Fifty in Five - New Film Clip

Check out the newly released film clip for Fifty in Five by the Hilltop Hoods:

Spotify comes to Australia Part 2

I just came across an interesting interview between Sophie McNeill of the Triple J Hack Program and Spotify Managing Director Kate Vale that was broadcast in Australia recently. Kate Vale seems to suggest that the number of illegal downloaders in Australia is somewhere around 2 to 3 million people. You can read a transcript of the interview published on Digital Music News here or you can take a listen to the interview here.

Further Information
Digital Music News, Spotify: We Will Not Be Disclosing Any of Our Royalty Payments... (23 May 2012) <http://digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120522latest> at 31 May 2012

Triple J: Hack, Spotify or Notify? (22 May 2012) < http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s3508628.htm > at 31 May 2012

Spotify comes to Australia

Spotify launched in Australia on Tuesday. The Swedish service offers around 16 million songs to subscribers who can select from either a free, ad supported service or upgrade to a paid advertisement free or mobile service. Users can only sign up for the service if they have a facebook account as the two services are integrated however many users may not know that they need to update their privacy settings in facebook if they do not want their music listening habits displayed on their facebook page.

Independent artists looking to get their music on to the streaming service need to work with aggregators such as Record Union, CDBaby, Ditto Music and Zimbalam.It takes around 4 to 6 weeks to get music uploaded to the site. But be warned, some artists have been unhappy with the rate of payment per stream they get from the site. In some cases high profile artists have refused to have their music available on the site, particularly when it is first launched, fearing that the ad supported access model will lead to a drop in sales in the early months.

As of April 2012 Spotify had around 3 million users.

You can go to the Spotify website here.

Further Information
Spotify, <https://www.spotify.com/au/ > at 24 May 2012

Spotify, Lables and artists < https://www.spotify.com/au/work-with-us/labels-and-artists/ > at 24 May 2012

The Project, Out, damned Spotify! (23 May 2012) < http://theprojecttv.com.au/i-dont-get-how-that-name-means-music.htm > at 24 May 2012

Digital Music News, The State of Music Subscription (24 April 2012) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2012/120424subscription > at 24 May 2012

Digital Music News, Spotify: "The Overwhelming Majority of Our Label Partners are Thrilled With the Revenues" (23 November 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111122spotifyresponds > at 27 November 2011

Digital Music News, Distributor STHoldings Pulls 234 Labels from Spotify, Rdio, Others... (17 November 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111116stholdings > at 27 November 2011

Digital Music News, Study: Spotify Is Detrimental to Music Purchasing... (16 November 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2011/111115cannibal > at 27 November 2011

Digital Music News, No Thanks, Spotify: Coldplay Just Set a Digital Album Sales Record... (1 November 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/103111coldplay > at 8 November 2011

Digital Music News, Coldplay Refuses to License Its Latest Album to Spotify... (27 October 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/102611coldplay > at 1 November 2011

Digital Music News, Spotify Just Crossed a Quarter Million Subscribers In the US... (17 October 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/101411spotify > at 19 October 2011

Digital Music News, Uh-Oh: Spotify Has Lost $68 Million Since Inception... (12 October 2011) < http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/101111spotify > at 19 October 2011

Digital Music News, Projekt Records: Spotify Is 'Not a Viable Way Forward...' (29 September 2011) < http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092811spotifybail > at 3 October 2011

TechDirt, Labels Dropping Out Of Spotify Are Totally Missing The Point (23 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110922/11224716052/labels-dropping-out-spotify-are-totally-missing-point.shtml > at 26 September 2011

Digital Music News, Then, This: Another Indie Pulls Out of Spotify... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotify > at 26 September 2011

Digital Music News, Spotify Defends Its Payout Structure... (20 September 2011) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091911spotifydefends > at 26 September 2011

TechDirt, How Much Does A Band Make From Various Music Platforms? (12 September 2011) < http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20110911/00284415891/how-much-does-band-make-various-music-platforms.shtml > at 19 September 2011

Digital Music News, What an Artist Really Gets Paid, Continued... (14 September 2011) <http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091311artistmakes > at 19 September 2011

Music With a Message

Since January this year I have been collecting YouTube clips of political songs to play on my radio show on 92.9 River FM - Northern NSW. My show is on Mondays from 3 - 4pm on Mondays and can be streamed live on the web here: http://www.2ncr.org.au/. Here is the link to the collection of clips that to the best of my ability have been labeled according to artist and political issue - take a look - hope you like it!

