FCC Says Comcast Illegally Interfered With Web File-Sharing Traffic
A majority of the Federal Communications Commission has concluded that cable operator Comcast unlawfully disrupted the transfer of certain digital video files, affirming the government’s right to regulate how Internet companies manage Web traffic.
Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post read more

Jenny discusses copyright, future technologies, webcasting and the importance of the gray areas.

"When we started, the real question was how do you use the Internet not to just build the new music digital services, but also to inform artists and to connect them so they can be a force to demand better structures for themselves." — Jenny Toomey of The Future of Music Coalition, The Well-Rounded Radio Interview.

Why Mainstream Can Kill
Last week Starbucks announced that it was leaving the music business. Sales have been shockingly low: one journalist calculated that they add up to about two CDs per store, per day. Why did this fail so spectacularly? Paul Resnikoff argues that the Paul McCartney-and-Alicia Keyes combination was too mainstream to be interesting to consumers. Starbucks was more effective when they highlighted talented but unknown artists. He compares that model to music in the video game industry, which prides itself on being cutting edge.
Digital Music News, April 24th read more

A little while ago, we posted a recap of FMC’s adventures at this year’s South By Southwest. You may recall us mentioning a panel called “Mobility, Ubiquity and Monetizing Music,” which was moderated by FMC Board member Bryan Calhoun and featured advisory board members Jim Griffin, Peter Jenner and Sandy Pearlman, as well as entertainment attorney Dina LaPolt and Eric Garland, founder of BigChampagne. read more

We usually post these on Friday afternoons. So we’re either late or early, depending on how you think about it…

Can 1,000 fans replace the music business?
Kevin Kelly thinks so. He argues that a musician can make a perfectly good living with just $1,000 “True Fans” who are truly dedicated. He assumes that each is willing to spend $100 a year, netting the artist a nifty upper-middle class salary even without being immensely popular. And “Lesser Fans” who will pay out less still add to the income.
Kevin Kelly, The Technium read more