Funky Management

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Tue, 07 May 2013 13:04:16 -0400

Business Matters: Nielsen Study Examines Who Is Buying Music, Media

Mon, 06 May 2013 01:14:55 -0400

Business Matters: Nielsen Study Examines Who Is Buying Music, Media:

A third of the U.S. population accounts for 70% of entertainment spending, according to numbers released Wednesday by Nielsen. The “high spender” group has slightly more females than males, very few teens (5%) and a higher share of Hispanics (19%) than exists in the total population. But these high spenders are hardly wealthy: their average household income is $66,000 per year.

These and other insights into the U.S. consumer’s entertainment spending are found in the Spring 2013 edition of the “The U.S. Entertainment Consumer Report: State of the Media” report. Nielsen compiled the publicly available report from previously released reports as well as its proprietary platforms. Because of this, most of the report’s data comes from 2012, not early 2013.

The “State of the Media” is helpful in the way Cliffs Notes provide a good amount of information in a short amount of space. The report recaps 2012’s music sales, music streaming statistics, social media behaviors related to music and consumer behavior for video, video games and books. It shows that over half of consumers on Facebook and Twitter read posts by artists — but only 14% retweet artists’ posts and 15% share Facebook posts by artists. But the report is most helpful when it details exactly who is spending money on music.

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opium-pt: Paolo Troilo. Acrylic Paint.

Sun, 14 Apr 2013 21:42:10 -0400

opium-pt:

Paolo Troilo. Acrylic Paint.

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Sat, 13 Apr 2013 20:57:42 -0400

D.C. Cries Out Over Wale's Negative Comments To MTV About Go-Go Music

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:46:21 -0400

D.C. Cries Out Over Wale's Negative Comments To MTV About Go-Go Music:

An outcry is being heard in the D.C. Facebook Community over Wale’s comments during a recent interview on MTV’s Rap Fix Live. Shout out to Crank Brothers for bringing this to my attention!

This is what people are saying:

“SMH!!! Thank you Wale for digging a deeper hole for GoGo. With the platform that he has and represents, he is in a position where whatever he said is a stampage. Music is never violent. Yes… the meeting place for violence is at the Go-Go but saying gogo is violent on an international TV station (MTV) is reckless and disrespectful. That’s like dialing 911 and telling the police you rob banks. Now they got you in a scope not trusting your every move. Crazy how he forgot his “first hit” was a Go-Go song and second was too. Had to share this fam…” -Crank Brothers

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SoundScan Q1: Track and Album Sales Down, Digital Album Sales Jump

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 16:12:24 -0400

SoundScan Q1: Track and Album Sales Down, Digital Album Sales Jump:

For the second time since SoundScan started counting downloads in 2003, track sales suffered a sales decline, something that occurred in the first three quarters of 2010. So far this year, track sales are down 1.3% as of March 31, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

This year, industry executives attribute the decline to a lack of hits. Last time in 2010, they blamed LimeWire. But after the peer-to-peer site was shutdown, track sales rallied and closed out the year with a 1.1% increase.

In 2013, only 15 songs have reached the 1 million unit milestone so far, while last year 21 songs accomplished that feat. But this year’s best selling song download, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis’ “Thrift Shop,” has scanned almost 4.2 million units. Last year’s best selling title for the first quarter was Fun.’s “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monae), which scanned 2.75 million units.

Against that, album sales totaled 74 million during the first quarter, down from 77.8 million units, a drop of 4.9%. Within that, CD sales were down 15.4% to 40 million from 47.4 million in the first quarter of 2012; digital album sales increased 10.4% to 32.4 million units, up from 29.4 million units.

With nearly 1.3 million in scans, Justin Timberlake’s new album, “The 20/20 Experience,” is the top selling album this year, as well as the top selling digital album with 558,000 downloads.

Overall, albums (plus track equivalent ones whereby 10 tracks equal one album) dropped 3.8% to 109.7 million units, down from 114 million units in the first quarter of 2012.

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STUDY: Most Music Venues Sell At Least 75% Of Tickets At The Door

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 13:03:46 -0400

STUDY: Most Music Venues Sell At Least 75% Of Tickets At The Door:

81% say same-day concert marketing is critical to drive awareness.

We recently surveyed 470 music venues around the world and their answers revealed that the majority of music venues sell most of their tickets at the door through walk-up traffic. Over eighty percent described day-of-show marketing and promotion as ‘important’ to driving that attendance.

