Music Biz Academy Digest - Issue #9 - April 16th 2001
An update from http://www.musicbizacademy.com.

This is a subscriber only newsletter. If for any reason you wish
to unsubscribe from this mailing list, simply email
MusicBizAcademy-unsubscribe@egroups.com.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

THE MUSIC BIZ ACADEMY
http://www.musicbizacademy.com

FEATURING:
Musician's Online Directory:
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/directory

The Academy (Articles and Tips)
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles

The Bookstore
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore

-----------------------------------------------------------------

WELCOME!
Welcome to the April 16th edition of the Music Biz Academy
digest! There's some very interesting 'goings on' in the music
business of late - while everyone's been watching the Napster
hearing with baited breath, the tech industry is making serious
moves to make MP3 obselete. Microsoft's new XP operating system,
currently in Beta testing and due on shelves by Christmas,
reduces the quality of MP3 recording while subplanting it with
their own, Windows media format. Tricky guys. Is this the
beginning of the end of MP3.com? Yet another doomsday premise for
independent music. See the link to the full article below.

Also in this issue, reviews of some great indie resources -
ArtistPro, MusicIsland and others, as well as a link to a
must-read article for musicians new to the business - '10 Reality
Sandwiches For The Independent Musician' by verteran writer Chris
Knab.


SUPPORT YOUR HOST
The Music Biz Academy Digest is brought to you by RainMusic.com
and your host, David Nevue. MusicBizAcademy.com is free, the
articles and directory are free, but show your support by trying
out some music and support the work of the artist:
http://www.mp3.com/davidnevue


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Additions To The Academy
http://musicbizacademy.com/articles/
-----------------------------------------------------------------

RADIO AIRPLAY 101: MORNING SHOWS
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/articles/radio/index.htm
How to make the most of morning, 'prime time' radio to promote
your music. Article by Bryan Farrish.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recent Additions/Updates to the Musician's Directory....
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/directory
-----------------------------------------------------------------

APPLAUSE MUSIC CAREERS
http://www.cnvi.com/applause/
Applause offers two products of interest to musicians from their
web site; the Performance Guide, a start up guide for musicians
interested in a performance career in the music business, and the
Production Guide, a guide geared more toward a career in a more
technical field such as tour management, lighting director, sound
engineering, and so on. Both have been updated for 2001. The
Applause site also has a rather active message board worth
visiting dedicated to finding employment in the music industry.


ARTISTPRO.COM
http://www.artistpro.com/
ArtistPro.com is an exceptional online resource for the recording
professional. Monthly features include interviews and tips from
professional producers and engineers with such big names as Alan
Parsons and Bob Welsh. You'll find an online Recording Industry
Sourcebase featuring over 16,000 listings, an AudioPro recording
course (free to registered users), advisor forums and much more.
Definitely worth a visit.


MUSICISLAND.COM
http://www.musicisland.com/home.htm
MusicIsland is a virtual treasure trove of contact information
for record labels, legal resources, promoters, booking agents,
radio stations, publishers, places to play and more. Each entry
includes complete contact information (address, email & phone).
There's a lot of information to wade through here, but if you
know what you need MusicIsland will provide you with a number of
good leads.


WIPE OUT! CD REPAIR KIT
http://www.cdrepair.com/
Got a scratched demo? Worse yet, a scratched CD master? Wipe Out!
from Esprit Development is able to literally wipe away scratches
on your CDs or CD-ROMs. Yea, we thought it sounded a bit too good
to be true as well, but check out the press and the customer
feedback on the product.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Articles From Around The Net....
-----------------------------------------------------------------

10 'REALITY SANDWICHES' FOR THE INDEPENDENT MUSICIAN
http://www.musicdish.com/mag/?id=3587
The term 'Reality Sandwiches' appeared in a poem by the late Beat
poet Allen Ginsberg. I adopted it years ago to explain that there
are certain realities about the music business that must be
chewed and digested in order to rid ourselves of any naïve
concepts and beliefs about breaking into the industry.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Featured Music Industry News
http://www.musicbizacademy.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------

TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY AIMS TO RENDER MP3 OBSOLETE
http://www.msnbc.com/news/558399.asp
MP3, a popular format for downloading music from the Web, is
encountering competitive pressure as leading technology companies
such as Microsoft Corp. work to subtly wean consumers away from
the technology. Microsoft plans to severely limit the quality of
music that can be recorded as an MP3 file using software built
into the next version of its personal-computer operating system,
Windows XP.


