Everything we know about tech we learned from Kraftwerk
At 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday there was no more coveted piece of New York City real estate than standing room in the Museum of Modern Art’s Marron Atrium. And so it shall be for the next seven nights as Kraftwerk, the German electronic outfit from the 1970s, plays to a scant crowd of about 450 lucky souls. That this quartet, which includes just one of its original members, can command a showcase like MoMA – and sell out in a drumbeat – provides a useful lesson into technology’s risk of obsolescence.
It would be easy to dismiss Kraftwerk as a relic from the dawn of the digital age and its ardent fans a weird cult in turtleneck sweaters and 3D glasses. But MoMA’s eight-night retrospective of the band helmed by Ralf Hutter provides surprising insight into why some innovations fade and others flourish. Ultimately, success in technology – as in art – is derived from the expression of big ideas, not simply a mastering of its circuitry. It is an example that businesses, too, can learn from.
Kraftwerk is best known for harnessing new gadgets, primarily synthesizers like the Minimoog, to create industrial rhythms and electronic drumbeats that broke new ground in pop music. Kraftwerk’s sounds have been copied, built upon and sampled by artists from Afrika Bambaataa to Pink Floyd to Jay-Z. Today’s auto-tuned pop stars owe a direct debt to the musical sequencing that Hutter and his former partner Florian Schneider pioneered at their Kling Klang Studios in Dusseldorf four decades ago.
Yet funky sounds alone fail to explain how Kraftwerk’s four musicians – looking more like engineers in Tron-era spandex suits – can rivet the attention of New York’s cultural elite for an entire week. That speaks more to the larger concepts embraced by Kraftwerk, chiefly the power of technology – specifically computing, transportation and communications – to transform human relationships and, particularly in the German context, erase the scars of a dark past with visions of a unified, harmonious Europe.
Take Tuesday’s performance of the 1974 breakthrough Autobahn. The song, with its signature electronically modified vocals, “wir fahr’n fahr’n fahr’n auf der Autobahn,” against a rhythm of padded drumbeats, is sonically unforgettable. But so, too, is the song’s message – enhanced at the MoMA by 3D screens looming behind the stage – of a peaceful Europe where new highways cut through green fields and the edifices of a modern industrial complex compete with church spires in the middle distance. Like the space-agey sounds emanating from Kraftwerk’s instruments of the era, the limited torque of a 1973 Mercedes diesel sedan might seem obsolete to us today. Yet the freedom of the open road remains an eternal longing.
Similarly, the electronic arrangements of 1977’s Trans Europe Express may sound old-fashioned to 2012 ears. But the song’s message, that modern transportation (in this case high-speed rail) offers the possibility of stitching together a continent that just a generation before was at war, is timeless and transcends the music.
Kraftwerk’s biggest ideas, of course, stem from the all-pervasiveness of digital culture in everyday life, best expressed in 1981’s Computer World. While it may sound quaint in the iPhone era, the song suggested that computing itself would change how man viewed “business, numbers, money, people,” and reshape “crime, travel, communication, entertainment.” Kraftwerk couldn’t have been more right on these matters.
Vevo relaunches with closer Facebook ties
Vevo, the music video company, has relaunched the popular site with a more personalized, social, long-play viewing experience getting closer and further away from that MTV experience at the same time. One of the big changes is that you can now only get the full benefits of Vevo with a Facebook login in, which allows you to create a personalized Facebook playlist and share the videos you’ve watched with your friends on Facebook.
Vevo was the second most watched online video service in the U.S. in January with more than 51.5 million unique visitors watching an average of 62 minutes of video that month according to comScore. It is also YouTube’s number 1 partner.
A reminder that Vevo is owned by Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group and the Abu Dhabi Media Company, It also features music videos from EMI and many independent labels but not Warner Music Group, the third largest label owner.
Vevo’s changes are going down similar routes as many other ambitious online services which believe they need to have a significant social presence to grow and keep users involved sharing detailed traffic data voluntarily and adding value for advertisers and other partners.
In some senses you could argue there are ‘no surprises’ from the MTV of the early 21st Century.
Here’s Vevo executive Michael Cerda talking through the changes on Vevo’s blog:
Facebook’s No. 1 music app raises $16 mln
RootMusic is not one of the better known names in the digital music business, but in just 18 months it has built the most popular music app on the world’s largest social networking platform, Facebook.
That service is called BandPage and allows artists’ to post their video, sell songs and promote their tours on Facebook.
Though this might seem like a service with a relatively low barrier to entry — it is free and up to the artists or their representatives to post their videos — RootMusic has done a quietly efficient job of achieving scale and now claims some 250,000 musicians using BandPage.
That scale has helped to raise $16 million in Series B funding to expand its service, the start-up said on Wednesday. It said the round was led by GGV Capital with new investor Northgate Capital and existing investor Mohr Davidow Ventures. GGV Partner Hany Nada is set to join the board that already includes Bill Ericson from Mohr Davidow.
