INDUSTRY Vinyly the truth on streaming value?

As we aren't given a figure to compare vinyl revenues with, and the vinyl figure is the gross retail total, not the amount record companies gained (plus the ongoing industry lobbying against YouTube et al), I'm a little sceptical, but apparently...

 

See YouTube streams less lucrative than vinyl sales for UK labels, says BPI boss. 

 

Government hip to square deal of Indie promotion

More than a dozen independent UK music labels and songwriters have received £200,000 in government funding to promote up-and-coming artists abroad.
It is the latest round of funding made available through the £2.5m music export growth scheme, established two years ago by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) with the music industry body, the BPI, to help independent music companies make their mark in the US, Asia and Europe.

Read the full article: Thankyou Whitehall, goodnight – Indie labels win government grants.

FINANCE: pay to meet-and-greet stars at gigs

Read Michael Hann's article here.

This is either despicable exploitation or a sensible means of countering the reduced revenues from record sales: the trend for pop/rock acts to offer premium gig packages which include meet and greets amongst other things. Would you pay £215 to meet Avril Lavigne and have a photo taken 'with' her (standing apart with a clearly faked, fixed grin)? Clearly for a lot of folks the answer is mais oui, but she's just one of many plying this field:

On Kiss's forthcoming US tour, for example, you can pay $1,250 (£737) for a package that includes a seat in the first 10 rows, a meet-and-greet, a photo with the band, autographs from the band, sitting in on the sound check and a selection of merchandise. A similar package for Def Leppard, who are opening for Kiss, is $750 ($441). The lower the star power, the lower the price. For example, £159 will buy you the chance to meet Michael Bolton on his UK tour – and get the inevitable photographs and array of merch.