Island Def Jam is taking the marriage of music and brand partnership to the next level – the result:
Mariah Carey’s “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” to be released on Sept. 15, which will feature a 34-page mini magazine co-produced with Elle. The magazine will include the usual liner notes and lyrics, in addition to AD SPACE for:
Elizabeth Arden,
Angel Champagne,
Carmen Steffen’s, Le Métier de Beauté
the Bahamas Board of Tourism.
It is believed that if this go well, label Island Def Jam will do similar booklet deals for Rihanna, Bon Jovi, Kanye West and others.
According to reports, WalMart has committed to merchandise Carey’s new CD alongside her signature Arden fragrance just outside the music aisle, as well as, display them together in the beauty department.
I like the idea but I just hope that this doesn’t mean that she’ll have to incorporate jingles in her performances (as some have done in order to secure sponsorship) or that we’ll be bombarded by ads from partner companies on her website!!!
The Product Life Cycle has been used as a model for marketing execs for years. They use this model to describe the general course that sales and profits for particular products (such as an album, artists, music genre and even product classes -Vinyl, Cassette, CDs, DVDs) will follow.
But I think that this cycle speaks volumes to players outside of the marketing department.
So I have a question and I’m hoping that you’ll share your thoughts.
If the product life cycle is shaped like a bell curve (below) what decisions should a good manager make on behalf of their artist to ensure that the opportunities that present themselves between introduction and decline are maximized?
Music 2.0 has resulted in a burgeoning class of musicians around the world who are now being referred to as the ‘Musical Middle class’ – artists who now have the power to create and distribute their product across various niche markets that were previously largely controlled by media corporations and record labels. These artists are able to produce music without the help of a major record label.
(Source: Hypebot contributor Kyle Bylin)
But the ‘Musical Middle class’ is by no means new to the Caribbean, in fact our music industry has always had a musical middle class, whether the genre is reggae, dancehall or soca, our artists have always had to create product without the support of that “big check” from a major label. The difference between this growing middle class around the world and the class that has always existed in the Caribbean is the use of technology to exploit the product.
What I mean by that is the ability of indie bands to distribute their music efficiently through aggregators such as TuneCore and The Orchard, secure gigs and tours through sites such as Sonic Bids, and utilize sites such as Taxi for Publishing. Somehow artists outside of the Caribbean (and especially in the US and UK) have come to trust these mediums, but in the Caribbean we have not been as trusting and have been slow in embracing the power of the internet to deliver our product globally.
This is where our musical middle class has fallen short. We have always had product but have failed to exploit independent channels for distribution, marketing, etc. This is one of the things that may affect the ability of the Caribbean artist to benefit from the major shifts in the marketplace.
As digital continues to drive change in the industry will we be able to keep up or will or musical middle class remain ready with content but nowhere to go?
Jamaican superstar Diana King is among the many celebrities influenced by pop icon, Michael Jackson. After hearing of his passing, she was compelled to express her emotions in song, creating MI-CHA-EL right from her laptop while watching CNN in disbelief.
Diana who is famous for several chart toppers including Say A Little Prayer, the infectious L-L-Lies, and Shy Guy from the Bad Boys soundtrack has truly created a sincere and honest tribute to the King of Pop.
The lyrics are quite touching, as Diana coos about missing MJ and his music over a lush mid-tempo production.
The song was written and produced by King and has been available on www.myspace.com/kingsinga and www.reverbnation.com/dianaking for free download since June 26th, the day after Michael’s death. MI-CHA-EL may in fact be the first song created in honor of Michael Jackson since his passing.
“What’s the point of getting an education when you want to pursue a career in entertainment?”
If an individual is poised to seriously pursue a career in the entertainment industry, it only makes sense to go to school to get certified or to get a degree in the area of interest (that’s what you have to do in other industries right?). But ever so often I encounter persons (primarily from the Caribbean and ESPECIALLY within the entertainment fraternity) who impress upon me this “truth” that they hold dear:
“YUH NUH AFFI GO A SCHOOL FI DO ENTATAINMENT”
Imagine being ridiculed by your fellow colleagues for having a degree in music business or entertainment!
Yes, I am all too familiar with it.
It’s frustrating to explain to these folks that having a deeper appreciation for the “business” of entertainment will only make you a more marketable across what is undoubtedly a GLOBAL industry. Degrees of this nature expose you to essential areas of the business such as:
Intellectual Property Rights
Contract Law
Strategic Branding
Licensing and Publishing
Touring
Artist/Band Management
Marketing
Business Development
Today I am sitting in a lecture hall at Berklee College in Boston for their Business of Music workshop.
