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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
B E A T S H E E T
A Weekly Report on the Convergence of Music and the Net
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| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, February 15, 2000
TOP STORY:
* Band Thumbs Virtual Nose at Farmclub.com
NET NOISE:
* Musicstation.com
UPBEAT/DOWNBEAT:
* The MTVi Group announces IPO
* Microsoft hooks up with Atomic Pop
* Spammers caught out at MP3.com
SOUND OFF:
Would a record label be justified in requiring that a band that gets
signed must relinquish rights to its Web site?
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TOP STORY:
~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't Gonna Work on Jimmy's Farm No More Band rejects Farmclub.com
contract, takes its case public
By Julene Snyder
Kissing off Farmclub.com may turn out to be the best thing that ever
happened to The Rosenbergs. Since the New York-based power-pop group
went public with their story last week about declining to sign
Farmclub's "cyberscrewing" contract, the band's Web site
(www.therosenbergs.com) has been drawing traffic, reporters, music
execs and a much-prized e-mail of support from Courtney Love.
The drama began three months ago, when the band uploaded three of its
songs onto the Farmclub site. The premise of the new Internet music
label, Jimmy and Doug's Farmclub (an affiliate of the Universal Music
Group), is that unsigned bands can upload their music and get it heard
by A&R professionals, who invite a few bands to perform on the
Farmclub TV show and offer some of these a record deal. Sounds
enticing, doesn't it?
The Rosenbergs sure thought so. Farmclub sent a photographer to film
them at their studio and around New Jersey. "It was a lot of fun,"
recalls Silverman. "All we asked is that they tell us if it was going
to be on TV so we could tell our grandparents." Strike one: The band
claims no one at Farmclub told them they'd be showing up on TV promos
almost immediately.
"[Once the band learned of the promos], we went to the Farmclub Web
site and noticed that all of a sudden it had changed," recalls
Silverman. Strike two: "It went from being a Web site where they get
to choose who'll be on television to 'vote for your favorite band and
whoever gets the most votes gets to be on TV.' I know that really
means, 'we need hits for our advertisers,' but a lot of those hits are
one person going and voting for their favorite band 500 times." The
Rosenbergs sent an e-mail criticizing the change. Surprisingly, that
action prompted the TV show's producer to call and offer the band a
trip to L.A. and a slot on the show along with Counting Crows.
But before the band could appear on the TV show, it had to sign a
dense, 23-page contract, which required a slew of provisions,
including one for a 60-day Farmclub exclusive to sign the band after
the show aired. Should they be offered a record deal, The Rosenbergs
would have been required to surrender ownership of their Web site and
could have been obligated to Farmclub for as long as seven years.
Strike three: "Basically, if we'd signed that contract, we would have
no children, because they would have taken them, too."
Ultimately, the band pulled out of the TV show and posted its decision
online. The manifesto-like statement reads in part, "They are virtual
wolves in sheep's clothing ready to take the unaware, eager
songwriters and swallow them whole for breakfast and believe me, it's
a buffet."
Farmclub.com President Andy Schoun is puzzled by that attitude. "They
were offered the same opportunity that all the other artists were
offered, and they didn't want to take advantage of it," he said from
his car phone. Schoun admits that it's a fluid time for the company
and that policies are still being hammered out. "We recently changed
the agreement to 30 days from 60 days, for example. We think we can
evaluate an artist within a four-week period of time as opposed to an
eight-week period of time."
Another change to the standard Farmclub.com contract since the
Rosenbergs rejected it is ownership of bands' Web sites. "We simply
want to manage their site for the time that they are signed to our
record company," Schoun says. "I don't want to own their URL, that's
their business. But as long as we're in business together, we'd like
to manage that business with them, get people to make their site and
house it on our servers and create revenue for all of us. But the
ownership of it can remain with the artist."
Schoun thinks that The Rosenbergs decided to go public with their
beefs to garner publicity, but he sounds a bit hurt that the band
chose this route. "Every contract is negotiable," he says. "My guess
is that if The Rosenbergs would have sat down and had a conversation
with us instead of going off, they may have been happy with it."
In the wake of The Rosenbergs' decision to drop out, the group has
been swamped with support. "We got asked to be on an artists' panel at
the New York Music Expo," Silverman says with excitement. "Our
singer's going to be sitting next to Chuck D. and Jerry Harrison of
the Talking Heads."
Clearly, there's more than one way to make a name for yourself in this
business.
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NET NOISE:
~~~~~~~~~~
Site review: Musicstation.com
The word "ultimate" usually sets off alarms when used by a Web site to
describe itself. Musicstation.com has no qualms about presenting its
offerings in these terms. It claims to be "the ultimate guide to music
on television" (rockontv.com), "the ultimate guide to music news"
(musicnewswire.com) and "the ultimate music industry information
resource" (velvetrope.com). No site could live up to that kind of
hype. Here's what visitors to Musicstation.com will find: goodies like
whether Iggy Pop will be on the tube this week (yes, albeit in the
"Rugrats Movie"), whether David Bowie is going to be a daddy (break
out the bubble gum cigars), and which music industry dweebs are
trading barbs, bon mots and occasional bits of actual insider
information (the juicy stuff). Ultimate, shmultimate; the key is to
offer fresh, useful and occasionally entertaining stuff every day.
This site works for me.
