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The Digital Music Market Outlook: Evolving business models, key players, new challenges and the future outlook

Posted on September 1, 2010 by

The Digital Music Market Outlook: Evolving business models, key players, new challenges and the future outlook

The increasing adoption of broadband and mobile technologies and the widespread adoption of smart phones and portable music playing devices continue to drive the digital music market. The music industry landscape is undergoing major structural changes as companies from other industries become integrated into music distribution, and business models transform to adapt to changing market demands. Piracy remains a major concern in the industry, with losses from illegal downloads running into billions of dollars. ‘The Digital Music Market Outlook: Evolving business models, key players, new challenges and the future outlook’ is a new report published by Business Insights that analyzes the growth of the digital music market and recent transformations to the industry structure and business models. The report examines the growth drivers and inhibitors of the market, emerging geographies, industry challenges and the future market outlook. It also provides detailed profiles of the leading digital music service providers including an examination of their operations, service offerings, financials and strategic outlook.

Key Chapters :

The Digital Music Market Outlook

Executive summary 10

Digital music – the new era 10

Key markets 11

The value chain and evolving business models 12

Key challenges 14

Future outlook 15

Key players 17

Chapter 1 Introduction 20

What is this report about? 20

Methodology and definitions 21

Chapter 2 Digital music – a new era 24

Summary 24

Global market overview 25

Market size and growth 25

Segmentation – online and mobile music components 27

Digital music more popular among younger consumers 29

Growth drivers 31

Increasing penetration of broadband and mobile technologies 31

Soaring sales of smartphones and portable players 33

Expanding online catalogues and DRM-free strategy 34

Key trends 34

Innovative marketing drives the market forward 34

Move towards DRM-free tracks 35

Partnerships emerging across the value chain 35

Artists reaching out to fans directly 36

Growing involvement of local governments and ISPs in controlling piracy 36

Chapter 3 Key markets 38

Summary 38

Developed markets 39

US 39

Japan 44

UK 52

France 56

Germany 57

Emerging markets 57

China 57

India 59

Brazil 60

Chapter 4 The value chain and evolving

business models 64

Summary 64

The virtual music value chain 65

Artists 67

Record labels / production companies 67

IP rights protection body 68

Physical retailers 68

Digital music retailers 68

Consumers 70

A-la-carte downloads vs. subscription services 71

Key emerging business models 73

Advertising supported services 73

Artist led distribution channels 75

Linking with brands, merchandise and mobile games 76

Music access services by ISPs and mobile operators 78

Partnerships across the value chain 79

Flexible pricing 81

Chapter 5 Key challenges 84

Summary 84

Introduction 85

Piracy – plague of the digital music industry 85

Depth of the problem 85

Piracy spans across geographies 87

Steps to curtail piracy 88

Role of ISPs and government support 89

Legal action against P2P networks 90

Initiatives by record companies 90

Interoperability issues – finding an effective DRM system 91

Determining the right price for digital music 92

Chapter 6 Future outlook 94

Summary 94

Strong growth to continue 95

Developed and emerging markets 95

The future face of music – music to go 96

Graduating to full-track downloads and music videos 96

Evolution of business models 97

Subscription model is the key to the future 97

Ad-supported services will become more popular 97

Labels reaching out to consumers directly 97

Cashing in on live music 98

Capitalizing on popularity of social networks 98

Emergence of new business models 98

Changes in the pricing mechanisms 99

Technology innovations and advances 99

MP3 player market to grow with innovations 99

Technology enabling music on the go 99

Convergence of multiple formats, devices and channels 100

Audio formats and quality 100

Music piracy 100

Music piracy most rampant among younger consumers 100

Collective efforts required to curtail music piracy 101

Chapter 7 Key players 104

Summary 104

Digital music retailers 105

iTunes Music Store 105

Overview 105

Service offerings 105

Operational and financial performance 107

Strategy 109

eMusic 110

Overview 110

Service offerings 111

Operational and financial performance 112

Strategy 113

Napster 114

Overview 115

Service offerings 115

Operational and financial performance 116

Strategy 117

Rhapsody 118

Overview 118

Service offerings 119

Operational and financial performance 120

Strategy 122

Amazon MP3 123

Overview 123

Service offerings 123

Operational and financial performance 124

