This 20-something is getting old....

I realized today that when I graduated from college, the music industry was so very different. The crazy thing is, it hasn't really been that long. Looking at Berklee's Music Biz Newsletter I can see new courses being offered in the fall on how to run a technology based music business (thank you imeem, myspace, facebook, etc) which was never even thought of while I was attending.

The cool classes I took while in college were Concert and Tour Management and Website Design. The fact that students are now being taught how to not only incorporate social networking, but design, own and operate a social network is insane.

Next thing I'm going to hear is that a turntable is a real instrument with actual notation...

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Monday Run Down-Perez at SXSW, Surrge, Lady cries "It wasn't me!", and Major Labels keep trying...

• Last year when Perez Hilton showed up to SXSW he was a mere spectator. This year, with his new found power, he's a celebrity. Somebody shoot me...(Perez is a tool)
• Surrge, the hottest new brand in the business of online music, launches during South by Southwest this week. Ushering the music industry into the Web 2.0 world, Surrge is a social distribution network and music community that lets fans play a part in any given musical artist’s success. The Surrge experience is one where artists are promoted by their biggest fans; performance fees for music streams are finally paid; and access to target audiences pays off for fans and artists alike. By marrying social networking with music culture, the company is driving a new paradigm for music in the 21st Century. (Check it!)
• Tanya Andersen originally sued the Recording Industry Association of America after its representatives threatened to interrogate her young daughter if she didn't pay thousands of dollars for music that actually was downloaded by somebody else. Check out this lady's bogus claims here. I'm all for privacy and not letting government bodies investigate my life, but if someone was selling crack out of your living room, it really wouldn't matter if it was done by someone else if YOUR daughter was caught snorting it off the computer desk...while listening to illegally downloaded music of course.
• Major Labels considering ISP surcharge...(What's new?)

Friday Run Down-Music Subscription, Music Tax, has SXSW gone glam?

• Recording Industry calls for monetization without representation. This concept has been around for years now. Dave Kusek and Gerd Leonhard wrote The Future of Music and predicted this...though I still don't see it happening. (Check it)
• Industry looking to tax ISP's for piracy. (Bogus?)
• Has SXSW, the once "rebel" of festivals gone corporate and glam? And if so, is it a good thing? (Read more)