"TOTP" campaign launched

The iconic BBC programme, Top of the Pops, was axed by the corporation in 2006, after audience figures continued to fall, but bowing to public pressure the BBC commissioned the show for two exclusive episodes over Christmas, with both proving to be festive ratings winners. Now a campaign to bring "Top Of The Pops" back to British TV screens has been launched, according to reports.

Music industry figure Dylan White is now said to have kicked-off the initiative, which follows a similar recent idea from "X-Factor" mogul Simon Cowell.  His new proposal would see the show in an early evening time slot, before the "Six O'Clock News", and appeal to a younger demographic.

"The content of the programme would be driven by (Top Of The Pops) magazine and the Top 40, so would heavily feature the likes of 'High School Musical', Rihanna, Sugababes, Katy Perry and, yes, some 'X Factor' stars", explained White.

Social Networking rings the changes for mobile music

According to a new report, “Mobile Content & Services Industry Survey” from Informa Telecoms & Media, social networking and community-based services and applications will drive mobile music services in coming years, having received attention and investment from the mobile industry in the last two years.

 

In 2008, more than 50 percent of internal mind-share companies focused on mobile social networking.

 

71%, of the 307 telecom professionals who participated in the survey, believed that social networking and community services will have a meaningful impact on peer-to-peer (P2P) uptake of mobile content. Many operators have already begun offering mobile social networking services as part of their business strategy, the survey said.

 

The mobile music industry generated revenues worth over $9 billion in 2008 from ringtones, ringback tones (RBT), full-track downloads and music streaming services (excluding music videos), and the revenue from the mobile music segment is growing. There is  decline in ringtone revenue growth but this is being bolstered by the growth of full track download market, music streaming services and associated subscriptions.

 

However, some markets are showing growth in ringback tones. For instance, there are in excess of 110 million subscribers to RBT services in China alone. The U.S. and Western Europe have yet to see a similar amount of usage, although the number of subscribers is rising.

 

For mobile operators and mobile music service providers, presence of social networking or community feature as part of their music service will make the service more user- friendly and drive usage, while reducing the number of customers who switch providers. 

 

There are several examples of mobile music services driven by social networking features : MusicStation became the UK’s largest subscription based unlimited music download service within seven months of launching on Vodafone, which offered the service to its subscribers for £1.99 per week with no data charges. Vodafone has recently also started offering the service on selected price plans at no extra charge.

 

TIM recently partnered with Buongiorno (News - Alert) Vitamic to offer a mytones service, combining mobile user generated music content and social networking to subscribers in Italy. Consumers create and upload ringtones, which is then made available for streaming and downloading.

 

Other examples of music services driven by social networking and community features include Shazam, Bebo Mobile, phling!, MyStrands and Vodafone Music Reporter.

 

NIN Album as a CC Music PlayApp

Introducing a new technology that the music industry can use once again reach new heights, Nine Inch Nails' (NIN) album "The Slip" has been released as a free Creative Commons licensed music playapp download at www.PlayApp.com.

PlayApps are single file, custom multimedia programs that can contain music, pictures, lyrics, and video. The songs in the "The Slip" Nine Inch Nails music playapp are extractable as 192 kbps MP3 files while the pictures are extractable as high resolution JPG files. 

PlayApps can be created for any computer system, but are initially being developed for the Windows platform, XP or greater.

Since music CDs are fading from the marketplace and digital downloads such as MP3s are becoming more popular, the music playapp is being introduced as a new business model to re-energize the music industry. The goal of this business model is to simply give the consumer a better product; one that is downloadable, unlike CDs, and is an easy to use multimedia collectible, unlike MP3s. 

PlayApps, it is claimed, also give the music industry the option of including an easy to use, plug and play DRM in future music playapps. DRM is now a selective, market driven option, not an all or nothing dilemma.

For musicians, whether they're a struggling unknown or a well known artist, playapps give them the ability to offer a product that makes them stand out from everyone else and their fans can digitally collect.

