DoclerMusic Combines Music Concerts and Lessons On New Livestreaming Platform

DoclerMusic Combines Music Concerts and Lessons On New Livestreaming Platform

DoclerMusic is a new livestreaming and fan interaction platform for musicians. The basic service is free for artists and viewers with tipping plus fees for private concerts and lessons. The initial range of interactions supported by DoclerMusic suggest that it has the potential to become a key tool for DIY artists. DoclerMusic officially launched late last month after a summer long beta period so go check them out and tell us what you think!

DoclerMusic looks like a potentially strong tool for indie musicians. The basic entry price of free reduces initial friction with various ways to monetize available including tipping as well as paid private lessons and concerts.



Live Music Streaming With DoclerMusic.com

Here's an infographic showing how DoclerMusic works.

Direct communication between artist and fans is possible, for example, texting is an option. But voice communication is also possible in private concerts and lessons.

I think combining live shows and music lessons is a strong move and creates the potential for DoclerMusic to become an important platform for artist communication with fans.

You can compare DoclerMusic, from their perspective, to other livestreaming options.

My only concern at this stage may seem somewhat small but I think is really important for musicians on the web these days. Profiles do seem to have links to other accounts but they're not live.

In addition, the Artist Terms include:

"Advertising other websites (youtube.com, justintv.com and cobrands, ustream.com, dailymotion.com, metacafe.com, vimeo.com etc.) or services is strictly prohibited, unless expressly allowed by Website Operator in this Services Agreement."

I'm not sure how far that prohibition goes and I understand competitive issues but it's really important that artists have clickable links to whatever site is important to them in their profiles, which will likely include YouTube.


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Pepsi Sponsors Downloads From Yala, World's Largest Arabic Music Service

Pepsi Sponsors Downloads From Yala, World's Largest Arabic Music Service

Yala Music is a unique hybrid music service featuring Arabic music. Though developed for the Middle East and North Africa, Yala's listenership has grown most strongly in the U.S. Yala offers streaming options but is currently focused on ad-supported downloads with Pepsi as their first sponsor. In addition, Yala offers services to artists including management of YouTube channels and Facebook pages.
I spoke yesterday with Camille Moussard of Yala Music, who is now based in France but previously worked in New York at The Orchard before becoming Yala's U.S. country manager. She is now focusing on other projects and so was able to give me an overview of the company as well as a number of interesting details regarding their unique operation.
Yala's Development Based on Listening Habits of MENA Region

Yala was founded in 2010 by CEO Patrick Chassany who began signing licensing deals with Arabic music labels and artists. Moussard informed me that they now have deals with all the major Arabic labels and around 450 agreements with independent artists. Yala has worldwide rights for these labels which has made them the world's largest Arabic music service.
Yala's focus began with the Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) and the company has developed in relationship to listening habits there. Typically internet and mobile access are inconsistent and online payments are not an established practice so music tends to be owned and is widely pirated. Though they do offer ad-supported streaming and are developing a premium product, they're making big strides with ad-supported downloads.
Pepsi is Sponsoring Downloads

Yala's first sponsor is Pepsi and, in late January, they began offering DRM-free MP3 downloads after watching a Pepsi video ad. This allows for offline listening via desktop or mobile. Yala provides a variety of apps for mobile phones, tablets and desktop.
They're also addressing the issue of web piracy by reaching out to sites affected by Google's plans to cut off advertising in the hopes of encouraging them to link to legal music via Yala. So far they haven't had any takers but this effort is in its infancy as are Google's stated plans.
Despite their focus on MENA, Yala's largest user base is in the U.S. among its sizable population of Arabic music listeners. At the same time, they've signed deals with such companies as EMI, The Orchard and Warner for the MENA region to provide other forms of music. Though iTunes and Deezer are entering the territory, Yala's in a strong position there both as an early entrant and as a culturally attuned company.
Yala Also Offers Services to Artists

