11 posts and columns on musicians

How Does Twitter Verify Celebrity Accounts?

in News on March 7, 2011 at 4:20 pm PT

While Twitter continues to give celebrities, athletes, musicians, actors and others a platform to directly connect with their fans, the social networking site remains tight-lipped about how it determines if those stars are really who they say they are.

Music Sharing Service SoundCloud Raises $10 Million From Index, Union Square

in Media on January 8, 2011 at 8:52 am PT

Music start-ups have been a money incinerator for a long time, but that doesn’t stop investors from trying again. Here’s the latest example, which I first wrote about back in October.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo on Platforms, Reliability and Independence at D@CES

in Media on January 7, 2011 at 4:49 pm PT

Twitter has crossed the threshold from Web novelty into something substantial. Now Dick Costolo’s job is to turn it into a business–one big enough to justify the sky-high valuation investors have given the messaging company.

Index, Union Square Like SoundCloud's Web-Based Tune

in Media on October 15, 2010 at 9:25 am PT

Here’s another bet on Web-based music: SoundCloud, a start-up that makes it easy to share streaming music, is about to land a funding round from high-profile investors.

Indie Radio God Nic Harcourt Gets a New Gig: Picking Videos for "The Live Buzz"

in Media on September 28, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

For a certain kind of music fan, Nic Harcourt is a rock star. But the former radio DJ hasn’t had a full-time job picking and playing music in two years. So here’s his new gig: Picking and playing music videos for a new site.

Can Chris DeWolfe's Mindjolt Find the Next Great Videogame Developers?

in News on July 23, 2010 at 8:09 am PT

As a co-founder of MySpace, Chris DeWolfe helped undiscovered musicians harness social networking on the Internet to find fans. Now he’s trying to do the same thing for undiscovered videogame developers.

Music Funding Start-Up May Have Run Out of Funding UPDATED

in Media on February 23, 2010 at 8:41 am PT

Sellaband, the Dutch start-up that was supposed to let bands raise money directly from their fans, may have run out money itself. Bad news for Chuck D and Flavor Flav.

Welcome to the Jungle! Guns N’ Roses Accused of Stealing Songs for Pirated Album.

in Media on October 6, 2009 at 9:12 am PT

Musicians accuse other musicians of stealing their work all the time and I have no idea if this case has more or less merit than any other one. But I couldn’t resist relaying this story: Guns N’ Roses, which made a point of stringing up people who pirated the band’s last album, is now being accused of pirating songs on its last album.
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D7 Video: Jon Miller and Owen Van Natta

in D7 on May 27, 2009 at 5:05 pm PT

News Corp. digital head Jon Miller and MySpace CEO Owen Van Natta join Walt and Kara onstage to discuss the challenges facing MySpace, and its need to innovate to overcome them.
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Surprise! Congress Helps the Britney Bailout Move Ahead.

in Media on May 13, 2009 at 3:09 pm PT

I’m still skeptical that “The Performance Rights Act,” which would require radio stations to pay musicians–or at least, music labels–whenever they play one of their recordings, will ever get through Congress. Not because it’s a bad idea, mind you, but because the music business seems like an unlikely candidate for Washington aid. The bill, however, did take one big step forward today.
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