Label:Life

Chris “Ludacris” Bridges said video games are ideal for connecting aspiring musicians with their core fan base—and he should know—six years ago he was the first rapper to have his music featured on a game soundtrack.

“It’s just a great way to market music,” Ludacris said in an interview with Reuters in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“People are very surprised how old the (video game) demographic is because you have grown-ups who love video games as much as children,” he said.

By showing up in games, “artists are trying to be where their audience is,” Yankee Group analyst Michael Goodman said.

More@reuters

A group of Canadian musicians, including Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan, have formed the “Music Creators Coalition” believing that DRM, suing fans and anti-circumvention legislation is not the way forward for the music industry.

“We are the people who actually create Canadian music. Without us, there would be no music for copyright laws to protect”

Here is their first white paper:

Debates about the way copyright law and cultural policy affects Canadian music have been dominated for a long time by a very small number of special-interest lobbyists. In the midst of the wrangling over the demands of powerful representatives of recording and music publishing companies, collective societies and the broadcasting industry, actual Canadian artists have been squeezed out of copyright discussions. Although some lobbyists purport to speak on behalf of artists, the voices of real people who actually make music – songwriters, composers, performers, musicians and the like – have been mostly neglected. This document marks the start of an effort to change that, by talking truthfully about Canadian artists’ wishes for the future of copyright law and cultural policy in Canada. (more…)

Apple—a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience—will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service, according to content partners who have been briefed on the plan. The introduction of visual ads could be the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods.

Users’ reaction?
That’s sure to entice advertisers interested in reaching millions of devotees of the service. But it could be worrisome to the service’s users, who unplug from ad-supported media when they plug their earphones in.

That may be why Apple’s current plans call for the ads to appear only in the lower-left corner of the iTunes library while users listen to podcasts from their computers rather than from portable devices. But it’s a big step for the service, which has so far limited ad intrusions to audio spots embedded in some of the podcasts offered via iTunes. ESPN Radio, which supplies some of iTunes’ most popular ad-supported sports podcasts, is working with the service on the new advertising offering.

More@adage

The British Broadcasting Corp., the world’s oldest public-service broadcaster, said it will overhaul its Web site to include more user-generated content. It also aims to be the “premier destination’’ for unsigned music groups.

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... The BBC’s strategy for the next six years follows the success of MySpace.com and other Web sites that build a community of users, including fledgling rock bands, that share common interests. The BBC aims to create a new “broadband-based teen brand’’ and a “single music strategy’’ across all its platforms, and to allow more personalization as users “create the equivalent of their own radio station.’’

More@bloomberg

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation that would require satellite radio companies to compensate the music industry for downloads, industry and congressional sources said.

The legislation, by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and majority leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is aimed at compensating copyright holders as satellite radio services become distribution services.

The “Perform Act,” or the “Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music Act of 2006,” would require satellite, cable and Internet broadcasters to pay fair market value for the performance of digital music. Additionally, the bill would require the use of readily available and cost-effective technological means to prevent music theft.

More@cnet

Chewing gum and confectionery maker The Wrigley Company has embarked on its first foray into online advertising with Yahoo! UK & Ireland, to offer a branded online music service.

The deal, brokered by media buying agency MediaCom, will see a new music service called ‘The Extra Venue” appear on Yahoo! Music.

Launching on 2 May, the service will give music fans access to on-demand video content including performances, lifestyle features and interviews with artists including Corrine Bailey Rae and The Zutons.

More@netimperitive

Skype, which boasts 94.6 million users worldwide, will start off by selling a handful of ringtones through its content store, personal.skype.com, on Apr. 26. The tones will sell for $1.50 each in the U.S. and for €1.50 in Europe. The company plans to quickly expand its ringtone catalog, which could eventually encompass hundreds of thousands of titles. Skype also hopes to license content from other music recording companies and publishers.

The deals mark a major expansion of Skype’s ringtone efforts, which got under way last year. Until now, the personal.skype.com store has only offered a few customized, jazz ringtones. But Skype is dabbling more in music. It recently gave users an opportunity to call and leave messages for the band Coldplay. The online store’s Extras for Skype section offers a dozen free music-related applications, created by independent developers with nifty capabilities such as getting the home computer to call the user via Skype and play a favorite song from the PC.

More@businessweek

SENIOR executives at EMI, the British record label, and its American rival Warner Music Group are preparing for preliminary talks that could lead to the creation of the world’s third-largest music company.

Sources close to both groups said the firms’ on-off discussions would resume in earnest within months, with advisers on both sides being briefed to prepare for merger talks.

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...Aside from Warner Music, industry observers believe that Apple, the computer giant that has scored a huge success with the iPod and iTunes, could be interested in a bid for EMI.

Recent rises in the EMI and Warner share prices have prompted speculation that the companies are already in merger talks, but sources close to both denied that this weekend.

More@timesonline

Did EMI and Universal Music Group lie to the Department of Justice in order to throw federal investigators off the scent during the antitrust investigation involving the major labels, MusicNet, and pressplay? According to a ruling issued last week, the evidence suggests they did.

This is the latest chapter in the Napster case. Yes, that Napster case.

Years after the original company went bankrupt and sold their name to the highest bidder, the Napster case continues to drag on. The record labels, you see, are still pressing their case against Hummer Winblad and Bertelsman for investing in Napster years ago.

More@eff

EMI Music Publishing, the song rights company, yesterday announced a deal with Skype, the internet telephony business, to sell music on Skype’s new retail website.

Under the deal, Skype will be licensed to use song copyrights from EMI’s catalogue to sell music as downloads and ring tones. It is the first time that music copyrights have been licensed worldwide in such a way. Normally licences have to be applied for by the seller on a country-by-country basis, making it more difficult for songwriters to collect payments for their work.

More@timesonline

[Hmmm… Skype is the Phoenix rising from the ashes of Kazaa…. – Ed]