Strategy 124

7digital 125

Overview 125

Service offerings 125

Operational and financial performance 126

Strategy 126

Wal-Mart Music Downloads 127

Overview 127

Service offerings 127

Operational and financial performance 128

Strategy 128

Appendix 130

Index 130

To know more and to buy a copy of your report feel free to visit :
http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=111680&rt=The-Digital-Music-Market-Outlook-Evolving-business-models-key-players-new-challenges-and-the-future-outlook.html

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Posted in Music Marketing | Tagged Business, challenges, Digital, Evolving, future, Market, models, Music, Outlook, players | Leave a comment

Create A Great Press Kit

Posted on August 31, 2010 by

Whether your company is just starting out, or you just feel that you need to make more of an impact with the local media, a press kit is the way to go. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Gather Your Info.

The first thing you will want to include in your press kit is the biographical information of all the key players in your company (if that is you and you alone, that’s all right too). Keep the bio or bios fairly short, no more than one page each. In some cases you may want to keep it even shorter by creating one page that contains biographical blurbs. The key is to make this page (and all your pages, in fact) brief, attractive, and readable. You will want to include at photos that are at least thumbnail sized to go with the bios, of course.

On the best paper that you can get hold of, print all of your company’s recent press releases, any newspaper clippings, website printouts, or any positive attention your company has already received. If you have been covered in any magazines, include copies of those sheets, printed in color. You really don’t want to scrimp on appearance here. This press kit is meant to function, for all intents and purposes, as your representative. And as as we all know, appearances matter.

If you have a company newsletter, and you feel it is fit for public consumption, by all means include it. If you don’t you can create one pretty simply using some templates in MS Word or programs such as Illustrator and InDesign. Be sure to throw in some photographs, etc., and do whatever you can to make it look professional.

If you have sales materials like brochures or other such items that you might give to a sales rep to hand out to clients, include them in your press kit. If not, create some sheets that describe your product and/or services and that contain attractive photos both of the products and of people using them, if possible, in order to provide a clear picture of what it is that you do.

Putting it Together

The order you place these items in is up to you, but you will want to take your audience into account. Most likely you will be best off starting out with the bio sheet or sheets, followed by the company literature/brochures, then the press releases and clips.

Cover Letter

Printed on company letterhead and high-quality paper, a letter from the highest ranking officer in your company that explains the contents of the kit and provides contact information. Include a business card from your Communications Director or whoever it is that you would like to field interview or story requests.

Binding It

A simple pocket folder is one way to go, but you can probably make more of an impact using a simple 3 ring binder with a clear cover into which you can insert a custom cover or company logo. There are lots of options out there to choose from, so either take a good look online or at your local copy and print shop to get an idea of what will work best for you.

If you are interested in more information about how the right Three-Ring Binder can help you creat a great press kit, you might want to visit MyBinding.com. They offer a great price on all their binding supplies and they even offer Free Shipping on orders over $75.00. Plus, they carry a full line of Binding Machines, in all brands and capabilities. Check it out today!

Posted in Press Kit | Tagged Create, Great, Press | Leave a comment

Musician Marketing: Distribution

Posted on August 31, 2010 by

This is the fourth article in a five-part series that details exactly what you need to market yourself as a successful musician.

Telling the world about your musical talents and demonstrating that they do, indeed, want to listen to you takes time, dedication and intelligent distribution. Here are some tips for musician marketing distribution:

Direct mail

Direct mail is one of the best ways for new musicians to get in front of your target audience. One reason is that surprisingly few musicians take advantage of the proven power of direct-mail marketing, so there’s far less competition to get in your way. Send your campaigns to likely listeners who fit your fan demographics; and send your band/musician press kit to radio stations, television stations, print media, venues, record labels and studio execs.

