Came across this article here, on Word Press.  I can only vouch for PumpAudio - the others are worth a look-see.  Keep pitching your music to get a placement.  Cheers ~ Roberta

Top 7 Music Licensing Sites

April 17, 2009

Here in no particular order is a list of seven companies that help artists place their music in film, television, commercials, games, etc.

• Rumblefish - Licensing for television, film, advertisements, websites, videos, games, podcasts, and sonic branding - e.g. your music inside your local Gap.
• Gamecues - Licensing for the gaming industry.
• YouLicense - Music licensing marketplace - essentially, their system enables artists and those seeking music to conduct business directly with each other.
• Pump Audio  - Artists can license their music in television and advertising without giving up any ownership. 
• BeatPick - Music licensing provider.
• Ricall - Music licensing marketplace, connecting users wanting to license music directly with the relevant copyright owners.
• SoundReef - In private beta, this service exchanging music for promotion in television, film, advertising, etc.

This list comes courtesy of Duncan Freeman and his Indie Music Tech blog.  What music licensing sites and services are missing from the list?

Source: www.hypebot.com
Link: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/04/top-7-music-licensing-sites-.html

April 17, 2009

By Joseph Palenchar — TWICE, 2/6/2009 1:53:00 PM

New York — Separate announcements by Warner Music and Internet music service Slacker underscore the music industry’s shift away from physical media.

In reporting its first-quarter financial performance, Warner Music said its worldwide digital revenues grew 20 percent to $171 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, compared with the year-ago period, and were up 2.4 percent sequentially from fourth-quarter 2008’s $167 million. Digital growth was driven by online downloads to the PC as well as by downloads of songs and ringtones to cellphones, the company said.

With the increase, digital music revenues accounted for 19 percent of total revenues in the first quarter, but total revenues were down 11.2 percent in the quarter to $878 million compared to the year-ago quarter.

“This performance reflected the ongoing transition in the recorded music industry characterized by a shift in consumption patterns from physical sales to new forms of digital music as well as the impact of the turbulent global economy on retailers,” the company said.

Warner attributed the overall decline mainly to “continued contracting demand for physical product by retailers primarily in the U.S.” Digital’s growth kept sales from slipping further, as did increased revenue from Warner’s artist services business. The company said it is continuing “to broaden our revenue mix into growing areas of the music business, including sponsorship, fan club, Web sites, merchandising, touring, ticketing and artist management.”

Warner’s digital revenue include revenues from Internet music service Slacker, which announced that its customizable Internet music service can be streamed to the new BlackBerry Storm PDA phone via Wi-Fi and cellular.

Compatibility with the touchscreen Storm is one of the upgrades included in a free Slacker application downloadable over the air to all U.S. BlackBerry phones that run the BlackBerry 4.3 or higher operating system. The announcement follows the January launch of a free Slacker app for the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod Touch on the Apple iTunes App Store.

With the Slacker Mobile app, users stream music from Slacker’s free ad-supported service or subscription-based commercial-free services to their portable device. All Slacker services stream more than 100 Slacker-programmed stations, more than 10,000 artist stations and an almost unlimited number of a user’s custom-created stations.

 On BlackBerrys, the application also stores Slacker music streamed at a faster-than-real-time rate for local storage and playback, reducing battery consumption by up to five times that of streaming playback, Slacker said. To store Slacker music on a BlackBerry, consumers connect it to a PC via USB cable. The BlackBerry then automatically fills itself with music at a faster-than-real-time rate from stations marked by the user to be cached.

Source: http://www.twice.com/article/CA6635601.html

Shutting the label door

Published August 29, 2007 marketing , music 0 Comments

I’ve talked quite a lot here about the future of music and of record labels’ role in it. Well last night I saw that future in action, and it was in the shape of an iconic Minneapolis superstar jumping around like a mad man on stage at the dome.

Prince has sold out 21 nights at the O2’s 20,000 capacity venue, managing to get a half a million Londoners to see this frankly knock-out show, without needing to resort to the ridiculous prices of the Madonna tours. As you go into the concert, you also get a free copy of his latest album. Before the uber-cool one comes on stage, we see promo videos for all the merchandise which is on sale outside, and then there’s the after show (where he played another 12 songs last night), for those that want to keep on going (and keep on spending).

In Prince’s case, after the huge row over the use of his name in the early 90s, I’m sure he’d like nothing more than the demise of the majors. And, of course, most artists can’t sell out 140,000 seats in 20 minutes (as Prince did with the initial run). But it does go to show: if the music can be almost freely distributed (remember the actual album launch was a cover-mount on The Mail on Sunday), then the artists can make their money by playing great concerts, flogging the hell out of ancillary sales and the odd private appearance at billionaire’s birthday parties.

