fans really want to spend more than $10

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/09/study-fans-really-want-to-spend-more-than-10.html

Radiohead’s Colin Greenwood explains why the band released their last album direct to their fans

http://www.indexoncensorship.org/2010/09/radiohead-copyright-freespeech-music/

12 books that the record industry needs to read

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/09/12-books-that-the-record-industry-needs-to-read.html

Google's music service

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3ifbadade3d03a99b1a14b4cb8b34c7122

iTunes costs Apple almost $1 billion a year to run

http://digitalmedia.strategyeye.com/article/Lgb36e9Bg6/2010/09/10/itunes_costs_apple_almost_usd1bn_a_year_to_run/?acode=S8MxjFd

great and accurate interview with Brian Message and Rollo

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/92d98d1c-bae9-11df-9e1d-00144feab49a.html

licensing issues around longer song samples on iTunes

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20015734-37.html?tag=cnetRiver

Cary Sherman on problems with licensed music services

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/90459/riaa-copyright-holders-make-it-difficult-to-replicate-oink-what-cd/

problems with iTunes

http://blogs.forrester.com/mark_mulligan/10-08-19-three_messages_emi

interview with Ian Rogers

http://encore.celebrityaccess.com/?encoreId=251&articleId=35319

licensing cloud music services

http://blogs.forrester.com/mark_mulligan/10-08-12-flowsongs_raises_more_cloud_music_product_strategy_questions

torrents vs iTunes

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/08/better-than-itunes-the-new-age-of-torrenting.html

how are the biggest artists using social media?

http://www.sandbox.fm/2010/07/02/how-are-the-biggest-artists-using-social-media/

P2P survey

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/27/wiggins_survey/

Martin Mills interviewed by Andrew Orlowski

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/04/martin_mills_beggars_group/

interview with Geoff Taylor about the Digital Economy Bill

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i33e34f97cdbeee3e0eaad733e0048c8c

"But instead of trying – and failing – to stop us downloading music for free..."

"media companies have to make their more obscure content easier to obtain than illegally hosted versions..."

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/cyber-clinic-does-the-digital-economy-act-mean-the-end-of-rapidshare-1943831.html

A deeper look at how much musicians make online

http://johnsonsrambler.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/a-deeper-look-at-how-much-musicians-make-online/


attacks on low revenue received by songwriters from Spotify:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/spotify-1-million-plays-163108-return-1944051.html

more on what Spotify pays:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/7590782/Spotify-rejects-claims-that-it-rips-off-artists.html

plus an attack on the Digital Economy Bill:
http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/04/op-ed-neil-cartwright-on-why-uks-digital-economy-bill-is-technology-censorship-.html

good documentary on pirate radio in London

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/26/pirate-radio-documen.html

why Google made Bit Torrent a success

http://torrentfreak.com/why-google-made-bittorrent-a-success-100321/

what's happened to piracy in France since three strikes

http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-vive-le-rapidshare-is-a-new-french-revolution-afoot/

editorial from today's Record of the Day magazine

Wednesday saw a MusicTank debate titled Is Pre-Release Killing Our Business? Answer – no, but it is encouraging piracy.

Diana Vickers’ debut single was added to every ILR network last week, to Radio 1 this week, and it’s on YouTube. As you can see from this forum, fans were desperate to get it as soon as they knew about its existence, and now they’ve got it. Yet they won’t be able to get it from download stores until April 19th. Some fans will buy it come April 19th to support Diana. Others won’t buy it, but clearly would have done if a download store had been the first and easiest place to get it.

Similarly the DJ MistaJam posted this on Twitter before the release of Tinie Tempah’s single: “If every MC & singer who did a version of Pass Out bought just one copy, ... be enough sales to make it a #1”. Obviously Pass Out did get to no.1 and some of the MCs and singers who covered it did buy a copy. But others would have been happy with their YouTube rip or illicit download. Why are we driving fans towards unofficial sources when we could be driving them to download stores?

What would happen if singles were released to download stores at the same time as radio? Needless to say, there would still be ten tracks in the top ten each week, there would still be marketing campaigns, and there would still be new music on the radio. In the case of Tinie, he would still have had a massive hit. In fact, Pass Out would probably have climbed to no.1 earlier than it did. Genuine hits could emerge earlier – instead of Iyaz’s Replay getting an airplay spike once it hit no.1 in the midweeks, its airplay would have gradually increased over the preceding weeks as radio watched it climb the chart. In the case of Diana, her track looks like a smash but we won’t know for sure until late April. Without a pre-release window, we’d find out earlier – good news for the media and good news for Diana’s label RCA who could allocate their marketing budget accordingly. Labels would hopefully be less prone to spending tens of thousands of pounds of marketing money before they have any reliable information about whether it will come back to them.

