Monday, 16 April 2012

Today's Record of the Day soundclip



Title Sunday Drive
Artist Ladyhawke
Label Modular/Island
Released May 27
Contact Label: Natasha Mann, Island

Online: Rhian Emanuel, Big Mouth

Press: Sophie Williams, Some Friendly
We say Ladyhawke's Sunday Drive is a floaty pop gem which may take a few listens but is right up there with My Delirium and Paris Is Burning. It's a re-definition of the sound which led to 250,000 sales of 2008's eponymous debut album and has got off to a strong start, debuting last Monday with a Perez Hilton video post and Zane Lowe 'Hottest Record In The World', followed the next morning with a further Radio 1 play from Fearne Cotton. Set up single Black White & Blue was Xfm and 6Music playlisted, leading to sessions on Xfm An Evening With and 6Music Lauren Laverne Hub. With an impressive press campaign lined up, including Sunday Times Style, Observer, Heat, NME, Metro and Independent, forthcoming album Anxiety (May 28) it's taking great shape. The Kiwi's forthcoming tour begins next week with dates in London, Manchester, Oxford and Brighton sold-out. Video.


London Gig: April 23, London Shepherd's Bush Empire W12
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London Gigs of the Day
  • Noah And The Whale + Bahamas + Rae Morris, Royal Albert Hall SW7

    Seye + Jess Mills, Shepherd’s Bush Empire W12

    This Must Be Pop: Tinashe + Bright Light Bright Light + Hands, Queen of Hoxton EC2

    Paul Thomas Saunders, St Pancras Old Church, NW1

Monday 16 April 2012
Headlines
  • Daniel Ek unconcerned by widening losses as Spotify revenues continue to rise. (see Business)
  • TuneCore ceo calls on artists to boycott Grooveshark. (see News)
Business
  • Spotify is projected to make $889 million this year - a rise of 160% on 2011. But net losses, which last year doubled to around $60 million, are also expected to rise. (Billboard, TechCrunch, DMN, paidcontent) "The question of when we'll show a profit actually feels irrelevant. Our focus is entirely on growth. It is priority one, two, three, four and five" said CEO Daniel Ek.
News and Features
  • TuneCore ceo Jeff Price has called on musicians to boycott Grooveshark and put pressure on its advertisers. (DMN) He accuses the company of "knowingly and willingly use a legal loophole to steal from artists and songwriters."
  • The world will miss out on the next Elvis Presley or Oasis if Universal's £1.2bn takeover of EMI is allowed to go ahead Beggars Group chairman Martin Mills has warned. (Sunday Telegraph) Also see 'Comment and Analysis'

  • The Musicians' Union has urged London 2012 organisers to reconsider pre-recording music for the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. (BBC)
  • Researchers suggest that a court-ordered Pirate Bay block in the Netherlands has had no impact on the number of BitTorrent pirates. (TorrentFreak)
  • Sales chart: Carly Rae Jepsen stays top of the Official Singles chart, holding off Justin Bieber. Adele returns to the top of the Official Album chart, with Alalbama Shakes new at 3. (BBC)
Comment, Opinion and Analysis
  • Finding the sweet spot in the argument about the Universal-EMI merger. (David Hepworth)
  • How digital music innovation will suffer if Universal acquires EMI. (ReadWriteWeb)
  • Branded artist radio apps could make money and please fans. (Wired)
  • Thanks to the Live Music Bill, pubs and other small venues have won a new lease of life. About time, too. (Sunday Times - Lisa Verrico)
  • The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, partly by the entertainment industry’s attempts to crack down on piracy, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. (Guardian p1)
Digital
  • 7digital has announced the launch of its mobile app for Windows Phone devices. (RotD)
  • Spotify will add apps from the likes of AT&T, McDonald's, Intel and Reebok over the coming months in its latest effort to curate its immense library of music and make the platform more attractive to advertisers that can help offset massive licensing costs. (Ad Age)

