
The Sorry State of Music Startups - dcurtis
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/27/the-sorry-state-of-music-startups/
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pg
It's an ill wind that blows no good. The fact that the labels are killing the
startups trying to stream their music could be the best thing that ever
happened to indie music. TheSixtyOne is happily profitable streaming that.

<http://thesixtyone.com>

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utnick
Doesn't the sixty one play labeled artists as well?

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jasonlbaptiste
Music startups are mostly focused on the consumer right now. The real
opportunity I think lies in empowering the artists. Give the artists the tools
to do things without the labels and the consumers will benefit better. Without
the artists on board (most likely without the label), the experience will
never be there.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but it seems thesixtyone is a play for the artists
ie- upload your tracks here. In turn, by empowering the artists, the consumers
have an awesome experience.

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dtap
While there are very few hard facts in the article to support his claims, I
tend to agree. The current business models for music start-ups do not work.

That being said, music industry executives are not as dumb as we see them. The
music industry has a hold on America that is not going to fall soon. The
industry is pushing artists to sign 360 degree contracts so that record labels
do not rely solely on record sales. This will encourage distribution of free
music in order to increase tour sales which record companies are mostly cut
out of. This will make the ultimate surrender date a change of model, not a
killing of the industry.

The venture industry is out now because they realized that the record
companies control the market and aren't too eager to give others control of
their product.

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moe
I think the music industry is (understandably) clinging to their last straws
these days. Piracy and the total loss of their prior, insane profit margins on
physical media are draining them fast.

Nonetheless their current "parasite" model can prevail as long as they control
the broadcast channels. But technical progress should mostly do away with
that, too. It just takes time.

Eventually car-radios will begin to support recommendation-based IP streams
(ala last.fm) in addition to the current pre-select. I expect that to become
the tipping point from where the consumers will gradually reverse the
mainstream (from top-down to bottom-up).

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jellicle
Why would anyone want to start a music startup when the bulk of the most
popular music is controlled by a few very unpleasant companies?

Let's you say to started up a company tomorrow that looked ready to put the
labels out of business and make a zillion trillion dollars giving everyone
exactly the music that they wanted, no less and no more. Ask yourself, would
the labels go to Congress to get a law passed that made your company illegal?
And the answer you get to that question is "yes". And then the second question
is, would Congress give them that law? And the answer to that question is also
"yes".

Unless your startup can be fully successful without ever touching a single
commercial song, it's doomed before it starts. Only an idiot would throw money
or time down that rabbithole.

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thiele
I don't envy the position that sites like Pandora and imeem are in. Getting a
fair shake with the major labels is tough.

However, there is plenty of room to do interesting things without touching
music tainted by the Big 4 labels. We are doing it with Mugasha in regards to
electronic dance music and TheSixtyOne is doing it with indie music. The niche
is your friend, the major labels are probably not.

Also, I think it's time to realize that basing your business model on
advertising isn't working. These services are going to need to start getting
creative with their business models and start making money on things people
want and not things people hate (ads).

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mixmax
The labels are so ignorant that it's unbelievable.

The sooner musicians get rid of them the better...

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danw
Apart from the labels issue, online music startups are one of the most
thriving and diverse online ecosystems. There's a huge range of music
startups, far more than movie, tv, newspapers-related enterprises. It's an
area that's adapted to the realities of online really quite quickly. If the
labels don't adapt to this (and they have started to, in the form of ensuring
they take a cut of tour and merchandise sales of artists) then independents
will thrive because it's the only place people can get music from.

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naish
MixTape.me presents a nice approach, offering music and data mashed up from a
variety of sources, in a very clean UI.

<http://mixtape.me>

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misuba
The streaming music companies will indeed lose money until they are willing to
charge the consumer. Several of these companies provide easily as much value
as satellite radio and could charge equivalent fees.

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Radix
Where did the comments go?

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Radix
I can't see the coments, so I don't understand why I got upvoted. If someone
else can see the comments, I expect I made no sense, else they can't see my
comment.

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palish
This reply is camouflaged.

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tjic
Why am I seeing "7 comments" listed ... but no actual comments?