JUDGE THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN NAPSTER
http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?story=83957953
A federal judge in charge of Napster Inc.'s fate said she may put
an end to the popular online song-swapping service because of its
failure to do a better job of blocking copyright works.
``You created this monster, you fix it,'' U.S. District Judge
Marilyn Hall Patel said in a terse tone from the bench Tuesday.


JURORS BADLY MISCALCULATE MP3.COM DAMAGES
http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?e17443276&e=6454
Jurors inadvertently let MP3.com off the hook last week when they
wrote down the wrong damages figure in a court case over
copyright infringement. On Friday the eight female jurors in a
New York court ordered the online music giant to pay around
$300,000 to record label TVT (Tee Vee Toons). MP3.com was
ecstatic. But over the weekend red-faced jurors began informing
US District Judge Jed Rakoff that they had messed up - they meant
the total payout to be more in the $3 million area.


EMUSIC INDIES LOSE INDEPENDENCE
http://www.wired.com/news/mp3/0,1285,42930,00.html
Many independent music labels are questioning their futures after
Monday's announcement of Universal Music Group's plan to acquire
EMusic for approximately $23 million. Independent labels signed
long-term deals with EMusic that gave the digital music company
exclusive rights to sell downloads from their catalogs. Those
exclusive contracts are expected to carry over to Universal once
the deal closes, which could cause a rift with independent
musicians.


UNIVERSAL MUSIC GROUP TO ACQUIRE EMUSIC.COM
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-09-200\
1/0001464799&EDATE=
Music Group and EMusic.com Inc. (Nasdaq: EMUS) today jointly
announced that they have signed a definitive merger agreement.
Under this agreement, Universal Music Group will commence a cash
tender offer to acquire all of EMusic's outstanding shares at a
price of $0.57 per share.


ANNOUNCING THE RECORDING ARTIST GUILD
http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=21024
The Recording Artist Guild is being established to fight for, and
protect the rights of Recording Artists world-wide. Attached you
will find a brief description of the primary services to be
provided to our membership.

ANNOUNCING THE RECORDING ARTIST GUILD
http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=21024
The Recording Artist Guild is being established to fight for, and
protect the rights of Recording Artists world-wide. Attached you
will find a brief description of the primary services to be
provided to our membership.


MP3.COM LETS MUSICIANS BID ON PROMOTION
http://www.auctionwatch.com/awdaily/dailynews/april01/2-040601.html
Music service provider MP3.com recently jumped on the online
auction bandwagon with a new service that allows its users to bid
for coveted promotional placement on the site.
Called Promo Auctions, the service works in a similar manner to
other online auctions, but instead of bidding against other
buyers for a product, musicians bid against one another for key
areas of exposure on MP3.com's site, such as its Genre Pages,
Music Greeting Cards, Search Results, and more.


MP3.COM TOP TEN ARTISTS RAKE IN $54,000 IN MARCH
http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=20840
As artists continue to seek ways to make money online, MP3.com,
Inc. today announced that the Top10 artists in its Payback for
Playback program (www.mp3.com/payback) earned more than $54,400
for the month of March.


MTV SIGNS 5 MAJOR LABELS TO PAID DOWNLOAD SERVICE
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/164103.html
In a landmark digital-music announcement today, the MTV music
network said that it had forged the first agreement that licenses
music from all five major record labels for paid downloads off
the Internet. The MTVi Group and application service provider
Rioport.com said that, beginning this month, they will offer paid
downloads from all five major music labels on RadioMTV.com and
VH1atWork Radio.


RECORD LABELS FACE SENATE MUSIC
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/news/A35686-2001Apr4.html
A songwriter himself, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) used sweet words
to sugarcoat a warning delivered Tuesday to major record labels:
He'll croon for a congressional remedy if artists and creators
are not remunerated during the digital revolution. Hatch said
repeatedly during a packed hearing of the Senate Judiciary
Committee that he'll keep a close watch as the music industry
emerges battered and bruised from the Napster wars. It's all fine
and well that the major labels are proceeding with their own
Napsterlike services, but what about the talent?