Radio, Television, Publishing and PR
  • The Voice has beaten Britain's Got Talent in the ratings war this weekend with twice as many viewers. (Mail p9, Star p6, Sun p15)
  • Kerrang! has announced the launch of a multi-platform rock music chart which will be compiled by the Official Charts Company. (RotD) It will reveal the top 20 rock songs based on sales, TV and radio airplay and will be delivered in a TV show, a radio show, online at Kerrang.com and in Kerrang! magazine every week.
  • IPC Media has announced that NME will be among the first UK brands to feature editions on Google Currents. (InPublishing)
TV
  • 21:00 BBC2 The 70s – featuring David Bowie

    22:00 BBC2 Sounds of the 70s
RADIO
  • 19:00 6 Music Marc Riley – with Sea of Bees live

    12:00 6 Music Tighten up – the story of Trojan Records
Artist and Music Features
  • They were tiny, tatty – and terrific. For Record Store Day on Saturday, our pop writers remember the shops where they first fell in love with music. (Guardian2 p16)
  • Record Store Day celebrations are bigger and buzzier than ever, discovers Arwa Haider. (Metro p33)
  • As lead singer of the Charlatans, Tim Burgess was the poster boy for Manchester’s Nineties indie scene — until death and drug addiction ruined the party. Now he is finally coming clean, discovers Will Hodgkinson. (Saturday Times)

  • Hailing from folk royalty, Rufus Wainwright has happily toured the world almost all his life. But how is he managing to combine stardom with the commitments of fatherhood? (IoS - Fiona Sturges)

  • Evasive, intellectual, optimistic and heartbreaking – no wonder Brad Oberhofer is being called the indie Brian Wilson. By Paul Lester. (Guardian Guide)
  • Wilfully oddball, Marina & the Diamonds wasn’t for everyone. She’s back, wiser, sassier and richer in pop potential. (Sunday Times)

  • After a romantic bust-up, Chairlift went away to lick the wounds. Their return is an emotional triumph. (Sunday Times - Dan Cairns)
  • Breaking Act: Hooray for Earth (Sunday Times - Dan Cairns)

  • The London Olympics will be celebrated in new work by 20 composers. But what, asks Andrew Clark, connects their music with sport? (Saturday FT)

  • The world’s fastest interview: John Lydon, the former Sex Pistol, 56, on middle age, class wars and moving Stateside. (Sunday Times)
  • Didn’t she almost have it all? Whitney Houston was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel bathroom in February. We piece together the last months of a show business legend. (Sunday Times)
  • A secret affair with Dannii, lusting after Cheryl, besotted by Natalie... Simon Cowell's more red-blooded than many of us supposed - if a new book's to be believed. (Mail p20-21 Alison Boshoff)
  • 60 Seconds: Mark Foster, Foster the People. (Metro p18)
  • On My Turntable: Obie Trice. (Metro p34)
  • Julie MacCaffery profiles the mothers behind the five boys of One Direction. (Mirror p16-17)
  • Southend's-on-Sea's 300ft Dr Feelgood statue: the story so far (Guardian2 p3)
  • Meet the 40 The Voice finalists. (Sun TV Biz p2-3)
  • Why we should salute the super 70s. (Express p21 - Virginia Blackburn)
And also
Job opportunities
  • Virgin Records seeks a digital marketing manager. (RotD)
  • Ministry of Sound seeks digital marketing co-ordinator. (RotD)
  • Hed Kandi and Speakerbox seek digital marketing co-ordinator. (RotD)
  • Amazon seeks corporate counsel – digital music. (RotD)
Showbiz and News
  • Doctors fear Robin Gibb may only have days to live after falling into a coma. (Mail p13, Telegraph p2, Times p13, Mirror p11, Hollywood Reporter, Independent p24)
  • Pete Doherty has given an an interview about a man who mysteriously fell to his death after a row with the singer. (Mail p29)
  • Pete Doherty claims police have video footage that will clear up mystery of party death – but Mark Blanco's mother says it is a PR stunt. (Observer)

