Apple - profit increases 41% on iPod sales

Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL) announced earnings of $410 million, 47 cents , up from $290 million,34 centsfrom the previous year, with sales of its iPod portable music players continuing to increase .
Profit increased 41% with sales of its iPod portable music players contributing . For the fiscal second quarter ending April 1 over 8.5 million iPod portable digital music players were shipped.

The Doobie Brothers -Great 70's rock

Tonight I went and heard the Doobie Brothers http://www.doobiebros.com/ live in concert and it brought back memories from when I was 16- 17 (yes I am that old). Great music stays embedded in your memory, in your cells and comes to life when triggered. I guess it’s like an MP3 file download always ready to play.

A room full of old rockers like myself all became young again as the music rebooted cell after cell. We all forgot how old we were for two hours and that we have teenage kids at home . One fan yelled enthusiastically- "You are the greatest rock band of all time”. They were definitely one of the best of my time.

I never got to see them live when I was 17, but in some strange way I came full circle tonight. As much as technology improves and impresses us, nothing can take the place of a live musician on stage playing to your heart, your soul, embedding themselves into your personal history.

Oh , oh, oh -
Listen to the music....

Free MP3's of New Young Musical Artists Creating New Original Sounds from Pop/Folk to Alternative Rock

Free MP3's of New Young Musical Artists Creating New Original Sounds from Pop/Folk to Alternative Rock
Munch Music Delta, B.C. http://www.rockandrolldream.com a digital recording studio and music centre has added new recording artists and MP3 downloads for avid music fans searching for new, raw musical talent. The young artists featured all write their own music and create original sounds and lyrics. Munch Music is excited about a new artist that walked in and recently completed a demo, Chelsea Patricia Ganeff, musically comparable to the next "Jann Arden" or "Jewel". The online site Chelsea Patricia Ganeff's single "Walk Away" click here: http://www.rockandrolldream.com/downloads_CPG.htm "Chemical Dream" consists of John Simpson on guitar, Alex Won on guitar, Doug Bourks on bass and Connor McIlvenna on percussion. The Dream's music is a very hooky mixture of riff based classic rock with melodic guitar melodies. Sample "Rock Song" single from Chemical Dream click here: http://www.mymunchmusic.com/downloads_ChemicalDream.htm Taylor Van Zant's alternative rock band is called "Van Paul and the Forever Red". The band consists of Max Konyi on piano and guitar, Patrick Snape on guitar and bass, Nate Konyi on drums, and Taylor Van Zant on bass, vocals, and rhythm guitar. "Van Paul and the Forever Red" has been together for one year and play in a variety of styles, including: classic and modern rock. Sample "And Air" single from Van Paul and the Forever Reds: http://www.mymunchmusic.com/downloads_VPFReds.htm Munch Music: Founded by 16 Year old artist Taylor Van Zant

The Temptations , Otis Williams

March 18th in Vegas I had the extreme pleasure of seeing the only living original member of The Temptations, Otis Williams , perform. The Temptations and the Four Tops put on a show to remember. To see Otis dance and sing to a level of excellence that would exhaust a 20 year old was amazing. I brought my 17 year old son, who is an avid music fan, with me and he had no idea all the songs they sang were the Temptations songs. I told him he was seeing a musical legend in front of him.
Mr. Williams- we salute you!
http://www.otiswilliams.net/

Post Music industry news and articles

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the new "iPhone."

iPod fans may now have a new choice with the recent buzz that Apple is working on a a new cell phone that is capable of playing music and fielding calls .The new "iPhone" as it is called is being sourced with potential Taiwanese contract manufacturers

Xbox 360 and Epic Records will showcase 12 up-and-coming artists through the Artist of the Month

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT : Microsoft Corporation) & Epic Records announced an agreement to offer a full year of exclusive artist content and music video downloads free for all Xbox 360(TM) gamers. Over the next year, Xbox 360 and Epic Records will showcase 12 up-and-coming artists through the Artist of the Month program through the Xbox Live(R) service, a unified global online entertainment network. Millions of Xbox Live members can enter a monthly sweepstakes with a prize of gaming against some of the hottest musicians through the Xbox Live Game with Fame(TM) program.

Music Industry and the Justice Department

Just as the industry has been buzzing about online music sales growth- now comes the bad news- music companies are the subject of the scrutiny of the U.S. Justice Department for possible collusion in the setting of prices for online downloading.

Digitial music in Canada

Following stats that showed Canada was lagging in participation in the booming music download industry - news on a deal that may accelerate that growth came out. Bell Canada announced it has acquired a Majority Interest in Puretracks, Canada's Premiere Online Digital Music Service.
The company said in its press release - "By investing in Puretracks, Bell is better positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for online digital entertainment among Canadian consumers," said Charlotte Burke, Senior Vice president, Bell Canada Consumer Internet Services. "Working closely with Puretracks and their leading music industry partners will reinforce Bell's proven track record of offering original and exclusive online content."
www.puretracks.com

Digital Music Conference - The Who's Who

Music Industry's 6th Annual Digital Music Forum and Mobile Music Leadership Summit (www.digitalmusicforum.com) being held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City on Tuesday, February 28 through Wednesday, March 1, 2006 participants include record labels, music publishers, producers and distributors, technology companies, wireless companies, rights organizations, industry bodies, radio, advertising, attorneys, artists, investors and venture capitalists.

