News Corp. may be looking to sell MySpace, but social media’s role in the music industry just keeps growing

With the rumor mill almost on fire with news circulating that News Corp. may be on the lookout for a buyer for MySpace, it seems odd to think that such a successful corporation would look to get rid of a social networking Web site at a time when social media is really coming of age as a means of mass distribution for the music industry.

Just recently, Lady Gaga set a record for the number of overall views of an artist’s music videos on video-streaming service YouTube when her total exceeded 1 billion. To announce her reaction, she posted a message on Twitter that stated: “We reached 1 Billion views on YouTube little monsters! If we stick together we can do anything. I dub u kings and queens of YouTube! Unite!”.

Filed under: Crowdsourced, download, Music industry, Uncategorized, crowdsource, mp3, music, Music industry

Fan-funded companies continue to innovate, but is the sector’s bubble about to burst?

Fan-funding models are not receiving the headlines this year that they did in 2009. However, the sector is continuing to produce innovative business models all based on the concept of getting an artist’s followers to finance musical activities. But with the more-high-profile services showing signs of strain, this business model faces a testing time ahead.

The global financial crisis, coupled with pressures from online file sharing, has put more pressure on all recording companies to achieve a higher success rate when it comes to breaking new artists. Although unsigned artists have always found it difficult to attract investment, the current climate has intensified the difficulties associated with persuading a record company to provide financial backing. Still, the fan-funded model of backing an artist or band continues to result in innovative ways of funding music projects.

Filed under: Crowdsourced, Music industry, Uncategorized, crowdsource, fan funded, Internet, mp3, music, Music industry