  • Dannii Minogue is apparently furious with Simon Cowell after a new book names her his 'toy' during their alleged affair. (Express p7, Star p3, Sun p1, 4-5, Mirror p1)
  • Brotherhood Of Man have backed Engelbert Humperdinck in the Eurovision song contest. (Express p16)
  • Prince has been ordered to pay £2.5million after backing out of a perfume promotions deal. (Star p3, Sun p3)
  • One Direction have picked up an American accent. (Star p3)
  • Whitney Houston reportedly turned back to drugs because she couldn't handle losing her voice. (Star p19)
  • Tulisa's dad has said that her sex tape scandal has ruined their family. (Star p9)
  • Punk fans are planning to make the Sex Pistols' hit God Save The Queen No 1 during her Jubilee. (Star p3)
  • Lady Gaga is reportedly consulting a team of astrologers over fears the stars are aligned in the wrong direction for her tour. (Sun p3)
  • Status Quo are shooting their own film in Fiji, Bula Quo! (Express p16, Metro p19, Star p19, Sun p9)
  • Leonard Cohen's former manager is found guilty of harassing the singer by a court in Los Angeles. (BBC)
  • Adele has broken the record for most weeks at No 1 after her album went back into the top spot this weekend. (Mirror p9)

  • Sun Bizarre at Coachella: Katy Perry pictured in a long dress. The Black Keys are Swindon Town football club fans. Radiohead, Kasabian, Azealia Banks and Arctic Monkeys caught live. Noel Gallagher was searched three times after security found sleeping pills in his bag. Gordon Smart reports that a pint of lager is £7 and a spirit and mixer is £11 at the festival.
  • Mirror 3am: Sarah Harding pictured partying without alcohol. Rizzle Kicks are back in the studio making their second album. Olly Murs is dating. Marina and the Diamonds wore a wedding dress for her G-A-Y performance. Katy Perry pictured at Coachella. One Direction and The Wanted are friends.
  • Star Goss: Sarah Harding pictured partying without alcohol. Labrinth and Dizzee Rascal pictured at Snowbombing in Austria.
  • Star Playlist: The Cribs have branded the B-side dead but say they are trying to bring it back by releasing different versions of their tracks. Profile: The Coronas. Full chart rundown.
  • Metro Guilty Pleasures: The Wanted and One Direction have called an end to their sniping. The Voice has won the ratings war with Britain's Got Talent again. A new book claims that Simon Cowell and Dannii Minogue had an affair in 2008. Stooshe say that it's hard to balance their raunchy side with their younger following. Katy Perry pictured at Coachella. Rihanna says that she turns to her friends rather than drugs and alcohol. Sarah Harding has returned to partying but is doing it sober.
Reviews
Albums
  • Spiritualized (Saturday Times - 3* Will Hodgkinson, Standard - 4* Pete Clark, Sunday Times - Dan Cairns, Observer - 2* Kitty Empire, Metro p39 - 4* Arwa Haider, Star p21 - 8/10 John Earls, FT - 3* Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)

  • Jason Mraz (Observer - 2* Phil Mongredien, Metro p38 - 2* Amy Dawson)
  • THEESatisfaction (Sunday Times - Dan Cairns, Metro p39 - 4* Siobhan Murphy)
  • Crybaby (Observer - 4* Gareth Grundy, Metro p38 - 3* Arwa Haider)
  • Loudon Wainwright III (IoS Nick Coleman)

  • Oberhofer (Observer - 3* Killian Fox)

  • Sun Araw & M Geddes Gengras Meet the Congos (Observer - 3* Kitty Empire)
  • Holly Golightly (IoS - Simon Price)

  • Phronesis (IoS - Phil Johnson)
  • V/A Northern Soul 2 (IoS - Phil Johnson)
  • Human Don’t Be Angry (Sunday Times - Mark Edwards)

  • Gemma Ray (Sunday Times - Mark Edwards)

  • Sleep Party People (Sunday Times - Dan Cairns)

