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On The Record

Jim Carroll

Music, Life and everything else

Digital music

Record labels come up with innovative solution to industry woes: a website

Three of the four major music labels, Universal Music, Sony-BMG and Warner Music, have jumped into bed with MySpace to turn MySpace Music into “an one-stop source for all music, in all its various digital incarnations”. The odd ones out, …

Problem for the solution

It turned out to be a terrible week at MIDEM for would-be saviours of the music business Qtrax. The online start-up spent over £500,000 at the conference plugging their big idea to allow users to download more than 25 million …

Mix and earn

Mixaloo may be the 33,078th new music business model which On The Record has heard about in 2007, but it’s one which may make you, the music fan, some cash. Users browse Mixaloo’s catalogue of three million tracks to create …

Putting heart back into the Christmas chart

Hands up those who would like to see Tom Waits at Number One in the Irish charts on Christmas Day?

The heinous act of sharing Gloria Estefan tracks

Record labels are sure to applaud the jury that dished out a $222,000 fine to Minnesota woman Jammie Thomas for copyright infringements as a result of making music available to share on the Kazaa online network.

Wednesday is Radiohead’s web giveaway day

Radiohead’s decision to sell – or give away – their music directly to their fans via the web is the “music news story of the year”, according to one of many postings on the On The Record blog this week.

Marketing drive

As marketing gimmicks go, you have to admit that these Icky Thump USB drives from the White Stripes are kind of cute. There’s a Jack one and there’s a Meg one and each 512MB drive contains the band’s new album. …

The big picture

Rule number one, look at the big picture. OK, sorry, look for the big picture.