Grooveshark Gets a Makeover

Posted on 26. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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The music streaming market is quickly heating up, even as many question the financial sustainability of the streaming model. Spotify seems to be the golden boy of the press (it also happens to be my personal preference) but it certainly isn’t the only contender. Only a few weeks ago Grooveshark made the headlines as the [...]

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The Declarations of Independents

Posted on 21. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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Rich Huxley is a member of the gloriously independent Hope and Social, a founder of Alamo Music – the UK’s first fan-owned record label, and a record producer. The case for independence: One of the questions I like to ask when I meet people through music is: “How many artists do you know personally who [...]

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New Music Review: Sufjan Stevens – The BQE

Posted on 19. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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October has been a big month for Sufjan Stevens (who I wrote about yesterday, if you missed it.) Run Rabbit Run dropped on the 6th, and today brings us the release of another Sufjan Stevens project – The BQE. Much like Run Rabbit Run, which is a chamber music re-imagining of Sufjan’s electronic sophomore album [...]

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Sufjan Stevens on the Existential Crisis of the Album

Posted on 19. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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The album has reigned as the prince of popular music formats for nearly a century. Yet, it’s become unclear how long this reign will last. Digital technology has transformed the way many listeners experience music and fueled a resurgence of the short-form single. For the past several years bloggers, critics, industry pros and consumers have [...]

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Video Pick: Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone

Posted on 18. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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The new Arctic Monkeys video is an entertaining exercise in tongue in cheek minimalism. Its three minutes and twenty five seconds feature nothing but Monkeys frontman Alex Turner, an old-school cassette deck and a blank white wall. Turner, clad in headphones and red sweater, croons at the camera while casually acting out the lyrics of [...]

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Deconstructing the Week in Music October 5 – 18

Posted on 18. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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Here’s a recap of what went on in the music industry this week. Make sure to check out anything you might have missed and leave your comments. Know something we don’t? Submit a story.

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No Royalties for Ringtone ‘Performances’

Posted on 15. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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There are two big stories in the news today related to intellectual property and music royalties. The first, which I will save for a separate post, is the passing of the Performance Rights Act by the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’ve written about the PRA before, but there have been some new developments since then and [...]

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Think Outside the Venue To Get That First Gig

Posted on 14. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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Most new bands approach the first part of their careers like this: We need to find an audience, but in order to find an audience we have to play shows. If we want to play shows we have to get a talent buyer to book us, but talent buyers are going to want to know [...]

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EMI Drops Lawsuit, Licenses Entire Catalogue to Grooveshark

Posted on 13. Oct, 2009 by refe.

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You might remember a while back that EMI filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against music streaming service Grooveshark. Well, in an interesting twist on that story it looks like EMI has not only dropped the lawsuit, it has now licensed it’s entire catalogue to Grooveshark in the US. This is the first major label to [...]