On the other hand, it would become even harder to make flops look like hits by concentrating efforts on one week of sales – surely a good thing for the bottom line of the majors and the industry as a whole. We suspect some of the fans of pre-release windows within majors are the great marketing people who know how to manipulate the system to make their releases look more popular then they are. How very 20th century.

With pre-release windows gone, the chart would truly reflect popularity and we'd see all except the out-of-the-box smashes like Help For Haiti entering low and climbing as awareness rose. The chart is being manipulated at present thanks to pre-release windows – popular records are excluded because they’re not on sale yet. For example, Bonkers by Dizzee Rascal was clearly the most popular track in the country for some time before it was released. We'd also be able to kiss goodbye to the copycat cover versions that chart when hits like Fireflies or Riverside get played on the radio before they’re available on iTunes.

More generally, the first place to get new music by your favourite band wouldn't be The Hype Machine or YouTube or P2P. The first place would be whichever digital retailer could move fastest. Every artist would then have a great incentive to start a chart-eligible download store on their own website, and make that the first place their fans could hear and buy their new music. You know how every band used to post their great new song to MySpace for fans to stream for free? Why not post it to their own chart-eligible download store instead? Let’s make it as easy to buy and sell music as it is to give it away or get it for free.

Of course, there have been some experiments in this direction with mixed results. Radiohead’s In Rainbows album was released without any pre-release build up, and it became a phenomenon. The Raconteurs released an album in a similar way and it flopped. The Gorillaz single had no pre-release window and failed to set the charts on fire, but the single is still on the Radio 1 A list and the album is no.1 in the midweeks.

One major label chairman has said he would always use pre-release windows even if the rest of the industry stopped, because he believes it would give him a competitive advantage. He may be right – but he’s also encouraging piracy and undermining any requests the record industry is making of consumers or the government. Why should they help us tackle piracy if we refuse to get our own house in order?

Any one artist who releases without a pre-release window may of course end up regretting it. Media aren’t yet accustomed to tracks entering the chart low and climbing, so may back off a single if they see a low chart entry. But if everyone abandoned pre-release windows then media would instantly learn not to assume a track is a flop because it enters the chart low – what counts is whether it climbs once it gets exposure. So ideally the whole industry would do this collectively. If they did, we’re convinced that total sales would increase as we allowed and encouraged customers to buy tracks whenever they hear them.

Joe Taylor

More on the MusicTank event from CMU

interesting perspective on the Digital Economy Bill

http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/07/nsfw-hey-america-our-draconian-copyright-law-could-kick-your-draconian-copyright-laws-ass/

Brian Message and Feargal Sharkey interview

http://musically.com/blog/2010/03/04/music-4-5-feargal-sharkey-and-brian-message-speak-out/

"Prohibition never works" - with reference to the Digital Economy Bill

http://www.demos.co.uk/blog/prohibition-never-works

digital music is still stuck in a niche

http://midemnetblog.typepad.com/midemnet_blog/2010/01/music-industry-meltdown-recasting-the-mold.html

today's articles on the downloading etc

Alison Wenham on mp3 blogs - http://www.zeropaid.com/news/87843/music-blogs-need-to-be-regulated-to-stop-piracy/. Surely what we need is to a way of licensing the brilliant stuff that mp3 blogs do? We need to make it as easy to sell music online as it is to give it away.

Universal and Warner on Virgin Media's mooted limited/unlimited service - http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3idb0553264d55f001c23915c0f1666ebc

Ed O'Brien interview - http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-radiohead-the-music-biz-could-cure-its-ills-in-one-week/

Interview with OK Go frontman - http://mashable.com/2010/01/21/ok-go-damian-kulash-youtube/ - I liked his answer to the question "Ideally how would you like your music to be distributed?"