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UPBEAT
~~~~~~
I Want My IPO
MTVi joins the stampede to go public; DEN bows out
MTV the television network now deals as much in reality-based soap
operas, karaoke and claymation death-matches as it does music. But
MTVi, the Internet music content company, is a major presence online;
among its "worldwide destinations" are MTV.com, VH1.com and
SonicNet.com. In a terse press release last week, the group announced
its upcoming IPO of Class A common stock. Those seeking further info
are instructed to request a prospectus from Morgan Stanley Dean
Witter. Meanwhile, the Digital Entertainment Network, known as DEN -
which offers video and some music content aimed at the 18 to
24-year-old "Gen Y" market - has retreated from an IPO expected to be
worth $75 million, citing "significant changes in its management and
business since filing the registration statement in September." Among
those changes are the departure of its CEO and COO.
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,9701,00.html?nl=bs
Buying Some Cool
Microsoft hooks up with Atomic Pop
It's about time that behemoth Microsoft dived into the digital music
waters with more than one timid toe. Last week's announcement that the
company was partnering with Internet music label Atomic Pop seems like
a savvy step in the right direction. Atomic Pop has rap group Public
Enemy in its stable, along with content from unrepentant rabble-rouser
Ice-T and artists such as New Wave pioneer Blondie, the Breeders,
Everclear and Built to Spill. Microsoft promises to promote Atomic
Pop's projects; in return, Atomic Pop will encode its music,
television and radio catalog in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA)
format and put it online. Unlike MP3 files, WMA has a copyright
protection system in place.
Eggs and Spam
Corporate reps left with egg-speckled faces at MP3.com bulletin boards
Wife: I don't want ANY spam!
Man: Why can't she have egg bacon spam and sausage?
Wife: THAT'S got spam in it!
Man: Hasn't got as much spam in it as spam egg sausage and spam, has
it?
Monty Python lives on the MP3.com message boards, where it appears
that a flack from Farmclub has been unmasked in a hilarious series of
exchanges. It seems that a series of e-mails and posts from people
posing as "regular folks" have been urging musicians to visit Farmclub
to get a record deal. "Your music is hot!" gushes one e-mail. "Your
music ROCKS!" shouts another. Such missives appear to be fan mail from
visitors to musicians' MP3.com Web sites, but the musicians have been
comparing notes and finding that a whole lot of people have been
receiving the same messages verbatim. Sounds like spam, smells like
spam ... hmm, could be spam. In the topic area, "I Got a Record Deal
off the Internet," a few hapless souls were busted big time. A certain
"live4hiphop@hotmail.com" leapt to the defense of "npdavys," who
started the thread before being soundly ridiculed for being a
"corporate messenger." Live4hiphop plaintively asked that posters
"give homie a break. i am not here supporting farmclub, becuase to be
honest, i have not throughly checked it out myself." Busted! A savvy
bulletin board regular jumped in and posted a month-old post from the
very same live4hiphop, which urged bands to take advantage of "an
opportunity for major exposure, there is nothing to lose." You gotta
love these guys: typos galore, faux-hip lingo like "you gots to
chill," and they still get caught red-handed.
SOUND OFF:
~~~~~~~~~
Last week's question: Do musicians need record companies? If so, what
for? If not, why not?
"I think the question should be, 'do CONSUMERS need records labels?'
Record labels act as a filter to weed out the good from the bad.
Admittedly they don't always get it right but regular consumers don't
have the time, bandwidth or inclination to sift through the hundreds
of thousands of awful MP3's that litter the Internet."
-Ben Clark
eGroove
"Yes, for the obvious reasons of powerful distribution and financial
backing. Other than that, absolutely NOT! Since the arrival of the
recording industry, corporate executives (who couldn't find 'rhythm'
in a dictionary) have desperately fought for total control. Dividing
music into 'ethnic' genres, buying out successful independents, and
forcing artists to 'color within the confines of their black and white
lines has ultimately perpetuated segregation and musical separation.
In cyberspace, these rules no longer apply. Major labels take heed!
The people no longer have to tolerate your 'manufactured canned
goods.' MP3 and others also beware: NOT to repeat the history of
record companies -- forever exploiting the artists."
- Colette Washington
CEO, MyOwnMusic
"As an outsider who once thought the music business would be an
interesting market, I am sickened by the arrogance of both the
recording industry and some of the musicians themselves. No other art
form has the protection afforded by law that the music industry enjoys
and yet they continually want more. [Other] industries don't whimper
and complain that they aren't protected - they win by producing more
and better product than the next guy. Maybe the music industry needs
to come back down to earth and start producing the great product that
will get them sales regardless of the law. You should be so happy that
it's your stuff they're stealin'. Now figure out a way to parlay that
into a positive figure to your bottom line." - Mike Momany
"Of course they do at some level, for distribution and promotion, when
they start to sell. But the majors are taking too large a slice of
the pie.The growth of the indie labels proves this point. But, for
getting up, getting a 'unique' sound out, getting heard, starting the
ball rolling, beyond the range of crammed-in-the-van gigging - Web Web
Web. -Ken Kappel
This Week's Question: Would a record label be justified in requiring
that a band that gets signed must relinquish rights to its Web site?
E-mail your opinions to julene@well.com with "Sound Off" in the
subject line and we'll print a selection of the responses in next
week's newsletter. Keep them short and include your name and
affiliation, if any.
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send newstips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
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