1. @SXSW: THE DAILY DIGEST: Mobile Emerges As A Major Music Platform

    March 17, 2010 12:00 AM EDT The discussion around mobile music no longer mentions ringtones, as both mainstream and indie acts see the advantages of mobile platforms for promotion and distribution. Devices have always been at the center of the digital music experience, most ...

  2. @SXSW: The Expansive Reach Of Music Bloggers

    March 16, 2010 12:00 AM EDT Panel : "The State of Music Blogs" Participants : Jesse Ervin (EMI/Capitol), Nicole Poulos (Sideways Media), Greg Swan (Perfect Porridge), Tessa Horehled (Drive a Fast Car), Nathan Wright A panel of music bloggers (and one record label m ...

  3. @SXSW: Start-Ups That Are Changing The Concert Business

    March 16, 2010 12:00 AM EDT Panel : "How the Internet Is Disrupting the Concert Industry" Participants : Ian Hogharth (Songkick) The presentation gave a quick primer on the concert industry, followed by a snapshot of how new start-ups are impacting how concerts are ...

  4. The Orchard To Merge With Parent Company

    March 16, 2010 12:00 AM EDT The Orchard today asked stockholders to approve a formal merger with parent company Dimensional Associates. When complete, the merger would make the Orchard again a privately owned company. Dimensional already owns 42% of the company's outsta ...

  5. Business Matters: Jelli, Sub Pop, Live Nation, KISS

    March 10, 2010 12:00 AM EST -- Jelli has partnered with Triton Media to launch two of its crowdsourced radio shows to national syndication. Ten stations, including WBOS in Boston and KXTE in Las Vegas. Jelli allows people to select online which songs they want to hear on ter ...

  6. Indies Group Takes Stand, Will Not Sip Wine From LimeWire’s Open Bar

    February 22, 2010 12:00 AM EST A2IM president Richard Bengloff sent an e-mail to over a dozen members attending this week’s Digital Music Forum East conference highly critical of participating companies LimeWire and Myxer. While it stopped short of outright recommending that me ...

  7. Insane Clown Posse Label In Deal With Fontana

    February 18, 2010 12:00 AM EST Fontana and Psychopathic Records, probably best known as the home of the Insane Clown Posse (ICP), have signed an exclusive distribution deal. Also on the Psychopathic roster: Twiztid, Blaze, ABK, Boondox and Mike E. Clark, while DJ Clay and AMB a ...

  8. Business Matters: Definitive Jux, Vivendi, Guy Hands and More

    February 03, 2010 12:00 AM EST Business Matters is a daily column that offers insight, analysis and opinion on the day's news. Follow Billboard senior analyst Glenn Peoples on Twitter at twitter.com/billboardglenn . -- Hip hop label Definitive Jux is going on a hiatus. As ...

  9. Thumbplay Adding New Content From 20 Partners

    February 02, 2010 12:00 AM EST Thumbplay is adding content from 20 new licensing partners for its new on-demand streaming music service , Thumbplay Music. The company launched the service as an invite-only beta last month with content from the four major record labels. New cont ...

  10. The Billboard Q&A: The Windish Agency's Tom Windish

    January 29, 2010 12:00 AM EST At a time when many boutique booking agencies have folded their operations into those of larger, acquisitive rivals, Tom Windish has been intent on forging his own path. Windish opened the Windish Agency in 2004 following a seven-year stint as an ...

  11. eMusic Appoints Nadler Chief Marketing Officer

    January 21, 2010 12:00 AM EST Online digital retailer eMusic has announced that it has named Lee Nadler as chief marketing officer. Prior to eMusic, Nadler was founder and CEO of Sherpa Marketing Inc., a marketing consulting firm. His previous experience also includes tenure a ...

