World Music

Indie community welcomes Warner’s Parlophone acquisition Feb. 7, 2013 - From Complete Music Update Even though the remaining EMI assets have gone to another major label, the indie community – much of which opposed the sale of the EMI businesses to Sony and Universal – has generally welcomed today’s news that Warner Music is to acquire the Parlophone Label Group. Indie support for the deal is based on the principle that a stronger Warner will provide more competition for the two mega-majors – Sony and Universal. - See more at: http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/article/indie-community-welcomes-warners-parlophone-acquisition/#sthash.iyFrB8he.dpuf Read More: http://www.thecmuwebsite.com/article/indie-community-welcomes-warners-parlophone-acquisition/

Could Amazon sell secondhand digital music? By Tom Pakinkis - February 11, 2013 - From Music Week A patent for re-selling digital content has been granted to online retailer Amazon. The patent describes a service similar to ReDigi in the US, which has raised copyright concerns with Capitol Records accusing the company of infringement . The Amazon patent , which was filed in 2009 but granted last month, covers “digital objects including e-books, audio, video, computer applications etc” and could be implemented “when the user no longer desires to retain the right to access the now-used digital content. “The user may move the used digital content to another user’s personalised data store when permissible and the used digital content is deleted from the originating user’s personalised data store,” it says. The mechanism could be problematic for rights holders, if they are left out of the loop when it comes to gaining revenue from second-hand digital sales, which could cannibalise sales at ...

Warner Music Group Buys EMI Assets for $765 Million By Ben Sisario - February 7, 2013 - From NY Times Media Decoder Blog The Warner Music Group, the smallest of the three remaining major record companies, said on Thursday that it had reached an agreement to pay $765 million for the Parlophone Label Group, a collection of EMI assets that includes artists like Coldplay, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys. The sale was mandated by European regulators as part of the Universal Music Group’s $1.9 billion purchase of EMI last year. “This is a very important milestone for Warner Music, reflecting our commitment to artist development by strengthening our worldwide roster, global footprint and executive talent,” Len Blavatnik, the founder of Access Industries , Warner’s parent company, said in a statement. The Parlophone group consists of EMI’s Parlophone, Chrysalis and other labels, along with EMI subsidiary companies across Europe. Universal will retain EMI’s Capitol and Virgin labels, including a...

Source: Warner Music Group "Will Be Scrutinized" by European Regulators By Paul Resnikoff - Feb. 7, 2013 - From Digital Music News So what's the difference between a Warner Music Group and a Universal Music Group, anyway? In the eyes of European regulators, the answer might be 'not much,' which is why according to a pair of sources, Warner Music's now-confirmed, £487 million ($762 million) purchase of Parlophone Label Group is likely to get a stringent review or even a direct challenge from the European Commission in Brussels. Read More: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130207eu

David Israelite We Need Strong Copyright Laws Now More Than Ever By David Israelite, the president and chief executive of the National Music Publishers’ Association Feb. 4, 2013 - From Forbes Life’s tough when you’re the Consumer Electronics Association and you have to deal with . . . songwriters. In a recent Forbes.com article written by CEA’s leader Gary Shapiro , the National Music Publishers’ Association is named as part of a “huge well-funded army of lobbyists whose sole purpose is to convince Congress that the interests of the massive content companies are more important than the interests of artists, musicians, innovators and ordinary people.” I’ll let the facts speak for themselves. The NMPA represents songwriters and music publishers. Most of our members are small businesses. In fact, many are a business of one. And NMPA works on their behalf to protect and advance music copyrights both here and abroad. Copyrights that ensure songwriters can pay rent, buy food, and cover med...

Google Just Eliminated The Difference Between Desktop And Mobile Ads By Owen Thomas - Feb. 6, 2013 - From Business Insider If you buy ads on Google , you may soon be a mobile advertiser — whether you like it or not. And you could be paying for the privilege. Google just announced that it is "enhancing" and "upgrading" AdWords for a world where people increasingly use mobile devices. The changes will take place by the middle of this year. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-blends-desktop-and-mobile-ads-2013-2#ixzz2KA52owdo

Telecom Corporations Are Trying To Stop The Government From Offering Free 'Super Wi-Fi' By Walter Hickey - Feb. 4, 2013 - From Business Insider The $178 billion telecom industry is scrambling to kill a government plan to provide free "super Wi-Fi" across the country, The Washington Post's Cecilia Kang reports . Although the Federal Communications Commission's plan has been talked about for years , it got a boost last week with a lobbying campaign from the tech industry. Google and Microsoft told the FCC that additional public Wi-Fi would spur "millions of de­vices that will compose the coming Internet of things," a resounding early endorsement of the nascent policy proposal. The wireless industry responded with a fierce and well-funded campaign to kill the proposal. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fcc-government-public-wifi-networks-2013-2#ixzz2KA2Tqfv6

Nearly 50 Percent of Kickstarter Donations Come from Just 3 Percent of Fans By Paul Resnikoff - Jan. 31, 2013 - From Digital Music News The strange stat comes from Derrick Fung of Tunezy, a startup focused on helping artists sell unique experiences to fans. Tunezy is sort of like Kickstarter, but without the bidding and fundraising part . Which means that Fung has been spending a lot of time breaking down the typical types of contributors on Kickstarter, and figuring out how they behave. Eventually, Fung started noticing three distinct types of contributors, which he tagged as whales, dolphins, and minnows. Whales are just a tiny minority, but when it comes to donations, they are actually incredibly hefty. "Two- to three-percent of whales contribute about 40- to 50-percent of donations," Fung told us. Read More: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130130kickstarter

1 In Every 43 Venture Capital Dollars Is Now Flowing Into Music... By Paul Resnikoff January 22, 2013 From Digital Music News Is this a simple case of dumb money, or the beginnings of a totally new industry? Because for all the collapse and total devaluation being experienced by the music industry, there are still plenty of people willing to gamble. That is, to the tune of roughly $621 million in 2012 alone according to Digital Music News stats, which now turns out to be roughly 1 in 43 dollars committed by the broader VC investment community last year. The math is a little rough, but the conclusion pretty stunning. According to figures just released by PricewaterhouseCoopers, Thomson Reuters, National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), total financing across all sectors topped $26.5 billion in 2012. That was a drop of 10 percent, the first fall in three years, yet music jumped a healthy 34 percent. Read More: http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/20130122investment