Repetition is crucial to direct-mail success, but you don’t want to overdo it. For musicians there’s a fine line between being aggressive and becoming a nuisance, so carefully choose who you should send your direct-mail marketing pieces to and why.

Here’s a sample direct-mail marketing campaign for musicians:

Week One: Send a free CD with a couple of your best songs on them and/or a postcard with a URL to download two of your best songs for free.

Week Six: Send a flyer that announces your upcoming show at a local venue. Hold a contest for someone to win a VIP backstage pass with you.

Week 12: Send a calendar that showcases you and/or your band as musicians, at your favorite venues, striking poses that fit your musical genre, etc.

Week 18: Send another flyer that announces another upcoming show.

Week 24: Send greeting cards to your fans – anyone who has gone to a show, signed up for your online newsletter, or who has otherwise responded to your direct-mail marketing campaigns.

Week 30: This should be done consistently depending on where you’re playing: Send press kits to local media, radio stations, television stations, venue managers, record labels and studio executives.

The Music Booking Agent, Friend or Foe?

Posted on August 31, 2010 by

A good agent will hold the client list of artists to just small enough that they can manage it and keep everyone working. After all, they only make money if the artists and groups are working so it is in their best interest to make sure that happens.

The Music Booking Agent typically has staple clubs that are in his or her core of places and the agent simply tells everyone where to go because they know who does what and which clubs are looking for what type of music. In a perfect world that is great and that is the part where musicians tend to shut off. After all, the band is the one in the club working their tail off to make the 20 percent commission for the agent, right?

What about the countless hours that went into the networking with the clubs and the bands to build up his roster of both? What about the phone calls to find new clubs and the promotional material that had to be done?

What about the band that he had booked that breaks down on Sunday night in Hibbing, Minnesota that was supposed to open up on Tuesday night in Yuma, Arizona? Would you like to be in his shoes trying to route in another band or to call the club and say, “guess what”? I know I would not like to be in that position.

I personally have been on the road and have had both good and bad Music Booking Agents handling the tours. The bad ones we fired quickly and the good ones we would go out of our way for because they were smart. They didn’t route you in Minnesota one week and Arizona the next. They looked at the map and kept the between gig miles to a minimum.

Music site like myMusicCircle give you yet another avenue to locate the professionals that will make you life easier. Music Booking Agents are one of those enigmas that can make or break you when you are out there. So look hard and when you locate a great one, keep them happy and remember they truly earn the money they get.

Greg Wilson is a prominent creative writer and music veteran with over 20 years of music industry professional experience. His knowledge and expertise extends from all aspects of the music industry including production, audio and video, promotion, music business strategy, music industry philosophy and music industry economics.

Posted in Booking Agents | Tagged Agent, Booking, Friend, Music | Leave a comment

Three Ways to Share Your Band Profile and Song Lyrics to Fans and Supporters

Posted on August 24, 2010 by

People listen to music almost every day and admire the specific bands behind those excellently written songs. People are interested in knowing more about a particular band in any way they can. With this, certain bands must think of ways to address their supporters’ concern.

It is important for certain bands to keep their fans informed and updated about who they really are, their music genres, the way they compose songs, and their upcoming activities. Sharing a band profile, song lyrics and upcoming gigs is possible through creating a band press kit, CD booklet printing, and online promotion.

Band Press Kit – A band press kit or portfolio is the most important thing to be completed by a certain band. This package is being submitted to recording companies to gain more opportunities in the music industry. Furthermore, creating a band press kit will allow band members to cooperate with each other. The members of a particular band can compile all items including the demo CD, band profile, band photo, song list, and more.

CD Booklet Printing – CD booklets, liner notes and inserts are the ones that come along with a music CD to complete the music album package. A band can put its history and profile in the booklets, as well as the lyrics of their original music. There are many online printing companies to choose from, but a specific band must seek for a reliable one to create the CD booklets. Many people buy music album not just for the music CD, but also for the inserts and booklets included in the package. This is because people can gain more information about a certain band, how they are formed, and how the lyrics are written.

