By Jane McInnes

In the news this week comes the story from the UK where big record labels, following actions already taken by the film industry, are making direct contact with internet providers to try and quash the activities of illegal downloaders. Label bosses, as well as the BPI which is the industry’s trade body, are set to meet David Cameron in early September at Downing Street. Under discussion will be what measures might be adopted to police the activities of the popular torrent sites, and the parties which download from them.

Communications regulator Ofcom published some interesting data recently in which it suggested that 18% of web users over the age of 18 have already downloaded content illegally. What was once the niche activity of cyber criminals is in danger of becoming a mainstream activity, with the result that artists and labels are feeling the pinch. Last month’s release of the popular American TV series ‘Breaking Bad’ on iTunes, came almost simultaneously with the show’s airing on television, indicating how aware the media industries now are of revenue loss from downloading.

Currently, illegal downloading is only partially covered by the Digital Economy Act of 2010, a law that aims to streamline a system by which cyber criminals can be tracked and penalized, either by slowing down the quality of their internet connection to prevent streaming, or in more serious cases suing offenders directly. The Digital Economy Act, however, depends upon its regulatory code being approved by Parliament, which still hasn’t happened. It is perhaps out of frustration with the time it’s taking for this to happen that music industry bosses are now approaching the big internet providers like BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB and TalkTalk to suggest a voluntary series of measures which might be taken before the British legal system gets its Act together. A principal aspect of this code would be for the internet providers to collect databases of repeat offenders, and then to send letters of warning to those found to have used pirate sites.

What all of this points to is that the music industry is now taking the war directly to the piraters, and is going to use any means necessary, both with the support of Cameron and the British legal system, and by dealing directly with internet providers. British law is still catching up with the effects that the world wide web is having on traditional laws involving copyright and media piracy, to the extent that loopholes still exist that are leaching the very life blood from the creative industries. To some degree the French legal system is one step ahead on this journey: 2009’s Hadopi law laid out a three-strikes and you’re out system to deal with repeated internet pirates. Just last month, however, a decree removed the clause from the penalty which stipulated offenders would lose their internet connection entirely. While the battle is ongoing, this autumn’s summit will see the British music industry attempting to win the first skirmish.

Jane McInnes works for Imagem PM, whose music production industry blog you can read here. Cover photo via Wondergressive.

The post Record Labels Upping the Pressure on Illegal Downloading appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Dana Sedgwick

We recently sat down with Shazam Executive Chairman, Andrew Fisher, to talk about how they’ve shifted their strategy in order to better leverage the increasingly important relationship consumers have between entertainment, social feeds and their mobile devices.

With this conversation fresh in our minds, it’s tough to not be blown away by this infographic from Citrix ByteMobile on the exponential growth of the mobile music industry. The data clearly shows how mobile is quickly becoming the #1 platform for music listening and often for discovery… and how that increase has effected data usage, music sales and data collection.

The post Infographic: Mobile Music Booms appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Kevin Holmes via The Creator’s Project

[Sonar is] not just about the music, since its inception in 1994 the festival has long championed new media art. It plays host to exhibition areas, along with the live performances, and a cinema which feature audiovisual work, multimedia installations, films, and video art. It’s a place where hackers, technologists, musicians, coders, and artists come to showcase their work and hang out.

In the video above Liars talk about creating and translating their sounds for a live show. “The trick for us,” says Liars’ Angus Andrew “is how do you translate this electronic music you’ve created this way to something that’s more physical in a live performance.” They also discuss how the festival has always been a place that likes to challenge its audience with experimental work. 

For the full story and more photos from Sonar, visit thecreatorsproject.vice.com

The post An Inside Look at 2013 Sonar Electronic Music Festival w/ Liars, Jamie Lidell, and Diamond Version appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Joan E Solsman via CNET

NEW YORK — Spotify plans to add about 130 jobs, largely engineers, to its workforce here by the end of 2014 and move to a larger headquarters in September, the streaming-music company and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a press conference Wednesday.

Ken Parks, Spotify’s head of content, said he sat alone in the company’s New York office after he took the keys three years ago. With just 20 workers in New York when the office opened, the company now plans to have 200 workers in the city. Spotify will have a total U.S. workforce of about 250.

