WHITECROWE / blog.

Wired Magazine:

Willie Nelson has tossed the satellite dish off the back of his corn-powered tour bus in favor of a little box that fuses wireless data cards from a variety of networks into a single connection.

Which is to say Willie is on the net again, seeing things he may never see again.

Satellite connections can be made anywhere, but they are expensive and have strict usage caps. Network data cards offer all-you-can eat broadband plans, but any given company’s — AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and Sprint — doesn’t work everywhere. The solution? Use an array of network data cards from several companies. What Nelson has done is to tie four wireless USB cards into a Mushroom Networks PortaBella 141, which makes them into a single, fast and robust connection that can power a roving or remote network.

FROM POLLSTAR:

Live Nation has reportedly dumped Public Strategies, a public relations and lobbying firm it hired to manage its image as the U.S. Department of Justice continues to probe its proposed merger with Ticketmaster.

A Live Nation spokesman did not respond to a request for confirmation or comment at press time, but the National Journal reports that the two companies issued a statement saying they are committed to the completion of the merger.

“We believe this merger will build a more efficient and effective company moving forward,” the statement reportedly said. The companies have long said they expect the merger to be completed by year end.

It is often seen as a harbinger of bad news to come when a company dumps its lobbyist or high-stakes PR firm as the “end game” approaches.

Bloomberg
Radio station owners such as CBS Corp. would have to pay new fees to play music on the air under legislation just approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The measure would establish a royalty to be split between recording artists and labels. (Satellite and Internet radio already pay such fees.) Broadcasters making less than $50,000 can pay a flat annual fee of $100, and stations making less than $1.25 million can also pay a flat fee, per the proposal. Similar legislation passed the House Judiciary Committee in May.

Music labels, including Warner Music Group, Vivendi, and Sony Music Entertainment, say their artists deserve to be compensated for the value their songs bring to radio stations. However, broadcast companies including CBS, Clear Channel Communications, Cumulus Media and Citadel Broadcasting oppose the legislation, saying that radio play promotes music and should remain free.  Click for more here

What Competition Means To Our Industry At The Development Level

Competition is necessary for our industry – with the exception of a few sectors, the music industry is primarily service based. Which means, for the most part, clients come and they go (and sometimes they come back again) and you can’t feel bad about that. It can be a revolving door at this discovery level as artist’s find the team that is best for them.

Once and awhile, you might find a gem that stands the test of time, but at the development level especially, more times than not, the artist is just starting to think about how they want their business to be run and, for better or worse, they feel they need to explore their options. They all ask themselves: Maybe someone else can do it better? Maybe someone else has better connections? It’s human nature.

Approaching Music as a Small Business

So you’ve fallen in love with the idea of playing music and/or supporting music.

And even better, if you could, you’d spend the majority of your alloted “work hours” in this most temporary life, entertaining crowds, and speaking to the masses via songs, it would feel like an overall more rewarding life lived, period.

Or maybe it’s about publicizing shows, promoting shows, building a business out of art, supporting art, all of which is not only an art form of it’s own, it’s essential to music and it’s future.

Music represents something very essential to us as human beings, down to the very primal core of our nature. It’s necessary for our spiritual and intellectual well being.

It takes a creative and brave mind to go down this path, given the current state of the music industry. But do not be afraid. Where tragedy lies, solutions are also found. And this is the perfect time to rebuild our industry.

The Whitecrowe Project launches today, Wednesday, April 22, 2009, in hopes of finding our new path within the music industry. 

I originally moved to Austin, TX in late 2006, to open up a Fitzgerald Hartley Austin office, with the hopes of helping out a developing artist community. Since my arrival, I have yet to find a successful way to apply the existing method of management to this new landscape. We closed the Fitzgerald Hartley Austin office in Dec of 2008. 

Artist Management is a great position in some respects, as it allows you to see the whole system at work. And I’ve spent time studying all the facets to this industry and have worked hands on, in all areas of our business. Its true – you learn best by doing. 

During these tumultuous times in our industry, my thinking was to come to Austin, dissect the system and rebuild, utilizing technology. What better city to do it in, right?