“I think the ringtone business is in peril now because the operators have allowed into the market mobile phones which can sideload MP3s and use them as ringtones.” - Article in The Guardian via Coolfer
CD sales are still dropping as well:
“This decline is steeper than we expected, but in some ways it means we’ll get to the bottom faster, and after that there’s growth.” Warner Music Group Chairman Edgar Bronfman, Jr.*
Edgar Bronfman, Jr. has a funny way of understanding the ongoing CD sales plunge - Wired
His Solution:
“We’re going to be putting out video and ringtones and ringback tones, then connecting them to blogs and ticketing opportunities when the artist goes on tour, merchandising, you name it.” -
Edgar Bronfman, Jr. from *Digital Music News via Wired
Chris McCluskey has left Halifax for the _______ of Toronto but he still has his blog up and on it an impressive listing of links [see his sidebar] for local artists one should consider exploring.
And Jonny Stevens has so much happening right now he gets his own post
Reports on the Day of Silence, Podcasting Legal Guide, Video Games vs. Music, RIAA gets a Taste of their own Medicine, and Britain vs. Canada in CD Sales
His new music video for the single STARTING OVER has been added to MUCH MUSIC’s indie spotlight with more rotation to come this week. It was shot in Toronto with director Sean Wainsteim in April and he’s really glad to see that they have picked up on the tune.
In other video related news the video is the featured music video on www.cravefest.com, a music festival website dedicated to great indie music videos. Please take a second to vote for Jonny’s new video and hopefully win him a spot on this years festival in Toronto in August.
It is also available on Itunes and most other digital download sites.
In other news:
I’m going to be releasing a FREE EP with priority going to you folks first in the coming months. It will include 3 new studio tracks featuring my backing band the Racket with two live tracks recorded on our recent tour at the Red Rooster in Burlington, Ontario.
Finally I’ve got some shows coming up over the summer like Privateers Festival in Liverpool, NS and the Capitol in Fredericton, NB. I’m really excited about my show at the Abbey Lounge in Boston, MASS on July 7th not only because i’m playing with Ducky Boys frontman Mark Lind but because the next day I set sail from Marblehead, Mass back to Halifax on my now annual rock and roll voyage. I’ve got a boat full of musicians and i’ll be sure to post some photos and stories once I arrive home again.
Thats about it for now, thanks for tuning in and take a second if you don’t mind to vote for the single at www.eastcoastcountdown.com.
Halifaxlocals comes through with a amazingly on topic thread filled with great advice from many of the scene’s veterans [and not so veterans] on tackling touring.
make a phone list with all your venues/ contact people. Leave one copy at home with someone you can call in an emergency, and then take another copy with you. Keep it in one place, and call your contacts about a day before your arrival to confirm your show and get any special instructions about where to go or when to arrive.
Bring sleeping bags!
Unless you are making alot of money you’re gonna be sleeping at friends houses and the kind of people who have strangers in bands crash at their houses aren’t usually that clean but if you have your own sleeping bag you don’t have to worry about what you’re sleeping in. Also it makes the sharing a hotel bed with another dude thing less awkward.
Another thing no one has talked about is promoting on the road. Clubs and promoters usually don’t do shit to promote a show [more in the thread…]
Pack light. You really don’t need to take a lot of clothes, because you’re probably gonna just end up wearing the same pair of pants and 2 or 3 shirts repeatedly anyway.
Groceries over restaurants, as stated previously. Your body and budget will thank you. [My suggestion on this one - mini-table top BBQs]
Don’t whine and don’t be the odd man out. If 4/5 of your posse want to eat at a restaurant with slim vegan pickings, suck it up and order fries. Avoid any activity that puts you at odds with the majority, as you’re basically volunteering to be the band whipping boy. No one wants to be that guy. Minimize the impact of your quirks/lifestyle choices/anal retentiveness/etc on your traveling companions.
Have time to yourself OR Make sure everyone has some “alone” time so you don’t wind up killing each other. OR when you can get alone time, take it!!
Get the hint, this could keep your band going
RE: The above point - Be considerate. Be attentive to the moods of others. Remember that these people are your friends, and you should treat them as such. If someone is in a shitty mood, see if there’s anything you can do to help out. If someone wants peace and quiet, give them space.
And there’s a point about making breakfast is supported and seems like it would be one of the best parts of touring [as it was noted] [and it’d be a nice way to thank people helping you out - also as it was noted].
I find it hilarious because as noted in Iain’s post the industry had 30+ million music fans tell them what they wanted and they ignored it - well destroyed it [Napster].
And again today it appears people would happily accept DRM-free MP3s they can play on any device and listen to anywhere, and while EMI is testing the waters, they haven’t seemed to clue in that a majority of consumers have made their decision already in favor of the MP3 format.
At a wireless industry conference earlier this year, EMI Group PLC CEO Eric Nicoli said his company remains open to either the side-loading of tracks purchased online or direct, over-the-air music sales, among other business models.
“We’ll try anything and everything, recognizing that the consumer will ultimately decide.”
While the iPhone gets some great reviews music industry observers are less impressed with any expected impact from the iPhone.
Why The iPhone Is Not Big News For The Music Industry - Hypebot
iPhone May Not Rock Music Industry - AP [via Coolfer]
First off you missed a great set last Saturday when the guys opened for Pride Tiger. Not only did they clearly win over some new fans they also managed to keep the attention of some of the guys from Pride Tiger most of their set.
In regards to their album Beware! The Fuzz [I am now half thinking the title is also a warning to bands lacking in the live show department] we have the album mastered - although there may be one correction being made*, a rough up of the cover art [below] and are just waiting to have the album sent off - we have to figure out of the vinyl and CDs will be pressed at the same place.
We hope to have the CDs and records back by the end of July, watch for some early chances to preview the album and get a copy in August before a September release and supporting tour to Ontario and back at least in late September/October.
*Once that is figured out we’ll be posting the tracks on FHTT’s site
Apparently some people out there would think From Here To There was screwed before we got started [mind you we don’t expect to sell 150,000 albums per year, but still c’mon] [ASIDE: C’mon has a new site as well - go see that - even though they have nothing to do with this post]:
Fortune’s Dennis Hau on the economics behind Burgendy Records’ contracts with older artists…Because it [Sony BMG’s Burgandy classic imprint] has a full-time staff of only about two dozen employees, it expects to put out no more than two or three albums a year.”
They don’t seem to have learned anything about indie frugality. Sony BMG’s Burgandy classic imprint has 24 employees to work 2-3 new releases a year. Next idea…
I don’t even want to think about what I could accomplish with the help of 23 other people [or why I would need that many to put out the same number of albums Joi and I will this year]. Fuck.
So who killed the record industry as we knew it? “The record companies have created this situation themselves,” says Simon Wright, CEO of Virgin Entertainment Group, which operates Virgin Megastores. While there are factors outside of the labels’ control — from the rise of the Internet to the popularity of video games and DVDs — many in the industry see the last seven years as a series of botched opportunities. And among the biggest, they say, was the labels’ failure to address online piracy at the beginning by making peace with the first file-sharing service, Napster. “They left billions and billions of dollars on the table by suing Napster — that was the moment that the labels killed themselves,” says Jeff Kwatinetz, CEO of management company the Firm. “The record business had an unbelievable opportunity there. They were all using the same service. It was as if everybody was listening to the same radio station. Then Napster shut down, and all those 30 or 40 million people went to other [file-sharing services].”