… Spotify has been growing rapidly. In March, Spotify said it signed another 1 million subscribers since December, bringing the total to 6 million. That makes it the second-largest digital music service behind Pandora, which is the Web’s fast growing one.

With an Internet radio service in 28 countries, it’s quickly adding territories as well as subscribers.

For the full story, visit news.cnet.com

Also, check out Spotify’s Music Ed Hack taking place tomorrow in NYC in partnership with the NYC Department of Education’s iZone.

The post CNET: Spotify to more than double its NY workforce appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Anthony Hernandez via Mashable

Rapper Jay-Z is giving away his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, to one million owners of the Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II. To snag a copy, you first need to download an app that went live in the Google Play store Monday.

The “JAY Z Magna Carta” app shows footage of Jay-Z talking about the album and some lyrics, which can be unlocked when you share the app onFacebook or Twitter. The app looks similar to MagnaCartaHolyGrail.com.

Jay-Z announced Magna Carta Holy Grail in a Samsung commercial during NBA Finals Game 5. Lucky Samsung Galaxy device owners will get exclusive access to the album on July 24, an entire 72 hours before its wide release.

For full story, visit www.mashable.com

The post JAY Z Magna Carta App Available in Google Play Store appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Sarah Kessler via Fast Company

…

As Facebook reportedly prepares to launch video for Instagram, Twitter’s first video app, Vine, is reaching a kind of milestone in the same niche. Like YouTube and Internet memes before it, the app is getting its own talent agency.

Representing Vine stars is Gary Vaynerchuk, a brand consultant and author who built a wine retail business largely through social media. Perhaps the opportunity for a pun was too enticing. Vaynerchuk is a wine expert. Twitter’s app is called Vine. And Vaynerchuk’s agency for Vine stars will be called “Grape Story.”

“I’d seen this rodeo before,” Vaynerchuk tells Fast Company. “I started a YouTube show in 2006, so I lived that phenomena. I lived what happened on Twitter for the first year and a half, before quote, unquote, ‘real celebrities’ were on it. It’s just so obvious to me that this is going to happen.”

image courtesy of Fast Company

Virgin Mobile will be one of the first companies to hire Grape Story’s stars. Though the talent will have a level of creative freedom while crafting contracted videos, they’ll incorporate specific Virgin Mobile messages. Vaynerchuck wouldn’t disclose how much stars will be paid per video, though he did say that a star who made about 20 videos each year could make a living. That’s only two minutes of video. In a year.

For the full story, visit www.fastcompany.com

The post Gary V is Launching a Talent Agency for Vine Stars appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Beyonce Settles $100M Lawsuit With Video Game Company -Billboardbiz

NMPA President and CEO David Israelite to Retain Position Through 2018 - Billboardbiz

Rihanna Surpasses Justin Bieber as Most Viewed Artist on YouTube – Billboardbiz

Sony Under Pressure To Spin off Entertainment Unit – CNET

Fix Your Mix How to Find The Sweet Spot of Your Home Studio – Room Correction (IK, JBL) – Dubspot

Samsung’s Endorsement of Jay-Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” – Digital Music News

Spotify Releases Playlist OF Best Songs To Listen on Plane – Digital Music News

Omnifone Attributes 1.2 Million New Music Subscribers to SiriusXM, Sony, Rara – Evolver.fm

Amazing 33 1/3 Album Series Is Now Available as Apple iBooks – Evolver.fm

A New Service for Collecting Royalties From YouTube – Future of Music Coalition

Music and How the Money Flows – Future of Music Coalition

Harkive: Gathering The Globe’s Musical Moments – Hypebot

Twitter Launches Analytics For All and Highlight Reels You Can Edit – Hypebot

Stageit & Ziibra: Commodifying Music In The Digital Age – Kickshuffle

Wearable Tech Bracelet Brings You Smartphone Notifications – Mashable

Apple TV Gets iTunes Radio Conference Room Display Option In Beta Update – AppleInsider

The post Today’s Headlines in Music Tech appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Warner Music Names Stu Bergen Int’l President; Promotes Mike Jbara, Matt Signore, Matt Flott – BILLBOARD.BIZ

Bubbling Under: Lorde Leaps Onto U.S. Radio – BILLBOARD.BIZ

Apple Is Now Sending Non-Negotiable iTunes Radio Contracts to Indie Labels… – DIGITALMUSICNEWS

