The update of V11’s website has inspired us to review some articles written over the past year and evaluate their relevance today. This post was originally published in March 2008, just after SXSW’s music conference.

Recording costs have never been lower for musicians. Still, a few thousand dollars will be difficult to handle for just about anyone, especially in these times. Some musicians have tried Fundable.com, where they ask fans to make donations for recording and touring efforts in exchange for free merchandise and perhaps a guaranteed local show or private show.

Just a thought, but has the potential to make money from recorded music diminished so much so that nothing like what was presented in this article could even be considered at this point?

Original Post:

There was a lot of talk at 2008’s South by Southwest Music Conference in Austin about how music label agreements were now being called “Branding Agreements” – the basic idea being that the physical distribution aspect of what a music label did in the past is no longer as necessary because of digital distribution, so their role is now being repackaged as a branding and marketing machine.

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Bands large and small are now using Twitter to help with fan interaction and promotion.  There are of course still many people in the music world who don’t know about Twitter or how to use it. Here are some helpful links to get you started!
Last year’s CNet article “Newbie’s Guide to Twitter” provides some basic [...]

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Our friends at Music Think Tank posted an intriguing idea the other day – offering your CDs at shows for whatever a fan will pay for them.  This is like last year’s approach of Radiohead with the digital release of their new album, but applied to the physical world.  Check out the examples they list [...]

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Hi Music People!
VolumeEleven.net has been redesigned to be a “morning paper” of music business news, top music business blog postings, and innovative company listings for the changing music industry.
No more having to look through all the feeds or websites of the various top music blogs and news sites!  The new Volume Eleven.net home page [...]

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There are reports of a Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger.  Billboard news does a nice job of summarizing the potential effects:
The two strategies of Live Nation and Ticketmaster Entertainment have been quite similar: vertical integration, direct connection between fans and artist, bundling of content and tickets, and harnessing of the secondary market and the revenues produced therein.
The [...]

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