RootMusic will undoubtedly feature on Facebook’s planned music service which is expected to launch later next month at the Facebook Developer Conference.
from Fan Fare:
Teen girl’s pop video mercilessly dissected by Internet masses
If you have trouble remembering the days of the week, a teen pop starlet named Rebecca Black has come to your rescue with an annoyingly catchy song that has quickly made her the hottest -- and most lampooned -- phenomenon on the Web. Black was a top-trending topic on Twitter on Tuesday, while her video for "Friday" racked up almost eight million page views in a matter of days.
The comments have been savage, ruthless dissections of the girl herself, her bubblegum pop song and the cheesy video. "Not joking. Worst lyrics I have ever heard. Ever. Yet so addictive," was one of the kinder critiques.
The fresh-faced youngster sings over and over in a nasally twang, "It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. Everybody's looking forward to the weekend ... Fun, fun, fun, fun. Looking forward to the weekend."
The lyrics were so powerful that Bob Dylan rushed out a cover version. Well, not Dylan, but somebody who sounds like him. Black evidently took diction lessons from the tireless troubadour, though, turning "Friday" into "fry-eee-day" or possibly just "fried eggs."
She goes educational, if grammatically awry, in the breakdown: "Yesterday was Thursday. Today it is Friday ... We, we, we so excited .. we're gonna have a ball today. Tomorrow is Saturday, and Sunday comes afterwards."
The video provoked much mirth. Why are underage kids riding in a convertible? Where are the seat belts? Why is a considerably older male African-American rapping about the excitement he feels when he drives past a school bus?
More to the point, who is Rebecca Black? According to her label, Los Angeles-based Ark Music Factory, she's a 13-year-old girl who loves to perform. Her credits include a patriotic performing group, a Puzzlecraft commercial and the lead role in her school's production of "Oklahoma!" She is clearly a Justin Bieber fan.
TodayInMusic: Warner goes up, up, up on news of race to sell…
Just 48 hours ago we pointed out how Warner Music Group shares had dropped some 11 percent as investors panicked over the extent of the downturn in the business’s fundamentals which were worse-than-expected in the all important Holiday quarter and management gave a gloomy prognosis. But this is big finance where focusing on fundamentals is for suckers…things turn around pretty quickly and Warner Music is back up.
The World’s No.3 music company crept back up just over 1 percent yesterday as some investors returned and today they’ve returned in their droves and pushed the shares up some 11 percent. Why? Well, they’re likely back because a story in the New York Post rolls out a list of names including many we knew/expected to be among 20 bidders for all or parts of Warner Music, home of acts like R.E.M and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
The Post makes the point, as we did earlier this month, that any hopes for a Warner Music sale kind of depend on what happens with EMI Music which was recently taken over Citigroup. The Post says Citi is ready for the London-based EMI sale sooner rather than later so a race is on.
Either way, management at Warner Music must be happy for now. This baby is likely to yo-yo one way or another on news of the sale process, real and imagined, for the next few weeks.
Watch this space.
Today In Music: Rhapsody’s added 100,000 new subscribers since April
Rhapsody, one of the pioneers of music subscription services, has added more than 100,000 net new subscribers since the company was restructured in April President Jon Irwin (pictured, left) told Reuters. This means they’ve overcome a long period of slow or no growth during which its two major owners Real Networks and MTV Networks tried to figure out what to do with the business amidst the usual issue of conflicting agendas in joint ventures.
As you may recall, last February both owners agreed to reduce their stakes by bringing in two major label owners Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment as minority holders and also offered warrants to Warner Music Group and EMI Group. The company actively became independent in April.
Now with those closer relationships with the music business but more importantly its expansion through mobile platforms like the iPhone and Google’s Android platform, business is growing. Irwin said Rhapsody has been adding as many customers as its key music subscription rivals have altogether– it now has around 750,000 subscribers. Last we heard a couple of years ago it was around 700,000-mark.
Rhapsody estimates there are around 1.5 million U.S. music subscribers giving it around half of the market. Last year Forrester Research forecast there were around 2.1 million music subscribers via the cloud in 2010.
Irwin puts the recent success down to its new independence allowing for quicker innovation and also a better relationship with the music business. He said the company is now focused on being the best music service available and, unlike in the past, labels now really get it.
“The labels are looking forward to what’s going to make their business grow as CDs sales continue to fall and download sales flatten,” said Irwin.
As well as mobile being a key driver of growth, Rhapsody is also in talks with cable television companies to bundle the Rhapsody music service with high speed Internet connections.
Today In Music: Q&A with Tim Westergren founder of Pandora
Q&A: Tim Westergren, Founder Pandora
Pandora is the leading Internet radio service in the United States with more than 75 million registered listeners claiming more than 50 percent of that market using its free service. It is one of the top five most download apps across smartphones and mobile platforms like iPhone, Android and BlackBerry according to Nielsen research with more than 50 million total mobile downloads.