We Might Control Music By Waving Our Arms to Affect Wi-Fi – EVOLVER

How To Use RSS to Hear Music in a Post-Google-Reader World – EVOLVER

$11 Million Later, Songbird Shuts Down – HYPEBOT

48% Of UK Adults Listen To Online Radio – HYPEBOT

Apple’s iTunes Grows by 500,000 New Accounts Daily – MASHABLE

How Can Brands Use Facebook’s New Hashtags? – BUSINESSINSIDER

The post Friday’s Headlines in Music Tech appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Apple’s iTunes Radio Cuts Deal With BMI – BILLBOARD.BIZ

BMI to Sue Pandora: Sources – BILLBOARD.BIZ

RIAA & NMPA Eyeing Simplified Music Licensing System, Could Unlock ‘Millions’ in New Revenue – BILLBOARD.BIZ

Bandcamp Launches New Players, Tweet To Play – HYPEBOT

Twitter Now Displays How Well Your Tweets Perform – MASHABLE

In The Shadow Of YouTube, Vuclip Grows Its Mobile Video Network To 80M Uniques, Fends Off Suitors And Eyes Up Acquisitions – TECHCRUNCH

….

Plus in case you missed them, here are some of the big stories from yesterday’s buzz:

Synkio’s ‘Soundcloud For Licensed Music’ Tries To Take Pain Out Of Soundtrack Mess – TECHCRUNCH

Event Ticketing And Crowdfunding Platform Picatic Now Lets Event Organizers Pay What They Want – TECHCRUNCH

Tunecore Passes $300 Million in Artist Payments – HYPEBOT

Is Vlogging The Future Of Music Marketing? – HYPEBOT

TuneCore Founders Jeff Price & Peter Wells Launch Audiam To Help Artists Make $’s On YouTube – HYPEBOT

Facebook Debuts Hashtags, Urges Advertisers to Use Them – ADWEEK

Just to Lower Royalties, Pandora Buys a Small Radio Station In South Dakota… – DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS

Sony Is Now Offering Its Music Subscription Service for $3.50 a Month… – DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS

The post This Mornings Headlines in Music Tech appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Paul Sloan via CNET

“Apple struck a licensing deal Sunday with both Warner Music Group and its publishing arm, Warner Chappell, bringing Apple’s free Internet radio product that much closer to launching, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

The deal suggests that Apple is working hard to unveil what’s been dubbed iRadio at its Worldwide Developers Conference, which begins June 10.

… Apple has told the music labels that it plans to build out its ad business, including potentially adding audio ads such as those heard on Pandora’s free service…

The product, which would be tied to iTunes, would be made for mobile devices. It would contain some features not available on Pandora — such as the ability to rewind a song from the middle of it, sources say — and would have a simple button that would let users easily purchase a song. This, too, could be a boon to the labels, which collect roughly 70 percent of every dollar from an iTunes purchases. Currently, there are about 500 million iTunes accounts; Pandora, by contrast, has about 70 million active users.”

For the full story, visit news.cnet.com

The post Apple Reaches iRadio Deal with Warner Music, Could Mean Strong Competition for Pandora appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Market leader of social game and app monetization, SupersonicAds, is inviting US media and creative agencies to submit a branded advergame concept and compete to win full development of the advergame + $50K in media across the SupersonicAds network. Fusing advertising and entertainment, advergames get brands in front of massive worldwide audiences, to positively connect with consumers in social gaming, one of the most engaging and popular activities on social, mobile and web.

Entries can be submitted online at supersonicads.com/contest from May 15 through June 15. The winner will be notified on or by June 18, 2013 and the campaign worth $50,000 in media spend will run across the SupersonicAds network in partnership between the winning brand and SupersonicAds.

By coupling the advergame development cost and a media buy, SupersonicAds seeks to demonstrate the powerful impact of advergaming to U.S. brands. SupersonicAds’ proprietary targeting technology processes web and mobile data using a complex algorithm that considers hundreds of factors available from that data. These factors — including gender, age, device, carrier, browser language and location — are considered in real-time to guarantee campaigns are reaching their target audience.

As an added benefit following the advergame, SupersonicAds can also offer a video play of your latest ad as well as deeper post-engagement interactions such as drive Facebook Likes, shares & App installs, generate new leads & traffic to web sites in line with their campaign objectives.