  12. Fan-Funded Act Signs To Atlantic/Chop Shop

    January 13, 2010 12:00 AM EST U.K. rock act Scars on 45 has graduated from fan-funded Web platform Slicethepie to sign a multi-album deal with Atlantic Records/Chop Shop Records. London-based Slicethepie is an online platform that enables acts to secure direct funding from its ...

  13. Business Matters: eMusic, WMG, the Indies and More

    January 12, 2010 12:00 AM EST -- In Reuters' article about eMusic's addition of Warner Music Group catalog , CEO Danny Stein says the music site is looking to include streaming in its product offering in 2010. Currently, eMusic offers only MP3 downloads. A streaming ...

  14. Op-Ed: Equal Access

    January 05, 2010 12:00 AM EST Charles Caldas, CEO of indie rights agency Merlin In order for the digital music market to fully offset the impact of plunging CD sales, consumers need to have access to a diverse, compelling and comprehensive range of legal opportunities to acces ...

  15. Year-End: Silversun Pickups, dangerbird Records Keep Local Focus

    December 11, 2009 12:00 AM EST To say 2009 was quite a year for Jeff Castelaz is a gross understatement - he saw his label's flagship band Silversun Pickups enter the Billboard Top 200 at No. 7 and go on to sell 191,000 copies of "Swoon," according to Nielsen Sou ...

  16. MySpace, Merlin Standoff Ends

    November 20, 2009 12:00 AM EST MySpace Music and independent music aggregator Merlin buried the hatchet with a deal that adds the company's roster of independent labels to the online streaming music service. While financial details of the arrangement were not disclosed, th ...

  17. Ex-Orchard CEO Greg Scholl Joins NBC Universal

    October 17, 2009 12:00 AM EDT NBC Local Media has create a new top management structure. Greg Scholl has joined the NBC Universal local media division in the newly created position of president, local media platforms. Scholl’s first day will be Nov. 2, reporting to John Wallac ...

  18. Avatar Studios To Host First ‘Ask The Producers’ Panel

    October 15, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Avatar Studios will host its first-ever “Ask The Producers” panel on Oct. 19. The panel will feature Steve Lillywhite (U2, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel, XTC), Roy Hendrickson (Cheap Trick, Wilco & Feist, Jupiter One, Danielia Cotton) and ...

  19. Briefs: The Orchard, Verizon Wireless, Google

    October 06, 2009 12:00 AM EDT -- Distributor the Orchard has announced a pan-European marketing and physical distribution deal with German CD distributor Intergroove. Under the deal, Intergroove will handle the physical distribution of select Orchard European front line and ca ...

  20. The Orchard Cuts Staff, CEO To Exit

    September 29, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Digital distributor the Orchard has announced the resignation of president and chief executive Greg Scholl, along with a 20% reduction in global headcount, including temps and consultants. According to recent filings, the Orchard had 101 full time ...

  21. Update: Razor & Tie Drops LimeWire Lawsuit

    September 25, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Razor & Tie has withdrawn its copyright infringement lawsuit against P2P file-sharing service LimeWire. The Kidz Bop label originally filed the suit last October, about two years after the RIAA filed a similar lawsuit August of 2006. The RIAA ...

  22. Loud & Proud Readies Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'God & Guns'

    September 11, 2009 12:00 AM EDT In an industry where most executives are always chasing something new and sexy, Tom Lipsky has carved a successful niche working with veteran acts. Combining his appreciation for seasoned artists with an understanding of what fans want and loads o ...

  23. Primary Wave, Motel 6 Open Doors To Touring Bands

    August 27, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Primary Wave Music, has put together a partnership with Motel 6 that will give touring rock bands free lodging in exchange for putting up the "Rock Yourself to Sleep logo on their social network sites, like Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. The ...

  24. Label Services Group World's Fair Closes

    August 26, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Label Services Group World's Fair has folded, president and CEO Kevin Wortis confirms to Billboard. The demise of the organization comes as something of a surprise; just yesterday, World's Fair sent an email promoting the premiere of the ...

