living at it. Bills do not pay themselves, and no matter how creative an artist may claim to be, trust that they want to earn a living at what they are doing.

Sixth, sorry but most of these digital distribution sites are collecting royalties and charging upload fees to a large majority of artists that actually never even break even in what may have cost them 'out of pocket' to launch their music business. The CEO's and founders of these online entities have gone on to become multi millionaires while most artists still struggle to make a living with their music. For instance, the artists distributed to iTunes by these online merchants, make more per download than ANY major label artist ever will and are happy for it. However its a volume game and 100 downloads will not pay the bill no matter how high the royalties are. So you still need to be known and loved by a substantial amount of people before the fact that your song is “For sale on iTunes” is going to make a difference to your Wallet. Also, the advantage of releasing in a digital platform like iTunes is the lack of prints and advertising costs, not to mention distribution. Distributors are immediately reimbursed for their costs before skimming the remaining gross for overhead and profit. Self-pressed CDs would all still have the same expenses, one way or another, however the disadvantage is the same, because as previously stated you still need to account for some form of advertising and promotion, and just doing it on Face Book, My Space, You Tube, etc.. just isn't going to cut it, especially when you are still competing against the juggernaut of the major distributors. Not saying that it isn't possible to earn a living, but it won't be a field of roses either.

The revenue per fan is clearly higher, the more direct the relationship is with the fan. The argument for an artist right now is about reaching new fans, more fans, online fans, other bands' fans that have a similar brand or music. Yet, too often the chase is on for transient fans, those that tend to be band wagon jumpers and more than likely account for the majority of P2P sharing and piracy. Instead the focus should be on building long term relationships with those who have shown interest in the music – loyal fans, not transient ones.

Linkin Park To Give Free Download To Concertgoers Of Concert They Attend in 2011 Tour

Linkin Park will offer every concertgoer on the band's 2011 North American tour a complimentary download of the live recording of the show they attend. Fans will simply send a text to a short code that will be displayed at each venue, and a link to the download will be emailed to them following the concert. "The energy we get from our fans is what makes a great show," says bassist Dave 'Phoenix' Farrell. "We wanted to show our appreciation by giving that experience back to them." Linkin Park kick off their 2011 tour on January 20 in Sunrise, FL.

Rumor Mill: Will Smith Pegged To Be Judge On Cowell's "X-Factor" In U.S.

Rumor not yet verified: Will Smith will reportedly be a judge on Simon Cowell's X-Factor talent show, when it debuts in the U.S. later this year. The story comes from London's Daily Mirror. Smith hasn't starred in a film since 2008's Seven Pounds, and instead has concentrated on his two children's burgeoning careers..

Leaked Songs At The Top of 2011 (The Majors Did It) Pt. 2

In a previous post (the last one of 2010), I wrote on the leaks of numerous artists by the majors, and it seems that trend has not stopped in 2011. Now whether or not the both of these artists are aware of the leaks or actually engineered the leaks themselves, 2011 seems like another big year for leaks to lead the way for the promotion of albums as a means to "test" the records before the album comes out to see if a tweak or two needs to be made.

On Thursday, December 30, 2011, the Eminem track "Difficult" surfaced on the Web, in which he dedicates the majority of the song about his relationship with Proof, and the remainder of the song over his controversial death in a Detroit night club in 2006.

LEAK LINK: http://www.mediafire.com/?retcyaxdia3eyzr

In the second leak of either a suspected single also leaked on Thursday, December 30, 2011, "Take You Down" produced by the Neptunes, from Justin Timberlake's long anticipated album, or just a demo of one of his many collaborations with fellow artists in the biz, Timberlake claims that he hasn't been working on any material, because he has long said that he wasn't ready to do another album, but it's strange that this would leak at the end of 2010 going into the new year, especially when numerous labels are readying their release schedules for the first quarter of the 2011. In my opinion it sounds like a rough demo that may have been left over from one of his previous albums, Justified, and Future Sex/Love Sounds, but never made the cut to be placed on the album.

LEAK LINK: http://www.mediafire.com/?51utm2rqh63iuei