FACEBOOK IS THE NEW GOOGLE

Facebook Admits to Tracking Logged-Out Users...

paul

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Spotify dropped the undeletable cookie, but Facebook has now admitted to tracking users — even when they're logged off. That is, through various cookies and unique identifiers sent from like buttons, all of which are complicated to remove. "Even if you are logged out, Facebook still knows and can track every page you visit," programmer and technologist Nik Cubrilovic exposed in a recent blog.

"The only solution is to delete every Facebook cookie in your browser, or to use a separate browser for Facebook interactions."

This also means that users will probably share more activity than they intended, thanks to 'lubricated' APIs. But don't worry, Facebook can explain. Perhaps attempting to contain another privacy blow-up, Facebook told the Wall Street Journal that this complicated cookie-and-identifier setup is all about security. That is, preventing false logins and phishing attacks without extra authentication.

And, Facebook further claimed that all of this logged-out data is immediately deleted (you'll just have to trust them on that). "The onus is on us to take all the data and scrub it," said Arturo Bejar, Facebook's director of Engineering. "What really matters is what we say as a company and back it up."

Facebook is no stranger to these sorts of breach controversies. The company has been caught improperly collecting data on a number of occasions, and its security standards are, let's say, insecure.

All of which raises another question about Spotify's decision to attach themselves to the Facebook hip. Because these things don't always end well.

Which Are You? 14 Music Industry Dress Styles...

presnikoff

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The days of dress codes and proper attire are long gone, at least in the music industry. But after close observation of music executives in their natural conference habitat, we've identified a few commonly-donned attires. It's a Digital Music News fashionista exclusive...

Don't Think Traditional Radio Matters? Then Read This..

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The first chart compares the number of songs streamed online to the number played across traditional airwaves in the US, specifically between the dates of January 3rd and May 1st of this year. The second weights those plays against the total audience for each play/spin. The data was compiled by Nielsen, and presented at the NARM conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

ILLwrite Featured on MTV Hive

The debut solo album of Pennjamin Bannekar has finally arrived. The much anticipated work has been in the making for the last year and has the final touches before it launches May 3rd 2011. The success of the current single "ILLwrite" which can be seen on MTVU among other video channels has many people waiting to see what the member of Project: Fr3sh can do alone. The album has a depth of range yet centers on the person Pennjamin has become through the journey of life. Producers such as Best Kept Secret helped shape the feel of the album which also boast features from Chicago's new school hip hop artist such as Omen and Phil G who give a standout performance on "Counterfeit." "Fast Cars" is a lyrical second to none but one of the most creative ways to talk about sex. Please Listen and enjoy this art.

Check out the New Single Featured on MTV Hive

Check out the New Single Featured on MTV Hive

twitter.com/pennbannekar

Check out the New Single Featured on MTV Hive

MTV Partners with Sony/ATV's Extreme Music to Promote Unsigned Artists

March 01, 2011
By Ed Christman, New York

MTV will partner with Sony/ATV's "Extreme Music" production library to market the music of unsigned artists and bands to music supervisors for commercials, television shows and movies.

The partnership, which will operate under the name HYPE, will see MTV executives identifying unsigned artists whose music might work well in MTV shows. Initially, the music will be shopped to MTV productions and then through the Extreme relationship be come a secondary offering to other music supervisors at other networks and brands.

What's more, for music that connects with music supervisors, MTV will serve as its digital distributors bringing the music to online digital retailers and other digital music service providers.

"One of the amazing things at MTV is its support for championing emerging artist and its desire to be a part of an artist's career at the beginning," said Joe Cuello, MTV's senior VP of creative music integration. "Our shows can afford to provide emerging artists with opportunities.

"We don't have a prime portal where artist can come and compete for the opportunity, although there is potential for something like that down the line," he continued. "We do have a team of people who go to shows who talk to [musicians], and producers and have dialogues" with people who know about up-and-coming music.

Already, artists like Midi Mafia, Locksley, and National Skyline" have benefited by having their songs placed in the "Jersey Shore" reality show, while 3D Friends has enjoyed placement in "Skins." For example, Midi Mafia was featured in Season 2 of Jersey Shore and has scanned 22,000 track , after selling a little bit short of 2,000 units in 2009.

"It's no secret that the music industry is gasping for air and struggling for ways to break new artists," Extreme Music CEO Russell Emanuel said in a statement. "HYPE's hybrid model as an artist-friendly incubator leveraging its ability to license tracks directly in high profile shows will dramatically boost an act's profile. This is a new breed, second to none career jump-starting opportunity. It's production music on steroids!"

While Extreme has expertise in shopping production music, Cuello said it is the Sony/ATV company's relationships with other networks and brands that will enable it to show the songs of HYPE artist for synch opportunities.

Beyond that, MTV will perform digital distribution for any music that HYPE connects with synchronization opportunities. HYPE and the artist will share revenues 50/50, Cuello says. That split holds for distribution too, and while that is above standard digital distribution fees that can range anywhere from 13% to 20%, the HYPE rate allows it to share in the revenue created by the synchronization opportunities. On the other hand, if HYPE distributes music from the artists that is not used in shows, it would be willing to negotiate more standard fees.

Finally, if HYPE efforts on behalf of artists leads to major label attention, artists "are unencumbered" by their HYPE deal. "We would love to get these artists signed" with labels, Cuello said.