  • Mike Flannery (Saturday Times - 3* Tom Gatti)
  • Dean Blunt & Inga Copeland (Saturday Times - 3* Joe Clay)
  • Motorpsycho and Stale Storlokken (Saturday Times - 4* Neil Gardner)
  • Carly Rae Jepsen, Marina and the Diamonds, BoB, Conor Maynard, LMFAO (Guardian Guide - Nick Levine)
  • Moonface (4*), Hal (4*), Loudon Wainright III (3*), Seth Lakeman (4*) (Standard)
  • Ebo Taylor (Metro p38 – 4* John Lewis)
  • Alabama Shakes (Metro p38 – 4* John Lewis)
  • Maya Janes Coles (Metro p39 – 4* Arwa Haider)
  • Sweet Billy Pilgrim (Star p21 – 8/10 John Earls)
  • Gemma Hayes (Star p21 – 7/10 John Earls)
  • Sweet Billy Pilgrim (Independent - 4* Simon Price)
  • Human Don't Be Angry (Independent - 3* Simon Price)
  • Holly Golightly featuring the Brokeoffs (Independent - 4* Simon Price)
  • De La Soul’s Plug 1 and Plug 2 Present: First Serve (FT - 4* Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)

  • Kris Menace (FT - 4* Ludovic Hunter-Tilney)

Live
  • Lauryn Hill – Indigo2 (Telegraph o23 – 4* James Lachno, Guardian p25 - 4* Alex Macpherson, ArtsDesk - Natalie Shaw)
  • Orbital - London Royal Albert Hall (Observer - Kitty Empire)
  • Frank Turner, Billy Bragg – Wembley Arena (Times2 p12 – 4* Stephen Dalton)
  • Birdy – Tabernacle W11 (Times2 p12 – 4* Lisa Verrico)
  • Ren Harvieu - Bush Hall, London (Independent p43 - 3* Emily Jupp)
  • Cher Lloyd, Indigo2, London; Sufjan Stevens, Barbican, London (Independent - Simon Price)

The bigger picture
  • Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos took a subtle swipe at Apple in his annual letter to shareholders, in which he extolled the independence of authors, programmers, retailers and other entrepreneurs as being core to their own and Amazon's successes. (TechCrunch)
  • Publishers are powerless in the world of global distributors - comment on ebook pricing in the US. (Guardian p30)
  • How will the new law on cookies affect internet browsing? (Guardian)
  • The future of media = many small pieces, loosely joined. (GigaOm)
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Tuesday, 6 March 2012

RotD exclusive: Jeff Smith, head of music at BBC Radio 2 & Radio 6 Music, celebrates 10 years of 6Music


It was back in the late '90s when I first visited a little office in the BBC’s Henry Wood House and heard and saw what a small team of music producers and researchers were doing.

The team were listening to and digitising session tracks from the BBC archive. I was visiting them as the then head of music for BBC Radio 1. Part of my remit was to help develop a music policy for one of three new digital (DAB) only networks. One network would be a black music station, one would be a speech and drama network built on the BBC’s archive of classic comedy and drama and one would be developed based on the popular music sessions archive.

It was clear from my visit that our original vision of an album oriented rock station, plugging the gap between Radio 1 and Radio 2, might not be where it was going.

The research into the archive hadn’t delivered the traditional adult oriented rock radio set of artists but instead a treasure trove of alternative rock and pop from the likes of Siouxsie and The Banshees, XTC and Nirvana. These were artists recorded for various BBC Radio 1 session programming over the years.

As producer of Radio 1’s Evening Session from 1990 I’d been responsible for commissioning a few of these sessions and I could hear how a smarter pop radio station built on these musical foundations could evolve. In fact in 1991 when Mark Radcliffe deputised as presenter on that show we talked about building on the Evening Session and his show Out on Blue Six to establish what we loftily then described as “an intelligent pop music radio station”.

I returned to the BBC in 2007 as head of music for Radio 2 and 6 Music and found the station building a reputation but not exactly clear on what it was. We focussed the station’s music policy on music with an “alternative spirit”. This means that on 6 you’ll hear those more established artists who still lean towards the alternative in what they record - including their classics and deep cuts - alongside those newer artists who are building careers on those foundations.