While this may not come as a surprise to touring artists working to pack a house, these statistics suggest that consumers have a lot of choice when it comes to things to do on a Saturday night. And that many of them may be making their decisions about whether to go to the basketball game, the movies, or the concert, on the day of the event.

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Business Matters: Reports of the CD's Death Were Greatly Exaggerated

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 19:45:05 -0400

Business Matters: Reports of the CD's Death Were Greatly Exaggerated:

Even though CD revenues have fallen sharply over the last ten years, most predictions about the format have been wrong. The CD’s decline, while painful to companies, has been far more gradual than precipitous. Over the last four years, CD revenues have leveled off just as an airplane would before a soft landing.

The one thing everybody has correctly predicted is that the CD would decline. CD revenues fell 77.5% to $2.5 billion in 2012 from $11.2 billion in 2003, according to RIAA numbers released last week. The deepest losses occurred in 2007 and 2008, when CD revenues dropped over $1.9 billion each year. Total revenues suffered badly as a result in those years, falling 9.4% and 17.6% in 2007 and 2008, respectively. More recent years have not been as bad. After four straight years of deficits that exceeded 20% (from 2007 to 2010) CD revenues declined 8.5% in 2011 and 18.3% in 2012.

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kushandwizdom:

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:05:04 -0400

kushandwizdom:

upnorthtrips: Management Panel - How Can I Be Down...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:33:29 -0400

upnorthtrips:

Management Panel - How Can I Be Down (1996)

[Chris Lighty, Steve Stoute, Dame Dash & Shakim Compere]

30 Pieces of Advice From Music Industry Entrepreneurs

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 12:57:57 -0400

30 Pieces of Advice From Music Industry Entrepreneurs:

Over the past few weeks I’ve asked 30 extraordinary people in the music industry for their most valuable words of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs. Without further ado, here are 30 pieces of advice from 30 music industry entrepreneurs.

“We are no longer subject to what was, only to what works. We can honor what came before us, but at the same time we have to be constantly aware of how fast this new generation moves. The new does not have to be scary and it’s allot less risky than it ever was. It just looks radically different than it ever did and we have to embrace that. Yesterdays fans are not coming back and so we should simply stop trying to find them.”
- Benji Rogers, CEO, Pledge Music

“Nothing speaks louder than an amazing product. Focus on that, and “buzz” usually takes care of itself. Also try and get one marquee client on board per vertical that you’re going after. For example, after Madonna came on board in 2009, we had a much easier time selling in the music business. This was the same for sports after we began working with the Miami Dolphins.”
- Michael Schneider, CEO, Mobile Roadie

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Diddy Tops List of Richest Hip-Hop Artists

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 12:31:00 -0400

Diddy Tops List of Richest Hip-Hop Artists:

Diddy keeps stacking that paper: The producer-rapper and Bad Boy Records founder tops Forbes’latest list of the richest hip-hop artists, which he also led last year. Diddy’s net worth is estimated at $580 million, with much of his wealth coming from business ventures, including his partnership with Ciroc vodka.

This year’s Forbes’ list looks much the same as last year’s report. Jay-Z came second, posting a net worth of $475 million with the continued growth of his Roc Nation label and management company. Dr. Dre held on to the number three spot with $350 million in net worth, thanks in large part to his Beats by Dre headphones.

Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman scored the fourth spot with $150 million in net worth, though he could have more than $200 million if it weren’t for his co-ownership of the label with his brother Slim. G-Unit honcho 50 Cent came in at number five with $125 million, amassed through his varied approach to merchandise, video games and books following Get Rich or Die Tryin’, as well as the 2007 sale of VitaminWater, in which he held a stake.

Spotify Hits 6 Million Paid Users As Market For Music Streaming Heats Up

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:13:09 -0400

Spotify Hits 6 Million Paid Users As Market For Music Streaming Heats Up:

Music subscriptions services, which provide an alternative to purchasing songs on sites like iTunes, continue to gain in popularity. One example is Sweden-based Spotify, which is expanding rapidly across the globe and has now added another 1 million paid subscribers in the last three months.

According to figures reported by CNET and confirmed by Spotify, the company now has 24 million active users and 6 million paying subscribers across the world. Spotify is also growing rapidly in the United States, where it arrived in July of 2011 and is this week hosting musicians at its “Spotify House” at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

Despite the hype, the underlying economics of Spotify’s business model remain uncertain. The service is beholden to musicians and studios, which request a 70 percent cut, and it must contend with a growing list of competitors that include Pandora, Rdio and SoundCloud. Meanwhile, YouTube is expected to launch a subscription service of its own in coming months and even Apple is expected to get into the streaming game too.

