hypebot

NEWS BRIEF: Facebook Fallout, WMG Exec Shifts?, Twitter + Pepsi = Music, Megaupload & More

Facebook stock fell to the $28 range on Tuesday, and fallout from the less than stellar IPO appears to be rippling through music tech, as well. VEVO is apparently dialing back it's IPO ambitions; and Spotify has yet to close on its latest major funding round. Pandora stock also retreated into the $10 range, erasing recent gains.

• WMG is actively seeking a replacement for caretaker CEO Stephen Cooper according the NY Post. The fate of senior exec Lyor Cohen is unclear. He's reportedly working without an new contract.
• Twitter Signs Up Pepsi for Big Music Promotion (Media Memo)

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NEWS BRIEF: Samsung Music Hub, 'Soul Man' Loses Lawsuit, Viki + WMG, ToneMedia, IUMA Returns & More

Samsung has launched Music Hub, designed simplify and consolidate it's mobile music offerings. 7digital has been named the music download and streaming partner, which debuted on the Galaxy S3 smartphone today.

• How the Weinsteins Beat 'Soul Man' Singer Sam Moore in an important lawsuit. (THR) Publicity rights, trademarks, libel, unfair competition ... a suit over the 2008 film "Soul Men" had it all. Ultimately, the film studio beat the musician in a nasty fight with big implications for Hollywood.
• Crowdsourced lyrics translation site Viki has signed a deal with Warner Music.

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The Week In Music Commentary

• Gold Motel's Eric Hehr: The Musician As An Entrepreneur
• Tyler Hayes Asks Is It A Music Video Or A Video Of Music?
• Infographic Answers Why Radio Plays Same 20 Songs: The Sad Truth Of Media Consolidation

 

REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

The Hypebot Sessions @ NARM looked at Why Most Music Startups Fail with Kyle Bylin (Live Nation Labs), Larry Marcus (Walden Venture Capital), Mike Dougherty (CEO of Jelli), Joey Flores (Earbits), Brenden Mulligan (OneSheet). Watch the video.

• Pandora Losses Widen But Stock Surges As Listeners Rise To 52 Million
• O Music Awards Announce Nominees Include Most Extreme Fan Outreach and Hottest Music Technology NILF
• The Growing List Of Cancelled UK Festivals
• Why Radio Plays Same 20 Songs [INFOGRAPHIC]
• Readymade's Radical New Model Recreates Team Indie [VIDEO]
• A Streaming Music Service You've Never Heard Of Has 10.5 Million Active Users

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Hypebot Debuts The Upward Spiral Podcast

Hypebot is proud to present The Upward Spiral Podcast, which features Kyle Bylin of Live Nation Labs (and former Hypebot Editor), music industry consultant Jason Spitz (Former Director of Marketing at Topspin), and Hypebot's own Hisham Dahud (also of Fame House). The three have started this podcast as a platform for conversations regarding interesting topics and issues that are facing the music industry.

NEWS BRIEF: Future Of EMI, Skaker Adds Music Partners, EDMbiz, Rickroll Trouble, Tape.tv & More

Two views of EMI + Universal: Losing EMI to Universal would be a tragedy, says Pete Waterman. But an EMI exec says, "Universal didn't buy us to destroy us."  Or did it? Of course, the deal isn't quite done yet...

• Shaker’s 3D hangout/nightclub built on top of Facebook will launch on June 8th with a little help from Live Nation and BandPage (TechCrunch) Music is central to Shaker with Troy Carter and Scooter Braun among early investors.
• EDMbiz adds Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino and Lollapalooza Founder Perry Farrell to speakers list.

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NEWS BRIEF: New Facebook Concerns, VEVO Hunts $$, Echo Nest + Discog, Moobahton, Mulligan & More

Facebook stock was holding steady around $32 on Wednesday. That's off its $38 IPO and first high in the mid $40's, but still far better than feared given reports that U.S. regulators are looking at  problems with the offering.

• VEVO is in early stage talks with new investors, according to the Financial Times.  At present, there are no IPO plans for the music video aggregator.
• The Echo Nest has added discographies site Discogs to it's growing Rosetta Stone database.

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NEWS BRIEF: Digital Music News v. Grooveshark, Sony iOS App, Spotify, Hip Hip Hall 'O Fame, More

Digital Music News appears to be getting the short end of the legal stick as the judge in Grooveshark lawsuit orders the publisher to 'preserve' logs that have already been deleted. Mick Masnick of Techdirt has details and commentary.

• Sony says their Music Unlimited app for iPhone and iPod Touch will be available this Friday, May 25.
• Spotify has finalized a partnership with Danish telco Telia.
• RIAA Thinks LimeWire Owes $75 Trillion in Damages (PC Word)

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NEWS BRIEF: Facebook Stock Falls, Supreme Court Rejects Joel T. Bid, U.S. Anti-Piracy Delayed & More

Facebook's stock fell as much as 12% as post-IPO reality set-in during Monday trading .  Check the latest stock price here.

