Siouxsie Sioux gives a definition of Punk
Great little article on Siouxsie Sioux here. She isn't happy about people using phrases such as ‘This is the new punk rock.’ "They’re so obsessed with looking back" she is quoted as saying in the article. For her "People doing their own thing – that’s punk…" With established artists and new bands finding alternative ways...
There’s a brand new dance…
“There’s a brand new dance, but I don’t know it’s name” is the theme for this year’s In The City Music Industry conference in Manchester (Oct 20-22nd). It seems rather apt that this year’s theme comes from a line in David Bowie’s 80s classic ‘Fashion’. Bowie is not only a shrewd cookie when it comes...
Tony Wilson
Last week one of the last greats of the music industry, and a very good friend, sadly left us. The man who gave us Factory Records, Joy Division/New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Happy Mondays, Durutti Column, The Hacienda club, the In The City music industry conference, and so so much more died from a...
Ad Funded Model moving into the record label business
Came across this in the NY Post. What seems a growing move towards ad funded models in the music space, Gnarls Barkley label Downtown Records and internet entrepreneur Peter Rojas (cofounder of Engadget.com) are dreaming up a fresh label concept featuring an innovative business model that will be of interest to brands: Dubbed RCRD LBL...
Brands in Music: All about the timing…
During our lively panel session, I asked Gary McClarnan his thoughts on why Brands get it wrong when entering the music arena. Gary believed that Brands start off wrong by speaking to the wrong people – the record labels. He strongly believes that no-one is better suited to be able to assess the deal opportunity...
Thanks to Gary McClarnan
Here is Gary McClarnan, of Sparklestreet, on the left and my co-citizen Nick Watt enjoying a quiet drink in Venice. Gary took time out to join citizensound and Pete Jenner at the Venice Festival of Media. His entrepreneurial flair, deep understanding of artist psyche and finding a balance between Brands and Bands was a huge...
Pete Jenner wins award after flying in to Venice
Pete Jenner, renowned manager of artists including Pink Floyd, T Rex, The Clash and still Billy Bragg kindly joined citizensound at the Venice Festival of Media. With a packed room of marketers, media agencies and media owners, he didn't disappoint. More on that later. He could only join us in Venice for the day, as...
Napster gives customers free music
Napster has struck a deal to allow AT&T wireless customers to download music for free, to do with what they want, for a year. This may not sound like much — but it harkens back to all those mistakes that the music industry made in dealing with the Internet a few years back. Music execs...
Are we on the verge of a million Motowns?
In a recent article in Mojo magazine, Otis Williams of The Temptations was quoted as follows: Motown used to throw local industries parties at the Roostertail Club and the Greystone Ballroom. At one of these I overheard a couple of white guys who worked for other labels. One said, “We’ve got to stop this. Too...
Should Artists Receive A Bigger Share From Downloads?
How Do You Divvy Up A Download? was the theme for the first MusicTank event of 2007, and although I’m not sure that the question got satisfactorily answered, it proved an interesting discussion nonetheless. The keynote came from Gary McClarnan the founder of artist management company Sparkle Street. Gary highlighted how the value in the...
Bargin Bin
I've been selling a heap of my CD's via Amazon over the last 6 months (in a vain attempt to clear some space for all the new CD's I keep acquiring), and it's really interested what has, and what hasn't got 'second-hand' value. Some of the CD's I've tried to sell via Amazon are so...