Yala is a unique music service in other ways as well with direct relationships with and services for artists and managers. In particular, though they do have a YouTube channel, they've been focusing on managing Arabic artists' channels. They basically take care of centralizing artist assets on their channels and helping them build their YouTube following.
Yala also has a presence on Facebook and manage some artists' Facebook pages as well. These often include the Yala music player featuring the individual artist's music.
Yala's Hybrid of Music Service and Services to Artists Worth Watching

Yala Music is an impressive hybrid, one made possible by direct licensing with a focus on a huge segment of music and an underserved market. Their development of alternatives to piracy is notable as is their approach to building with an understanding of user listening habits.
The combination of music service and services to artists is especially interesting. The overall picture that emerges is of a company well worth watching.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch/@crowdfundingm) also blogs at All World Dance: Videos and maintains Music Biz Blogs. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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Twitch Debuts Live Streaming Music Concerts, Twitch Broadcasters Can Play Host

Twitch Debuts Live Streaming Music Concerts, Twitch Broadcasters Can Play Host

Twitch is an odd seeming thing, a platform primarily for live streaming video gameplay, that is incredibly popular. Since at least May various reports have it that Google is buying them. So far it's only been confirmed by "sources" and it's hard to say what that would really mean for Twitch. But there are lots of people watching Twitch and though there is music on the site in various forms, yesterday they supported their first official livestreamed concert featuring dj Steve Aoki.
Twitch is a true phenomenon with:
"more than 50 million monthly active users"
"more than 1.1 million members who broadcast videos each month"
"more than 13 billion minutes of video are watched per month on Twitch"
"in March, Twitch represented 1.35 percent of all Internet traffic"
So Twitch is doing great as it is but they say they "surveyed the Twitch community" and that a full 80% answered yes to the question:
“Would you be interested in watching your favorite artists perform live on Twitch?”
Apparently the music industry is quite aware of the promotional potential of live streamed concerts on Twitch:
"Some friends in the music industry have been interested in sharing free live concerts on Twitch for some time."
And to further integrate such shows, beginning with yesterday's stream of Aoki's Playhouse from Ibiza, Twitch now has Host Mode:
"Imagine you’re done broadcasting for the day, and about to go offline. Rather than just signing off, Engage Host Mode! Your chatroom remains entirely the same, but your video player is replaced with an embedded version of whichever channel’s stream you decide to host. Now you and your chat community can continue to hang out even after you’ve gone offline."
For an artist like Steve Aoki Twitch is offering a great tool for promoting his new album, "Neon Future." In fact, given that this is the first show on his Twitch channel, the stats of 529,980 views and 17,778 followers should be essentially for the show.
Keep in mind that Twitch has a Partner Program that includes monetization so Twitch's potential power for music goes beyond promotion alone.
There are also issues with unlicensed music playing during video gameplay cause people listen to music while they play games. So if Google has bought them, we're looking at many of the same problems and possibilities raised by YouTube but on a livestreaming platform.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) also blogs at DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.




Location:Rohrerstown Rd,Lancaster,United States

Jimmy Chamberlin: From Smashing Pumpkins Drummer To Music Tech CEO

Jimmy Chamberlin: From Smashing Pumpkins Drummer To Music Tech CEO

PandoDaily's David Holmes tells the story of Jimmy Chamberlin's transformation from Smashing Pumpkins drummer to tech startup CEO. Chamberlin says he found the same energy in today's startup scene as he did in 90s indie rock. Chamberlin was getting into tech investing when he found out about LiveOne. After a stint as Director of Partnerships for LiveOne he became CEO.

LiveOne is the parent company of livestreaming social media application CrowdSurfing. LiveOne and CrowdSurfing have mostly stayed behind the scenes from what I can tell.

LiveOne describes their CrowdSurfing application as:

"an easily integrated addition to real-time video or audio content. CrowdSurfing instantly transforms a static web page into a customizable, real-time social network that complements and enhances any content with any video player on any device."

So it's been more about the event and the names supporting the event than about promoting CrowdSurfing's brand.

LiveOne CEO Jimmy Chamberlin, renowned drummer for The Smashing Pumpkins, told PandoDaily that CrowdSurfing has increased engagement with livestreamed events.

