|
RoyaltyShare Phases Out Digital Distribution
A little over a year after RoyaltyShare entered the digital-distribution business, the company is exiting the market, paidContent has learned. When it introduced its digital-distribution service last January, RoyaltyShare said it would provide a web-based platform for record labels and niche distributors to interact directly with digital retailers, bypassing the need to go through large digital aggregators such The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD). The company also said digital distribution would compliment its royalty service, which helps entertainment companies calculate royalties from digital sales.
But spokesman Mike Kelly said the economy had forced the company to de-emphasize the service, which is no longer taking on new customers. Two of RoyaltyShare’s 30 employees have been let go—and other employees are moving to the company’s royalty and sales management operations. While RoyaltyShare provides customers with analytical data on their digital sales, a company like The Orchard also woks with stores to market new music releases. With labels operating with skeleton crews these days, some may see the fuller service option as a better proposition.
-
paidContent.org
|
|
|
RoyaltyShare Phases Out Digital Distribution
A little over a year after RoyaltyShare entered the digital-distribution business, the company is exiting the market, paidContent has learned. When it introduced its digital-distribution service last January, RoyaltyShare said it would provide a web-based platform for record labels and niche distributors to interact directly with digital retailers, bypassing the need to go through large digital aggregators such The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD). The company also said digital distribution would compliment its royalty service, which helps entertainment companies calculate royalties from digital sales.
But spokesman Mike Kelly said the economy had forced the company to de-emphasize the service, which is no longer taking on new customers. Two of RoyaltyShare’s 30 employees have been let go—and other employees are moving to the company’s royalty and sales management operations. While RoyaltyShare provides customers with analytical data on their digital sales, a company like The Orchard also woks with stores to market new music releases. With labels operating with skeleton crews these days, some may see the fuller service option as a better proposition.
-
paidContent.org
|
|
|
Music Round-Up: Leona Lights Up, Unlimited Subs, MSN Unsigned
-- Leona Lewis: The X-Factor winner’s warbling impersonation of an Irish indie band has become the fastest-selling digital single ever. Her cover of Snow Patrol’s Run, recorded for impromptu release after a knock-out acapella radio set, was made available only digitally and sold 133,591 downloads, knocking those Take That boys off the top slot. Via MusicAlly.
-- Unlimited subs: Swedish telco/ISP TeliaSonera is offering all-you-can-eat unlimited subscription music service. Customers will “millions” of tracks from EMI, Universal, Warner and indies including The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD) and Bonnier Amigo for 99 SEK (£8.28) a month; the service works across both mobile and PC, though the offering comes with three months free and data charges are wrapped up in the subscription fee.
-- MSN Unsigned: Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is getting in on TV’s trend for unsigned-band talent contests, launching an Unsigned site to solicit budding artists’ material. Contestants are asked to send their videos via MSN’s Soapbox UGC video uploader. Get ready for another wave of derivative indie youngsters. Via Hypebot.
-
paidContent:UK
|
|
|
UK Round-Up: Google Ads; Amazon MP3; News Corp’s Sun Online; EMI Execs
Some snippets from our sister site paidContentUK:
-- Google turns to hard alcohol, relaxing ad rules in January: Here’s one for the New Year hangover… Google (NSDQ: GOOG), whose UK ad income has plateaued in recent quarters, will relax its paid search advertising rules to allow hard alcohol to be advertised from January 12, paidContent:UK has learned. Whilst advertisers will be able to buy ads on Google only for branding (ie. pointing to a drink’s marketing site), “ads and sites promoting the direct sale of alcohol both online and offline will remain restricted as per current hard alcohol policy”, according to the forthcoming guidelines, which we have seen.
-- Amazon brings MP3 to UK: The best way to take on the UK MP3 download market? If you’re Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), by stealth. Today the e-tail giant quietly brought its MP3 download store to the UK this morning. Like its US forebear, there’s repertoire from all four majors, plus Cooking Vinyl, Harmonia Mundi, Beggars Banquet, The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD), Concord and Ioda. There are three million non-DRM-protected songs.
-- News Corp sites step up cooperation: Not one to be left out by growing overlap elsewhere around News Corp (NYSE: NWS). Sun Online is now starting to formally link out to other news sites in the Murdoch portfolio. The site has added a footer to its homepage and all of its section pages, linking directly to 10 stories each on four other sites in the group - not just domestic Sky News and Times Online but US stablemates FoxNews.com and New York Post.
-- EMI gets more terraforming: After Terra Firma scorched EMI’s earth over the last year, its new CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti is sowing new seeds with his own management restructure. On the way out: Chris Roling, Terra Firma portfolio MD, brought in in August as EMI COO and CFO; Ashley Unwin, Terra Firma’s talent MD, who had been UK and north America COO since December; and Francois van der Spuy, a Terra director. Others who may leave, Telegraph.co.uk says: Stephen Alexander, Terra’s operations MD, and Riaz Punja, EMI’s finance MD.
-
paidContent.org
|
|
|
Amazon Brings MP3 To UK, Baits Rivals With £3 Albums
The best way to take on the UK MP3 download market? If you’re Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), by stealth. Today the e-tail giant quietly brought its MP3 download store to the UK this morning. Like its US forebear, there’s repertoire from all four majors, plus Cooking Vinyl, Harmonia Mundi, Beggars Banquet, The Orchard (NSDQ: ORCD), Concord and Ioda. There are three million non-DRM-protected songs; with top 20 albums available for £3 and single tracks for £0.59, the pre-Christmas music price war is officially on.
It’s a launch that had long been expected in the UK, but Play.com and 7Digital stole a march by staking out the DRM-free market this year - now those sites’ position as the only music download services with non-DRM major-label tracks has gone.
MusicAlly points at some holes in the catalogue on the indie side (no Oasis, for example) and notes that iTunes Store today lowered its price on a bunch of hit indie albums to under £4, perhaps in response to Amazon.
Could Amazon’s UK launch pave the way to the likely MySpace Music rollout here early next year? Amazon MP3 is already MySpace Music’s retail partner in the US, just as it is for YouTube’s click-and-buy programme, also coming to Europe in the new year.
-
paidContent:UK
|
Newsletter
