Keeping Up With the Music Business, One Byte at a Time - Part 1
by Storm Gloor

It’s quite a challenge to keep up with the moving target that is the music business. New business models take shape or go bust relatively quickly. Laws and practices are being challenged or reconsidered daily. But staying up-to-date is essential to the success of anyone studying or instructing in our programs these days. Fortunately, there are more than enough sources for the latest industry news. Still, who has time to keep up with it all anymore?

The music industry has not only seen its content and business models migrate online, but traditional news media has experienced a shift to the web as well. So it’s no surprise to find an increasing amount of music and entertainment business news, and the tools to manage it, in cyberspace. You probably have your own favorite online destinations for music industry updates, but what follows here and in the next eZine are a few recommended sources, as well as some tips and tricks to keep it all organized.

Music news, like virtually all information these days, is simply a keyword-search away on the Internet. But why do that? Actually hunting for news can be so last year to a busy student or professional. Bring it to your inbox or home page automatically by simply subscribing to the key music biz e-mail blasts and feeds. Which providers you’ll want to hear from, however, would depend on how much and what type of information you want, as well as how often you want to tackle your inbox. There are music news sources that keep it simple and offer the most essential happenings of the day, but there are also those that provide focused and/or more extensive updates. So consider these suggestions your menu, with choices ranging from basic appetizers to the full-course offerings of music industry updates.

For starters, there is the daily e-mail blast from billboard.com, the online version of Billboard magazine, the definitive music industry resource. At the website, simply click on the “Sign Up for the Free Daily Newsletter” bullet point under the section labeled “The Magazine” about halfway down the right side of the home page. You’ll be offered two free newsletters, one from billboard.com (more general, entertainment focused) and another from billboard.biz (more business-related). You can subscribe to one or both at no charge.

In terms of simplicity and general coverage, the Daily Chord, the Monday-Friday music newsletter provided by the good folks who produce the South By Southwest Music Conference, is a great source for the best of the day’s music news from around the web. The daily e-mail provides the headlines of 6-8 key articles gathered from well-respected sources, and a link to the Daily Chord page if you’re interested in any of those articles, or any articles featured in the previous seven days. Simply click on any headline on that new page and you’re taken directly to the source. Signing up for the Daily Chord here is yet another way to keep a finger on the pulse of the music industry.

But if you have the time or desire for a heavier dose of daily music and related news there are several other recommended mailing list options. Some have a particular focus. For example, the daily blasts from Digital Music News (www.digitalmusicnews.com, sign up by selecting “join” in the upper right hand corner) and the Digital Media Wire (www.digitalmediawire.com, click on “newsletter” in the upper right-hand corner of the home page) obviously highlight technology-related happenings. The former, however, is handy for providing a quick, one-or-two-paragraph summary of key news items and some insightful commentary on major events. The Digital Media Wire also includes articles related to video games, film, mobile, and other entertainment media that are increasingly more related to the music industry. Both of these daily news services include listings of employment opportunities, making them especially beneficial to readers nearing graduation. Another technology-related newsletter that provides headlines, a short synopsis, and direct links to full articles, is known as “The Dean’s List”. Instructions for requests to be added can be found by clicking through three pages, beginning at www.deankay.com. However, a fair warning: there are quite a few articles with each daily delivery. Even a quick skimming will take a while.

There are also great newsletters that aren’t necessarily daily editions. The New Music Tipsheet includes a weekly newsletter that is particularly handy for the music fan at heart, highlighting the new releases of the week, those a little further down the pipeline, and upcoming artist television appearances. The one-page newsletter also provides a vast offering of hot links to news and blog-postings throughout the net. If music publishing, licensing, and related legal issues are of importance to you, The Royalty Report, a newsletter sent out weekly as a PDF, is a handy source. While signing up at www.royaltyreport.com you’ll also find a very informative website for all things publishing and licensing (note: as of Oct. 08 the site is under reconstruction, to be reintroduced in 2009). There are also newsletters with an even narrower focus. For instance, Film Music Magazine, is a must-read for anyone interested in film scoring and soundtracks.

Another quite useful music biz newsletter is recommended with a couple of warnings. Subscribing to The Lefsetz Letter means that you’ll be receiving, on no particular schedule, the musings of Bob Lefsetz, whose take on the latest happenings in the industry provide plenty of food for thought and debate. Plenty of biz insiders keep up with the Letter, with good reason. However, fair warning: the language can get pretty salty sometimes (in music retailing terms, think parental advisory sticker here), and updates can be pretty lengthy. Though well-written and insightful, not all of the postings relate directly to music. It’s quite informative, but I’d suggest that you visit the site’s archive and read some previous writings before signing up.

In the past few years blogging has been all the rage, and in terms of those related to music there are plenty on the web. However, Coolfer and Hypebot are two of the more respected music blogs that maintain a business focus. Both offer concise information and thoughtful opinions on industry happenings, as well as helpful tips for musicians and marketers. On Coolfer’s home page, you’ll even find links to many other optional blogs and news services. Another site that includes such links is The Daily Swarm, a great collection of the latest music news, complete with catchy graphics and easy-to-navigate links. The Daily Swarm is updated quite regularly and very useful to anyone following the music business.

Again, there’s no need for anyone to actually surf those blogs and others to stay informed, especially if you’re busy. As for those mentioned here, you can sign up for newsletters and/or e-mail blasts from their homepages. However, another way to subscribe to blogs is to utilize an RSS feed. Such a feed will automatically send new posts and/or summaries to a homepage (Yahoo, Google, for example) you designate, or a separate reader may be utilized. To set up an RSS, look for a small orange icon with what appears to represent something like a satellite receiver, then follow instructions.

So at this point you may be concerned about a more-than-steady diet of music news that could quickly prove overwhelming. Subscribing to ALL of the aforementioned sources could easily clog your inbox and prove difficult to work through. It might be best to try them one at a time. In the next eZine, part two of this article will review some widely available programs and applications that easily and efficiently manage and organize all of the music business news, information, and data you’ll now be receiving. Stay tuned.

Note: if you have any questions, or suggestions as to other great music business news resources online, feel free to e-mail me at storm.gloor@ucdenver.edu.

Storm Gloor is Assistant Professor, Dept. of Music and Entertainment Industry Studies, University of Colorado-Denver