I’m a woman.  I want more pleasure.  Here - read this and give YOUR woman more pleasure.  It’s always good to know the truth.

Excerpt from pages 136-137 of  Mars And Venus In The Bedroom A Guide To Lasting Romance And Passion by John Gray, Ph. D

A man tends to think in a very goal-orientd way.  He wants to provide increased pleasure for a woman in the most efficient way possible.  Once she is getting close to orgasm, he continues stimulating her to push her over the edge and achieve the goal.  The secret of giving her more pleasure is to bring her close to organsm and then pull back, slow down, lessen stimulation, and then star over.

To most effectively build a woman’s pleasure, a man should bring her to the point of orgasm and then let her energy settle down, then bring her back up, and then let her settle down.  When he brings her up to the verge of orgasm two or three times and then finally gives her an orgasm, a woman’s orgasm is much bigger and more fulfilling.

Each time she gets closer, her longing and desire for orgasm increases.  Her body also gets a chance to fully prepare for the orgasm.  By extending foreplay in this way, not only does she experience a bigger orgasm, but his orgasm is much more intense as well.

In polarity sex, a man should first build his energy toward his orgasm.  Then when he pauses and focuses on her, his energy will relax.  Later on,when it is his turn to have an orgasm, his pleasure will be much greater because he has waited.

One way a woman can signal to a man that she is about to have an orgasm is to use the code words, “Please.”  The word has a double meaning:  “Please stop or I will have an orgasm,” and “You are pleasing me so much.”  When he gets the signal, he can choose to continue and give her an orgasm or lessen direct stimulation of the clitoris for thirty seconds to a few minutes before he brings her up again.

When he pauses, it is not as if everything has to stop.  He can continue touching her all over her body in a very erotic way without directly touching her clitoris.  This gives her a chance to let her energy settle down a bit beofe he take it even higher.”

“Every instant that the sun is risen, if I stand in the temple, or on a balcony, in the hot fields, or in a walled garden, my own Lord is making love with me.”                                                                                                                                      Kabir

YouTube, the most popular online video site, and Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, said on Thursday that they would create an online hub for music videos and related content, called Vevo.

The agreement is the latest of many efforts by YouTube, which is owned by Google, to put more professionally produced content in front of its huge audience, and in turn, earn more money from advertising.

Music videos of Universal’s artists will be available both on Vevo.com, which will be owned by Universal and powered by YouTube’s technology, and on a Vevo channel on YouTube. The companies said they would share revenue from advertising on both sites, but declined to discuss specific terms of the agreement.

Google and Universal said they planned to introduce Vevo this year. They said they were working to persuade other major labels to join the site. Industry executives and analysts said the partnership appeared to be an effort to emulate the success of Hulu, an online joint venture between NBC and Fox for television shows and movies.

While Hulu’s audience is much smaller than YouTube’s, the site has been able to attract major advertisers who view YouTube’s eclectic collection of video clips with some trepidation. Music companies were among the first in the media industry to license their content to YouTube in 2006, and their videos have been among the most popular content on the site. But those clips have not produced the revenue that music companies or YouTube had hoped, creating new tension between the two sides.

In an interview, Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said he thought that the two sides have finally created a model that would address those issues, by combining Universal’s content and YouTube’s audience on a site that will be attractive to advertisers.

“The music industry has been struggling with how to structure these things online in the right way,” Mr. Schmidt said.

“This is a good model.” Mr. Schmidt credited Doug Morris, chief executive of Universal, which is owned by Vivendi, with the vision for Vevo.

Mr. Schmidt said that the conversations between the two executives began at the suggestion of the singer Bono. Mr. Morris said that over the last few years, Universal has gone from losing $70 million a year in the production of music videos for promotion, to earning roughly that amount now. He described Vevo as the “next step” in Universal’s ability to monetize music videos.

“It is going to be a powerful product,” he said.

Mr. Morris said that Vevo would include other content from Universal, and eventually offer fans the ability to buy merchandise and concert tickets. The agreement also renews a license allowing YouTube’s users to include Universal’s soundtracks in their videos.

If successful, Vevo could compete with other online sites for music videos, including MySpace. But analysts said it was too early to predict whether music fans would flock to the site.

“It takes more than a premium-content destination to really build a business,” said Ross Sandler, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

Mr. Sandler said fans could end up choosing to watch music videos on YouTube rather than on Vevo. Mr. Morris said he has been in discussions with the other major labels, which include Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony Music, about joining Vevo.

