RESOURCE SITE FOR MUSICIANS
Musicians looking to find just about anything about the music industry can now access this information at a click of a mouse. Musician.com offers a broad range of industry and career development services for the sole purpose of providing musicians with knowledge to create, manufacture and market their music. Founded by music professionals from Guitar Center, Guitar.com and MusicianFirst, the site connects musicians on- and off-line with leading music industry executives, artists, managers, producers and many others.
“We cover all sides of the music business,” said Robert Smith, co-president and COO of the site. “Record companies can’t provide A&R as it used to, and we provide that access to musicians. They can come to the site from any vantage point and get whatever they want. We are providing the tools, resources and expertise to further benefit musicians.”
Smith said that the site will be working with Rocket Network, where musicians can lease studios through the Musician.com site, record their work, and store and transfer files.
For more information, check out www.musician.com.
MP3.COM REVIVED
After shelling out a record $170 million in court-ordered payments to record labels, MP3.com announced plans to resuscitate the My.MP3.com service.
After negotiating licensing plans with the five major record labels, MP3.com can now reopen the service to its broad clientele. The revamped My.MP3.com service will charge users $49.95 a year to access a nearly unlimited number of CDs that users can store in a virtual locker. Users must prove that they own the CD by either inserting the CD into the CD-ROM drive of their computer or buying it from an online retailer that has agreed to connect with MP3.com.
Under this payment structure, MP3.com will sell the data it compiles on the user’s musical tastes to advertisers.
According to Robin Richards, president and CEO of MP3.com, “We believe that the service will stimulate CD sales and generate enthusiastic activity from our users.”
Despite the effort, Emusic.com Inc. and its independent label partners have filed a copyright infringement complaint against MP3.com in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit claims that MP3.com continues to illegally distribute unlicensed music.
NAPSTER ADDS TO ITS ROSTER
edel Music AG, an independent music label, agreed to cooperate with Napster and its new membership-based business model. Under the agreement, edel will allow its master recordings and musical compositions to be used in the file-sharing service.
Michael Haentjes, edel’s CEO, said, “We welcome Napster’s commitment to protect the interests of artists, songwriters and other rightsholders, and we will support any activity that provides for fair compensation for everyone involved.”
Artists currently on edel’s roster include Ayla, Funkstar DeLuxe, Jennifer Paige, Roxette and SupaKings.
LES PAUL, DIGIDESIGN RECEIVE TECHNICAL GRAMMY® AWARDS
The Recording Academy announced that Les Paul and Digidesign have been awarded the 2001 Technical Grammy Award for their outstanding technical contributions to the recording industry.
According to the Academy’s president and CEO, Michael Greene, the foundations of multitrack recording laid by Les Paul and Digidesign’s Pro Tools “continue to enable generations of artists, engineers and producers to expand the creative boundaries of recorded music.”
Past Technical Grammy recipients include Dr. Thomas Stockham Jr., Ray Dolby, Rupert Neve, George Massenburg, Sony/Philips, Georg Neumann GmbH, Bill Putnam and AMS Neve.
SCOUR ACQUIRED
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge awarded the assets of Scour Inc. to CenterSpan Communications Corp., a developer and marketer of Internet software applications for communication, for $9 million.
The decision comes after Scour voluntarily shut down its file exchange community and filed for Chapter 11 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court because of copyright infringement suits brought against the company by the Motion Picture Association of America, the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association this past July.
The Oregon-based company’s bid of $9 million included $5.5 million in cash and $3.5 million in stock, beating out Listen.com’s bid of $5 million and a little over 500,000 shares of its stock. Liquid Audio Inc. also joined in the bidding wars, offering an undisclosed amount.
BMG HIRES NEW PRESIDENT AND CEO
Mourning the loss of its recently appointed president and CEO Rudi Gassner, BMG hired Rolf Schmidt-Holtz to fill these positions. Schmidt-Holtz will retain his position of chief creative officer (CCO) in charge of content strategy for Bertelsmann and developing the groupwide Bertelsmann Content Network.
The new music chief will run BMG’s activity from the New York and Hamburg offices, garnering support from top executives in the newly formed Executive Committee.
“The music business is undergoing radical upheavals,” Schmidt Holtz said. “Reshaping it is one of the most interesting entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities imaginable.”
Music industry veteran Rudi Gassner (58) died at his vacation home in Samerberg, Germany, from a heart attack.
“The death of Rudi Gassner is a tragic loss,” said Bertelsmann chairman Thomas Middelhoff. “He was a successful media entrepreneur and a great hope for us all in view of the necessary development and reorganization of our music business.”
Gassner founded BMG International.
EXPANDING YOUR MIND
Synergetic Audio Concepts announced its Syn-Aud-Con spring seminar, “System Setup & Optimization and Sound System Design.” The five-day training will take place in the following cities: Anaheim, Calif., February 5-9; Charlotte, N.C., March 19-23; Louisville, Ky., April 23-27; and Orlando, Fla., May 7-11. For more information, visit www.synaudcon.com.
The TEF Division of Gold Line announced a one-day workshop on 5.1 surround sound systems led by senior instructor Anthony Grimani, president of PMI. The workshop will be held on March 7, 2001, at NSCA in Orlando, Fla. The cost is $199. The division is also hosting a Level I TEF class in Miami on January 11-13, 2001. For additional information, call 203/938-2588 or email Greg Miller at [email protected].
Registration is now open for the 2001 NSCA Systems Integration Expo, help March 8-10 in Orlando. Attendees can register at www.nscaexpo.org. In addition to the 550-plus product exhibits, NSCA has also added the Business Solutions Pavilion that hosts exhibits devoted to systems contractors. Educational supplements are also planned for the expo, including the all-new series “Integrated Systems Applications” for the electronic systems professional.
Mix regrets the error.
HOT LINKS
Official AKG U.S. Web site: www.akgusa.com.
Comunications Specialties Inc.’s new online order tracking feature can be found at www.commspecial.com.
