June 27, 2008

My research suggests that the tail is long and flat, and therefore that content providers will find it hard to profit much from it. It remains to be seen whether the new media environment will indeed make many previously unprofitable niche products profitable. Online channels lower the barriers to market entry for such products, and thus introduce the possibility of additional sales -- but they also lead to a flood of products all competing for consumers' attention. In my most recent correspondence with managers at Nielsen SoundScan, I learned that of the 3.9 million digital tracks sold in 2007 (the large majority for 99 cents each through Apple iTunes), an astonishing 24% sold only one copy, and 91% -- 3.6 million tracks -- sold fewer than 100 copies.

June 25, 2008

As for developing acts... You don't have an identity yet. You'll be forever linked with the brand. Feist...isn't she the iPod girl? It can be a shortcut to success, but can also damage your long term career. You get notoriety and... Well, sometimes you don't even get that notoriety. The blip tends to be momentary... Hell, how many commercials can you remember from three months ago?

June 24, 2008

I've been wondering if the digital download model isn't killing music in a much different way than what RIAA is worried about. There's still plenty of money to be made, especially in selling concert tickets and merchandise, but people just have so many options of music to listen to. This is one of the things I love about emusic but at the same time it can be occasionally frustrating; there's just so much music! (Particularly relevant to me tonight because I've been backing up some things to clear a little space on my hard drive.) And I don’t even do any of the file sharing stuff; I get almost all my music from emusic. But If I think back to the time when I was getting really hooked on certain bands, I was purchasing probably 1-2 albums a month; where now I get 10-15 albums, plus all the free stuff...and don't get me wrong it's great, but sometimes I feel I lack the time to really get to know a particular piece.

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I definitely spend less time with each album than I used to. It's not even that I get bored with albums, it's that I have 75 downloads per month, plus a few subscriptions to Song of the Day podcasts, plus music my friends give me...the end result being I can love a band one month and get so distracted the next that I forget about it.

It's a trade-off of the Internet age -- more bands to listen to, and less time to spend with each one.

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It's funny -- I end up getting affected by the "too much music" phenomenon in a different way: because I'm so old-school in my music listening habits, I'll get stuck on one record for a few weeks at a time. As a consequence, I start getting anxiety about all the really great stuff that's passing me by just because I can't seem to stop listening to, say, J-Live or Shearwater. There are so many records that I keep "meaning" to get to -- so many records that I know I'd probably love -- and I'm afraid I'm just going to end up missing them.

June 17, 2008

About your Lala wallet
It wouldn't make sense to charge your credit card for every 10¢ purchase, so we ask that you add funds to your wallet in dollar amounts of your choice.

This enables you to then continue to easily add web songs with a single click. The funds you add to your wallet can also be applied towards the purchase of web albums and MP3s.

We will never add funds to your wallet without asking you first.

In celebration of Coldplay's new album, "Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends," available on Amazon MP3 for just $8.99, this week's "Daily Deals" will be their preceding albums. "X&Y" will be available today for $1.99, "A Rush of Blood to the Head" will be available on Wednesday for $1.99, "Parachutes" will be available on Thursday for $1.99 and "Brothers and Sisters" will be offered on Friday for 99 cents. Past Daily Deals have included Madonna's "Hard Candy" at $3.99, Led Zeppelin's "Mothership" at $4.99 and Weezer's "Pinkerton" at $1.99.

June 11, 2008

June 09, 2008

At over four million members, the NRA's ranks are composed of teachers, cops, farmers, lawyers, welders, hero military veterans and at least one gonzo guitar player who is not afraid to speak his mind and stand up for what he believes in. NRA members believe it is our responsibility as Americans to participate in this experiment in self-government.

- Ted Nugent

June 06, 2008

It's a good enough package that my guess is that digital readers will soon become common, perhaps even the usual way we read books.

How will this affect the publishing business? Right now, publishers make as much from a Kindle download as they do from the sale of a physical book. But the experience of the music industry suggests that this won't last: once digital downloads of books become standard, it will be hard for publishers to keep charging traditional prices.

Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry as we know it may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional material for authors' other activities, such as live readings with paid admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it's good enough for me.