Website and Online Promotion – Through a website, a band can share their profile, song list, lyrics, photos, gigs and upcoming activities to a wide population of Internet users. With a growing number of people who use websites, social networking sites and blog sites, a particular band can surely gain more supporters. Furthermore, a band can get comments from Internet users using a band website.

With these possible ways, people will learn more about a particular band. This will build trust and bond between the fans and a specific band. In addition, a band’s music will be more appreciated and patronized by openness and transparency.

Kat Nocom is a Content Writer, with 1 year of experience as a Technical Writer for a Publishing company. Currently, she resides in Los Angeles, California working in the field of writing and marketing.

Posted in Band Press Kits | Tagged Band, Fans, Lyrics, Profile, Share, song, Supporters, Three, Ways | Leave a comment

Different Ways For The Promotion Of A Band Country Wide

Posted on August 24, 2010 by

Millions of music lovers are there all over the world; and nearly same is the number of musicians. Among the millions of musicians thousands of them learn to play their favorite musical instruments for long time and perform country wide either solo or as a band. But, what about the others? What happens to the other talented musicians? Why don’t they get the same success as others? There are few answers to the last question. The most important factor for their failure is the promotion of their band. Promotion of a band or a solo artist is the most important step for attaining success and this is however the most difficult task. The only way to make yourself and your riffs noticeable to others is to promote your band successfully.

To promote your band you need to follow few steps which will help you to reach the country wide audience. There are two main ways that you can follow to promote your band, online promotion and offline promotion. Online promotion of a band consists of creating personal website of the band, connecting with people in the social networking websites like Facebook, MySpace etc, uploading your songs or music on your personal websites or on the social networking site. Using Youtube as a promotional medium is a very effective idea. You can upload your home made song videos in Youtube. These online promotions of a band or any solo singer or musician have proved to be very helpful.

The offline promotion consists of distributing your music CDs among the people you know, signing up with a music production company, distributing leaflets etc. Offline promotion is not as easy as the online one, but it is very effective. To promote your band country wide you must follow all of these procedures.

One effective method that has been discovered lately is the use of an iphone app, the Riffraters to promote a band. This application helps you to record your songs or riffs and publish them on the entire iphone network; other iphone users get to listen to these uploaded songs or music and rate them according to their quality. The most rated songs go up the rank and hold the superior rank. If your song or music gets superior rank in the iphone application, then you will surely get famous. This method of promotion of a band is very easy but effective. If you do not have this music app installed in your iphone, contact your nearest iphone store and ask them for this application. Many musicians have got good result using this application.

The promotion of music may have become easier nowadays, but what people need to listen is good music. You have to work a lot to make your songs and music extraordinarily catchy. If your music is not good, it won’t get the proper rating needed to acquire a good position. So, the conclusion is that you have to be a good musician as well as your band’s promotional method must be good to reach other listeners.

Even you can share your acoustic riffs with your friends through the iphone app called the Riff Rater. It will be of great help to promote your music.

Posted in Band Promotion | Tagged Band, Country, Different, Promotion, Ways, Wide | Leave a comment

What is this song called?

Posted on August 21, 2010 by

What is the song that plays in Dream Theater’s performance in Radio City Music Hall in Dream Theater Electronic Press Kit? You can watch it from this address:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/shared/downloads/DreamTheater/Dream_Theater_EPK.mov

Thanks

Posted in Electronic Press Kits | Tagged called, song, This | 1 Comment

A Little About Music Managment

Posted on August 21, 2010 by

There comes a time in many musicians’ lives where they feel they need management. Remember, not only signed artists feel they need management, sometimes people in the independent music field feel this way as well. A manager is someone who, in a nutshell, runs the business side of the artist’s career in the music industry.

An artist or band manager will play many roles. One role they fill is handling all the music contacts. These music contacts include club owners, agents, labels, A&R, promoters and many other professionals in the music industry. The manager may also handle marketing, promoting, tours, budgeting and booking shows. A manager may have to wear many hats so it is important to pick someone who is reliable and trustworthy.

When searching for a manager, there are many questions you should ask yourself before settling on one particular person.