• Supreme Court declines to hear $675,000 file-swapping case. (ars) Boston student Joel Tenenbaum may be in for a second federal trial.
• US “Six Strikes” Anti-Piracy Scheme Delayed. (TorrentFreak)

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REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

String Cheese Incident Scalps $20,000 Of Own Tickets In Battle With Ticketmaster as Live Nation "Upgrades" Ampitheaters with $4 Beer & Restaurant Grade Burgers

• Spotify Won't Discuss Justin Bieber's Investment
• Anti-Trust Experts Say U. S. Approval Of Universal EMI Purchase A Toss-Up
• Former Orchard CEO Greg Scholl Becomes Executive Director of Jazz At Lincoln Center.
• DISTRO.fm Seeks to Crowdfund Nonprofit Digital Music Subscription Service as Founder Kyle Marler Discusses Revolutionizing Music With Artist Subscriptions

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The Week In Music Commentary

• Langston Collin Wilkins Discusses The State of Black Music
• Gold Motel's Eric Hehr Considers The Musician as Entrepreneur
• The Polish Ambassador Wonders What Would It Mean to be an Open Source Musician? Conversation Ensues.
• Amanda Palmer Hacks Her Kickstarter Campaign

 

NEWS BRIEF: Facebook Opens @ $42 Then Falls, iTunes vs 'Jailbreak', MTV, RDMBiz, OneSheet & More

Facebook shares started trading at $42 a share on Nasdaq, but quickly fell at mid-day ET Friday to $38 under the symbol “FB.” The company’s 421.2M shares offered to the public will raise $17.7B at a valuation of $116.6 billion. Get the latest stock price here.

• According to iTunes, "jailbreak" is a four-letter word. (ars) Is the word "jailbreak" on the same level as "f**k"?
• MTV announces nominees for ‘Must Follow Artists on Twitter’ for Online Music Awards. (Lost Remote)

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NEWS BRIEF: Google Music Upsets, Geller Exits UMG, iHeart Hits 10M, MySpace, BandsInTown & More

Google Music is upsetting users with device-deauthorization rule. (CNet) A forum posting on XDA-Developers says Google now only allowing users to de-authorize just 4 devices per year for its Google Music platform.

• Harvey Geller, Universal Music Group’s Top Lawyer, Is Out. Geller was often at the center of UMG's digital music/music tech negotiations and lawsuits. (MediaMemo)
• iHeartRadio Hits 10 Million Users Faster Than Facebook or Twitter (Mashable)

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NEWS BRIEF: Facebook Ups IPO, Digital Music News' Court Battle, UMG UP 9%, PirateBay Attack & More

Facebook Revises S-1 Again: Adds 83,818,263 Shares Of Class A Stock, Could Raise $16B (TechCrunch)

• In the case of Grooveshark vs. Digital Music News, the judge failed to quash the subpoena in LA Superior Court yesterday. DMN publisher Paul Resnikoff tell's Hypebot that it's a setback, hints he'll fight on. More as the story develops.
• UMG Q1 revenue up 9.1% as Vivendi profits exceed expectations. (Music Week)

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NEWS BRIEF: New Spotify Stats, WMG Slips, Radio Redesign, Twitvid Buys Cull TV, FB Ups IPO & More

Spotify Hits 20 Million Monthly Users and Could be on Track for 8 Million Paid Users 1 Year From Now (Mark Mulligan)

• Warner Music Group Revenue Slipped 8% in Q1 (Billboard)
• A redesigned Rdio has launched on Rdio.com and the Rdio desktop apps. Updates include drag and drop playlist creation, a personalized Heavy Rotation, and private playlists.

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NEWS BRIEF: EMI + UMG Senate Hearing, Streaming Chart, Kickstarter Bug, Coachella, Yahoo & More

(UPDATED) A U.S. Senate panel will hold a hearing on Universal Music Group's proposed acquisition of rival EMI Music, adding another step to a lengthy regulatory review of the $1.9 billion deal. (WSJ) No date has been set.

• Streamed music chart has short long tail, more Rihanna than Rita. (paidContent)
• Kickstarter Bug Compromised 70,000 Unlaunched Projects (Mashable)
• Ben Fold on his PledgeMusic campaign: "We don't know what the fuck we're doing".
• Coachella's multiple 2013 weekends expected to be unveiled today. (LA Times)

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The Week In Music Commentary

• Julian Weisser Explains that Successful Musicians Are Entrepreneurs
• Chris Rockett Tells Musicians to Stop Building An Email List
• Tyler Hayes Asks Was Google Music Really Necessary?
• Robin Davey Examines the Music Industry's Relationship to Fans
• Tyler Hayes on Things a Band Should Never Do

GETTING IT DONE: The Week In D.I.Y.

• Gigfunder Launches Fanfunding For Music Tours
• Amanda Palmer's Kickstarter Success is Based on a Powerful Fanbase
• Mike Sanchez Uses New Media to Realize His Dreams
• MobBase Adds a Free HTML5 App Creator for Bands While Mobile Roadie Adds Free Mobile Websites
• Emily White Tells The Story of How Readymade Records Was Inspired by Brendan Benson and Young Hines

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REWIND: The New Music Industry's Week In Review

More consolidation in digital distribution: The Orchard bought indie digital music distributor IRIS. Another former competitor, IODA, merged with The Orchard earlier this year.

• Alanis Morrisette Uses MetroLyrics for Prerelease Lyrics Drop
• ICE Shuts Down Dajaz1.com Without Investigating RIAA Claims
• Nominations for A2IM Libera Indie Music Awards Include Bon Iver, AWOLNATION and Battles
• Facebook Kicks Grooveshark To the Curb
• Gumroad's eCommerce Funding Exceeds $8 Million

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NEWS BRIEF: More Spotify Updates, Senzari Adds $1M, Deezer + Merlin, Iggy Goes D.I.Y. & More

• Spotify has added Instant Search, Play embed codes, and Playlist Radio to desktop apps. (The Verge)
• Pandora Competitor Senzari Raises $1 Million From 500 Startups & Angels To Fund Global Expansion (TechCrunch)
• FTC To Monitor MySpace And/Or Empty Space For 20 Years (techdirt)
• Deezer has added Merlin's massive indie music catalog to it's streaming music service.

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