For instance alongside XTC you’ll hear Field Music, alongside Siouxsie an artist like Anna Calvi and Nirvana’s influence is building new alternative rock bands like Howler, all supported in daytime music programming and across the network by 6. We’re also building more on the genres we cover so you can hear an Orb classic juxtaposed with SBTRKT or a deeper Bill Withers cut alongside that of Michael Kiwanuka .

I think that policy is typified in the live music moments that are my highlights of 6 Music's first 10 years. Those highlights were when we helped arrange for heritage names to work with their musical progenies or admirers i.e. Heaven 17 and LaRoux, Gary Numan and Little Boots, Paul Weller and Adele. These are the most difficult things to get together but they can also be the most exciting.

6 Music is very lucky to have a very creative and passionate editor in the shape of Paul Rodgers. Our week of celebration in Maida Vale and the South Bank is the latest manifestation of his vision of the station and continues Paul’s latest initiatives that include 2012’s monthly “6 Music celebrates…” features.

Paul intends to continue these through the year and I think these ideas and other new concepts that we have to take 6 Music beyond our London and Manchester bases will help increase the awareness of the station and digital radio in general into 2013.

We know 6 Music listeners also consume digital music services (subscription music, blogs etc) with the station often giving them their cue to discover music in other ways. We intend to keep them doing that by further embracing ours and their digital future as we re-imagine radio for the future and continue to be the UK’s biggest digital-only music station.

Finally I should add that in our first ten years 6 has also made its own and substantial contribution to the BBC sessions legacy with a unique commitment to broadcast over 300 new sessions by musicians every year. These sessions then take their place in the same vault that gave birth to the station and help it continue its work celebrating the alternative spirit in music.


Monday, 5 March 2012

Record of the Day message

This blog is temporary while our main site is being fixed, which should be this week.

DOMINO RECORDING CO, INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANT

Domino is seeking an International Assistant to join their team. The job is to provide support for the int’l marketing campaigns. This includes the management of digital tools like video and music files, helping with the production/stock needs of partners around the world, the organization of marketing support tools like merch, print ads, banners and the collection of sales data for marketing reports. The successful candidate should ideally have experience working inside a record label or a similar creative music environment, preferably in the areas mentioned above, and a strong understanding about the Domino label and artists. The position is based in our London office. CV’s to internationalassist@dominorecordco.com

Based: London

Cutting Edge assists R2M in sale of its publishing catalogues to BMG.

Leading music publisher Cutting Edge has expanded beyond its established music for media business to assist the owners of music publishing catalogues with the operation, administration and exploitation of their assets.

Cutting Edge managed the operation of the R2M catalogue on behalf of R2M over an 18-month period, and more recently assisted R2M in the successful sale of its music publishing and related assets to BMG in February 2012. During this period asset NPS was stabilized and increased.

Cutting Edge can provide deep industry expertise to the owners of music publishing copyrights in addition to providing access to the company’s exploitation avenues and opportunities in media. By maximizing both administration accuracy and catalogue exploitation Cutting Edge can help improve revenue and catalogue value.

The R2M catalogue contains a range of international hits from the past four decades including songs recorded by Jim Croce (“Time In A Bottle”), Faith Hill (“This Kiss”), Tupac (“California Love”), Neil Sedaka (“Laughter In The Rain”), The Fifth Dimension (“Up, Up and Away”), The Carpenters (“Solitaire”), Zapp, REO Speedwagon, Enrique Iglesias, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Shalamar and S-Club 7. R2M also owned Country and Gospel music
catalogues as well as rights to Germany’s classic band Die Toten Hosen.

Cutting Edge is one of the world’s leading publishers and providers of music services for media music having recently worked on films including “The King’s Speech”, “Drive”, “The Woman In Black” and “The Grey”, with international brands including Barclaycard, L’Oreal and NestlĂ© and on commercials for Vauxhall, Blackberry and American Airlines.

