SoundCloud: A Heaven or Hell for the Music Industry?

As many of you may know, SoundCloud has become one the leading music streaming services on the internet for musicians and music listeners everywhere. Over the years, SoundCloud users have been able to upload music and listen freely; however, downloading these songs was not usually an option. For musicians, this was a way to protect themselves from having their music available for free without seeing any type of profit. Even though this protects the musicians, many SoundCloud listeners see this as a drawback. Admit it, we like to listen to music for free and if we can download it for free easily with a click of a button, most of us will.

A lot of music listeners on the internet use file converting sites that allow them to input a URL from a site, such as YouTube, and with a simple click, they can convert the URL into an mp3 file and download it to their computer for free.

Well aware of this trend, SoundCloud has introduced a converting site similar to these called SoundCloud-Download.com. It works just as simply as the others, just input a SoundCloud URL, click download, and watch the file be converted and downloaded to your computer.

So what does this mean for the music industry and SoundCloud musicians?

Main Pro: Could bring more users to the SoundCloud site, therefore it could increase awareness of a musicians music.

Main Con: Musicians on SoundCloud may not want to upload a lot of their music since users can download them for free. It also could decrease the amount of musicians on the site itself and cause them to look for an alternative music uploading/streaming service that will keep their music protected.

Future: It seems as though these types of file converting sites are becoming more an more popular and I don't see that changing. Many consumers, including myself, would rather get their music for free and if given the option. These converting sites are going to continue to thrive as long as there is that demand and they can find loopholes to keep their sites up and running.

By Alinda Yu

Shazam predicts the future of music

Those of us who are are music-tech savvy should be all too familiar with this mobile app that tells you the name of that song you happen to be listening to, but have no idea what it's called. Shazam has been helping users like myself for a few years now, with so many new artists, and 'songs' (I use that term loosely) their ever expanding library is sure to tag that toe tapper you've been humming all week!

So, you're probably thinking: Jon, how can a music tagging app on my mobile predict the future? Well hold on to your panties people, I'm getting there! The fine people at Shazam have been collecting data about the music you've been tagging. Shocker, right? Just like every other successful company, they're watching what you do, to better market their product. They also use this data to accurately predict the future sound waves going platinum.

Will Mills, Shazam's Director of Music and Content, said "Up to 85% of the songs that get to number one Shazam's Tag Charts go on to break nationally, making it one of the most accurate predictive measures for success and a key driver for Shazam of more than $300 million in digital music sales through our partners."

By comparing information about 'breaking artists' with Shazam's data trends, the company expects French Montana, Bei Maejor, Aluna George, Joey Bada$$, Becky G, Angel Haze, Rhye, Tito Lopez, Baauer and Haim to increase in popularity in 2013.

Now if only they could correctly predict who to pick up in my fantasy football league.

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by Alinda

JingleSmart Presents a New Online Platform for Businesses, Freelance Musicians and Jingle Writers to Deal With Weak Local Economies

  Its amazing how far we have come with technology. Since the economy has been pretty bad recently a lot of businesses are trying to cut costs especially in the area of marketing. Which is why Freelance jingle artists are using online platforms to connect with theses business. These jingle artists can now do everything over the Internet on platforms such as JingleSmart. They can produce and send the jingles to their clients over the Internet and also receive payment over the Internet. JingleSmart is there to help these freelance jingle writer connect with businesses that need them at a larger level.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/business/prweb/article/Jinglesmart-Presents-a-New-Online-Platform-for-4056440.php#ixzz2Da9wwUGx

iHeart Radio

Hurricane Sandy impacted the East Coast severely, destroying; house, town, and amusement parks. Since there was so much damage done some musical artists got together to do a benefit concert so that they help out in the relief efforts.

Since this benefit concert was not advertised well until after it happened. It was great to see that iHeart radio streamed the benefit concert live so that it would help bring more attention to the concerts relief efforts. Since most people in the devastated areas still did not have power and could not watch the show it was great the iHeart radio had a live feed because they also have a mobile app. So even though people didn’t have power most people still had charged phones through generators or car chargers; so they could still listen to the concert even if they could not see it.

            If you click on the link below you can listen to the benefit concert that featured various artists including Bruce Springsteen, JBon Jovi, Billy Joel, Sting, Jimmy Fallon, and others.

http://radio.about.com/b/2012/11/02/iheartradio-to-stream-audio-of-tonights-hurricane-sandy-special.htm

To Donate:

http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations 

Deezer

Another streaming service with great potential. What is it and how does it stand next to its competitors?

