BeatSlacker

Gonna have to try this out and keep an eye on it. I’ve been waiting for just this sort of platform for the “1000 true fans” model…

DigABand, which just launched in private beta, is hoping to help independent artists manage their online presence easily and through and single platform.

DigABand Empowers Independent Musicians To Boost Their Online Presence

In the “no duh!” file…

This Ars Technica coverage of a new Forrester report states what seems to me to be stupendously obvious:

“The music industry needs a “radical overhaul” to its products if it wants to revive sales, and that overhaul revolves around actually catering to consumer needs. That’s the argument in a new report from market research firm Forrester, which says that the music business needs to give up being obsessed with itself in favor of letting users create their own music experiences with ease. “

And here’s the clincher:

Needless to say, doing all of this involves the true death of DRM as we know it—or, as Forrester says, a makeover of DRM. Instead of keeping users from doing things like mixing and sharing, it should “primarily be an enabler of the consumer experiences, creative processes, and sharing.”

Forrester Article: “Music biz needs radical overhaul to thrive”