Nine Inch Nails (NIN) / "The Slip"

Music PlayApp

www.playapp.com

MUZU adds Cooking Vinyl

Cooking Vinyl, the label behind the Charlatans and The Prodigy, has become the latest name to signed a global licensing deal with MUZU.TV, a new music video website. They join the likes of  EMI, Sony BMG and the Ministry of Sound.

The service pays artists through advertising when their music is played. Users can either watch music videos on the MUZU site, on artist sites or embed them into their social networks.

Martin Goldschmidt, founder and managing director of Cooking Vinyl said, "To date, we have resisted doing deals with a lot of online video platforms because we didn't feel their offering fairly compensated our artists and had the right focus," 

MUZU , according to Cooking Vinyl, was purpose-built for the industry and why it had chosen to partner with them. 

Goldschmidt contiued, "MUZU.TV is different from other online video sites  and we believe it holds great revenue potential."

This is yet another diverse move by music labels as they look to develop their digital businesses as physical sales of CDs fall.

WH Smith still committed to music

WH Smith became a victim of the Entertainment UK (EUK) collapse late last year, revealing that it has now sourced CDs and DVDs from elsewhere following the distributor entering administration.

Rejecting reports that the retail chain had abandoned music sales, a spokesperson for  WH Smith said, “We continue to implement our strategy to reduce our presence in entertainment, to focus instead on our core categories, however, we remain committed to providing our customers with a tailored convenience offer.”

WH Smith reported that like for like sales in its high street branches for the 9 weeks and the 20 weeks to January 17 were down 7% and 7% respectively. However, excluding entertainment like-for-like sales for the 9 and 20 weeks were down 3%.

Group Chief Executive Kate Swann added, “As anticipated, trading conditions on the high street were challenging over the Christmas period. However, we continue to successfully deliver our strategy and maintain operational flexibility, increasing gross margins and accelerating our cost reduction plans.Looking ahead, we expect consumer spending in our markets to remain subdued and we have planned accordingly,” .

EUK entered administration in November, alongside Woolworths Retail. Its collapse led to entertainment retailer Zavvi, which used EUK to supply its CDs and DVDs, entering administration itself.

Can Cleese & Co. Save The Music Industry?

With all the talk of illegal downloads, file sharing and falling sales perhaps the music industry should a take tip from Monty Python's Flying Circus. No, seriously.

If you are of a certain age the humor of the Monty Python gang has been part of your life as long as you can remember.  Now, it appears a whole new generation fans are being born thanks to a brilliant marketing idea.  They are giving the stuff away.  Instead of following the music industry's tactics of fighting free stuff on the internet, John Cleese and company put up ALL of their stuff on YouTube for Free.  It was quite a controversial gamble and here's how it was pitched..

Guess what?  It worked.   If you compare DVD sales figures on Amazon before and after the creation of the Monty Python YouTube channel, the boost tallies in at around 23,000%.  Monty Python DVDs climbed to the #2 spot on Amazon's best seller list.  Brilliant.

The music industry is renowned for it reluctance to change but judging by the number of "official" music videos now starting to appear on YouTube it's clear it's time for something completely different.

Thriller - The Musical?

Back in 1983, Michael Jackson revolutionalized the music video industry with his 14-minute production of “Thriller." Now several entertainment news agencies reports the video will be developed into a musical theater production with the full blessing of the entertainer.

The ground breaking "Thriller" video, featuring dancing zombies and horror film star Vincent Price, was first aired in 1983 and became a staple of MTV. It was directed by filmmaker John Landis, who said it cost $500,000 -- about 10 times the cost of the standard music video of the time.

"This musical will be the exclusive Michael Jackson authorized version of 'Thriller' and Jackson will participate in every aspect of the creative process."  said The Nederland Organization, who have aquired the rights to stage the musical, in a statement released yesterday (Monday, Jan. 26)

Jackson's  own spokesman, Dr. Tohme Tohme, said in the Nederland Organization statement: "The Nederlanders and Michael Jackson represent live theater and musical excellence, so let the music begin." 

