Last year’s live concert industry was dominated by big shows and big ticket prices. With Ticketmaster and Live Nation shareholders having approved a merger of the two companies last week, some …
‘Music’ Archive
Re-release mania
by Lee Simmons, January 12, 2010, 10:00 amThe 2009 fiscal year may have been a doozy for the music industry, but it came with an asterisk: re-releases.
Album re-releases fared better than perhaps any other music segment. Michael Jackson’s untimely passing catapulted his name back to the top of …
Digital music rivals vie for 2010 profits
by Lee Simmons, December 7, 2009, 1:39 pmLike a game of chess, success in business is often characterized by a few sacrifices that (hopefully) pave the way toward solid cash flow. Few things illustrate that analogy better than streaming digital music, an industry segment dotted with …
Thanks Nick
by Lee Simmons, November 25, 2009, 2:23 pmOn this Thanksgiving eve, I thought I’d take a moment to express my gratitude for the music of Nick Drake. Nick passed away 35 years ago today, leaving …
“The graph the record industry doesn’t want you to see”
by Lee Simmons, November 25, 2009, 10:33 amThe most intriguing illustration I’ve yet seen on the relationship between record label and artist revenues comes courtesy of London’s Times Labs Blog. It is, The Times …
Cover controversy
by Lee Simmons, November 11, 2009, 1:59 pm“What’s wrong with being sexy?”
Nigel Tufnel’s immortal words from the 1984 mockumentary This is Spinal Tap never fail to prompt a gut laugh from me every time I …
Google pushes “time to music”
by Lee Simmons, October 29, 2009, 10:24 amFinally, a search function tailor-made for music fans.
For years, whenever I’ve wanted to learn more about a band or artist, I’ve had to go through a laborious, multi-step process to find my answers. The best example is when I …
Albums not going down without a fight
by Lee Simmons, October 26, 2009, 3:23 pmWasn’t it just a few months ago we were talking about the death of the album? That, as a vehicle for transmitting and communicating music, it was all but kaput?
Funny what a little reflection time can do to …
Will Microsoft get “happy” with Windows 7?
by Jeff Dorsch, October 13, 2009, 2:51 pmMicrosoft next week officially rolls out Windows 7, the latest iteration of its PC operating system. The company is hoping this release will help people forget its predecessor, the Windows Vista OS, …
2009, the Year in Music Copyright Litigation
by Lee Simmons, October 12, 2009, 1:30 pmThere’s nothing like a good old copyright dust-up to make for good entertainment reading. Music copyright infringement quarrels are particularly captivating because you can actually listen to the evidence. And the …