Spotify now makes record labels money

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/7043818/Spotify-now-makes-record-labels-money.html

why we need to open up licensing (and spend less making and marketing albums)

Paul Sanders vs Bono (I'm with Paul Sanders): http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/20/sanders_bono_no/

Sharing files is an essential part of the digital revolution: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/nicholas-jones-sharing-files-is-an-essential-part-of-the-digital-revolution-1874034.html

Tom Silverman's comments on how few albums sell enough to make money in the US: http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2010/01/20/wrecking-the-record-labels-buzz/

OK Go on why you can't embed their videos

http://okgo.forumsunlimited.com/index.php?showtopic=4169

Six ways filesharers will neutralize three strikes

http://torrentfreak.com/six-ways-file-sharers-will-neutralize-3-strikes-100102/

how to bundle music in the digital age

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3iefbf4e9d9f602fcec400b5dab5f8bbb7

I agree with just about every word of this opinion piece on filesharing from Wednesday's Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/dec/02/labels-music-industry-filesharing?showallcomments=true

Q&A with Robin Kent, mostly about whether free ad-supported music can work

and a Guardian article about Spotify: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/29/spotify-music-industry-funding

quite a balanced article about improved recorded music sales in Sweden

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/23/sweden-music-sales-filesharing-crackdown

evidence that licensed free music sites are unfeasible

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/11/music-too-expensive-to-be-free-too-free-to-be-expensive/

Brian Eno and Steven Johnson talking about how and when good ideas grow

http://www.ica.org.uk/Brian%20Eno%20&%20Steven%20Johnson%2022805.twl

good article about building a fanbase for a new band

http://www.fistfulayen.com/blog/?p=509

how Spotify is doing

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/05/spotify_exclusive/

Andrew Orlowski on Demos/Virgin Media research into filesharing et al

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/01/demos_music_survey/

article about the new Google music service

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/10/hands-on-google-music-streams-useful-not-revolutionary.ars

two good pieces from Bob Lefsetz

1) Eric Garland on the movie business: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2009/10/28/eric-garland-on-the-movie-music-business/

2) some good ideas in here about empowering the audience: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2009/10/28/empowering-the-audience/

artists vs uploaders

http://radiobutt.blogspot.com/2009/10/kings-of-convenience-dont-get-music-biz.html

Spotify needs more time and an unlimited download service still can't get a license so will be limited

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/09/spotify-ek

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/09/virgin_unlimited/

good article about where it all went right with Frankie Goes To Hollywood

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article6864758.ece

two articles highlighting problems with current digital music business models

http://digitalmusicnews.com/stories/100709dmf1

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3iecb83415cefdd2b09a867b6dd5ef7b6f

We need licensed unlimited download services right now, like Virgin Media's and TDC's

Zero Paid on why we need to force the issue on licensing

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/87096/uk-music-managers-force-licensing-deals-to-fight-p2p/

summary of key issues from the future of music (conference)

http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2009/10/future-of-music-summit-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html

article based on Forrester Research about what digital releases should look like

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/09/music-biz-still-in-need-of-radical-overhaul-to-thrive.ars

good blog by Ted Cohen which I would say is about the need make licensing easier

http://midemnetblog.typepad.com/midemnet_blog/2009/09/a-delicate-balancing-act.html

interview with Daniel Ek from Spotify

http://uk.techcrunch.com/2009/09/18/daniel-ek-spotify-will-kill-file-sharing-be-a-european-home-run/

the filesharing debate is ill-informed

http://juggernautbrew.blogspot.com/2009/09/why-doesnt-music-industry-have-answers.html

Lily Allen's blog site about filesharing, rather cleverly called I Don't Want To Change The World

http://idontwanttochangetheworld.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-09-21T06%3A28%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

Lily Allen follow-up on filesharing, plus a very incisive email from Matt Bellamy

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=36707169&blogId=510410918

Guardian article on YouTube/PRS settlement and the creators against the Mandelson proposal

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/sep/03/youtube-prs-deal-file-sharing

interesting interview with Brian Higgins

http://xenomanianews.blogspot.com/2009/08/brian-higgins-interview-literally.html

rather intelligent article by Peter Mandelson about suspending the internet connections of filesharers

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6814187.ece

differing views on copyright

Lucian Grainge letter to the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/aug/29/universal-music-downloads-digital

Blog saying cutting off internet users is going in the wrong direction:
http://www.mediafuturist.com/2009/08/uk-disconnecting-the-troublemakers.html

Guardian piece on The Pirate Party and copyright: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/aug/26/filesharing-pirate-party-uk-downloads

viral promotion on the JK wedding dance video

http://go-digital.net/blog/2009/07/the-jkweddingdance-video-was-real-the-viral-effect-is-fake/

http://go-digital.net/blog/2009/08/how-to-manufacture-a-viral-video-sensation-and-make-viral-profits/

