Comments on: Rumor Mill: Jay-Z to Launch a Label with Apple http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/ Covering Web 2.0 Trends on African-American Websites and in African-American Culture Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:53:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Ken Gibbs Jr http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-1027 Ken Gibbs Jr Tue, 08 Jan 2008 21:23:59 +0000 http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-1027 This was a nobrainer. I'd spoken with a lot of industry folks about how to do a new online model the right way and I always said it won't make a difference unless you have an a-list artist like Jay do it. The relationships mean nothing, they all know that things must change soon, they're just afraid of taking the risk. Jay's got nothing to lose and everything to gain. One more nail in the bootlegger's coffin. This was a nobrainer. I’d spoken with a lot of industry folks about how to do a new online model the right way and I always said it won’t make a difference unless you have an a-list artist like Jay do it. The relationships mean nothing, they all know that things must change soon, they’re just afraid of taking the risk. Jay’s got nothing to lose and everything to gain. One more nail in the bootlegger’s coffin.

]]> By: rawdawgbuffalo http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-902 rawdawgbuffalo Fri, 04 Jan 2008 18:43:54 +0000 http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-902 sounds smart to me sounds smart to me

]]> By: angela http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-879 angela Fri, 04 Jan 2008 00:28:48 +0000 http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-879 This was the first I had heard of this rumor but had a feeling something like this may have been happening when he stepped down in December. In an interview earlier this month with Billboard, Jay-Z said any decision about his future with Def Jam would not be "about money." It's really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that's flawed is not exciting for me." http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003688690 This was the first I had heard of this rumor but had a feeling something like this may have been happening when he stepped down in December.

In an interview earlier this month with Billboard, Jay-Z said any decision about his future with Def Jam would not be “about money.” It’s really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that’s flawed is not exciting for me.”

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003688690

]]> By: Lynne d Johnson http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-873 Lynne d Johnson Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:46:35 +0000 http://www.blackweb20.com/2008/01/03/rumor-mill-jay-z-to-launch-a-label-with-apple/#comment-873 Markus You beat me to this one. I was just about to post it after reading about this over at <a href="http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/01/03/on-the-renewed-apple-and-jay-z-record-label-rumors?bub" rel="nofollow">Ars Technica</a>, <a href="http://gizmodo.com/339781/the-old-music-industry-is-dead-apple-launching-record-label-with-jay+z" rel="nofollow">gizmodo</a> and the boygenius source that you have here. I find it interesting considering the <a href="http://www.lynnedjohnson.com/diary/jayz_vs_steve_jobs/" rel="nofollow">Apple iTunes store and Jay-Z didn't agree over how to sell his American Gangster album</a>. During my research for that post, I couldn't find anyone who could purchase the set off of iTunes unless they had preordered it. If Jay-Z is in the complete record-selling business, and Apple is in the singles business, not sure how this will fly. As a business model overall, I think it would be a great idea. The music industry needs a real disruptor, the independent efforts of artists such as Radiohead hasn't been enough. Most companies popping up to shake up the music industry still rely on the old model, they're just adding another leg to the distribution behemoth. This would be an entirely new business model, that others have tried but the brand or technology wasn't revolutionary enough to make a significant splash. Not sure how Apple could do this though without pissing off the entire industry and losing serious ground on its partnerships with the majors (though I predict that we'll see more M&A activity within the majors soon), especially with Amazon already getting access to a lot of DRM-free music. Markus

You beat me to this one. I was just about to post it after reading about this over at Ars Technica, gizmodo and the boygenius source that you have here.

I find it interesting considering the Apple iTunes store and Jay-Z didn’t agree over how to sell his American Gangster album. During my research for that post, I couldn’t find anyone who could purchase the set off of iTunes unless they had preordered it. If Jay-Z is in the complete record-selling business, and Apple is in the singles business, not sure how this will fly.

As a business model overall, I think it would be a great idea. The music industry needs a real disruptor, the independent efforts of artists such as Radiohead hasn’t been enough. Most companies popping up to shake up the music industry still rely on the old model, they’re just adding another leg to the distribution behemoth. This would be an entirely new business model, that others have tried but the brand or technology wasn’t revolutionary enough to make a significant splash.

Not sure how Apple could do this though without pissing off the entire industry and losing serious ground on its partnerships with the majors (though I predict that we’ll see more M&A activity within the majors soon), especially with Amazon already getting access to a lot of DRM-free music.

]]>