Deezer is a subscription streaming service that is becoming more and more popular in the U.S. market. With its roots in France, Deezer partnered with Facebook, expanded globally into over 180 countries and has been profitable since 2010.

So what makes this service stand our from the rest?
Watch this youtube advertisement they feature on their website and see for yourself!

Would you sign up?

by Alinda Yu

Boston.com launches 1st live, online alternative rock radio station with former WFNX DJs

Boston's popular radio station, WFNX, had it's frequency sold to media giant, Clear Channel earlier this year, the Boston Globe was outraged by this decsion, and in attempt to save the popular station and continue to provide it's many listeners with it's famous alternative rock tunes.

Many listeners were shocked when they heard the station would be silent after the history it has made.  WFNX had contirubted to the fame and national awareness of some bands such as Nirvana. In fact, it has been the only station to play their album, "Nevermind," in its entirety on air.  

This news created such a stir that fans even started a Facebook page, Twitter account, as well as many other social media sites to protest the action.  But this led the Boston Globe to seek other sources, and what better way to reach their listeners than with the help of the internet.

The once WFNX is now RadioBDC, a frequency not found on any dial, but from your computer or mobile device.  Listeners were ecstatic when they heard that their favorite station could still be heard.  RadioBDC (intitials stand for Boston Dot Com) may begin a new trend, as other radio staions may follow suite and begin to provide their music and antics on the internet. 

Although RadioBDC may have opened the doors for others to follow, there is still one aspect of the station that can not be recreated for one reason alone, the unique personalities and antics of their famous DJ's.  

By: Victoria Macaluso

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/bostoncom-launches-1st-live-online-alternative-rock-radio-station-with-former-wfnx-djs/2012/09/24/64ec76ac-06b0-11e2-9eea-333857f6a7bd_story.html

Spotified Celebrity Workouts

Whats the next best thing to training with your favorite athletes and celebrities?
-Working out to their very own playlists of course!

Spotify has recently teamed up with Reebok as they launched their new FitList app which allows the user to workout to their favorite athletes' workout playlists.  Theres no guarantee that working out to Eli Manning's playlist will put you in the NFL, or win you any Superbowls for that matter, but it'll make you feel like you're one of the pros. 

If rocking out to a celebrity's playlist doesn't get your blood pumping, theres playlists designed to go along with a list of activities that you can pick from (running, walking, dancing, training, or yoga), then you choose the intensity level (low medium or high) as well as the length of your workout.  A high intensity workout will have songs with higher BPM.  

Spotify's library of millions of songs, and Reeboks dedication to fitness are a great match in one of the most innovative and useful music apps I've seen to date.

by Jonathan Vasey

Using Twitter to Market Your Band

Can you describe a band in 140 characters or less?

Here are some tips for marketing your band on twitter. (via The DIY Musician)

By Alinda Yu

Passbook Hype: How the music industry can benefit

The new iPhone update iOS 6 was released yesterday, Wendesday September 19th, which includes a key feature that will affect how online music marketing can infiltrate the mobile market.

The new Passbook feature allows users to search/buy tickets, gift cards, coupons and then store them on their phone like a "wallet." Once consumers store their purchases, they can use their phone to scan the codes in stores, at the doors of concerts, or even at the gate of their flight.

So what does this mean for online marketing in the music industry?
Well, since smart-phones have internet access, music blogs, websites, and online music services can now incorporate a purchasing option for concert tickets that are compatible with Passbook. The connivence and hype of the feature could help to increase the music industry's concert ticket sales.

Source: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/digital-and-mobile/live-nation-ticketmaster-stubhub-apps-add-1007954172.story

By Alinda Yu

Move over, Pandora!

Apple has plans to move into the music streaming and music sharing market. They will be launching a music streaming service to compete with other services like Pandora, Spotify, and iHeartRadio. They also plan on adding new features to their iTunes service, which include ways to share and discover new material.

So what does this mean for online marketing in the music industry?
Well, record labels have the opportunity to utilize Apple's new features and services to boost their sales. With a strong brand identity and customer loyalty, Apple seems to be a promising vehicle for future success.

Check out these articles for more info!

http://business.time.com/2012/09/10/apple-planning-pandora-rival-is-web-radio-ready-for-prime-time/

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-09-07/apple-said-in-talks-with-music-labels-for-pandora-like-service

by Alinda Yu