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January 30, 2006
Attacking the core of Music Inc.?
Hmm. We got a bit confused this morning about which particular Movable Type platform we were using, and consequently posted this here, rather than on the Sydney Morning Herald site. Took us quite a while to work out where it went to. Nevertheless, we'll leave it here. You might be interested ....
The most cursory glance through Razor's online music topic reveals that we are possibly not the music industry's biggest fan. Could it be, perhaps, that our tolerance for greed, lies, more lies, exploitation, cynical lobbying of government and contempt for the public is possibly lower than the average citizen's?
Unfortunately, the Internet has not yet fulfilled the dreams of the long-suffering music consumer by producing an alternative model for music marketing. We don't expect that TuneCore will be the radical solution we're looking for, but it's a nice start, and we regard it as our sacred duty to tell you about it.
The FAQ sets out all the details, but basically it allows musicians without a label to post their work to iTunes [including iTunes Australia] and Rhapsody [other arrangements are being finalised], without signing over their rights and the lion's share of profits.
TuneCore charges a small fee - US$.99 per song per service, and a US$7.98 annual "maintenance and storage fee" for each album, EP or single posted.
The founders have quite a bit of background in the industry, so who knows, it could represent the first chink in the armour of the traditional gatekeepers.
Posted by cw at January 30, 2006 10:01 AM