Ted Cohen, Senior Vice President, Digital Development & Distribution, EMI Music, says “There are labels who get it, but digital has more of a voice at the table than it ever has. I showed Warner the Net in 1996. They got it. But at the time AOL was metered by the hour. “Now it’s about consumer control. User created mixes and playlist trading. Things will find their audience. For most
Paul Watson of Fat City Records said “Currently we have artists who retail through us exclusively because they want to be associated with the brand of the shop. In the future artists will sell downloads directly to fans, and bypass the shops, possibly even the independent ones.”
Dan Bladen from FirstForMusic.com, a promotions site, is looking for an editorial partner/sponsor for the 9 month old promotions site. Designed to bolt on to a retailer, FirstForMusic.com is currently partnered with Karmadownload.com. “We’re not trying to compete with editorial sites, but bolt on to them, said Dan. Based in Manchester and London, the aim for the site is to build the database from its current level of 25,000 members.
Speaking to MusicBites, Danielle Milne, (pictured) label manager with Black Sugar Records, backed the development of the music industry into the digital environment. “Digital is really important. As a label manager I have to know the market. Everything now is about downloads, and the kids, the market#039s buyers, are hugely technicaly advanced. They are on chatrooms, and blogs all the time – you have know about it.” BSR acts have
ITC organiser Tony Wilson, alluding to subscription versus download models: “Why does a man want to own a woman and a woman own a man?” Ted Cohen: “Somehow the rental models works quite well in that scenario.”
After one panel session, a source at iTunes sidled up to MusicBites to say that iTunes customers download ‘millions’ of tracks per week’, and not the ‘two or three’ here and there suspected by some in the music industry. But does iTunes know how may tracks are downloaded per user exactly? “No.”
Danny Van Emden (digital media director, EMI Music), said the last in 18 month mobile revenues had been “coming through strongly. The commercial imperative among networks to make 3G work is pretty high. Fixed line revenue is higher than mobile.” Andy Baker of Dx3 said there was £720m was spent on mobile content last year but it was still hard to get to. “People are buying content online. iTunes has
Subscription services ultimately work better than downoad services, according to Ted Cohen , Senior Vice President, Digital Development & Distribution, EMI Music “Right now we have choke points on how music gets exposed to you. On subscription services it’s a more level playing field, because you’re not competing for one of the 20 slots on the front of the music store. You may want to own a song, but if
Ralph Simon (Chairman of the influential Mobile Entertainment Forum – Americas (MEF), the official global body of the mobile entertainment industry) said A&R is changing, and music firms must have a mobile strategy for your A&R. “How should record labels mobilise? What mobile content can artists create? What should artists and mangers plan for? How does A&R interface with “seeding”? “A golden rule of mobile is to use mobile to
Steve Gottlieb, President and founder TVT Records, the most successful indie label in the US spoke passionately at In The City about the future of the music business. He vehemently attacked the technology industry, as using and promoting the concept of free music in order to sell computers. “The Problem for the music industry is it has little defence against and technology advocates like Lawrence Lessig who advocate free music.”