For more information on eligibility, rules and regulations, check out the full press release HERE

The post Contest Offers Brands & Agencies Chance to Win a Custom Advergame & $50K Media Buy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Rip Empson via Tech Crunch

“… a platform for live concerts isn’t exactly a new idea. In fact, it’s been floating around for years, but those entering the space have been hamstrung to an over-abundance of friction stemming from royalty and licensing issues and having to convince venues to install the technology and hardware — among other things. As a result, live online music has been slow to take off…

Concert Window co-founder Dan Gurney tells us that the startup is beginning to hit its stride, having quadrupled revenue over the last five months, added a handful of employees and is now broadcasting over 100 live shows each month. The startup has been able to do by broadcasting live concerts over the Web, allowing you to listen and watch as the concert happens from the comfort of your couch. To address the friction for venues mentioned above, Concert Window attempts to take the work out of the hands of venue managers — all the venue needs is an Internet connection…

By offering a mobile experience, a relatively steady stream of concerts and allowing fans to chat with each other and leave feedback for artists, Concert Window hopes its v2.0 can give it a leg up on the competition.”

For the full story on Concert Window and more on new potential competitor EvntLive, visit www.techcrunch.com

The post Concert Window, The Netflix for Live Concerts appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Brian Anthony Hernandez, via Mashable

Mashable has compiled a pretty great 35-vine long list of celebrities, rising artists and music brands who are giving fans a visual and auditory glimpse into their lives with intimate 6-second, GIF-like videos. Here are the top ten… go check out all the vines on Mashable!

1. Rolling Stone Honors 5 Decades of The Beatles

2. Paul McCartney Challenges Fans to Name Song

3. Enrique Igelsias Shares Fan’s Footage

4. 30 Seconds to Mars Thanks a Fan

5. VH1 Interviews Jared Leto About Vine

6. Dido Shows Off Rehearsal in a Hotel

7. Live Nation Promotes Tickets With Video of Pink

8. Steve Aoki Curses and Air Humps in Limo

9. Jason Derulo Meets With Record Label

10. Rolling Stone Pimps Out Flaming Lips Singer’s Nails

The post 35 Ways Musicians and Music Brands Are Using Twitter’s Vine App appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Robert Urquhart via The Creator’s Project

“Alexander Grünsteidl, director of user experience at Method, London and owner of maverick digital think tank, Digital Wellbeing Labs, is a man on a mission. Passionate music lover and vastly knowledgeable in the power of a seamless digital and physical hybrid world, Grünsteidl recently brought his experience to bear in order to rethink the way we interact with our nightlife.

Not for the first time Grünsteidl left the safety of the studio behind—the Post-it notes and wireframes—and stepped out into the night to produce a club night at the Village Underground, a performance space in the East End of London. The night, austerely called No Admittance After Eight, or NAA8 for short, was billed as “a multi-sensory musical journey through the night”—but it was more than digital hyperbole. Behind the—admittedly difficult—PR was a promise to prototype a new way in which we relate to clubland and the music industry at large.

Five DJs formed the backbone of the narrative—a concept that Grünsteidl pays particular interest to. The moods entitled Walk, Pulse, Bounce, Shine, and Breathe were played by Duncan Brown (sound engineer for Basement Jaxx), Felix Buxton (Basement Jaxx), Mira Calix, SuperTanker and Koggi. The lighting atmosphere was provided by Satore Studio’s Tupac Martir and Grünsteidl became mixologist for the night, producing five different cocktails to round off the multi-sensory experience.”

Read up on the details of the project at www.thecreatorsproject.vice.com

The post Re-Imagining Nightlife at NAA8 appeared first on SoundCtrl.

The battle for in-car entertainment is being turned up according to a study by NPD Group. The 13-35 year-old demo clearly shows an unprecedented shift in favor of Internet Radio rather than traditional terrestrial.

According to the study, this demographic spends 23% of weekly music listening time using online streaming radio services like Pandora and Spotify, up 17% from just a year ago and 51 percent reported that most of their music listening was in their cars.

Interestingly enough, mobile is a popular venue for listening to streaming radio as well. “More than half of Pandora and iHeartRadio users employ their mobile devices to access those services.”

It’s also important to note that among older listeners, AM/FM radio remains the dominant form of in-car listening, accounting for 41% of weekly music listening time versus just 31% spent with Internet-based radio services.