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/07/30/youtube-viral-wedding-videos-are-great-for-advertising/

the UK music industry is growing

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/19/music-industry-growth-live-sector

The Register on Soribada and legal P2P

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/03/14/soribada_korea_legal_p2p/

how many records has Michael Jackson sold?

http://www.hitsville.org/2009/07/12/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-worldwide-record-sales%e2%80%94jackson-the-beatles-pink-floyd-and-more/

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124760651612341407.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

top artists are poorly paid compared to beancounters

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/haque/2009/06/jackson.html

Spotify earning 14p per month per user in advertising revenues?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/25/spotify_exclusive/

is this article complete bollocks or just a bit?

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2009/06/killing-itself-to-live-how-the-record-industry-conceived-its-own-demise.html

excellent article about how MySpace can turn things around

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/jun/19/myspace-news-corporation

cost to UK economy of free downloads

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/29/british-economy-free-downloads-cost

Richard Russell Masterclass in Music Week

Billy Bragg against cutting off the broadband of illegal downloaders

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/18/billy-bragg-copyright-music-internet

Andrew Orlowski on the mystery of Spotify

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/18/spotify/

report about monetizing P2P

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/13/long_tail_p2p/print.html

MySpace Music falling short?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10234253-93.html

interview with Brian Message and Jon Webster

great article about country music, including a withering analysis of alt country at the end

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/far-from-the-old-country-music-1643705.html

TechDirt article with some interesting perspectives on new business models

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090119/1924063457.shtml

Seth Godin interview about Tribes

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/ted-seth-godin.html

discovering music through Twitter

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/04/the-best-ways-t.html

Susan Boyle and YouTube revenues

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/04/susan-boyle-nev.html

where pirates go after The Pirate Bay

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/pirate-bay-could-soon-be-obsolete-1671421.html

some interesting figures in this story about Metric going the DIY route

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-music16-2009apr16,0,7581416.story

interview with Trent Reznor

http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/04/reznor-admit-it.html

Andrew Orlowski on blanket licensing

he proposed it here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/23/orlowski_interactive_keynote/print.html

then went off the idea here: http://andreworlowski.com/?p=458

the way music listening is going (bye bye downloads)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=acDHi80XI3nQ&refer=muse

e.g. this YouTube player: http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10193131-12.html

rambling but interesting article from John Mellencamp about how the (American) music business has changed

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-mellencamp/on-my-mind-the-state-of-t_b_177836.html

plausible article about major label internet strategy

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/08/big-music-will-surrender-but-not-until-at-least-2011/

some good points about the way the UK record business approaches new bands in this article

http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4136269

guide to succeeding on the internet

http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-amp-gaming/article/2009-02/internet-rock-star

Tecnobrega and copyright

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/7872316.stm

good summary of the new look music industry

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=100109

article about synch in the UK

http://blog.fatdrop.co.uk/sync-or-sink

Bob Ezrin on quality in an email to Bob Lefsetz

"Bob,

I usually sit on the sidelines and eat my popcorn as I enjoy the theater that is you and this wonderful newsletter. You're better than most movies and just about any music that's out there right now for entertainment. And even when I think you're being a stick in the mud, you do it so artfully and passionately that it's ok and I enjoy the performance for its own sake.

But this one has to be answered - with affection and the deepest respect of course. You start this with the word "Quality" and then you proceed to counsel struggling musicians to contort themselves and what they do to fit the market so that they can "make it in this business". But here's the true bottom line: This business of exploiting art and entertainment is built from it's very inception on creativity and quality, on special things made by special people that touch, inform, elevate, divert, soothe, numb, challenge or sometimes even drive other people enough so that they are drawn to it and want it to be a part of their lives - either for the moment or for a very long time. When they want it, they sometimes pay for it in one way or another and this special stuff sometimes accrues a value beyond the ephemeral and actual makes money for its creator and for the folks who help to support and market it. Sometimes it becomes more vaulable than gold and stars are born.

