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NEWS ABOUT: music industry

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10 Notable Bands With Only 1 Album

Lauryn Hill, Jeff Buckley, and the Sex Pistols make the list

(Newser) - It's one way to avoid the sophomore slump: Paste counts down 10 singers or bands whose first album set the music world abuzz and whose official second album simply never materialized: More »

How Spotify's Boss Can Save Music

Daniel Ek creating a revolutionary 'music ecosystem': Forbes

(Newser) - Ever since Napster, the music industry has been desperate for a fix—and Daniel Ek may have finally found it. The 28-year-old Swedish founder and CEO of Spotify is, according to Forbes , "the most important man in music." His service amounts to a profitable way to give people... More »

Rock Music Has Worst Year Ever

It's old acts clinging to relevance, and new ones aping them: Critic

(Newser) - How dire is the state of mainstream rock? So dire that “Sublime With Rome,” a band with no higher ambition than mimicking Sublime, has had a song on the Billboard charts every week since May. “2011 may well be remembered as the most numbing year for mainstream... More »

Elvis Costello: Don't Buy My New Boxed Set

Inflated price 'appears to be either a misprint or a satire,' he quips

(Newser) - Elvis Costello's new Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook boxed set is pretty good—but no way is it worth the current price Elvis Costello says. The special-edition set, which includes a CD and DVD of a concert from earlier this year, plus a coffee-table book, is selling for... More »

Townshend to Apple: Stop Bleeding Musicians

Help artists rather than being a 'digital vampire,' he urges

(Newser) - Pete Townshend has a message for Apple: It can either help the struggling record industry or bleed it “like a digital vampire." Speaking at a lecture in honor of a BBC DJ, The Who guitarist called on iTunes—which “exists in the wild west Internet land of... More »

Cassette Tapes Are Back

Amongst a certain set of people, at least

(Newser) - Proving once again that everything will someday become cool again, the Wall Street Journal today brings us the news that cassettes are making a comeback. A small comeback, sure, but a comeback nonetheless. “I want them fresh, sealed in the package,” says one collector. “I know one... More »

Google Planning Music Store

Company aims to have service up before iTunes Match

(Newser) - Google is pushing further into the entertainment business with an online music store that it aims to have up and running within weeks, sources tell the New York Times . Music industry execs say the MP3 store will probably be linked to Google's Music Beta cloud service. Google wants to... More »

How to Save Record Labels

Lessons from a tiny Swedish firm that's raked in $10M

(Newser) - As the music industry navigates a path for the digital era, a tiny Swedish label has proven itself an excellent guide. Though it has just 43 employees, X5 Music Group topped the classical charts last year, its sales on par with Universal, the biggest label there is. Its strategy is... More »

And the New Top-Selling Digital Album Is ...?

Adele's 21 not your typical pop hit

(Newser) - And the top digital album seller of all time is ... Eminem? Lady Gaga? Nope, sorry, it's Adele , the young English singer-songwriter. Adele's sophomore release 21 has now sold 1.017 million online copies, beating out Eminem's 1.005 million for Recovery, reports Hitfix . Even more impressive is... More »

Spotify Makes US Debut

Digital music service poised to upend business

(Newser) - Europe's hottest digital music service has just made its American debut and some analysts are already saying that the download industry is as good as dead. Spotify has a catalog of 15 million songs which users can stream instead of buy. Users can access Spotify for a small monthly... More »

Lady Gaga Sells 1.1M Born This Way in First Week

Amazon deal helps album hit milestone

(Newser) - Lady Gaga's new album Born This Way has zoomed to mega-hit status with sales of 1.11 million copies in its first week, making it the hottest-selling debut for an album since 50 Cent's The Massacre in 2005, according to Billboard . Only 17 albums in the last 20... More »

No, Bon Jovi, Steve Jobs Isn't Killing Music

Digital changes aren't all bad

(Newser) - Jon Bon Jovi has accused Steve Jobs of personally "killing" the music industry, but Bon Jovi is just engaging in silly "nostalgia grief," writes Keith Staskiewicz at Entertainment Weekly . In his interview with the London Sunday Times, Bon Jovi fetishizes the experience of a physical record. Because... More »

Vinyl Breathes Life Into Dying Music Sales

Independent record store owners see a way forward

(Newser) - The last decade was not kind to the independent record store owner, as digital downloads—legal and illegal—and online retailers cut deeply into sales. But there's hope on the horizon, and it comes from the past—vinyl albums. Nielsen SoundScan says 2.8 million vinyl records were sold in... More »

Susan Boyle Rules US and UK Charts—Again

Only the Beatles and Monkees have done it in a year

(Newser) - Susan Boyle has the No. 1 album on both the US and UK charts for the second time in one year. It's a sales metric achieved only twice before—by the Beatles in 1969 and the Monkees in 1967—making Boyle the first woman to pull it off. The... More »

Beatles, iTunes Come Together

Apple hypes it like crazy

(Newser) - After decades of legal battles over the “Apple” brand name, the Beatles and Steve Jobs have officially let it be and come together on iTunes. It’s not the big announcement many tech prognosticators were expecting , but Apple is hyping it to the nines, devoting its entire homepage to... More »

Apple Teases Huge iTunes News

Could it be the death of the MP3?

(Newser) - Is Apple about to kill the MP3? The company today devoted its entire homepage to teasing an iTunes announcement planned for tomorrow that it promises, with typical Apple grandiosity, “you’ll never forget.” What could it be? Speculation is flying, but the top theory seems to be that... More »

Taylor Swift Sells 1M Albums in First Week

It's the biggest seller in 5 years

(Newser) - Nice week for Taylor Swift: Her Speak Now album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts, racking up 1,047,000 sales. (That includes iTunes and the like.) Billboard rounds up some of the milestones:
  • It's the biggest single sales week for an album since 50 Cent's The
... More »

Sarkozy Will Go Halvsies on That Digital Song

France will subsidize downloads, fight piracy

(Newser) - France is launching what Ars Technica thinks is a "novel" approach to steer young people away from musical piracy. It's going to help them pay for legal downloads. The government has earmarked $70 million over the next two years for half-priced download cards usable on a number of online... More »

Rascal Flatts Gets $702,500 Per Gig—Really

Concert booking fees might surprise you

(Newser) - In the world of concert bookings, you probably wouldn’t be shocked to hear KISS commands a $500,000 fee. You might be surprised, however, by who comes in ahead of KISS. The Smoking Gun runs down contracts from the 2010 US summer concert season:
  • Rascal Flatts: $702,500
  • KISS:
... More »

Music Pioneer Mitch Miller Dead at 99

Record exec went on to host karaoke precursor 'Sing Along With Mitch'

(AP) - Mitch Miller, the goateed orchestra leader who asked Americans to "Sing Along With Mitch" on television and records, died Saturday at age 99. Miller was a key exec at Columbia Records in the pre-rock 'n' roll era, making hits with singers Rosemary Clooney, Patti Page, Johnny Mathis, and Tony... More »

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