It was launched on the Web in 2005 by Westergren and to date has raised more than $56.3 million through five rounds of funding according to TechCrunchwith backing from names like Greylock Partners, Hearst Interactive Media and Allen & Co.
Earlier this month sources told Reuters that Pandora has opened early conversations with bankers about a possible $100 million IPO . The company has declined to comment on any details of the potential offering.
Q: How is the business going right now?
Tim Westergren: Things are going great. We’re definitely at something of an inflection point, principally driven by the evolution of the connected system around us like cars and various consumer electronic devices. While they don’t individually represent big numbers relatives to computers and smartphones, just the fact those are becoming markets we can go after now is a very substantial change for us. It’s a big thing on our radar right now jumping on anytime anywhere distribution.
How does Pandora work in a car?
Today In Music: Sony Music boss invests in start-up, fuels exit speculation
Sony Music Entertainment Rolf Schmidt-Holtz’s personal investment in Hamburg-based entertainment technology company TeVeo has sparked off speculation that his departure is imminent — which it almost certainly is, but not necessarily because of his investment.
As is well known by now, Schmidt-Holtz is very likely to leave Sony Music on March 31st when his contract expires after five years on the hotseat. He will be a partner in TeVeo following an investment, which was cleared by Sony, and is believed to be around 10 percent. We’ve been told by a source that the investment and his likely departure in March are not linked.
So if he does leave what will that mean for Sony Music, still struggling to present a completely united front to the world since the 2004 merger between Sony Music and BMG Entertainment?
The name on everyone’s lips is Doug Morris (pictured, left) , the veteran chairman of Universal Music Group who has held early talks with Sony Corp chief executive Sir Howard Stringer. Other names we’ve heard include Rob Stringer, Sir Howard’s younger brother — which would be an awkward appointment to make for obvious reasons. Other names in the mix include Sony/ATV Music Publishing chief Marty Bandier and Sony USA CFO Rob Wiesenthal. See all the details here in our story from December.
(Photo: Reuters)
Today in Music: BMG keeps rebuilding publishing empire with Fuji deal
Bertelsmann’s BMG Music Rights has continued to expand by agreeing to a deal to manage the song catalogs of Fuji Entertainment America’s ARC Music, Six Palms Music and Third Story catalogs in a worldwide deal everywhere outside of Japan and South East Asia.
While this isn’t quite as committed a deal as buying a company’s catalog, it’s still an important way to continue to gain influence and power in the music publishing business. The German media company returned to music publishing in 2007 after a brief absence following the sale of its song publishing company to Universal Music Group in 2006.
Since being founded, BMG Music Rights has built up its catalog to more than 200,000 songs and recordings following acquisitions of catalogs like Crosstown Songs, Cherry Lane Music Publishing and Stage Three Music.
The joint venture company (between Bertelsmann and private equity firm KKR) is now seen as the likely buyer of EMI’s rich catalog of songs whenever, if ever, its owner Terra Firma finally puts EMI’s assets on the block.
ARC Music’s catalog includes works by blues and rock ‘n’ roll legends like Chuck Berry (“Johnny B. Goode”), Bo Diddley “Who Do You Love”, Howlin’ Wolf (“Smokestack Lightning”) and John Lee Hooker (“Boom Boom”), pictured left.
Six Palms’ catalog includes Tom Waits’ I Hope that I Don’t Fall In Love With You” and “Hey Joe” made popular by Jimi Hendrix.
(Photo: Reuters)
Today In Music: Spotify U.S. not imminent, “not even in Q1″
We hate to hit replay on this one but following New York Post’s story today that European streaming music service Spotify is close to a deal with Sony Music and thereby close to launch we decided to call a few people to confirm.
It appears there’s still some distance between Spotify and the big major labels my sources tell me.
“It’s not happening anytime soon, they may be close to getting deals done, but the labels are still not confident about their business model,” one person said.
Spotify’s model is simply to offer free streaming of music to millions of fans with the view to converting a decent proportion of them to paying customers for the customizable features. You’ve read this elsewhere of course and here that the labels expect Swedish founder Daniel Ek (pictured) and his team to provide a boatload of cash as a way to reduce their risk on doing a deal.
But our sources argue it’s not as simple as a “show me the money” scenario. The conversations have fixated on whether Spotify will ever be able to get its conversion rate above 10 percent since they claim even in its best European markets its around 6 to 7 percent on average.
Then there’s the fact that there are already a fair few streaming subscription services in the U.S. including MOG, Rhapsody, Pandora, Napster and Rdio among others which Spotify would be competing with — unlike back home in Europe where it is by far the market leader.
When you take all that into account the same person says: “It’s unlikely to be this quarter.”