Chamberlin explains that he connected with LiveOne via the Chicago tech scene where he got to know the Groupon team. He found out about CrowdSurfing and LiveOne through meetings related to his tech investment activities. In 2012 he joined LiveOne as Director of Partnerships and later became CEO.

LiveOne and CrowdSurfing don't just focus on music, they're interested in livestreamed events of all sorts. But use by musicians is one that has yet to reveal the promise one sees with sports.

Combined with today's news from Samsung about Gear VR and Vevo streaming, CrowdSurfing's approach suggests that we may soon be seeing more of the potential of livestreaming music.


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The Streaming Effect: The Landscape May Be Gloomier Than Pictured

The Streaming Effect: The Landscape May Be Gloomier Than Pictured

"The Streaming Effect: Assessing The Impact Of Streaming Music Behaviour" is a new report from MIDiA Research focused on the music market's reaction to streaming music options and the effects of listeners' choices on music sales. Listeners have an array of easy free choices, described in the report as a "hierarchy of free," from which to choose. So, though there may be many more listeners left to make the transition to streaming, that transition continues to be difficult. In fact, it may well be that free ad-supported options rule the day establishing a much lower and more turbulent source of core revenue for recorded music.

MIDiA Research's Mark Mulligan and Alun Simpson coauthored "The Streaming Effect: Assessing The Impact Of Streaming Music Behaviour." They provided Hypebot with a copy to use for this post.

They address key findings in a blog post and note that the "shape of the digital music landscape is changing, but the nature of its impact on the broader music market is not straight forward."

They emphasize that "streaming consumers are buying fewer albums" but that there is "potential for more growth" though there are threats to revenue growth.

The general tone of the blog post and the report itself is one of hopeful pragmatism. The landscape has changed but now we have a sense of where we stand. There will be losses ahead but we can anticipate where that's going.

"Free streaming is where the heat is but not the revenue." [p. 6]

But the larger report touches on my biggest concern about where all this is going with more discussion of free and ad-supported options for streamers. As they note in the report, ad-supported free alternatives to piracy make a lot less per user than do subscription services. And "free streaming is where the heat is."

They also point out that emerging markets could actually grow paid downloads given that they face spotty mobile streaming options. But as we've seen with Yala Music and Amplify.ph, free ad-supported downloads may be a better fit.

Note that ad-supported piracy is also competing for advertising.

Keep in mind that music downloads are also being used for marketing and customer loyalty by a growing range of big brands.

In fact, it looks like the future of digital music could arguably be more about ad-supported and branded content than paid subscriptions. And the winner of that game may well be YouTube.

As Mulligan and Simpson put it [p. 10]:

"The stand out issue is what degree of the remaining 71% of streaming music consumers are likely to become paid users. Free versions of products will always out perform paid ones, that is an inherent part of the model. The challenge arises when the free alternatives offer so much value there is not enough reason for many of the key premium targets to start paying for the premium offerings. Such is the case with streaming music."

"While Spotify et al are clearly compelling propositions, YouTube is an even more compelling one, with an unsurpassed catalogue, video, lyrics, social and countless other benefits, for free on every smartphone and tablet. YouTube quite simply sucks too much of the oxygen out of the competitive marketplace for premium services to compete effectively. Add in the fact that they are compelled to go to market with price points that only appeal to a niche of users and you have the makings of a perfect storm."

Full steam ahead!