Further Information
Music with a Message

Radio Berkman: The 42 Streams (Rethinking Music X)

I have just listened to a recent broadcast from Berkman Radio between Assistant Director of Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic, and lecturer at Harvard Law School Chris Bavitz and Kristin Thomson from the Future of Music Coalition. Kristen is a community organizer, social policy researcher, entrepreneur and musician and a consultant at the Future of Music Coalition. FMC recently released the results of its Artist Revenue Streams project. This project sought to examine how musicians today earn money. They consulted over eighty composers and performers, undertook a dozen financial case studies, and released the results of an online survey undertaken by around 5,300 musicians. FMC identified 42 distinct revenue streams. FMC seeks to advocate for artists as their needs and views arent commonly addressed by other institutions in the music industry. The central questions of this project were 'how is the earning capacity of artists changing? and why?' Interestingly half the respondents went to a music school and those that are educated make more money compared to non educated musicians. Technology has made a huge difference to musicians but it is seen as a double edged sword - it enables and democratises but also leads to a loss of control when it comes to distribution and creates a lot more work and takes up a lot of time. Piracy was seen as a disappointment and really upsetting but there is not a lot they can do about it. Take a listen to the interview here.

Further Information

Radio Berkman, RB 201: The 42 Streams (Rethinking Music X) (3 May 2012) < http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/podcasts/radioberkman201 > at 14 May 2012

Future of Music Coalition, Artist Revenue Streams Project (2012) < http://futureofmusic.org/tags/artist-revenue-streams-project > at 14 May 2012

TPP/EFF

For those in the United States, EFF are running an action campaign to lobby for greater transparency of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). In a recent email to EFF members they wrote:

 This week in Dallas, trade representatives are secretly negotiating new regulations for the Internet – including intellectual property provisions that could choke off online speech. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Agreement may be even worse than ACTA; it could tie the hands of democratically-elected legislators and create new, international standards for intellectual property enforcement. Worst of all, Internet users and free expression advocates like EFF aren’t allowed in the room and are forbidden from seeing the negotiated text.... U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk claims they have made “extraordinary efforts” to include public stakeholders in negotiations, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Like ACTA, negotiations have actively excluded civil society and the public, while welcoming private industry representatives with open arms.... The public should be front and center in these negotiations, not relegated to a table outside.

Please take a moment to get involved by visiting the EFF action page here.

Further Information:

EFF, No Backroom Deals to Regulate the Internet: Speak Out Against the Trans-Pacific Partnership! (May 2012) < https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8229 > at 12 May 2012

Playing for Change Foundation

I have been meaning to write about the Playing for Change Foundation for sometime now. Dedicated to the notion that peace and change can be achieved through music, the foundation seeks to provide musical education to people around the world. They write:

The Playing For Change Foundation is dedicated to creating positive social change through music education. We are driven by the belief that peace and change are possible through the universal language of music. By providing children a safe place to learn, flourish and express themselves, PFCF helps provide a creative alternative to the struggles many of these children face daily.

On 22 September 2012 the Playing For Change Foundation will host its annual day of action where musicians and others can come together to celebrate music and make a change in the world. In 2011 this special day saw 225 events hosted in 41 countries raising around $62,730. Take a moment to check out their website, and if you can, get involved!



Further Information
Playing for Change Foundation <http://playingforchange.org/> at 4 May 2012