The Cutting Edge Group has offices in London, Los Angeles, New York and Louisiana.

Sunday, 4 March 2012

Steve Machin's comment on Channel 4's Great Ticketing Scandal

Steve Machin of Stormcrowd argues that whilst Channel 4’s Great Ticket Scandal raised some interesting points, it also missed out large chunks of the bigger picture…

Bringing an arsenal of investigative techniques to bear, Dispatches sought to expose what it had clearly predetermined was the dark side of the hitherto opaque and mysterious world of the concert industry - ticket sales and resales. The sense of entitlement and expectation that fans can show, rightly or wrongly, regarding an act and their tickets is startling and Dispatches exploited this highly-charged topic to create what it portrayed as a sensational scandal. But while the programme did uncover what appeared to be genuine legal concerns around some aspects of the descriptions of the resale market, I would argue that the sensationalist approach that it took overall failed to give an accurate representation of the complex economics of the 21st century ticketing market.

Rockonomics - In order to understand this, we first need a quick (and simplified) overview of rockonomics. Economists talk of supply and demand, yield management and mitigation of risk - do these principles apply to the sale of tickets? Absolutely. The promoter acts as an initial speculator, buying the performances (and related services such as venue hire) hoping that they can make a profit on the total cost of the gig or tour, by selling sufficient tickets at the right prices. The promoter assumes risk from the performers.

The perceived demand impacts upon supply variables - ticket pricing, the number of tickets made available, and the size of the venues. The better the tour can predict demand, and price tickets accurately against fans expectation of value, the more effective the yield will be in returning a profit on the risked capital.

What risk? A question asked by the programme was “how hard is it to predict how successful a comeback tour by Take That might be?” It was raised precisely to undermine the notion that there is any risk in promoting concerts. While some tours are inherently more risky than others, one only has to look at the annual returns filed by Live Nation to see razor thin margins where even a small amount of increased risk could significantly impact upon the business.

Risky Business

So how do the promoters reduce their risk? By selling tickets at prices that are low enough to ensure that sufficient attendees provide a return on investment, and that price, for some of the tickets is below market value, while for others is above market value.

It is a common complaint that “music or concerts cannot be reduced to a commodity and traded” - I am no apologist for the areas of the resale market that were exposed as legally challenging from a consumer protection viewpoint, nor do I make any claims as to whether it is right or wrong to trade tickets - that is not the subject of this piece – but what is clear is that tickets ARE traded like commodities. That is in part because there continues to be a consistent disparity between the market price of a ticket and the published face value at which it is first sold. Not all tickets are created equal, and over time the value of each ticket will vary - see a recent article by PRS for Music for a good review of the economics of ticket discounting - the “front rows” get traded while there are still seats available "at the back"

The internet has simply made it much easier to buy and sell most products, everything from iPods to insurance and all points in between. Tickets are no different and with arbitrage opportunity available the internet allows buyers and sellers to easily connect and transact at market price - leading to the creation of an additional layer of speculation - fans who buy more than they need, and professional brokers investing in buying tickets purely to resell - the cold harvesting of tickets.

The whole truth

The Dispatches investigation wanted to ensure that this programme was car-crash television of the highest order. In doing so they did not tell the whole story about many of the points that they covered.

1 - Fans learned that a significant proportion of tickets sold on ViaGoGo and Seatwave are not sourced from individual fans looking to sell tickets that can no longer be used - the notion of being exclusively fan-to-fan is a misnomer as many tickets come from brokers and box-offices. It is worth noting, as Dispatches failed to mention, that Seatwave states clearly on its website when tickets have been made available directly by the box office.

2 - We also heard that on some tours, ViaGoGo and Seatwave are provided tickets directly by the promoter to sell at the best price possible. The presumption was that tickets are always sold at astronomical prices above face-value. In reality, tickets are often sold on exchanges, or other discount channel sites at significantly below face value. The cold truth is that exchanges can provide access to a cohort of demonstrably price insensitive customers who are willing to pay a premium to acquire tickets closer to the event date.