This competition validates the underlying premise of Spotify — that people want access to a giant catalog of music instead of buying it piecemeal through iTunes — but the arrival of deep-pocketed rivals may hurt Spotify’s ability to compete in the longterm.

ReverbNation Jumps Into Music Download Business for Good: Exclusive

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:22:39 -0500

ReverbNation Jumps Into Music Download Business for Good: Exclusive:

ReverbNation, a digital marketing platform used by more than 2.7 million musicians, will announce on Wednesday that it is jumping into the music download business. But it’s doing so with a twist — 43.4% of what people spend will go directly to charity.

ReverbNation isn’t turning into a non-profit. Nor is the endeavor a pure marketing stunt. It’s a serious business proposition to see if the North Carolina digital company can do well for its artists by doing good. In other words, the company is betting that people will buy more music if their purchase is tied to a cause that they feel good about.

“It’s not 100% altruistic,” ReverbNation president Jed Carlson readily admitted. “Our mission is to look out for the artist. Music for Good is about putting another tool in their toolbox to help their careers.”

Under the Music For Good program, when a song is purchased for $1.29, 56 cents goes to the artist, 56 cents is sent to a charity the artist selects and 12 cents goes to PayPal to process the payment. The remainder, a nickel, goes to ReverbNation. Among the 13 charities currently in the program are Fender Music Foundation, World Vision, Oxfam America, Heifer International, Zac Brown’s Camp Southern Ground and CARE.

The company rolled out a beta version of the Music For Good program on Dec. 21 and is launching the full product to all artists Wednesday. Already, more than 51,800 artists have signed up to sell their songs on the digital platform, which will give bands and buyers the option to post purchases on Twitter and Facebook. This feature alone is more likely to resonate with people than simply posting what they just bought on iTunes, according to social marketers. Among the more viral social posts are those involving charities as a form of self-expression, according to Geoffrey Colon, a digital marketing analyst with Social@Ogilvy.

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Live Nation Revenue Up 8% to $5.8 Billion, Posts Significant Net Losses

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:25:09 -0500

Live Nation Revenue Up 8% to $5.8 Billion, Posts Significant Net Losses:

Live Nation grew revenue 8.1% to $5.8 billion and adjusted operating income rose 4.8% to $459 million in 2012. It achieved its goals of growing concert attendance, ticket sales and sponsorship and advertising revenue. Yet its financial statements, released Tuesday afternoon, showed more red ink. Live Nation’s 2012 net loss nearly doubled to $163 million from $83 million in 2011 due to a one-time charge from Irving Azoff’s December 31st departure from the company.

Shares of Live Nation closed down 1.9% to $10.12 and were down 0.7% in after-hours trading late Tuesday afternoon. The company’s 52-week high is $10.76.

Revenue in the concerts division grew 10.4% to $3.87 billion but brought in only $31.4 million in adjusted operating income. The number of North American concerts was down 3.7% to 14,962 while the number of International concerts was up 4.1% to 7,000. North American attendance was up 3% to 32 million while International attendance was up 6.4% to 16.8 million. The concert division’s festival attendance was approximately 3.5 million, a 30% increase over 2011. EDM festival attendance doubled to 1.4 million attendees.

Ticketmaster revenue grew 4.1% to $1.37 billion while adjusted operating income grew 5.6% to $294.6 million, or 64.2% of the company’s total adjusted operating income. The gross value of tickets sold by Ticketmaster increased 8.4% to $9.1 billion and the number of tickets sold increased 4.5% to 147.7 million.

The Sponsorships & Advertising division grew revenue 7.4% to $247.9 million and raised its adjusted operating income 6.4% to $175.6 million, or 38.2% of the company’s total adjusted operating income.

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Music Sales Post Small Rise In 2012, First Since '99

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 19:34:00 -0500

Music Sales Post Small Rise In 2012, First Since '99:

The music business broke a 12-year losing streak in 2012, posting a small but symbolic 0.3 percent rise in trade revenues to $16.5 billion, figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) showed on Tuesday.

The slight increase will come as a relief to record label bosses who have watched the value of sales plummet from a peak of $28.6 billion in 1999, as illegal downloads and a reluctance to embrace the digital age hit revenues hard.

Once again it was the digital sector that showed the strongest growth, and for the first time more than compensated for losses in physical revenues.