(photo source: Digital Music News)

The post NPD Report finds Internet Radio is Making Strides with 13-35 Year-Old Demo appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Somin Sengupta via The New York Times

“The company will make its biggest leap yet in that direction Thursday, when it is expected to introduce a moderately priced phone, made by HTC, powered by Google’s Android operating system, and tweaked to showcase Facebook and its apps on the home screen…

Facebook already functions much like a phone, allowing users to chat, send group messages and even, in one experiment with users in Canada, to make free phone calls over the Internet. Its platform hosts a variety of applications that deliver things like music and news, and its newsfeed has been tweaked to showcase photos, which is what Facebook users post by the millions everyday.

There are fledgling experiments with commerce. Facebook users can buy online and offline gifts on Facebook with their credit cards. Equally important, Facebook’s insistence on real names means that Facebook can be something like an identity verification service. It is well-positioned to be a kind of mobile wallet, containing the equivalent of an identity card and seamless way to buy things.

‘They want to have all the services that consumers want to use in the mobile world,’ said Karsten Weide, an analyst with IDC. ‘They want to be the major consumer Internet platform.’”

For the full story, visit www.nytimes.com

To watch a live blog of Facebook’s announcement, visit www.news.cnet.com at 10:00AM PT

UPDATE, 4:15 PM: Facebook announces Facebook Home

The post Facebook Expected to Announce Its Phone This Afternoon appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Last week, we posted an article from Ben Sisario via The New York Times about a mysterious billboard that had appeared above the American Eagle Outfitters in Times Square. The $50,000 advertising spot wasn’t being used to promote new spring arrivals… it had been given to New York-based “tropical grit pop” duo Ghost Beach, whose single ‘Miracle’ was recently licensed for a AEO commercial spot. But rather than opting for a splashy promo pic and a call to action to download said single, the band chose to use this opportunity to shine a light on piracy debate from an artist’s perspective.

The band has opened up to Billboard.biz about the decision to launch the online campaign called Artists Vs. Artists on Twitter and at artistsvsartists.com. Perhaps surprisingly, according to the responses submitted thus far, #artistsforpiracy is more heavily supported than #artistsagainstpiracy (although consumers and fans have been weighing in as well).

Check out Ghost Beach’s guest post HERE and if you’re an artist, let them know what piracy means to you.

The post Ghost Beach Opens Up About Times Square Billboard on Piracy appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Ben Sisario via The New York Times

“A federal judge in New York has dealt a blow to the nascent business of reselling digital goods like music and e-books, ruling that a small company’s secondary market for digital music infringes on the copyrights controlled by record companies.

The company, ReDigi, opened an online platform in late 2011 that allowed people to upload and resell songs they had bought from online retailers like Apple’s iTunes. ReDigi said its technology deleted the original file once a copy was put up for sale, but the major record labels were skeptical, and Capitol Records sued in early 2012.

The case has been closely watched as a test of whether the first sale doctrine — the legal principle that someone who owns a copy of a copyrighted work, like a book or album, is free to resell it — can be applied to digital goods.

In an order dated Saturday, Judge Richard J. Sullivan of United States District Court in Manhattan ruled that ReDigi was liable for copyright infringement, and seemed entirely unmoved by ReDigi’s arguments.”

To view full article, visit www.nytimes.com

The post Court Rules Reselling Digital Music is Copyright Infringement appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Josh Ong via The Next Web

“Music search company SoundHound has released a new tablet-optimized version of its Android app with a redesigned layout, improved music discovery and Rdio as a launch partner.

SoundHound, which has over 130 million users worldwide, says the app has been designed specifically with the Google’s Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets, as well as the Kindle Fire and Kindle HD in mind… ‘By utilizing the tablet’s larger screen space and leveraging new tools from Google, users can much more fluidly navigate within the app and have access to more content in one location,’ VP James Hom said in a statement.”