Wow, YouTube Really Thinks We're That Stupid...

Sorry, the gig is up on free music. It isn't making bands rich, or even making ends meet, for that matter. If you need proof of this, check out this discussion thread about Spotify - it contains real numbers and testimonials about how paltry the payouts on free access are (http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/012511pointzero). It's not just Lady Gaga that's getting the shaft.

The rest is also mostly a work of fiction. Because for the most part, free isn't driving more people to shows, selling more t-shirts, or making real fans buy the album. Just talk to a band trying to make this work. It sounds good on paper or on a conference panel, but most bands are having trouble turning these theories into reality. Still, free is a necessary evil for any artist that wants exposure - you just have to live with it, like crappy weather. Otherwise you're basically putting your music in jail.

Which is why it's hilarious to hear YouTube talking about how free is now even better than paid. Except the only problem is that paid also sucks! "If you were to look at the numbers for Lady Gaga, the number of views she gets on YouTube versus downloads that she gets on iTunes, obviously, a single download on iTunes will pay her more than a single view on YouTube," product manager Phil Farhi told Evolver.fm. "But when you look at the traffic — the number of people that are coming back and watching her videos over and over again, watching her videos before they download the song, or discovering them on YouTube — you can see how that scale can compete with a paid service."

So, the fringe artist with record-setting YouTube views somehow proves the theory? Or, represents something even remotely typical for even well-supported artists? This soggy logic quickly falls apart, though another YouTube executive pointed to big-time earnings by big-label partners. "Our larger music partners on the site are making millions of dollars per month," YouTube director of content partnerships Chris Maxcy offered. There's also a bridge for sale on eBay.

And the best part? YouTube and Google are making billions per month! But this gets even worse, because separately, some music executives are wondering whether this freebie bazaar is really better than P2P, BitTorrent, or any number of protocols for illegal content transfer. "The argument that 'at least we have them in a legal place' [with services like Spotify and YouTube] isn't making any sense," one top-ranked major label executive told Digital Music News at Midem. "Because all of that is based on the notion that you can monetize this all somehow, which basically boils down to hope. It's not a business model."

Paul Resnikoff, publisher.

32 Different Ways Artists Can Make Money...

But which ones are really producing serious revenues? Here 32 different possible possible revenue streams for artists, as compiled by the Future of Music Coalition (FMC). The group is currently conducting a survey of musicians to figure out which streams are working the best.

A. If you are a composer or songwriter, here are possible revenue streams from your musical compositions...

1. Retail sales: Mechanical royalties from physical sales of recordings of your songs at stores, concerts or via mail order.

2. Digital sales: Mechanical royalties from digital sales via online services (CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody, MySpace Music)

3. Sheet music sales.

4. PRO Royalties: Royalties for the public performance of your work (airplay on radio, TV, movies, jukeboxes, live performance and foreign royalties, and home recording and foreign levy payments) as distributed to you by ASCAP/BMI/SESAC.

5. Advances from publishing companies during a publishing deal.

6. Payments from publishers for litigation settlements.

7. Commissions for works.


B. If you are a performer (think Patsy Cline), possible revenue from sound recordings...

8. Digital performance royalties: Royalties for the digital performance of your recordings — airplay on satellite radio, webcast stations, cable TV stations — distributed to you by SoundExchange.

9. Advances from record labels that are not just reimbursement of recording or touring expenses.

10. Label payments for tour support or recording expenses.

11. Payments from labels for litigation settlements.

12. AARC royalties: collected for digital recording of your songs, foreign private copying levies, and foreign record rental royalties, distributed to US artists by AARC.

13. AFM Payments (TV, Film): Payments from the Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund to performers on recordings used in TV and other secondary uses.

14. AFM Payments (Recordings): Sound Recording Special Payments Fund to performers for the sales of recorded music

15. AFM/AFTRA Payments: Payments from the AFM/AFTRA Intellectual Property Rights Distribution Fund (distributes recording and performance royalties to the non-featured artists)


C. Possible revenue from licensing your musical composition or your sound recording...

16. Ringtone Sales: Mechanical revenue from ringtone sales

17. Synch Licenses: Synchronization royalties based on master rights licensing your song to TV/movies/video games/commercials

18. Sampling Licenses: Licensing fees from other musicians sampling your songs.


D. If you're a performer, possible revenue from live performances...

19. Touring and shows: compensation for playing live shows or performances, including busking.


E. Revenue from a performer's brand...

20. Merchandise sales: t-shirts, posters, etc.

21. Sponsorship: of tour or of a band/artist.

22. Direct financial support from fans/patrons.

23. Ad revenue or other miscellaneous income from your website properties (click-throughs, commissions on Amazon sales, etc.)

24. Acting in television, movies, commercials.

25. Product endorsements.

26. Other licensing of your persona (to video games, comic books, etc.)


F. Revenue from an artist's knowledge of the craft...

27. Work for hire/hired as a studio or live musician or composer

28. Work as a music teacher

29. AFM/AFTRA session payments: Session payments for recording sessions, TV appearances, and performances flowing from synch licenses

30. Producer: income from producing or music direction



G. Other ways a musicians' work can be funded:

31. Government grants.

32. Nonprofit/foundation grants.