Three things struck me:
1. Just how internationally diverse the attendees are - Jamaica, Venezuela, Portugal, Russia, Mexico, Italy, the US
2. Average age – 17 – 25 years. There are high school seniors here who are assessing options for colleges and so many of them are not just interested in music (in terms of playing an instrument) but are genuinely interested in learning about the MUSIC BUSINESS. They actually recognize the importance of being qualified in their field of interest.
*Note that there were some persons there who were musicians and solo artists but they were aware of the dangers of being uniformed and so they came to the Berklee workshop to get insight into the business of music (because of course they see it as a BUSINESS).
3. The presenters and lectures are all industry professionals who have under their belts not only years of experience but have a collection of credentials from B.M’s, B.A’s, D. Phil, M.A, J.D, B.S and so many others all focused in the area of music and business.
It’s unfortunate that after half a century of music pouring out of Jamaica there are possibly only about 2 or 3 people with degrees in music business or entertainment business. Very unfortunate! What this means is that many of our industry players have simply learnt from experience. While this is not all bad, it has contributed to the perpetuation of a “yuh nuh need fi go a school fi entatainment” culture.
Will we be able to compete with countries who are encouraging students from the high school level to seriously consider careers in Music Business? The only performing arts institution in the Caribbean region only recently started to offer courses in the business of music. This is a big step forward but how long will we take to catch up?
I don’t want to sound pessimistic but if the existing disconnect continues in the Caribbean entertainment industry we will see much more than the deterioration in music quality. It will affect our ability to sufficiently prepare our people to compete and function in a dynamic, globalized, technologically savy industry.
That’s what Simone says…
See what Don Gorder, chair and founder of the Music Business/Management Department at Berklee College of Music says…
If you are a music lover who uses iTunes (whether its because you own an “iProduct,” use iTunes to purchase music or both), this note is for you.
POINT 1
In Sept. 2008, Steve Jobs announced the update to iTunes 8, cleverly called “GENIUS.”
DAVID SILVERBERG who covered the story for Digital Journal back in 08 reported that “the tool recommends song to you when you are listening or searching for artists and will “let you look at anything graphically in little tiles.” During a demonstration at the press conference, Steve Jobs (while on stage), “listened to John Mayer, clicked the Genius button and the tool automatically made a playlist consisting of similar artists — Journey, James Blunt, The Fray.”
Niffty right?
Well, Apple’s press release on Genius went into more detail:
“When you turn on iTunes 8’s new Genius feature, information about your music library is anonymously sent to the iTunes Store, where it is combined with the anonymously-gathered knowledge from millions of other iTunes users and processed through Apple-developed algorithms.
Notice anything? Hold on to that point.
POINT 2
More recently, Apple announced that Apple TuneUp, (the iTunes add-on that updates and cleans music metadata), has been revamped and is now being stocked at Apple Stores across the United States (and is also available online) for US$29.95.
Digital Music News reported that the:
“The iTunes plug-in scrubs collections by replacing, completing, or otherwise improving song information. The underlying file itself is changed, and metadata components like album art are also added. TuneUp identifies the song fingerprint, and then compares the results to a massive Gracenote database to update the file.”
DISCUSSION POINT
On April 1, 2009, Apple converted its entire musical catalogue to Digital Rights Management (DRM) free tracks. This means that once you purchase a track on iTunes, you CAN SHARE it (burn cds and pass it on, etc), which we we could not do before.
In a March 2009 article printed in MacWorld, (iTunes DRM-free music: What you need to know) reference was made to the fact that although you can now basically purchase a song from iTunes and post it on a file sharing network for 50 other persons to download, iTUNES EMBEDS YOUR ITUNES ID IN EVERY ITUNES FILE YOU DOWNLOAD, SO IT’S EASY TO SEE WHO BOUGHT THE FILE ORIGINALLY
I guess by now you’ve figured out what will happen to the “original purchaser.”
So how can Apple get rid of DRM but still have an element of control over “piracy” and file sharing? Maybe the answer lies in DIGITAL FINGERPRINTING.
Could Apple’s hidden agenda involve offering software such as Tune Up and Genius to consumers as a way of policing those who “share” music? There have been numerous copyright infringement cases filed against ordinary consumers of music led by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and major record labels in the name of the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act (1999).
It seems as if Apple (which controls at least 20% of the music retail market via iTunes) may be playing a role with the big dogs as it relates to policing file sharing.
Only 5 days ago, Moconews reported that “a carrier partnership for Comes With Music on the 5800 may provide the much-needed boost that the unlimited music service needs and would finally lay rest to what exactly held the service back.”