The labels all said they have indeed been approached, though talks are at early stages. Some of the licensing deals between labels and YouTube have expired recently, and negotiations over renewals have dragged on as music companies have sought better terms from YouTube.

In December, Warner Music removed its music videos from YouTube, saying it “simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, label and publishers for the value they provide.”

Similar disputes have erupted in Great Britain and Germany. The agreement represents a victory for YouTube, which needs more professional content to lure advertisers to reverse what analysts say are huge losses derived from the high cost of running the site.

Mr. Schmidt said that the agreement could become a blueprint for resolving simmering conflicts with other media companies. “It can serve as a model for the nonmusic areas, which as you know, for us have been problematic,” he said.

Source url: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/10/technology/internet/10google.html?_r=1

Monday Inspirations—Here are 3 weekly ideas for song lyric, poems, instrumental titles, photos, video, short story or anything they inspire you to create.  Use the title if you like & make something! 

13.  Menopause Relapse - This goes into Adult Contemporary about a woman who thinks she is grown up but suffers a menopause relapse and makes adolescent choices that reek havoc on the world.
14.  When Dreams Get Ugly - The other morning I woke & told K. - “Wow, I was just dreaming my dead mother was chopping off the sunflower heads with a nail file and the devil was collecting them and laughing hideously as he ate the seeds and spit the shells at me.”  Well, it wasn’t quite like that but then I said “I’d rather be in this world than that world” and I got up.

15.  3 Forevers - A special love gave me this one.  She said it will take - 3 Forevers - She used it as a measure of time.  I wrote her a poem and titled it 3 Forevers.  You’ll be my friend for - 3 Forevers.  I love you BRR~ 

(untitled) Pastel

Here is an article from Ruth Ratny’s ReelChicago e-newsletter.  What gets me is the claim - networks are dead.  The Internet is the new media outlet.  WOW!  And there’s lots of Internet.  Lots of people/companies/Indie projects needing songs. 

We need a group of go-to songwriters who can create song material quickly.  Songwriters/artists with radio quality recording equipment that can lay vocal tracks over backing tracks in hours.  If that’s you, shoot us an e-mail and we’ll chat.  ~ R

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 ‘Always accept a beverage when offered’
Laurie Scheer advises on how to ace a pitch session

There will be thousands of visual media outlets in the next few years, said “media goddess” Laurie Scheer, talking to filmmakers eager to learn first-hand from this Hollywood insider in our midst at last Saturday’s IFP conference

With the proliferation of outlets providing so many opportunities to sell content, “you must think beyond the traditional 60- to 90-minute format,” she asserted.

“Networks are dead,” she proclaimed. “You must think online, because that’s where it’s going to be.”

Scheer, who has been teaching at Flashpoint Academy this year, is preaching the gospel of multiplatforms — matching content ideas with multiple outlet opportunities in order to sell your project.

“Know that your content is needed,” she said. “Know that whatever cable show is doing well, say on the Discovery Channel, be assured the producers are looking for companion pieces.”

In order to pitch like a pro, you have to know what’s going on in the ever-changing marketplace, Scheer’s strongest advice is to research.

“It’s all there on the internet. Read the weekend box office grosses, learn who the leaders are, what topics or stories are selling right now,” she urged. “Your idea must resonate with the current culture.” A good place to look for trend is, in all places, the Wall Street Journal.

The reason for all this homework? “So you won’t look like an idiot when you get a chance to pitch.”

And when you are in the producer’s office pitching your idea, “Present yourself as the only one who could be attached to this project. You’re the expert.

“Tell them what your involvement in the production will be. Do you want to sell the idea? Direct, produce? You know what you know, and they know you know what you want.”

Your pitch must be down pat,” she said. “You must speak with authority, anticipate questions about the project and have different versions of your pitch ready.”

In addition, at the session you will need a one page synopsis and a short 3-5-minute trailer on what your show is about.

Scheer then offered a piece of advice you don’t get in books. “When offered a beverage, take it. Then be very specific about how you want it. ‘I’ll take a decaf latte with soy milk,’” as a way to display your confidence.

Scheer’s advice comes from many years in the forefront of cable programming. She was VP/programming for WE Women’s Entertainment, and developed and produced shows for other cable companies.

Scheer is the pitching coach at NATPE’s convention and L.A. TV festival and will speak at the upcoming NAB on multi-platform and digital marketing.

In addition to teaching at high level colleges, she is a mainstay of Media Bistro seminars. You can catch Scheer in action May 6 at a Media Bistro seminar on “How to Write for Online,” at the Theatre Building, 7-10 p.m. See mediabistro.com/courses/cache/instr176.asp. —Ruth L Ratny