Greetings, and welcome to this year’s first edition of the eZine. I have been busy over the summer and early fall scouring the web for new and interesting things, and will share some of those this month, as well as remind you of some of the sites I continue to use.

Let’s begin this issue with our old friend, Taxi.com. I have found the “articles” section of this site (http://www.taxi.com/faq/index.html) to be very helpful in my introductory classes. The FAQ section is pretty simplistic, but the link to the “articles” section under each subheading leads readers to some pretty good information about different aspects of the industry written by some familiar names including the Brabeks. My students enjoy reading these articles, and I have also suggested this site for prospective students who don’t know much about the industry yet. Several have written back to tell me they found the information helpful.

Next, I would highlight the RIAA site. We all certainly know about this organization and probably their site, but I was there recently and thought some of you might not be aware of the statistics you can pull from their information. The section on facts and figures that can be found at http://www.riaa.com/news/marketingdata/facts.asp and includes some interesting information about units shipped and consumer statistics. We have to consider who is conducting and publishing the research, but I believe the information is valuable- especially in spotting trends. With hard numbers challenging to come by in this industry, this might be as close to a realistic view as we can get.

Another site that has come to my attention is the site connected with Wired Magazine. It is a little hard to navigate, but if you go to www.wired.com and search for the magazine you can find some interesting articles about trends connected with new technologies and their effect on business models. The link at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.09/beck.html talks about the latest release by Beck and how he has moved away from the typical CD format. There are links to other good articles on the page including an interesting article about Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music Group, and his new strategy for selling music - not physical product. After having spent some time on their site I think I may subscribe to the magazine.

And lastly for this month, you might be interested in exploring the www.ruckus.com website. This is a relatively new music downloading service provided only to schools that that are enrolled- which is, incidentally, free of charge. I have been trying to research this company and how it works, and here is what I have found to date. First, students at enrolled schools sign in using their emails and download a player from Ruckus. Then, students can download any of the 1.5 million songs on Ruckus. The trick is that they can only play them on their computers – or some other devices, yet to be determined (I’ve gotten different stories on this, but I know they won’t transfer to an iPod). The interesting thing about this business model is that Ruckus makes about $100 advertising dollars per student enrolled according to one of their representatives. As far as I know, this is a slightly different model for making money off of music – although it does resemble the strategy of commercial radio with some permutations. Could this be the “free” music of the future? It certainly won’t be if the record companies don’t settle issues surrounding copyright management strategies. It is interesting to note that the college believes it has solved the problem of legal battles by offering students a legal way to download, but this particular service just frustrates my students because they can’t do what they want with “their” music. Still, it is an interesting strategy and may hold insights as to a way to “monetize” the downloading of music.

Finally, just in case you need a chuckle, check out Toyota’s new strategies for selling cars at http://news.com.com/2300-11389_3-6024378-4.html?tag=ne.gall.pg

The dB is really something, but be sure to click through the other pictures and check out the car that turns into an Xbox…..I think now I’ve seen just about everything! On that note, I’ll sign off for this month. But, please remember, I’m always open for suggestions. If you have found a good site, just let me know and I will include it in a future article.