To check out all of the SoundHound 5.3 updates and for the rest of the story, visit www.nextweb.com

The post SoundHound & Rdio Launch New Andriod Tablet App appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Ben Sisario via The New York Times

“For the last week a mysterious ad has flashed on the LED billboard above the American Eagle Outfitters store at Broadway and 46th Street, just over the bronze shoulder of George M. Cohan. Variably positing piracy as “criminal,” “progress” and “the future,” it asks the observer to “pick a side” on Twitter, as #artistsforpiracy or #artistsagainstpiracy…

The party behind the billboard and its related Web site, ArtistsVsArtists.com, is Ghost Beach, a two-man Brooklyn band whose profile is low even by indie Brooklyn standards: about 8,800 Facebook likes and zero Pitchfork hits. Ghost Beach was approached by American Eagle, which wanted to license the band’s song “Miracle” for an online ad. As it has done with a few other bands the retailer offered a fee as well as access to the billboard.

The ArtistsVsArtists billboard has been booked for two weeks, ending on Sunday. The group’s use of the billboard is worth $50,000, an American Eagle spokeswoman said.”

What side do you fall on? #artistsforpiracy or #artistsagainstpiracy ?

For the full story visit www.nytimes.com

The post Debate over Piracy Gets Big with Times Square Billboard appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Josh Ong, via The Next Web

“Microsoft, Spotify and music intelligence firm The Echo Nest have joined forces to create Mixshape, a visual tool that automatically sorts playlists based on the properties and moods of individual songs.

Mixshape is built on top of The Echo Nest’s technology, which is sometimes called the “big data of music”, while Spotify provides the playlists, which maxes out at 300 tracks for the tool.The tool lets users manipulate a movable shape in order to rearrange a playlist based on tempo. You can choose from settings such as romance, party, exercise and work, choose a line that determines the pace of the playlist.”

The Echo Nest (2011) and Spotify (2012) are past SoundCtrl FlashFWD honorees… keep up with FlashFWD 2013 HERE

For the full story visit thenextweb.com

The post Microsoft, Spotify & The Echo Nest Launch Mixshape appeared first on SoundCtrl.

By Sarah Perez – via TechCrunch

“TastemakerX, a music discovery mobile application, which previously operated as something of a ‘stock market for bands,’ is today announcing $1.25 million in new funding from Baseline Ventures, True Ventures, Guggenheim Venture Partners and Aol Ventures*. It’s also doing away with the whole stock market analogy, and is instead launching a new feature called ‘Collections,’ allowing users an alternative way to show off their musical tastes.

The startup will debut its new experience at this year’s SXSW, of course, with a March 11 event at Speakeasy featuring Lord Huron, The Joy Formidable, St. Lucia, and others.”

For the full story visit TechCrunch.com

The post TastemakerX Raises $1.25M, Positions Itself as “Fantasy League” for Bands appeared first on SoundCtrl.

by Angus Thomas Paterson

The most bitterly fought battle in the music tech industries this year has been the management of copyright infringements in the digital era, and this week the debate reached the streets of Berlin when thousands took to the streets to protest against the actions of GEMA, a performance rights organization that is Germany’s equivalent of America’s RIAA.

Just like the RIAA has backed hugely controversial policies like ACTA and SOPA, as a way of clawing back revenues allegedly lost to illegal music sharing, GEMA is planning an increase in music performance fees. However, Berlin’s world-renowned clubbing community has claimed the changes will sound the death toll for many nightclubs, which are the very places responsible for driving the city’s famous underground electronic community.

The directors of Berlin’s revered Club Berghain, one of the world’s most famous dance venues, told Billboard.biz after Monday’s protests that the new tariffs would mean clubs would have to pay an increase to GEMA of more than 1,400 in some instances, for the right to allow DJs to play recorded music, a change that would put the very existence of many venues at risk.

“If this change in the tariff actually becomes reality in 2013, the club landscape will change dramatically. There will be a huge increase in admission charges with an end result that many guests will no longer be able to afford to go clubbing.”

More than 5,000 people took to the Schönhauser Allee thoroughfare to protest against the performance fee hikes, with the gathering organized by Germany’s infamous “Piraten-Partei” (Pirate Party) and more than a dozen clubs and restaurants. In typical Berlin style, the protest was transformed into an impromptu rave, with the help of a few giant speakers, with those gathered enjoying a DJ set from Dr. Motte, the founder of the Love Parade.

Club promoter Sebastian Kleber told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper that the changes threatened the future of Berlin’s clubbing community. “I think this is a great event. Something has to be done against GEMA’s totally abstract pricing reform,” Kleber said. “I definitely won’t be able to afford the new prices.”

