MP3s are a fad like any other. Sure, digital music files will most likely be around forever and will continue to grow, however it’s probably premature to say that it will be the end of the physical product. Digital files are in response to a quality of music- disposable. There is no commitment in a digital file as it can be obtained and erased with a click of a mouse. You may throw a track on your iPod and rock it for a while until a hot new track comes out and you need to make some space. Then it’s like you never had the song in the first place. Digital files are being heralded as ‘the future of music,’ but as someone passionate about great music, I find that somewhat sad. If the future of music is disposable, replaceable and forgettable, then I am glad I hung onto the cds that I purchased, because it looks like I’m shit out of luck when it comes to new music.

Newcomers to the music industry are putting all of their eggs in the internet basket, the polar opposite behavior of old timers who think if they close their eyes and wish it away things will return to ‘normal.’ The web-obsessed entrepreneurs are trying to bank in on the theory that people live their lives almost exclusively online. They live there, they work there, they shop there, they hang out there, and it’s where their friends live. As MySpace and other sites have shown us, the novelty WILL wear off. Young Americans, especially, do not have the attention span to make a real commitment to something like a website, no matter how many people are on their buddy list and no matter how addicted to it they once were. The internet is unreliable, and I am not talking about connection. Sites, often times, are here today and gone tomorrow. Those who do stick around and obtain some level of popularity are quickly purchased and commercialized, stripping it of all ‘cool factor.’

Those in favor of internet only marketing cite the success of Gnarls Barkley as an example since their iTunes sales were so impressive. It seems they have already forgotten how much they spent on television advertising and the large amount of radio play they received, not to mention the video and press. The internet buzz and promotion definitely played a part, but it was in no way their sole outlet for promotion. What got people interested was the band name. It’s clever. Their music is unexpected. A name like Gnarls Barkley conjures up all kinds of assumptions, none of which are realistic. Again, clever. The song was good, hence the downloads. The album, however, is quite another story. If digital files have replaced anything, it’s the single, which hasn’t really existed in the US for years anyway.

One thing has become very clear over the last couple years- things are changing. Everyone is looking for a way to make music marketing easier. The industry wants a simple formula they can plug any artist into and be successful. Unfortunately, that is no longer a possibility. Things have changed and they will continue to change. Cookie-cutter marketing is no longer an option. You need great, unique artists, and you must market them in great and unique ways. If the artists are original and are bringing something special to the table, why would you even consider working them the same way as Joe Average and The Typicals? I’m sorry, but it’s not going to be easy, nor should it be. As professionals in this business we should be armed with the creativity, ingenuity and passion to be successful and work with successful artists. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the oven.

AJ, KOAR

• Madonna Created No Controversy On the Night Before Thanksgiving
  The special Madonna: Confessions Tour was broadcast on Wednesday (22NOV06), the night before Thanksgiving, failed to find an audience. The controversial broadcast of MAdonna’s Confessions tour special on US TV failed to lure viewers and ended up finishing fourth in its time slot.
• EMI – News Alert
  EMI, said it received a “preliminary” approach that may lead to an offer. The Financial Times reported earlier today that the company was in talks with buyout firms that may include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc
• Predicting The Future?
  A research firm said this week that the market of digital music would grow six times in several years and would reach $14.9 billion by 2010. Sales of digital music will account for over 1/3 of record companies’ revenues by that time, it was said, whereas sales of music on physical media is set to decline. The market for physically distributed music will decline to $19.6 billion by 2010, down from $27.3 billion in 2005.

Digital music in 2006 represented 12% of all revenue posted by record labels. iSuppli predicts this will grow to 40% of the overall record label revenue by 2010. With nearly $33 billion in total recorded retail music revenue accumulated in 2005, this is an enormous opportunity for those involved in mobile and broadband distribution across the supply chain, the company noted.

• New Atlantic signs to Eyeball Records

• KOAR is always seeking “new” music to talk about. We want to hear “greatness”; Click here and email us a link with a great band.

• Check out the New Release Schedule
• A new study from Nielsen Media Research claims that despite all the additional bells and whistles that have been added to the iPod over the years, users still primary utilize it for listening to music.
• Red Flags for Sanctuary
  Sanctuary Group shares plunged as much as 30 per cent to 6.75p after the group issued yet another profit warning and flagged a possible break-up of the group, starting with the sale of record label Rough Trade.
• George Clinton Sues Capitol Records Over Royalties

SonyBMG is set to announce a dismantling of its Sony Urban Music division that will hand pink slips to a large number of employees just in time for the holiday. Sources said employees’ nerves have been rattled while they wait for the layoff ax to fall ever since Rob Stringer, brother of Sony Corp. boss Howard Stringer, took over for Ienner in September.

• New, old media lines blur: AOL CEO
  AOL’s new chief, Randy Falco, sees the line dividing traditional and new media blurring even further as he takes the reins of the online division of the world’s biggest media company Time Warner.
• Check out Coolfers post “More On Hip Hop Sales: Is It Entrepreneurship Or Is It Danger Mouse”? and “Hip Hop’s Transformation Into A Singles and Ringtone Business”.

And………

Check out “Not a rapper, just a hustler that can rap good”.  Read excerpt Below.

I think 2006 will be remembered as the year that The Hustler trumped The MC as the prevailing icon of the culture. The year that rappers became so busy trying to be entrepreneurs and pitchmen and Hollywood actors that they didn’t have the time or the inclination to make dope music anymore. The year that being a rap artist—someone who sincerely aspires to spit mind-blowing rhymes—became, well, kinda corny. The year all your favorite rap stars started adamantly denying they were rappers.

Where, exactly, does that leave rap fans? If it’s corny to make rap music, is it corny to listen to it too?
I have nothing against hustlers per say. There’s always been hustlers in hip-hop, and a good lot of them have managed to make hot music. The problem with so many of the hip-hop hustlers today is that hustling is their sole focus, their primary purpose, their reason to be. That and the fact that they’re often peddling Bull#!# products. Their goal is to charm you with their slick persona/sexy swagger/dramatic backstory/titillating beefs—and then get you to shell out for a mediocre album, or some ugly sneakers (word to Ice Cream), or a weird energy drink. In some places, guys like that are called con artists. And nobody wants to feel like they’ve been conned.