SONG CONTEST BLOG

The much-talked-about 360 music deals give labels the traditional percentage of CD and MP3 sales in addition to a cut of ticketing, merchandise, licensing, publishing, and sponsorship opportunities.

In the Web 2.0 Summit, Warner Music Group CEO, Edgar Bronfman, outlined that new artists will have to sign 360 contracts, and that about a third of their signed artists are under such contracts already.

Bronfman expressed that it’s is no longer feasible to pour money into artists when CD sales continue to diminish. Without a stake in the other aspects of an artist’s career, WMG will simply avoid going to market altogether.

TuneCore, the do-it-yourself digital music distribution platform, landed $7 million in a recent round led by Opus Capital. The company offers immediate access into stores like iTunes, and poses serious competition to existing indie distribution companies like CD Baby.

Artists can distribute their albums or individual tracks across a number of digital music stores for under $30, and keep the royalties, a model that has yet to be tried and tested by the major digital distributors on behalf of long tail clients.

CDbaby has been selling CDs online for the last ten years on behaf of approximately 250,000 independent artists, accounting for 4.5 million CDs and $83 million in sales revenues distributed to its clients.

Derek Sivers, CDbaby’s founder, interviewed on Venture Voice

MP3 metadata contains a large amount of searchable information, including the basics of a song: song title, artist name, and album title and artwork. Some artists take the time to include discography and biography details, as well as liner notes, lyrics, images, and anything that allows the digital file to be found, catalogued and, most importantly, relevant and a source of added value to the consumer. The successful distribution of digital files largely depends on the manner in which they are tagged.

With only 15 days to go…

The Singer/Songwriter Awards from We Are Listening is about the hottest international songwriting contest in the world. It’s no surprise that participating artists have gone on to sign with top management, license their music for film and television, as well as collaborate with renowned producers and enjoy substantial uplifts in independent record sales.

Online music licensing marketplace, YouLicense.com, launched an amusing initiative this week that compiles playlists based on “your weather”. If you’re feeling “hot & sweaty” or it’s “sunny” outside, click on the corresponding icon and listen to the music that matches your forecast.

Data Syndication for Artists
ArtistData.com allows you to publish and manage your gig schedule across many different networks including MySpace, Last.fm, and Indie911, saving you time by seamlessly updating and distributing your data from a single hub.
http://www.artistdata.com

Breaking the Band
16 days and counting… the independent music event that puts artists on the stages at major festivals, provides network tv licensing opportunities, radio promotion, press coverage, tour support and much more, is open for submissions!
http://www.sonicbids.com/BreakingtheBand

Moving Large Music Files
Earlier this month, German startup, SoundCloud.com, launched a music-centric solution for moving large digital files online, a process artists and music industry professionals often go through to collaborate and distribute their work.
http://www.soundcloud.com

World of Music Awards
Ghalia Benali, a native of Tunisia, was selected by We Are Listening’s judges as the winner of the World of Music Awards, the first World music contest of its kind. Ghalia will be attending WOMEX, the acclaimed annual World music festival in Seville, Spain, next month for a weekend of networking, music promotion and career development. World of Music Awards is sponsored by Songlines Magazine.
http://www.wearelistening.org/winner_woma_1.php

Derek’s Entourage
Not enough time to do-it-yourself? CDbaby’s founder, Derek Sivers, is rolling up his sleeves so that you can focus on your music while MuckWork takes care of the rest.
http://sivers.org/muckwork

Round 1 of The 2008 Singer/Songwriter Awards has wrapped up and Memphis, Tennessee’s own Julie Odell, was chosen as the first winner of 2008. Her song “South Orange Street” was a huge hit with our judging panel and a We Are Listening office favorite.