The GEMA protests mark the latest controversy to erupt in Europe this year over copyright management in the digital era. The US-backed ACTA international treaty, aiming for global consensus on copyright protection, was greeted with howls of derision from citizens, internet libertarians, and parliaments alike in January. Protesters marched across several European capitals, before the bill eventually stalled in the European commission.

The post SoundCtrl Report Berlin: Copyright Controversy Hits Streets in Europe With GEMA Protests appeared first on SoundCtrl.

From Read Write Web

Despite all of the great innovation happening in online music, there are 3 frustrating things for consumers that need to be addressed by Apple, Google, Facebook and others.

Read full article here.

The post 3 Complaints About The State of Online Music appeared first on SoundCtrl.

Lil Wayne released his new album, Tha Carter IV, on Monday at midnight. It’s been more than three years since his last official, full-length album, the triple-platinum-selling, Grammy-winning Tha Carter III. During the drought Lil Wayne had various legal issues and served eight months in prison. But his fan base has continued to grow, thanks to his digital strategy. Part of that is providing his fans with a steady stream of leaked songs and guest verses on other musicians’ songs, but the other part comes from his Facebook fan manager — 21-year-old Mazy Kazerooni.

In some ways, Kazerooni is your typical tech startup prodigy. He left high school at age 17 to work for a live video streaming platform called Ustream.

“Ustream gave me a very interesting perspective,” Kazerooni says. “When you see how many viewers somebody can get on a live video stream, you can really understand how connected they are to their fans, how many they have, how much they love them. It’s a lot harder to get 10,000 people to watch you at the same time then it is to get 10,000 views on a YouTube video.”

Kazerooni initially set out to lure big name rappers like Lil Wayne into using the site to reach their fans. But then it turned into a side hustle—working as Lil Wayne’s digital consultant, helping to grow the rapper’s presence on social media platforms beyond Ustream.

“He had a million fans sitting on his page, and no one had access to it,” explains Kazerooni. “No one even really knew what Facebook was, on his team. I had to argue with them for like a month to give me the information I needed to get the access.”

Kazerooni multiplied the number of fans on the page to 30 million in a little over a year.

“Now, there’s a lot of attention being paid to what’s happening online,” he says.

Joanna Dorfman is the site editor at Ustream, the startup that gave Kazerooni his first job. Kazerooni built buzz for the site by pursuing all kinds of celebrities, from bloggers to musicians, as some of its first users. He pumped up their live broadcasts on Ustream’s Twitter feed. He’d slip into their chat rooms and offer tech support when they hit a glitch.

“I heard ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ being thrown around a lot, as a phrase, but I didn’t really see an illustration of what that meant until I met Mazy. He has it,” says Dorfman.

You might not expect rappers to swoon over someone like Kazerooni, a baby-faced Persian American from Orange County who didn’t grow up listening to rap. But in videos posted to their Ustream channels, popular rappers like Wiz Khalifa and Lil Bow Wow sing Kazerooni’s praises.

“I appreciate you, Mazy. You’re like the Ustream Jesus, man, you really is. You just come out of nowhere and aaahhh…you’re just going to help every celebrity on that Ustream,” Bow Wow says.

Arguably, the celebrity Kazerooni’s helped the most is his client Lil Wayne. As the Facebook page manager, Kazerooni strategically re-posts Lil Wayne’s Twitter commentary, as well as announcements about the rapper’s whereabouts.

“While he was in jail, we had an address so people could send him letters,” Kazerooni says. “He’d write back to some of these letters. I would post all that stuff on Facebook. We just kept everyone engaged throughout the whole process.”

That active engagement proves those 30 million fans aren’t idly watching the page. And this means the page is ripe for merchandising. Few of those posts contain product mentions, but the ones that do are moneymakers.

“I do everything the management needs to make sure we’re selling his products without bothering the fans,” Kazerooni says.

Wayne’s summer tour is promoted on his wall mostly by namechecking cities. A shoutout, for example, to Atlanta, can inspire some 7,000 comments. Wayne also hawks a brand of vanity cigars, and when Kazerooni occasionally posts about them on the page, local markets sell out.

He even won the page a Guinness World Record for the most “Likes” on a post in 24 hours.

The post Syndicated Post: The Tech Whiz Behind Lil Wayne’s Curtain appeared first on SoundCtrl.