Titled "Thriller The Musical," the production will include songs from "Thriller" and Jackson's 1979 album "Off The Wall."

Coldplay & Duffy top nominees at BRITs

British rock band Coldplay and Welsh singer Duffy head the field at the 2009 BRITs, with four nominations apiece, the UK's top pop music awards organisers  have announced.

The top two are followed by London-born singer/songwriter Adele, indie pop band Scouting For Girls and alternative rockers Elbow, who all appear in three categories.

Coldplay are up for best British group and best British album,  which is considered to be the most prestigious prize at the BRITs, for their multi-million selling record "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends". The group is also up for best British single and British live act.

The BRITs' recognition of Duffy, who was a relative unknown a year ago, caps a year during which her debut album "Rockferry" was Britain's top-selling record in 2008 and boasts worldwide sales of nearly 4.5 million copies. She has been nominated for best album, best single for "Mercy", British female solo artist and British breakthrough act. The best British single award is chosen by live public vote on the night of the awards ceremony.

In the international categories, the same five artists are competing both for best international group and international album -- AC/DC, Fleet Foxes, the Killers, Kings of Leon and MGMT.

British pop music enjoyed considerable international success in 2008, underlined by its dominance at the industry's top awards, the Grammys, which will be handed out in Los Angeles on Feb. 8. Of the 20 nominations in the four "main" Grammy categories, 13 are British artists, BRITs organisers said. "The list highlights the continued investment in British talent across the UK record industry," said Ged Doherty, chairman of the BRITs Committee.

Adele, another female pop artist to make it big in 2008, has been shortlisted for the best British female, British breakthrough and British single categories.

Elbow are in the running for best British group and album plus top live act, where they are up against Scouting for Girls who are also nominated for British breakthrough act and single for "Heartbeat".

Four other British acts -- Ting Tings, Radiohead, Girls Aloud, and Estelle -- land two nominations apiece in this year's BRITs list.

BRITs organisers also announced  that Take That and Coldplay will appear at the awards ceremony on Feb. 18th, joining Pet Shop Boys, U2, Kings of Leon, Duffy and Girls Aloud. Hosting the event, held before an audience of over 10,000 people at London's Earls Court, will be Australian star Kylie Minogue.

BPI angry at U.K. minister over file-sharing

"Hitting The Right Note" reported yesterday of the interview with the government's intellectual property minister David Lammy in the Times newspaper that seemed to indicate the U.K. government is no longer likely to pursue legislation forcing ISPs to contact, then disconnect, high volume file-sharers. 

In the interview Lammy is quoted as saying "We can't have a system where we're talking about arresting teenagers in their bedrooms," Lammy continued. "People can rent a room in an hotel and leave with a bar of soap -- there's a big difference between leaving with a bar of soap and leaving with the television."

The result of this interview has brought an angry response from Richard Mollet who is the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) director of public affairs, who dismissed the comments, saying British music creators are "sure to be insulted at the analogy between British music and complimentary soap from hotels."

"It shows an incredible lack of understanding [of the relationship] between music and illegal file-sharing from the minister in charge of intellectual property," Mollet said. "We are appalled to see him falsely raising the prospect of arresting people in their bedrooms and fail to see what place this has in the discussion."

In July, the BPI and the Music Publishers Association (MPA) joined with six of the U.K.'s leading ISPs to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that voluntarily bound both sides to a code of practice aimed at reducing online piracy. This memorandum also set into action a three-month consumer education trial that promised thousands of warning letters from ISPs to infringing users.

It has been suggested the government's "Digital Britain" report would recommend the creation of a new body to act as mediator between ISPs and rights holders in suspected cases of copyright infringement, but  Mollet declined comment on the likely content of that report, which is expected to be published Jan. 29, but confirmed the BPI position, "The BPI has long called for government to maintain its commitment to introducing legislation to tackle music piracy," he said.