  25. 6 Questions: All Tomorrow's Parties Founder Barry Hogan

    August 26, 2009 12:00 AM EDT While big, splashy festivals struggle and fold, All Tomorrow's Parties has continued to build momentum by staying small and focusing on left-of-center artists. Attending the festivals, which have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia and ...

  26. RED Links With Quannum Projects, ie:music

    August 24, 2009 12:00 AM EDT RED Distribution has announced the addition of two new labels to their roster. San Francisco-based hip hop label Quannum Projects will use RED for physical distribution, marking the first time in 18 months their albums will be made available physi ...

  27. Orchard CEO Discusses New Artist Services

    August 03, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Indie digital aggregator and marketing firm the Orchard launched a partnership program with more than 10 online sources of marketing, sales and analytics tools in order to bring their services to its clients. Launch partners include Artist Data, M ...

  28. E1 Distribution, Red Hammer Ink Deal

    July 31, 2009 12:00 AM EDT E1 Entertainment Distribution has completed a deal with Christian indie label Red Hammer Records. E1 will physically distribute all releases in North America, and digitally distribute all releases worldwide for the label. Red Hammer was founded in ...

  29. Panel Spotlights Artist-Fan Relationships

    July 21, 2009 12:00 AM EDT The second panel of the New Music Seminar focused on the importance of managing relationships with fans, and using data from those fans in meaningful ways. Tim Westergren of Pandora told the audience his company is in the process of developing too ...

  30. Rykodisc Shuffled Under ILG, Staff Cut

    July 15, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Rykodisc Records, which has been operating as a stand-alone label since it was acquired by the Warner Music Group in 2006, has been placed under WMG's Independent Label Group. As part of the move, five Ryko staffers have been let go and ILG w ...

  31. Analysis: The Stark Difference Between NPD, AIMS Surveys

    July 15, 2009 12:00 AM EDT According to the NPD Group, MySpace Music and Pandora are the most used music- focused social networks and community web sites. A Q1 2009 survey of 4,051 people aged 13 and over asked if the person was aware of the product and if he or she used th ...

  32. Paramore Gets Ready To Shine With 'Brand New Eyes'

    July 14, 2009 12:00 AM EDT When Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams is asked about her plans after the Sept. 29 release of her new album, "Brand New Eyes," she simply says, "We're going to be on tour—forever." Williams, 20, isn't being terribly ...

  33. Grunblatt Named President Of E1 Music

    July 13, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Alan Grunblatt has been named president of E1 Music, replacing Bob Frank, who is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. Grunblatt, who has served as GM and executive VP and has made his reputation with urban music, will now have the ti ...

  34. Report: Lumberjack Mordam Shutters

    July 08, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Lumberjack Mordam Music Group will cease operations, according to an email sent by CEO Dirk Hemsath to Lumberjack's distributed labels, which was posted on punknews.org . Hemsath wrote that, "We had hopes for the last several months that ...

  35. Sony Music, Indie Distro IODA Sign Partnership

    July 01, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Sony Music Entertainment and indie digital distributor IODA have joined forces in a partnership that allows Sony and its independent distribution subsidiary RED to tap into IODA's digital distribution system worldwide. Sony has also made a st ...

  36. Indie Survey: Friends, Live Shows Big Influencers

    June 08, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Four out of five independent music store customers cite a recommendation of a friend as being an important factor in a purchase, according to a survey conducted by the Association of Independent Music Stores (AIMS). The online survey queried 1,067 ...

  37. Atlantic To Relaunch Elektra Records Imprint

    June 01, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Atlantic has announced that it will relaunch the Elektra Records imprint, which has been dormant since 2004. The label will be run by Fueled By Ramen founder John Janick and Atlantic executive VP of A&R Mike Caren. While the new presidents say ...