The conference will discuss the role of digital and mobile technologies in the future of music with
topics to be discussed being :
-- Mobile Music –- Metrics, Predictions, Provocations and Analysis &
Mobile Music Leadership Roundtable
-- The State of the Online & Mobile Music Markets: How are record labels
(major and independent), music and mobile companies, telephone carriers and
technology providers positioning their businesses to take advantage of
opportunities in the digital music market?
-- The Growth of The Indie Sector: The role of the Internet, mobile and
digital technologies in the recent success of the independent sector
-- Reaction to RIAA Lawsuits
-- Selling Music to the College Market: The Challenge to Convert Students
Into Paying Customers
-- The MySpace Phenomenon
-- Digital Commerce Opportunities for the Music Industry
-- What are the likely catalysts to creating a vibrant digital music
market?
-- The Future of Radio: What are the "killer apps" that are changing
traditional radio?

Amazon and Google enter music sector

The buzz in the Music industry - apparently industry executives have confirmed they are in discussions with Amazon and Google to create new music services to compete against Apple's share of the digital music market

American Idol draws larger audience than Grammys

28.3 million people watched "American Idol" Wednesday, versus the Grammy Awards with 15.1 viewers. Apparently it was the least-watched Grammy Awards in Nielsen records dating back to the 1970s.

Does that say the music fans are more interested in new emerging talent versus the mainstream?

American Idol plays to the hopes and dreams of the average person, while the Grammy's are a venue for elite, established successful performers dressed in designer clothes .

Maybe it is a statement of the current state of the music industry

future music industry trends

According to research issued by http://www.strategyanalytics.net/ North American conventional music will remain dominant between 2005 and 2010, but revenues from this channel will decline slightly from $11.4 billion to $11.0 billion. Online music will be the biggest gainer, with revenues more than doubling in the five-year window.

On another note...

Loved the Grammys seeing my two favorite men- Bruce and Bono . I personally would have liked to have seen Bruce win best song with "Devils and Dust" . I think its his best album to date and I have loved his work from the beginning

Even Prince offers MP3's

The digital music age is changing everything and artists and industry change or goes the way of the dinosaur. Prince has seen the light and is offering Mp3’s to compete with the new age of emerging talent that understands the power of MP3's online and going mobile
Another big trend going back to the roots of music sales -" singles" - where music lover can buy one song for $0.99 instead of whole CD

mobile viewers can now watch the latest music videos

SmartVideo Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: SMVD) announced mobile viewers can now watch the latest music videos on all Internet enabled devices, such as cellphones, PDAs, and laptops connected via cellular, Wi-Fi, and DSL networks. SmartVideo in partnership with the Digital Music Video Network (DMVN), today launched its groundbreaking, advertising-supported channels featuring videos by the music industry's top artists. A unique feature of this service is SmartVideo's use of an advanced Digital Rights Management (DRM) system that protects the copyright and security of the music.

Wal-Mart Soundcheck

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. http://www.walmart.com (WMT) has launched an online music video and audio service featuring exclusive studio performances as part of their market strategy for the music industry

Called "Wal-Mart Soundcheck", the new service includes studio performances and interviews with new and established artisits and bands ranging from rock, pop, punk, country, hip-hop and R&B

The artist's music will play for free on http://www.walmart.com as well as television screens in the Wal-Mart electronics departments. . Acts will be updated monthly.
This should draw in the demographics of the MTV audience and the music fans that search online as part of the explosive trend for free or alternative music

Starbucks from music coffee house to MP3's

Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) , www.starbucks.com has entered new markets as the company's ventures extend into motion pictures with its new deal with Lionsgate and expands the Hear Music™ Coffeehouse they say in a press release " The new stores represent the full integration of a classic coffeehouse experience with an extensive digital and physical music inventory and underscore the Company’s steadfast commitment to extending its Entertainment initiative. The unrivalled combination results in a compelling third place destination for customers to connect over coffee as well as explore, discover, personalize and buy quality music in a warm and inviting environment."
Now the company is talking about entering the MP3 market as the industry changes to that direction

Digital Music Group IPO

Digital Music Group - http://www.digitalmusicgroupinc.com/Home.aspx
listing for NASDAQ - pending symbol - DMGI

The company provides digital music recordings to online music stores for purchase by consumers, with rights to sell over 200,000 music recordings in digital format

The estimated price range for the pending IPO has increased to $9 to $11 per share from $8 to $10.

Digital music expands globally-new report says

New Digital Music Report - Digital music expands worldwide
http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/digital-music-report-2006.pdf
If you want to know the details on the digital music industry and how it is transforming the music industry and the digital economy - this 24 page report will tell you all the details

A few hi-lites-

In 2005 the number of legitimate music download sites reached 335, up from 50 two years ago. In just two years the volume of music made available online by record
companies has increased to over two million songs.
Digital & mobile sales of $1.1 billion for record companies - up from $380 million the previous year, and making up 6 percent of all music sales.

read the report and find out how this influences you and the music industry moving forward

Music Group International digitizing 100,000 recordings

The ongoing changes in music - its all about the downloads -

Universal Music Group International (UMG.XX), the world's largest music company by market share, Wednesday said it was digitizing 100,000 previously deleted European recordings in order to make them available over the Internet.
Universal will take recordings from what it claims is the music industry's largest archive, including music from Marianne Faithfull, Fairport Convention, Nirvana and Jacques Brel.
The global music industry has been hit over the past five years by illegal downloads over the Internet but sales of legal digital downloads in 2005 showed huge growth in the U.K. and U.S.
The global music trade body, IFPI, reported last October that the value of digital download sales have now overtaken the value of the global singles market.
Global sales of recorded music fell 1.9% in the first half of 2005, the latest period for which figures are available, while physical music sales fell 6.3% over the period, however digital music sales tripled over the period to 6% of total record industry sales.
full story: http://www.thebusinessonline.co.uk/DJStory.aspx?DJStoryID=20060118DN005920