Photo by: Caro's Lines
R.E.M experiments with crowdsourced remixing via Soundcloud
R.E.M is trying (and succeeding) to generate some buzz with a crowdsourcing experiment. Tracks have been released in a remix-friendly format, and fans have been invited to remix the material and upload their versions under a Creative Commons license to SoundCloud.
This is an interesting move, although not unheard of. But we all long for a future when these efforts are not solely buzz-generating marketing ploys, but integrated into a creative collaborative effort. There’s much potential there, yet untapped.
Last.fm Will Charge For Music On Mobile And Other Gadgets
Last.fm says it will now require a monthly subscription for access to its music via mobile and home entertainment devices. Robert Andrews of paidcontent.com notes that this is:
“another sign that the economics for purely-free music streamers don’t add up”
I can’t say that I’m surprised, and we will see this happening again and again. This issue is not going away as long as the streaming services start by attracting users with their freemium models, almost killing themselves financially in the process, in hopes of monetizing the whole situation later. All part of a customer acquisition process that have become pretty standard.
EMI says it’s giving Beatport a license to sell its tracks in North America, Europe and Australasia, including those from The Chemical Brothers, Kraftwerk and LCD Soundsystem. Apparently, there are “thousands and thousands of DJs who pretty much only buy their music from sites like Beatport”.
Thumbplay Music To Add “Radio” Feature
Thumbplay will soon be adding a “radio” functionality to its new web and smartphone apps. Later this month, new versions of Thumbplay’s apps will hit the market — this time featuring the ability to create artist stations.
Mashable’s Brenna Ehrlich notes:
“More and more, music subscription apps are adding features that put them in direct competition, providing consumers with even more choices when it comes to what service to sign up for”.
Indeed. When these services no longer play feature catch-up or content catch-up with each other, who will win the day, and on what grounds? They sure can’t compete with price, that would leave nothing for the artists. Furthermore, the barrier to enter this sector as a new player becomes increasingly difficult, as “exciter” features quickly becomes “mandatory”.
What do you think will be the competitive advantage of the winning streaming service in the future?
Voddler gets $8 Million In fresh cash
Voddler has announced that it has picked up $8 million in funding, with this round led by Nokia’s VC arm, Nokia Growth Partners.
“It just gets more and more common to see the movie on computers and mobile devices,” says Marcus Bäcklund, Voddler’s CEO, in a blog post on the investment. “I know we have much to learn from Nokia’s extensive experience in mobile solutions.”
Voddler and Nokia…two companies who share a common trait: not getting it quite right. Not exactly a marriage made in heaven.
SoundCloud Announces 3 Million Registered Users
SoundCloud announced this week that they have reached a milestone of 3 million users.
“According to the company, it has taken SoundCloud — which launched in 2008 — less than 100 days to add 1 million members to its community.”
I am, as always, impressed with SoundCloud.
OMP3 – music distribution and retail for the masses
“OMP3 has created a free software program that allows anyone to start a music sharing site and store. It’s powered by Grooveshark. Users can set up affiliate tie-ins and advertising which will enable them to monetize the software. Right now, the company is funded through donations.”
“OMP3’s believes they can help combat file-sharing by allowing a high number of websites to create their own music sharing sites and stores”.
I like the idea and agree with the basic OMP3 assumption. Must take a closer look though..I think I will find reason to return to this.