Monday, January 29, 2007

Music stock for the technical traders

How about a music stock to check out based on stricly technical charts

Guitar Center, Inc. (GTRC) http://www.guitarcenter.com

Bullish 50/200-day MA Crossovers (NASDAQ) at www.stockcharts.com

Guitar Center, Inc., through its subsidiaries, operates as a retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, and pro-audio and recording equipment in the United States.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Changing music industry online and mobile

Reading through the industry headlines in the past few days- a few articles show the trends and changing face of the music industry and where it will have to adapt to succeed-

Mobile phones set to propel music industry into online age
by Audrey Stuart Wed Jan 24, 2007
CANNES, FRANCE (AFP) - Mobile phones are proving the saviour of the struggling music industry and could be the vital springboard needed to propel the business finally into digital sales, industry experts have said.
"I believe a lot of the new revenues for the music industry will definitely come through mobile phones," said Dominque Leguern, director of MIDEM, the premier trade fair for the world's music industry that closes its doors on Thursday.
With the number of cellphone users predicted to hit the three billion mark in 2007, and 90 percent of the world's population expected to have mobile access by 2010, this could prove a powerful shot in the arm for the music industry.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070125/bs_afp/afpentertainmentmusicmidemfrance_070125021110

here is another one worth reading-

Music Industry Eyes Digital Age With Growing Optimism
Consumers and sellers mingle with the movers and shakers at Midem 2007 in Cannes At the 2007 Midem music fair in Cannes, artists and executives from the music and media industries come to discuss and promote the latest fads and trends. One forum tackled the digital age with much optimism.
All the talk at the Midem international music market's Net Forum in Cannes on Monday was of the digital age and whether artists were getting what they deserved in terms of money and exposure. Most of the participants in the discussion agreed that the advances in technology had done much to secure theirs and music's future.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2322771,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf

Thursday, January 25, 2007

MP3Musicgrams.com - “Say I Love You with Music” with New Valentines Music Ecards

MP3Musicgrams.com - “Say I Love You with Music” with New Valentines Music Ecards

Artists can Upload Music and Fans can choose an MP3, Valentines Graphics or Upload their own Photo and Send out to that Special Someone

MP3Musicgrams.com, a free music MP3 site featuring music uploads, graphics and Musicgrams, presents new Valentines ideas to encourage music fans to spread the love, and of course music, online. Music fans can choose an MP3 of any artist, band or label and select a new Valentines graphic or upload a Valentines photo of their own, add it to the MP3 audio file and send it out to 10 friends at once. This new user friendly Musicgram ecard makes music sharing the ideal way to send that special someone personalized and customized messages from the heart. What better way to say I love you than with music?

MP3 Musicgrams offer artists and bands and labels in all musical genres from blues to rock, rap or country, an opportunity to upload their song, photo or image, band or artist description and a link to their web site. Both the artist and their fans can send out and share the Music in the form of a personalized “Musicgram”.

Fans can choose an MP3 of their favorite artist, select an image or add one of their own and then add in a message and send out to ten friends at once.
The site profiles MP3 Musicgrams for music fans to review as most recent downloads, most downloaded and featured MP3 of the week. The featured MP3’s are then archived on file for online visitors to see and hear some of the best musical uploads.
About MP3Musicgrams.com
http://www.mp3musicgrams.com/about_Us.aspx
MP3Musicgrams.com is a new unique free online music promotion service designed to let artists and record labels promote their music in an immediate preview format featuring their MP3, image, and band description that can be sent in a viral format, similar to a greeting card.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

music industry numbers 2006- Digital Track Sales Increase 65%

so where did the music industry numbers land for 2006 in the midst of change?
here is the report from Nielsen SoundScan released January 4th -
2006 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed 1 Billion Sales


Growth In Overall Music Sales Exceeds 19%, Digital Track Sales Increase 65% from 2005
Nielsen Music 2006 Year-End Music Industry Report


Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, Nielsen BDS, the music industry's leading music performance monitoring service, and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases, have announced their 2006 U.S. year-end sales and airplay monitoring data for the 52-week period January 2 through December 31, 2006. OVERALL MUSIC SALES (01/02/06 - 12/31/06)
(ALBUMS, SINGLES, MUSIC VIDEO, DIGITAL TRACKS - IN MILLIONS)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % Chg.
1,198 1,003 19.4%
TOTAL ALBUM SALES (01/02/06 - 12/31/06)
(INCLUDES CD, CS, LP, DIGITAL ALBUMS - IN MILLIONS)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % Chg.
588.2 618.9 -4.9%
DIGITAL TRACK SALES
(01/02/2006 - 12/31/2006 - SALES IN MILLIONS)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % Chg.
581.9 352.7 65%
OVERALL ALBUM SALES (01/02/06 - 12/31/06)
(INCLUDES ALL ALBUMS & TRACK EQUIVALENT ALBUMS - IN MILLIONS)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % Chg.
646.4 654.1 -1.2%
INTERNET ALBUM SALES (01/02/06 - 12/31/06)
(Physical album purchases via e-commerce sites, In Millions)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % Chg.
29.4 24.7 19.0%
DIGITAL ALBUM SALES
(01/02/2006 - 12/31/2006 - IN MILLIONS)
UNITS SOLD 2006 2005 % CHG.
32.6 16.2 101%
2006 GENRE ALBUM SALES REPORT
(01/02/06-12/31/06)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Genre 2006 2005 % Chg.
------------------------------ ---------- ---------- --------
Alternative 109,672 120,797 -9.2%
Christian/Gospel 39,715 39,211 1.3%
Classical 19,447 15,875 22.5%
Country 74,886 75,327 -0.5%
Jazz 15,720 17,139 -8.3%
Latin 37,774 35,907 5.2%
Metal 61,557 64,473 -4.5%
New Age 3,412 4,412 -22.7%
R&B 117,005 143,392 -18.4%
Rap 59,534 75,062 -20.7%
Rock(a) 170,726 NA
Soundtrack 27,177 22,849 18.9%
(Note: Titles may appear in more than one genre.)
(a) Rock was a new genre in 2006.
CURRENT VS. CATALOG ALBUM SALES
(Sales In Millions: 01/02/06-12/31/06)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Albums 2006 2005 % Chg.
------------------------------------ ------------ ---------- ---------
Current 363.9 389.4 -6.5%
Catalog 224.2 229.5 -2.3%
Deep Catalog 158.2 157.5 0.4%
Physical Albums: 2006 2005 % Chg.
------------------------------------ ------------ ---------- ---------
Current 345.3 379.8 -9.1%
Catalog 210.2 222.8 -8.1%
Deep Catalog 148.4 152.7 -2.8%
Digital Albums: 2006 2005 % Chg.
------------------------------------ ------------ ---------- ---------
Current 18.6 9.6 93.7%
Catalog 14.0 6.7 108.9%
Deep Catalog 9.8 4.8 104.2%

to see album and song results - take a look at the full release -
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070104/20070104005813.html?.v=1