The web has made it far easier to promote and profit from music. So much so that it’s now possible for bands to succeed in a big way without having the big finances and professional experience of a record label behind them. This is great news for bands starting up in the music business, but [...]

Perversely, focussing on digital music sales can make the physical products you release more desireable. Think about Radiohead: In Rainbows. They put it out basically free over the net, and sold lush, limited edition vinyl and cd box sets, which sold 100,000 copies, and is currently changing hands for about $200 on ebay.

CD sales [...]

There are a few online music distribution companies out there, each professing it’s service and it’s model to be the cheapest and the best: what you need to do is figure out which of them is going to be the best for you. How many tracks can you reasonably expect to sell? What can you [...]

A study by comScore revealed that nearly 40 percent of the Japanese online population visited an entertainment site in August. Yahoo! Music led as favorite with 7.3 million visitors, followed by Sony Connect with 3 million visitors, and Sony BMG Music Entertainment with 2.7 million visitors. Sonny Connect is expected to drop.

The Ocarina from Smule synthesizes sound in real-time based on your “wind input” (fancy talk for you blow on it), tilt, and finger placement over four graphic “holes” overlaid on the multi-touch pad.  Unlike some iPhone audio apps, the sound is not pre-compiled but is generated by the individual performer.  As a result, “it allows [...]

The team over at MusicAlley have put together an amazing list of music promotions that happened in October. This is the first time I have come across their lists and it seems as though they do them every month. Enjoy!

1. AC/DC Excel video (above). Sony BMG turned the new video from the Aussie rockers into [...]

Courtney Holt, MTV’s chief of digital music, has told friends he will accept the job as MySpace Music’s new CEO, according to a source close to Holt.
His name is not yet on the dotted line, but Holt has given a verbal commitment to MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe, said a music industry source. MySpace Music is [...]

A group of seven UK download providers have banded together to brand the mp3 in an effort to end consumer confusion over the DRM and compatibility issues.  What do you think of the mp3’s new logo?

(source: Hypebot)

A lot of people are talking about how a weak economy is affecting advertising revenues and from my experiences this is definitely the case. However, because advertising is suffering some journalists also expect that to have an effect on ad-supported music startups, such as Spiral Frog.This is definitely not the case, mainly because they [...]

A revamped Walmart.com MP3 store launched today with aggressive pricing and new features that take full advantage of Walmart’s reach, clout and the chain’s brick and mortar locations:

3 million MP3’s from all four major labels and some independents
Top 25 songs from artists start at $.74. Standard pricing is $.94
Free Track Of The Week
Free mp3 [...]