Nashville musicians decry media consolidation
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Media consolidation  doesn't play well here in Music City, USA as a roomful of  singers and songwriters, from the famous to the unknown,  gathered Monday to criticize government policy easing the rules  that say who can own what media outlet where.
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National Public Radio is teaming up with online radio broadcasters to appeal new music royalty fees that they say would put smaller operators out of business and force others to sharply scale back their online music offerings.
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Exasperated listeners weary of hearing the same songs over and over on the radio may have something to cheer about: a pair of innovative deals that could shake up the music playlists of some of the nation's largest radio-station chains.
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Ever since the Dixie  Chicks were boycotted by radio stations for insulting President  George W. Bush in 2003, country music liberals have felt under  siege but that doesn't mean there aren't any in Nashville.
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Amid an outcry from online listeners and Congress, the recording industry indicated it may show new leniency on royalties for Internet radio.
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At the Consumer Electronics Show this year, it&#39;s clear that consumers are making choices that are driving industry changes, and nowhere is that more evident than in the digital music business.Music industry and technology executives convened for the Billboard Digital Music Live conference Wednesday to talk about what those in the business need to do to meet the needs of music fans who appear to be running the show.&quot;2008 has to be the year we get real or the business as we know it goes away,&quot; said Fred Goldring, an entertainment attorney with Goldring Hertz &amp; Lichtenstein. He said that consumers will access music regardless of whether artists, labels, publishers, and digital music distributors approve of the means or receive money from the exchange.Since Napster turned the music industry on its ear in 2000, the digital-music business has been rocked by dissent among artists, labels, publishers, and the breed of technology companies distributing and selling music online that emerged in Napster&#39;s wake. All of these parties want to derive revenue from their contribution to the business, but have been arguing for years about how everyone should get paid.As this drama unfolds behind the scenes, consumers continue to find ways to bypass DRM and emerging revenue models to download and share music, making it not just impossible for the music industry to make money from traditional means, but also difficult to make money at all. In the meantime, artists have embarked on their own revolution, using social-networking sites and other online means to get their music directly in the hands of fans and finding other ways to derive revenue from their work.An example of the latter is the controversial and much-publicized move by U.K. rock band Radiohead to sell its new album &quot;In Rainbows&quot; direct to consumers without going through its record label or Apple&#39;s iTunes Store. The album first went on sale in October on Radiohead&#39;s Web site, allowing users to choose their price for the record; a few weeks ago, Radiohead released the record to iTunes and other retail channels.Scenarios like this will continue to happen, both among major-label artists and independent or unsigned artists. Whether they work is not the point; it&#39;s what the industry will do to work within these models and support them rather than continue to resist that will decide how the industry will fare in the future, said Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group. Nettwerk is a Canadian privately owned record label and artist management company.&quot;The corporate side of it has to shift,&quot; he said. &quot;The corporate people have not allowed us to do what we know we have to do. This is about the consumer, about monetizing their behavior and giving them choice. For all of the people that believe in controlling the&#160;[intellectual property]&#160;and how [the music] gets to consumers, the game is over. It was over seven or eight years ago, and soon your business will be over.&quot;Goldring suggested the industry focus on business models built solely around the networks that allow users to download music and find ways for everyone involved to make money that way.&quot;We have to stop trying to keep our old business alive&#160;... and figure out how to monetize the pipes [music files] are going through,&quot; he said.Barney Wragg, head of digital, EMI Music Group, said that in a perfect world, scenarios like the ones McBride and Goldring propose would exist. However, the needs of different artists vary, and there are still concerns about the integrity of their work and how they will be compensated for it as new business models emerge.&quot;I have artists that don&#39;t want to be involved in certain business models,&quot; he said. &quot;I have to balance those conflicts. ... There are a whole bunch of artists who are worried about how they&#39;re going to get paid, and what this is going to do about their representation or their art.&quot;Allowing their music to be distributed through ad-supported online music services is a particularly hard sell for artists who worry that having their work be associated with advertising &quot;devalues&quot; it, Wragg added.Subscription-based models such as Rhapsody that don&#39;t give users ownership of their music have struggled to take off. Wragg compared music fans&#39; view of subscription models to the early days of e-mail, when people wanted files to be stored locally and were adverse to the concept of e-mail existing only on a remote server.That concept changed over time, as will the perception of subscriptions if they are marketed to consumers in the right way, he said.Another factor that should boost the popularity of subscriptions in the future is the increased spending of younger fans who are naturally more comfortable with the idea of not owning their music, said Matthew DeFilippis, vice president of new media and technology for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, a membership organization representing the rights of artists.&quot;Ownership is a generational thing,&quot; he said. &quot;Even though kids today are buying from iTunes, I don&#39;t think they care about owning a thing. As they become the new generation of homeowners and bill payers, [music subscription] will be moving toward a cable [TV] model.&quot;
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Several major forces in the music industry changed their tunes this week, as industry giants and niche players alike try to stay on top of the fast-changing market.
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NASHVILLE (Billboard) - When a veteran country act releases  a new record, expectations about radio airplay -- or the lack  of it -- are usually realistic.
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The groupâs big win at the Grammy Awards exposed ideological tensions between Nashville and Hollywood.
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Three major recording companies have agreed to make their music available to be shared and sold over a new online file-swapping service that aims to lure music fans away from rival services where trading of music and movies remains unfettered.
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Internet law professor Michael Geist looks at how musicians themselves are shaking up the digital music industry.
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By JAKE COYLE  If you've been to a concert in recent years, you've seen the outstretched arms bearing digital cameras and cell phones that rise above the crowd like periscopes.   Increasingly, the footage from those concertgoers is turning up online.
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The urge to merge within both the recording and satellite radio industries this week reflects how tough it is to compete profitably within the evolving digital media market.
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Stung by the backlash against increased royalties charged to Internet broadcasters, the music industry this week offered to give small online broadcasters a break. But the plan has been dismissed by the broadcasters, who favor legislation in Congress that would reduce Internet music royalties.
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Pop group The Beautiful South announce they are to split up after "19 wonderful years in music".
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NASHVILLE, Tenn.  -- Predators owner Craig Leipold and the NHL are giving Nashville every chance to keep the hockey team in Music City. Now it's up to the fans to respond.
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By Dan Craft  BLOOMINGTON - So many talented area musicians, so little organized information about them.  And Pat Rosenbaum isn't happy about it.   She's so unhappy, in fact, that she wants to rectify the situation - immediately.