AOL, RECORD LABELS JOIN FORCES FOR MUSICNET
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/2001-04-03-musicnet.htm
America Online and three of the five major record labels joined
Monday with RealNetworks to create an alternative to Napster's
online music service. AOL-owned Warner Music, Bertelsmann's BMG,
which also has invested in Napster, and EMI are backing MusicNet,
a technology and content company that will supply music to other
Net services — possibly even Napster.


FACING THE MUSIC: MAJOR INDUSTRY PLAYERS MOVE TOWARDS ONLINE
AUDIO DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS
http://www.emarketer.com/analysis/ecommerce_b2c/20010403_b2c.html
As the debate over illegal music downloads rages on in court and
online, major music distributors are quietly starting to explore
partnerships with online channels. An industry that once swore it
would never release its product for anything other than full-cost
and in a hard-copy format is now considering commercially-viable
digital music distribution plans.


FORCES OF DIGITAL MUSIC CONVERGE ON WASHINGTON
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,23282,00.html
Don Henley and Ted Nugent are among the big-name musicians
expected to converge this week in the nation's capital as the
Senate Judiciary Committee takes up the issue of digital
entertainment. This will be Congress' first look at the issue
since the controversial file-sharing service Napster started
filtering copyrighted songs under court order.


-----------------------------------------------------------------
Recommended Resources
-----------------------------------------------------------------

HOW TO PROMOTE YOUR MUSIC SUCCESSFULLY ON THE INTERNET
2001 Edition!
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/htpromotemusic.htm
If you want to sell your music on the net in any form, this book
will teach you how to design and market a web site that will SELL
YOUR MUSIC and bring in that extra income you need to boost and
financially support your music career! The author is currently
making over $3000 a month selling music related products and
advertising on the internet. 'How to Promote Your Music
Successfully on the Internet' shows you exactly how he did it,
step by step! Download Version Available!


THE MUSICIAN'S ATLAS - 2001 Edition
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/musiciansatlas.htm
Created by The Music Resource Group, this 368-page volume
provides access to over 15,000 music businesses and key industry
contacts in more than 25 categories. Current names, phone and fax
numbers, e-mail and website addresses, detailed submission
policies and the styles of music preferred is just some of the
information you'll find on every page of The Atlas.


THE INDIE CONTACT BIBLE
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/indiecontactbible.htm
Need to create some BUZZ about your music? Looking for reviewers?
Radio station contacts? Promotion services? Then grab The Indie
Contact Bible. This fantastic new musicians 'black book' contains
350 pages filled with contacts with publications and radio
programmers all over the world. These are people who actively
look for music to review! Download Version Available!


THE GUERRILLA MUSIC MARKETING HANDBOOK
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/bookstore/guerrillamusic.htm
This guide to independent music success features over 175 ways to
thrive and prosper with your own band or record label. Download
Version Available!


-----------------------------------------------------------------

ALSO FROM MIDNIGHT RAIN PRODUCTIONS and RainMusic.com

If you like this newsletter, please do drop by our web sites to
see what we're doing.

THE FREE SHEET MUSIC GUIDE
http://www.freesheetmusicguide.com

THE SHEET MUSIC ADDICT
http://www.sheetmusicaddict.com

SOLO PIANO CD SAMPLER SHOWROOM
http://www.rainmusic.com/pianomusic/dnevue/sampler.htm

SOLO PIANO - 'WHISPERINGS' RADIO
http://www.mp3.com/stations/whisperings

Thanks for your continued support of RainMusic.com and The Music
Biz Academy!


-----------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT THE MUSIC BIZ ACADEMY
The Music Biz Academy is brought to you by Midnight Rain
Productions (http://www.rainmusic.com) . It is a resource
designed for musicians promoting or selling music on the
internet. Each week we feature news, articles, and reviews
related to the art of online music promotion and music related
product sales.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Want to share this newsletter with others? Subscribing is easy!
To automatically subscribe, just send email to:
MusicBizAcademy-subscribe@egroups.com

____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com/?N=1