But unless it is especially touching in some way (even if it's in a juvenile or prurient way), nobody will care and it will end up having no value at all. Which then goes to your title "Quality". If a thing lacks quality of some sort, it will not touch anyone. It will simply be a not so special thing in a world of not so special things. It will blend in and disappear. But if a work or performance is of high quality and special, then it has at least a shot at becoming valuable to someone - and the person who creates it has a shot at being appreciated and rewarded for it. If I were talking to "struggling musicians" I would say:

First, be special. Make something of such high quality that anyone would care. And that's not as easy as it sounds. Just because you can use a sequencer and play an instrument doesn't make you an artist. You have to create something that is special - unique and capable of moving others in a meaningful way. Once you are truly special, truly great at what you do, you may have a chance at finding an audience willing to reward you for your specialness. More than likely you will not, because special - by definition - belongs to the very few. But if you do, then someone somewhere might recognize that and show up to help you to take your creativity out to a wider audience.

How do you get recognized in the first place? Play to people as much as you can. They will let you know if and when you are truly special because they will either begin to pay you to do this, to be able to be close to you - or they will ignore you. Play: in your town; at your school; in the next town over; on the web (but that's a whole other and longer discussion); at parties - anywhere you can. If you have created something truly special someone will recognize this and the ball will start rolling.

But whatever you do, DO NOT pick a market and try to create for it. You may decide to do that later in life when you become so good at your craft that you can aim your creativity wherever you wish, even when it doesn't please you. But you cannot start there. No one is born a hack. Hacks are failed or jaded artists, each and every one. First you must be able to create for yourself and find the way in which you may be special, and then you have to work on becoming really great at that. Create from your heart and from your will. Your will is what you use to keep you practicing and trying and trying to get better at what you do. Your heart is where the inspiration comes from to use that ability to make something really truly special. But above all DO NOT listen to critics, pundits or "experts" who try to bend you to what is happening now. By the time you get there, now will be long gone.

Dedicate yourself to quality, to being the very best at what you do and then use that quality to create or be something truly great. Then you may have a shot at "making it". But whether you become a star or not, you will have become and will forever be someone very special. And others will know you for that.

End of lecture.

Thanks

Bob"

The above is copyright Bob Ezrin. Bob, if you would like it removed from here please email worldsgreatestmusic@googlemail.com

responses to digital piracy

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090119/1924063457.shtml

Kid Rock's response to Bob Lefsetz

"I really believe its about a connection to the artist and the "lack of" that plays a big part in this. When I would hear a Bob Seger or Run DMC record as a kid, I really believed they WERE the songs, and that they were who they sang and wrote about. I think that connection, especially in pop music has been missing for sometime. Shit, I dont think kids even believe in half the rappers are who they claim to be anymore. On another note, the radio has fucked so much of it up, for instance, that James Mcmurty song is a pop hit, but they know he wont suck thier dick so they say fuck him and as a result kids lose out on hearing a great song and pop music suffers. Now obviously i dont suck dick either, but i know how to put my arm around em and make em feel good, maybe tickle thier balls a little if it means more people will hear my music. BUT NO DICK SUCKING!! Programmers are not the fucking stars, artists are, but if they would rather party with brittney or mariah rather than folk
s like me, thier missing one hell of a party!! I mean ,I wanna be friends with radio and have met some good folks in it, but overall they make it very difficult with the politics and bullshit, and the record companys share in that as well. (shit, sometimes us artists do too)

And this biggest thing is, you ll never beat word of mouth on a good product! And when people love something, theyll do whatever it takes to get it. Itunes is convienient, but so is Mcdonalds, but....... a lotta people still wait in line and make reservations to eat elsewhere!! Sometimes when you believe in yourself and your product, NO is the best answer. Thiers plenty of ways to have big sales without itunes (or conventional wisdom), i just proved it! (dont mean to toot my own horn but BEEP FUCKING BEEP!!!! haha) bottom line, lets bring some creativity back into this buisness and make it fun again,lifes too short, thats where im at with things."

and here's the Lefsetz piece about it: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/08/12/all-summer-long/

Observer Music Monthly article about what people get paid

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/10/musicindustry.careers

Rolling Stone article about making money when CDs don't sell

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/20830491/rocks_new_economy_making_money_when_cds_dont_sell/print

Bob Lefsetz on the death of the mass market

http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2008/05/11/gladwell-on-spaghetti-sauce/

Personally I think that if artists would really strive to make a mass appeal album, then one would get made and it would sell tens of millions like the good old days

the top 10 artist websites in the US

http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/05/01/look-at-free-music-look-how-it-drives-web-traffic-to-you/

Wired article about faking your MySpace plays count

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/myspace-play-co.html

Chris Anderson's article about giving things away for free

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free

Mark Cuban on the death of albums

Mark Cuban on the death of albums