Cyber Music - #16 (Vol XXIV, 7/31/00-8/13/00)

XTREME VIDEOS: Nirve Inc. (http://www.nirvetv.com) is an extreme sports Internet site selling skateboards, snowboards, surfboards, wakeboards and BMX bikes. Besides the sales of these items they have built a site around music, extreme sports, movies and video games. Their "Basement Videos" (http://www.nirvetv.com/basement/) offer bands that have songs posted at MP3.com the chance to have an extreme sports music video created for them posted at nirvetv.com, creating more exposure for your band (with links on MP3.com to your video and from your video to your MP3.com page). Whether it is a live show, a rehearsal or a video you have already made, they will edit, digitize, encode and stream the footage you send them for free! Later, if you have footage of your own, they will put that in place of the sports video; if you donít have any of your own footage, then the sports video stays up as long as you want it. If you already have music posted at MP3.com, go to http://www.nirvetv.com/request.html and fill out the submission form. Check out the site and see what other artists including Lucky7, Saq, Scott Meldrum, Emily Richards and Paparoach have done.

GET INVESTORS ONLINE: Here's an idea that, if it works, could revolutionize the way musicians finance their projects and tours. Idealive (http://www.idealive.com) seeks out and screens independent musicians, bands, filmmakers and artists, then helps those it accepts find investors from outside the music/film industries to finance their work. The types of investment opportunities available range from musical productions and independent films to professional photography and theater. Idealive, seeking to tap into the incedible wealth created by online companies (with money to invest, but perhaps weary of the stock market) offers investors a central hub for a wide range of arts and entertainment investments, information resources, service providers, creative colleagues and fans. Investor Membership is open to accredited investors, as defined by Securities & Exchange Commission regulations, and offers the opportunity to view, and participate in, private equity investment opportunities in the arts and entertainment. The range of projects (including bands and solo artists), typically seeking $50,000 to $2,000,000 in financing, will be offered as private placement investments, with minimum investment amounts as low as $2,000 (pooling the investment funds to reach the required amount for each project). This could be an incedible business opportunity for independent artists seeking Œalternative¹ funding in order to avoid the burdensome financial and ownership provisions that established movie studios and record companies usually demand.

LOUDENERGY: loudENERGY.com enters the online music world with their "100% Profit Model and Record Producer Forum." The site offers both signed and unsigned artists 100% of the profit generated from their music sales. For signed artists, loudENERGY buys their CDs through etablished distributors approved by the artist's label, sells the product online, deducts they costs (shipping, credit card fees), then gives the remainder directly to the artist. This puts many artists in the position of actually making a couple of bucks per disc long before the recording has recouped any of their label's expenses. Current signed acts using their service include Brian Wilson, Social Distortion and Bad REligion (now that sounds like a hell of a party!). For unsigned acts, loudENERGYfocuses on building a community with continual and broad-based artist development. The company has signed a long list of name producers, including Andy Gill, Terry Brown, Mark Dearnley, Tom Werman and Danny Korchmar, and guarantee critiques (ranging from a couple of sentences to a one-to-one phone call ) to each of the first 1000 registered unsigned artists for atleast one of their songs from one of their producers. The reviews will not be posted unless the artist/band allows them to be, and the producers will also show up on chat sessions, message boards and Q & A sessions at the site.

AUDIOGUIDE: MP3.com has posted a number of audio guides on the music industry, aimed at artists and bands wanting more info on the music industry. On the page (http://www.mp3.com/audioguide/) are audio clips (read from prepared text) on topics ranging from "What is A&R," "How to Approach Record Companies," "How Many Songs Shouls I Submit," "How Do I Write a Press Release" and "What is a Barcode". Interestinly, all of the topics seem to relate to traditional music distribution channels (record stores, record labels, publishers, etc), and none relating to independent online music and distribution. The press release reads "The site is being hosted on MP3.com because of its successful integration with the independent music community and the continued growth of its relationships with major record companies," and perhaps part of that continued 'relationship' includes MP3.com getting with the music industry 'program'.

ANGELAUDIO: Angelaudio.com is an interactive online disribution service specializing in delivery on "secure" downloadable music files. In partnership with BellSouth Telecommunications, Angelaudio.com created an advertising campaign that was distributed to 3 million households in nine southern states, offering $10 "BellSouth Family Entertainment PAckege" coupons to those who subscribed to Angelaudio.com's services. The site allows listeners to preview and purchase standard audio CDs or downloadable files that are stores on youre hard drive. The files can be played at any time from your computer, or burned onto a CD-R "one time only." Participating label partners include Atlantic REcords, Nintendo, 4KIDS Entertainment and KOCH Records.

IT A CLINTON TRIP: MediaTrip.com relaunched with a new interactive community called "Show Off Your Own." The new area showcases the work of aspiring artists of all genres, offering them a tool to build their own web pages and be seen by the industry. Legendary artist/producer George Clinton has signed an exlusive deal to produce a demo album for one user. You can upload your music demos to the site and have the tracks heard by Clinton. At the end of six months George will select a group of artists with whom he will produce a demo album. Other opportunities include casting and music opportunities with Revolution Studios (with 7 pictures slated for production), as well as other TV and feature film comcepts in development. (perhaps we can get a photo of George Clinton for this peice - I know they like to get real photos of people in here one in a while)

BORN ON THE WEB CONTEST: The Ultimate Band list (www.UBL.com) and ARTISTdirect (www.artistdirect.com) are sponsoring nationwide unsigned band competition, Born on the Web (www.bornontheweb.com). Up for grabs are win $25,000 in cash, gear and promotion for your band. The Born on the Web compettition is designed to seek out talent and promote it, using MP3 sound files. The winner gets that $10,000 cash and prizes, gear and a chance to perform at the ARTISTdirect Online Music Awards this fall in Las Vegas. To enter, just submit a track (or two) at the site. There's no entry fee, and registration is quick and easy. There are five categories: Hip Hop/Urban, Pop, Rock, Electronic and Country.

AHOY THERE!: Artists Against Piracy (http://www.ArtistsAgainstPiracy.com) is an artist-driven coalition formed to give recording artists a voice in determining how their music is distributed on the Internet. Their list of artists who have added their names in support of the intellectual property rights issues championed by Metallica and Dr. Dre include Aimee Mann, Alanis Morissette, Art Alexakis, Barenaked Ladies, blink-182, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Christina Aguilera, DMX, Faith Hill, Filter, Fisher, Garth Brooks, Hanson, Herbie Hancock, Nanci Griffith, Primer 55, Saliva, Sarah McLachlan, Shelby Lynne, Sisqo, Vertical Horizon, and many more. AAP's goal is to create public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the value of music and to advocate artists’ choice in determining how their music is presented, distributed and marketed online. The organization is spearheaded by recording artist and Internet label executive Noah Stone.

INDIE R&B OPPORTUNITY: Producer Kenny Love has recently joined a new Houston-based record label. The label's capital funding is already budgeted at approximately $600,000, an amount rarely seen with new independent labels. They are currently seeking an artist in order to meet our initial release date of January, 2001. They are seeking an artist who has a completed studio recording which includes a mixdown to D.A.T., although it is not necessary to have gone as far as manufacturing compact discs in the process. This particular artist, which can be a "solo" or "group," male or female, should also contain the following attributes: