Post by kim on Apr 16, 2006 8:34:53 GMT -5
I guess I should look into purchasing a cell phone so I can buy
music...
In a world where the music business has experienced a seismic shift over the last few years comes the world’s first single that can only be downloaded to a cell phone.
A British group called Planet Funk plans to release a new tune called “Stop Me” on May 8th. The gimmick: you can’t buy it in a record store on CD, you can’t get it through a file sharing service and it’s not available on iTunes.
Only one mobile phone operator in Great Britain will offer it to their customers for a slight fee. But the song can be transferred to a computer and then to a separate MP3 player so buyers don’t have to pay for it twice.
So is this the beginning of a trend or simply a promotional gimmick? The answer to that first question may depend on how well the second query is addressed by subscribers to the cell service.
Online sales are becoming a huge factor in the music industry as it desperately struggles to keep up with technology.
And Britain seems to be leading the way in figuring out where it could all go. Consider what’s happened there in the past few months alone.
The Internet-only group Arctic Monkeys became the first band in history to reach number one after launching themselves solely on the worldwide web without a record deal.
A singer named Sandi Thom landed a music contract by performing a series of highly regarded live concerts over a webcam from the basement of her apartment in her Wales. Some 162,000 people viewed her work on the Internet, leading RCA/Sony BMG to become interested and sign her to a deal earlier this month.
Downloads are now being incorporated into the British music chart rankings.
And even Billboard, the Bible of the music industry, will issue a new chart of its own this summer, listing the top master ringtones on its famous pages.
What does all this mean to the music industry? They’re not quite sure. But every step forward for one area seems to portend at least one step back for someone else.
Mobile phone companies make money every time you download a tune. Record stores don’t.
File sharing has become the scourge of the industry, cheating the huge music conglomerates out of profits.
And musicians are finding ways to bypass the biggest players and bring their songs to the public without agents, contracts and lost royalties getting in the way.
It’s hard to say what the future may look like. But one thing’s almost certain – it won’t resemble anything that’s come before.
Or as Planet Funk member Alex Neri puts it about his group's cell phone only singles launch, “People’s musical habits are changing and millions of people now effectively have a record shop in their pocket 24 hours a day.”
His band’s tune may be called “Stop Me”. But it’s quickly becoming apparent that in a world of new technology, nothing will be able to.
April 13, 2006
Thanks
Kim
music...
In a world where the music business has experienced a seismic shift over the last few years comes the world’s first single that can only be downloaded to a cell phone.
A British group called Planet Funk plans to release a new tune called “Stop Me” on May 8th. The gimmick: you can’t buy it in a record store on CD, you can’t get it through a file sharing service and it’s not available on iTunes.
Only one mobile phone operator in Great Britain will offer it to their customers for a slight fee. But the song can be transferred to a computer and then to a separate MP3 player so buyers don’t have to pay for it twice.
So is this the beginning of a trend or simply a promotional gimmick? The answer to that first question may depend on how well the second query is addressed by subscribers to the cell service.
Online sales are becoming a huge factor in the music industry as it desperately struggles to keep up with technology.
And Britain seems to be leading the way in figuring out where it could all go. Consider what’s happened there in the past few months alone.
The Internet-only group Arctic Monkeys became the first band in history to reach number one after launching themselves solely on the worldwide web without a record deal.
A singer named Sandi Thom landed a music contract by performing a series of highly regarded live concerts over a webcam from the basement of her apartment in her Wales. Some 162,000 people viewed her work on the Internet, leading RCA/Sony BMG to become interested and sign her to a deal earlier this month.
Downloads are now being incorporated into the British music chart rankings.
And even Billboard, the Bible of the music industry, will issue a new chart of its own this summer, listing the top master ringtones on its famous pages.
What does all this mean to the music industry? They’re not quite sure. But every step forward for one area seems to portend at least one step back for someone else.
Mobile phone companies make money every time you download a tune. Record stores don’t.
File sharing has become the scourge of the industry, cheating the huge music conglomerates out of profits.
And musicians are finding ways to bypass the biggest players and bring their songs to the public without agents, contracts and lost royalties getting in the way.
It’s hard to say what the future may look like. But one thing’s almost certain – it won’t resemble anything that’s come before.
Or as Planet Funk member Alex Neri puts it about his group's cell phone only singles launch, “People’s musical habits are changing and millions of people now effectively have a record shop in their pocket 24 hours a day.”
His band’s tune may be called “Stop Me”. But it’s quickly becoming apparent that in a world of new technology, nothing will be able to.
April 13, 2006
Thanks
Kim