Four hours ago, news services in the UK reported Orange and Nokia’s announcement that they will start
Nokia’s ‘Comes With Music’ service exclusively for Orange customers on the Nokia 5800.
According to their release, this service offers access to the Nokia Music Store, which has over 6 million tracks DRM free!
Orange will now feature the Comes With Music on the Nokia 5800 across a collection of monthly price plans and upgrades it from Friday 29th May 2009.
Orange will be the only UK network to offer the Comes With Music service and will do so across five ‘Comes With Music’ price plans. The Orange package not only includes Nokia 5800 ‘Comes With Music’ handset and unlimited music downloads but also inclusive calls and texts will be offered on 24-month contracts, with each available from Orange on the high street (Orange retail and P4U) online and via telesales.
Speaking on the announcement, Francois Mahieu, Director of Devices for Orange UK, commented, “We’re extremely excited about being the exclusive UK operator to offer Comes With Music on the Nokia 5800. We are always looking for ways to remove the barriers that stand between our customers and the things they love and believe that by offering this service, we are able to do just that.”
Unlimited free tracks can be downloaded from the Nokia Music Store to users’ PC for transfer to their Orange Nokia 5800 ‘Comes With Music’ handset, once users have signed up. At standard mobile data prices, downloading tracks ‘over the air’ via users’ handset will also be a possibility.
Consumers can download unlimited music for the length of the two-year contract and can retain that music once that duration ends.
Nokia Comes with Music was launched in the US earlier this year, news of its performance in this market has gone unnoticed. Hopefully we will get some news on this soon.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sony Music Entertainment is suing smaller rival EMI Music and one of its executives after he allegedly broke his promise to join Sony on a new $3 million contract.
The suit alleges that Ron Werre used his deal with Sony as leverage in negotiating a promotion at EMI.
Sony charged that Werre, who had been EMI’s president of music services, agreed in February to join Sony on a three-year deal after his contract expired in 2010, according to documents filed at the Supreme Court of New York.
But last week EMI announced it had promoted Werre to the position of chief operating officer of its North American business. Sony immediately filed suit.
Sony, home to acts like Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen and Kelly Clarkson, said it had intended to appoint Werre as its new president of commercial music and had already fired the incumbent president in anticipation of the appointment.
“Werre never intended to fulfill his contractual obligations to Sony Music, but was merely using his contract with Sony Music as a stalking horse to solicit a more lucrative contract from EMI with enhanced job responsibilities,” the suit said.
Sony, the world’s second largest music company, claims EMI was aware of its plans to hire Werre. It charged that after Werre had agreed to join Sony, EMI contacted Sony Music Chief Executive Officer Rolf Schmidt-Holtz asking for Werre’s new contract to be scrapped.
It said around the same time Werre himself informed another executive at Sony that he had changed his mind and would stay with EMI under a new contract. Sony also names Werre in the lawsuit.
London-based EMI is the fourth largest music company in the world and is home to acts like Coldplay, Kylie Minogue and the Beatles. It is owned by UK private equity firm Terra Firma.
EMI and Sony’s other major rivals include Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, the largest music company and Warner Music Group.
(Reporting by Yinka Adegoke; Editing by Richard Chang)
A RECENT REPORT BY Comscore Media Metrix, state that the sites listed below are the most visited music sites on the internet (measured by unigue monthly visitors in April, 2009)
1. AOL Music (28,634,778)
2. MySpace Music (27,423,200)
3. Yahoo Music (20,578,092)
4. MTV Networks Music (18,543,442)
5. ArtistDirect Network (12,193,996)
6. MSN Music (7,352,016)
7. Jango Music Network (6,921,809)
8. Universal Music Group (6,240,440)
9. Imeem (6,162,165)
10. Project Playlist (6,043,186)
11. Rhapsody (6,014,385)
12. Sony Music (3,900,618)
13. Lyricsmode (3,804,775)
14. Last.fm (3,740,479)
15. Windows Music (3,054,952)
Hmmmm no Pandora, Reverb, iLike…
**Comscore provides syndicated and custom solutions in online audience measurement, e-commerce, advertising, search, video and mobile and offers dedicated analysts with digital marketing and vertical-specific industry expertise. Advertising agencies, publishers, marketers and financial analysts turn to comScore for the industry-leading solutions needed to craft successful digital, marketing, sales, product development and trading strategies.
If you are a music lover who uses iTunes (whether its because you own an “iProduct,” use iTunes to purchase music or both), this note is for you.
Four hours ago, news services in the UK reported Orange and Nokia’s announcement that they will start