Location:Rohrerstown Rd,Lancaster,United States

All Ages All Gone As Festivals Add Age Restrictions

All Ages All Gone As Festivals Add Age Restrictions The organizers for the Ultra Music Festival have announced that Miami festival will no longer be an all-ages event. In a news release posted on the festival's website, organizers said that the festival, slated for March 27, 28 and 29 2015, will only allow those aged 18 years and older to attend. The festival had previously been open to all ages since it launched in 1999. Other festivals are reportedly considering similar restrictions. “While we sincerely value the incredible ongoing support from our younger fans, we ultimately believe that Ultra Music Festival is a premium event geared towards adults. This decision has been made to reinforce and promote the safety of all Ultra Music Festival fans and to ensure the overall enjoyment of all future attendees. We are extremely grateful for all the support we have received from our younger fan base to date, and we encourage them to attend the festival once they reach the appropriate age. Until then, our free YouTube stream, ‘ULTRA LIVE’ is available worldwide for everyone, all ages to enjoy and to share in the Ultra experience.” The changes for the festival come in the wake of last year's Ultra, which was plagued by a number of incidents, including the trampling of a 21-year-old security guard was fat after a crowd toppled a chain link fence, leaving the guard with a fractured skull and a broken leg. Another man was found unresponsive in a car after attending the event. The man subsequently died, with the county medical examiner ruling the death an overdose. Earlier this year Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado launched an investigation of the festival and unsuccessfully pushed the city council to deny permits for the festival in 2015. However, festival organizers worked to allay concerns with improved safety measures, including the hiring of Ray Martinez, the recently retired Miami Beach Police Chief as their security director. Following the announced changes, Mayor Regaldo reiterated his objection to the festival taking place in downtown Miami, but according to the Miami Herald, praised organizers for the new age limit. “I think that it’s the best decision they could have ever made,” Regaldo told the Herald. “That was one of the main issues, the concern for minors. And I think it would be a much better festival now.” - via Celebrity Access

Screenburn Helps The Rolling Stones Rent Movies To Their Facebook Fans

Screenburn Helps The Rolling Stones Rent Movies To Their Facebook Fans

Today The Rolling Stones and Eagle Rock Entertainment revealed their choice of Screenburn to bring rental movies to Facebook. The Stones are making 6 documentaries available from "Ladies & Gentlemen...The Rolling Stones" to "Stones in Exile." Movies will be streamed via a Facebook app created by Screenburn. Each title rents for $5.50 for 48 hours.

London-based Screenburn offers both sales and rental of video on Facebook. The Stones aren't their first clients by any means. They've been supporting a wide range of Facebook video releases from artists such as The Libertines, Paul McCartney and Katy Perry.

The Rolling Stones rentals are available through a Facebook app.

Movies are displayed in a slider that includes video previews. Once you pick one for viewing, you're signed into the app and then taken to checkout all while still on Facebook.

While Screenburn also offers sales, rentals seem more in keeping with the current direction of web consumption while also opening up revenue for movies some folks may not want to own but might want to see.

Rolling Stones movies available on Facebook include:

Sweet Summer Sun Hyde Park Live:
"The Rolling Stones historic and triumphant return to Hyde Park was without doubt the event of last summer. Over 100,000 delirious fans of all ages packed into the park for two spectacular outdoor concerts to watch Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Ronnie Wood do what they do best."

Crossfire Hurricane:
"The film, directed by Brett Morgen, is released as part of the ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations of The Rolling Stones. This superb new film tells the story of the Stones unparalleled journey from blues obsessed teenagers in the early sixties to their undisputed status as rock royalty."

Ladies & Gentlemen:
"The legendary concert film “Ladies & Gentlemen…The Rolling Stones” has been fully restored and remastered from the original film print and multitrack audio masters and now finally receives its first authorised release."

Some Girls:
"The Rolling Stones 1978 tour of the USA in support of that year’s “Some Girls” album is considered by fans to be one of their very best. The tour followed immediately on the release of the “Some Girls” album and by the time the band arrived in Texas in mid-July the album had hit the No.1 spot on the US charts."

Stones in Exile:
"In the spring of 1971 the Rolling Stones departed the UK to take up residence in France as tax exiles. Keith Richards settled at a villa called Nellcôte in Villefranche-sur-Mer and this became the venue for the recording of much of the band’s masterpiece “Exile On Main Street”."

Live at the Checkerboard:
"On 22 November 1981, in the middle of their mammoth American tour, the Rolling Stones arrived in Chicago prior to playing 3 nights at the Rosemont Horizon. Long influenced by the Chicago blues, the band paid a visit to Muddy Waters’ club the Checkerboard Lounge to see the legendary bluesman perform."

More:

Screenburn's $500k Angel Investment To Grow Streaming Music Film Rentals On Facebook
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxr

Location:Rohrerstown Rd,Lancaster,United States