1.First, does this manager typically handle your genre or field of music? If you are an Indie artist, then make sure this manager is prepared to deal with the field of independent music. Are they more into hip hop while you have a more alternative rock feel? It is important to pick a manager that specializes in your genre.

2.Trust your instincts and ask yourself how trustworthy they feel after meeting with them. Are they just tooting their own horn or are they the real deal?

3.How are their references? Ask or call around to other music contacts to see what they say. Hearsay is important in the music industry, believe it or not.

4.How experienced are they? If they are just beginning their career then how well connected are they? But then again, they may put more effort into your band if they have something to prove. Make a list of the pros and cons of each.

5.Do you know anyone else that has worked with them? Find out how ethical they are. You don’t want to butt heads with your manager over ethics in the music industry.

6.What style of management are they? Are they go-getters or laid back? Talk to other artists who have worked with them, if possible.

7.Keep in mind that managers usually work for a percentage of what you make. Try to avoid a manager that asks for a salary.

Having a valued and honest relationship with your manager is crucial. You want to be on the same page as your manager whether you do independent music or are signed. Make sure your manager is making the proper music contacts and truly believes in you. After all, you don’t want to work with, for or beside someone who doesn’t have your best interests in mind.

Owner of Platinum Millennium publishing, former record label owner & national music industry seminar speaker/panelist. Author/creator of best-selling music biz books, courses, audio products & “How to” resources that helped 1000s. Go to http://www.TheIndustryYellowPages.com for more info on music contacts, music industry & independent music.

Posted in Band Management | Tagged About, Little, Managment, Music | Leave a comment

How to Print Booklets For Press Kit

Posted on August 21, 2010 by

Press conferences are one of the most common affairs in the corporate world. A press kit thus becomes a crucial print item that is extensively used in the business world. Booklet is an important part of a good press kit and it should be printed well. A good press kit carries the impression of the organization and you should not compromise with it at any cost. Here are a few things that you should keep in mind while printing a booklet for a press kit:

A press booklet should always be a small but detailed printout. It should be comfortably fit into a press kit. It should have complete information about the company that a news person may need.
The size of the booklet in your press kit also matters and the size of the booklet shouldn’t be too large and it should fit in well inside the booklet.
Your booklet should contain complete contact details for the news person to make any clarification if they require it.
Your booklet should have graphics and charts to let people know the performance of your company. It should also have images which promote your business.
It should be printed on high quality paper as it carries along with it the impression of the organization. There should be no compromise on the quality of the paper.
Make sure that the image file that you take for printing is of very high resolution. This will ensure that the end product also comes out good.
Insist your printing agencies to use high quality ink for your booklet. This will ensure that your booklet looks good. You can also use metallic ink for your booklet as this makes it glitter.
Make sure that the booklet that you are printing is in full color. This will make it look attractive compared to a single color booklet.
Try a gloss coat on all your booklets as this will bring that element of shine and make your booklet stand out against others.

To print a booklet for your press kit you will need the services of a good printing service provider. This is where a printer like PrintPapa comes in handy. They have expertise in all kinds of printing and designing services. They use the state of art printing technology for the printing posters, banners, business cards, letterheads, rack cards etc. They have built a list of successful clientèle over the years due to their high quality service.

Article by Adam

Posted in Press Kit | Tagged Booklets, Press, Print | Leave a comment

Asian music promotion video

Posted on August 17, 2010 by

This is a promotion video for asian music. Video Clips: Otsuka Ai – Frienger Fei Lun Hai – Aidao DBSK/TVXQ – Rising Sun Arashi – Right Back To You This video was made as a school project for Norwegian class…. Made by me and my friends…

Posted in Music Promotion | Tagged Asian, Music, Promotion, Video | 24 Comments

ACS PressKit.org

The Digital Music Market Outlook: Evolving business models, key players, new challenges and the future outlook

Create A Great Press Kit

Musician Marketing: Distribution

The Music Booking Agent, Friend or Foe?

Different Ways For The Promotion Of A Band Country Wide

What is this song called?

A Little About Music Managment

How to Print Booklets For Press Kit

Asian music promotion video

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