“At the beginning of the digital revolution it was a common theme to say digital is killing music,” said Edgar Berger, president, international, at Sony Music Entertainment.

“Well the reality is, digital is saving music. I absolutely believe that this marks the start of a global growth story. The industry has every reason to be optimistic about its future.”

Record companies’ digital sales rose about nine percent last year over 2011 to $5.6 billion and accounted for 34 percent of income overall.

Download sales increased 12 percent to 4.3 billion units globally. Digital album sales rose 17 percent to 207 million.

Subscription services such as Spotify and Deezer “came of age” last year, according to the IFPI, and are expected to cross the 10 percent mark as a share of total digital music revenues for the first time.

Spotify has more than five million paying subscribers compared with three million at the end of 2011, and is the second largest source of digital music revenue in Europe.

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Built for Show: 17 New and Renovated Venues To Watch

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 09:24:52 -0500

Built for Show: 17 New and Renovated Venues To Watch:

The strength of the live music industry can be measured in many ways, from the year-end reports of talent buyers and sellers, to the keen interest in the proposed sale of AEG Live, to the rapid sellouts of one’s favorite act at the local concert venue. To add to those indicators, Billboard offers another way to judge the bullish outlook for the live business: the millions of dollars being invested in the buildings to host events. For existing venues to remain financially solid and attract talent, they must stay up to par in fan amenities, production capabilities and methods to drive ancillary revenue with concessions, sponsorships and premium seating. For a marketplace to be competitive in drawing top-tier content, it must have a competitive venue-even if it has to build a new one. Clearly, plenty of markets and venues want to stay in the game at the highest level, as evidenced by Billboard’s annual state-of-the-market look at new and renovated venues.

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Music Industry Predictions: Labels, Concerts, Licensing And More

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 15:09:28 -0500

Music Industry Predictions: Labels, Concerts, Licensing And More:

Fire up the crystal ball folks because it’s time to look and see what the future holds for many areas of the music industry and ultimately for many of you who are pursuing a career in the business. We’ve seen more change in the last decade then the previous 50 years combined, leaving many of you befuddled and wondering what tomorrow will bring. While there’s no such thing as a sure thing in the music business, read on to see how today’s unanswered questions get answered tomorrow…

The Future of Record Labels

Can you imagine a major record company that only has a roster of 10 international superstars instead of 60 acts in various stages of development? It might not be so far-fetched.

Record companies are adept at doing three main things: getting songs on radio, effectively distributing records to countries around the world simultaneously, and marketing worldwide successful artists on a grand scale.

Not a week goes by where I don’t hear some young artist knock a major label for not developing artists. It’s not what they do anymore so why blame them? It’s like blaming a shoe store for not selling underwear.

It’s on you to build a story for yourself that makes you appealing to them if that’s your goal, and a catchy song is no longer enough to grab their attention.

What does this mean?

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Recher Theatre to become Torrent Nightclub

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:45:56 -0500

Recher Theatre to become Torrent Nightclub:

The Recher Theatre, a Towson concert venue that opened in 1996, will soon become the Torrent Nightclub, according to co-owner Brian Recher. The Rec Room, an adjoining bar and restaurant, will also become part of the nightclub.

The move drew immediate criticism from Baltimore County Councilman David Marks. He defended the Recher Theatre last fall after a downtown-Towson melee and said Wednesday that he was unaware and “extraordinarily disappointed” that the concert venue was switching its format.

The exploding popularity of electronic dance music (including dubstep, house and other variations) in recent years partly drove the change, Recher said. He also said it no longer made sense to compete with larger venues in the area, such as Rams Head Live and Merriweather Post Pavilion.

“We’re going to change up and convert it to a nightclub,” Recher said. “That’s where the trend is leading.”
The current lineup of shows scheduled through March will still occur, Recher said, but afterward, the venue will focus on primarily booking DJs and other electronic dance music acts.

Recher, who co-owns the venue with his two brothers, says the family has discussed a possible transformation for years but committed to the change 18 months ago. While the theater wasn’t in danger of closing its doors, Recher said, sales were “definitely down.”

“You have to change with the times,” he said.

There is no opening date yet for Torrent Nightclub. Recher says he initially hoped to have it open in April but “that’s impossible” now. The current plan is to open “as fast as possible,” Recher said.

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Billboard Reveals the 2013 Power 100

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:44:59 -0500

Billboard Reveals the 2013 Power 100:

Who are the most powerful players in the music business, right now? Who has a vision for the future, and the capacity to make it happen? These are the people who are changing the game.

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