3 - More surprising was the evidence that staff at ViaGoGo has purchased tickets from primary vendors such as Ticketmaster to resell using the company’s own “internal seller” accounts. There is a significant difference between market clearing price (which is generally considered a good thing economically) and an exchange making the market under false pretenses.

The public rage on twitter during the broadcast was aimed squarely at the exchanges and promoters, and assumed (as Dispatches suggested) that artists or their management are not aware that tickets are allocated to exchanges. Speaking to Pollstar reporter John Gammon following the broadcast, Live Nation’s Paul Latham stated that Live Nation has never allocated tickets without the knowledge and consent of the artists’ management. The Concert Promoters Association issued a statement to the effect that placing tickets into the secondary market reduces prices by increasing supply, and ensures that additional value is captured within the industry.

Dispatches also failed to mention that there are already mechanisms available that make ticket reselling more difficult should a tour choose to. These include paperless tickets that require the purchasing credit card to be present or photo-ticket schemes such as that used by Glastonbury festival. Removing speculators however exposes the tour to true demand, a point made eloquently earlier this week by Bob Lefsetz in his industry blog (www.lefsetz.com/) and this is not always good news for the artists or promoters.

The fans pay the bills

The wider impact of price sensitivity on the concert business must be considered for everyone competing for the same share of the fan wallet. Do fans who decide to not spend money on a ticket spend it on other concerts or other music entertainment products, or do they spend it on computer games or fashion or some other category? Do fans who spend high sums of money on concert tickets spend less at the venue on F&B or on merchandise? Will dynamic pricing be a reality and provide genuine real-time market pricing for concerts and would that be embraced by the industry and fans alike as a fair solution?

Ultimately in such a complex market there are a lot more questions than answers - while emotions clearly run high when discussing entertainment tickets, does it mean the government should legislate and introduce price regulation into efficient markets? After all, the face value is an arbitrary price that could have been set much higher or much lower. And anyhow, now that these markets exist, can the genie be put back in the bottle? Would it be helpful, and to whom? Dispatches successfully demonstrated that some fans care a lot about ticket pricing but that even more care about transparency.

Built in part on largely one-sided questioning designed to elicit highly emotional responses from disgruntled fans who chose to purchase tickets (and similarly grief stricken tales from disappointed fans who chose not to) the programme failed to make a balanced representation of issues affecting the ticket business. All the primary stakeholders in the concert industry that I speak to are concerned with how to get more fans, to habitually attend more shows, more often. That is the wider challenge that frames this debate.

--

Steve Machin (@stevemachin) runs Stormcrowd (@stormcrowd) - an entertainment consultancy specializing in ticketing and social commerce - www.stormcrowd.com/

Further reading:

Bob Lefsetz (@lefsetz) on ticket scalping

Pollstar review of Dispatches

PRS article on ticket discounting

PRS article on Secondary Market Analysis

Kobalt Artist and Label Services seeks a marketing manager

Kobalt Artist and Label Services is looking for an experienced Marketing Manager to work with its AWAL team based in London. The ideal candidate will have experience in social media marketing and a good general knowledge of the social web with the following specific skills:

· PPC advertising experience with a working knowledge of both Google Adwords and the Facebook Advertising Platform
· Competent knowledge of Photoshop/Fireworks or similar
· Well versed in the use of Topspin, Campaign Monitor, Mail Chimp, Soundcloud, StumbleUpon, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, RootMusic, and other similar sites and tools.
· HTML, PHP, Javascript and Flash knowledge are also a plus

Responsibilities will include managing social advertising campaigns across a number of platforms for multiple clients, assessing social media reach and implementing fan engagement campaigns, creating bespoke advertising assets for clients, setting up and administering direct-to-fan campaigns, co-ordinating with external marketing partners and agencies, and generating end of campaign reports.

If this sounds like a set of responsibilities you can handle, and you are looking to join the expanding Kobalt and AWAL teams, send your CV over to marketing@awal.com