RESOURCE SITE FOR MUSICIANS
Musicians looking to find just about anything about the music industry can now access this information at a click of a mouse. Musician.com offers a broad range of industry and career development services for the sole purpose of providing musicians with knowledge to create, manufacture and market their music. Founded by music professionals from Guitar Center, Guitar.com and MusicianFirst, the site connects musicians on- and off-line with leading music industry executives, artists, managers, producers and many others.

“We cover all sides of the music business,” said Robert Smith, co-president and COO of the site. “Record companies can’t provide A&R as it used to, and we provide that access to musicians. They can come to the site from any vantage point and get whatever they want. We are providing the tools, resources and expertise to further benefit musicians.”

Smith said that the site will be working with Rocket Network, where musicians can lease studios through the Musician.com site, record their work, and store and transfer files.

For more information, check out www.musician.com.

MP3.COM REVIVED
After shelling out a record $170 million in court-ordered payments to record labels, MP3.com announced plans to resuscitate the My.MP3.com service.

After negotiating licensing plans with the five major record labels, MP3.com can now reopen the service to its broad clientele. The revamped My.MP3.com service will charge users $49.95 a year to access a nearly unlimited number of CDs that users can store in a virtual locker. Users must prove that they own the CD by either inserting the CD into the CD-ROM drive of their computer or buying it from an online retailer that has agreed to connect with MP3.com.

Under this payment structure, MP3.com will sell the data it compiles on the user’s musical tastes to advertisers.
According to Robin Richards, president and CEO of MP3.com, “We believe that the service will stimulate CD sales and generate enthusiastic activity from our users.”

Despite the effort, Emusic.com Inc. and its independent label partners have filed a copyright infringement complaint against MP3.com in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The suit claims that MP3.com continues to illegally distribute unlicensed music.

NAPSTER ADDS TO ITS ROSTER
edel Music AG, an independent music label, agreed to cooperate with Napster and its new membership-based business model. Under the agreement, edel will allow its master recordings and musical compositions to be used in the file-sharing service.

Michael Haentjes, edel’s CEO, said, “We welcome Napster’s commitment to protect the interests of artists, songwriters and other rightsholders, and we will support any activity that provides for fair compensation for everyone involved.”

Artists currently on edel’s roster include Ayla, Funkstar DeLuxe, Jennifer Paige, Roxette and SupaKings.

Reprinted with permission from Magazine, January, 2001
© 2000, Intertec Publishing, A Primedia Company All Rights Reserved