  38. Digital Briefs: Last.fm, 'Guitar Hero 5,' Crystal Method

    May 18, 2009 12:00 AM EDT -- Mobile music service mSpot has added content from CBS Radio and Last.fm to its streaming music channels it delivers for various wireless operators. mSpot's mobile application lets users stream participating radio channels through their pho ...

  39. Future of Music Coalition Reports Grim Airplay Data

    April 29, 2009 12:00 AM EDT The Future of Music Coalition has released a report detailing the grim state of indie airplay on commercial radio stations. The data, drawn from Mediaguide playlists for seven specific music formats (AC, Urban AC, Active Rock, Country, CHR Pop, Tr ...

  40. Fontana To Distribute Sonicstar Records

    April 21, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Independent distributor Fontana has signed an exclusive distribution deal with Sonicstar Records. The label is the newly formed independent entertainment company led by Scooter Ward and Toby McDonald. Ward is also the lead singer for metal band Co ...

  41. Turbo, Last Gang In Deal

    April 20, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Turbo Recordings signed an exclusive distribution deal with Last Gang Records in North America. The labels have been collaborating informally since 2006 on acts such as Tiga, Chromeo, and Boys Noize. Forthcoming Turbo releases include albums from ...

  42. E1 In Triumphant Deal

    April 16, 2009 12:00 AM EDT E1 Distribution has signed a three-year distribution deal with Triumphant Entertainment, the Arizona-based distribution, production, and sales company. Triumphant;s upcoming DVD releases include "Blood Moon Rising," "The Crypt" ...

  43. Original Signal Signs Marketing/Distro Deal With Universal

    April 10, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Original Signal Recordings and Universal Motown Records have entered a partnership under which the Universal imprint will provide select marketing and promotional services for certain OSR releases, while the major's indie distributor Fontana ...

  44. Analysis: Strive for Transparency, Not Fairness

    April 08, 2009 12:00 AM EDT As digital business models continue to evolve, compensating music creators continues to be a hot button topic and the recently released guidelines for artist contracts, "Principles for Musician Compensation in New Business Models," from ...

  45. Kill Rock Stars Signs Distribution Deal With Redeye

    March 30, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Northwest indie label Kill Rock Stars (KRS), which lost its distribution when Touch and Go folded last month, has signed a deal with independent distributor Redeye. KRS will move its catalog, including records by Elliott Smith, the Decemberists, S ...

  46. Diplo's Mad Decent Teams Up With Downtown Records

    March 30, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Producer Diplo, best known for his work with M.I.A., has announced a joint venture between his label, Mad Decent, and Downtown Records. Upcoming releases from Mad Decent will include music from Philadelphia punk band Popo, London's dubstepers ...

  47. Editorial: SXSW 2009 Reflections

    March 22, 2009 12:00 AM EDT "If there's a recession, you wouldn't know about it at SXSW," said Jonathan McHugh, the music supervisor and movie producer most prominently connected to the "Saw" series. He was at the Saturday showcase for Chop Shop ...

  48. SXSW 2009: Winners And Losers

    March 21, 2009 12:00 AM EDT As this year's South By Southwest Conference winds down in Austin, Billboard takes a look at the winners and losers of the event. Winners: Twitter: Brevity is usually the soul of wit, but very few people define "omg sxsw rulez! this show ...

  49. SXSW Day 3: Metallica, Twitter Flood, Branding Hits And More

    March 20, 2009 12:00 AM EDT Metallica was the talk at South By Southwest on Friday, the event's third full day. The headbanging titans rolled into town to chat up their upcoming Guitar Hero: Metallica game and also to play a show at Stubb's which had fans lined up ...

  50. SXSW Day 2: Buzz Bands, Quincy Jones, Kanye West

    March 19, 2009 12:00 AM EDT While Austin is still full of the young, cool, and beautiful drinking their way through the hype machine, there are signs the recession has had an impact on the festival. Parties that offered lavish spreads last year have cut back to putting out b ...

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