A2IM: American Association of Independent Music

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A2IM Congratulates Scott Borchetta of Big Machine Label Group, Daniel Glass of Glassnote and Martin Mills of Beggars Group for their well deserved inclusion in the 2013 Billboard Power 100. We additionally thank them for their Independent community leadership as all three of their labels participate on A2IM’s Board of Directors.

The 2013 Billboard Power 100 also highlights the key Music Associations and Trade Groups including A2IM.

See the full 2013 Billboard Power 100 HERE.

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Billboard’s Annual Women in Music issue is coming soon and they’re accepting nominations for consideration NOW.  All nominations must be submitted by Tuesday, August 28th.

To nominate yourself or one of our community’s woman leaders click HERE.

To read FAQ’s click HERE.

The A2IM community has a number of leaders that are women and we do hope to see them nominated and included in the Women in Music issue.

Posted in Events, Member Services, Members Only, Special Offers, Uncategorized by A2IM

With over 3,000 delegates, showcases by 290 artists and a conference program with 150 panels, keynote speakers, interviews and meetings, Eurosonic Noorderslag (Groningen, the Netherlands) is the key exchange and networking platform for European music, European artists, international music industry professionals and organizations.

Eurosonic Noorderslag presents a conference,the festivals Eurosonic and Noorderslag, and award shows such as the European Border Breakers Awards and the European Festival Awards.

Discounted registration rate for A2IM members
To attend Eurosonic Noorderslag as a conference delegate, you need to register

Posted in Member Services, News, Uncategorized by A2IM

Topspin + RCRD LBL = RCRD DEALS

Topspin + Downtown Record’s music discovery site & mighty newsletter, RCRD LBL, have kicked off a joint deals venture dubbed RCRD DEALS. Now in it’s 2nd week, RCRD DEALS have featured exclusive offers & discounts from Band of Horses, DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist with deals in the pipeline from Twin Shadow, Soundscreen Designs, Pop Montreal Festival and many more. Sign up for the mailing list on http://rcrddeals.com to keep up with each new deal kicking off every Thursday.

A2IM members who are interested in submitting exclusive and/or discounted merchandise & tickets (live experiences) for RCRD DEALS can contact Aric Phillips for more info.

www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/031711rcrd2

mashable.com/2011/05/05/rcrd-deals/

Posted in Events, Member Services, News, Uncategorized by A2IM

RECORD STORE DAY AND BLACK FRIDAY

As everyone who was involved last year knows, the indies’ Back To Black Friday push was a big success with customers lining up outside the store hours before opening.

The upfront “Black Friday” message will be that indie record stores will be celebrating with “limited edition/quality” products for the holiday season, while running exciting catalog campaigns at the store level.

Like RSD itself, the concept is to reverse conventional wisdom and use limited-edition quality products to drive folks in the stores, while selling through on catalog products once we get them in the doors. NOTE: We will not call this Record Store Day or imply that it is any type of event like Record Store Day. We are simply taking elements of RSD and applying it to Black Friday.

Here is the basic overview of the campaign…

RSD works with label partners to create between 16-20 VERY compelling total pieces of product that are exclusive to participating RSD stores for the Black Friday shopping season.

All partners (i.e., artists, labels, distribution companies, one-stops, and RSD participating stores, both here in the USA and internationally) are encouraged to run marketing, PR, and social networking campaigns about “limited edition, quality holiday gifts” for the Black Friday shopping season. This will happen on or around early-to-mid November.

Street date of RSD Black Friday Products: Friday, November 25th.

Here is a basic outline of what the RSD/Black Friday products should be…

1) Make the piece something special. Holiday pieces which contain holiday songs are encouraged when it makes sense for the project.

2) Create the right product, the right quantity, for the right artist. For example, if it’s a Susan Boyle, or Sade, or Christina Aguilera, or Alicia Keys piece, or Josh Groban – then release the limited/numbered piece on CD instead of vinyl. If it’s a Kings of Leon, Ozzy Osbourne, Band of Horses, Nicole Atkins piece, produce it on colored vinyl, or special packaging, instead of CD. In other words, the holiday aspect of the promotion should be followed through whenever possible. The quantity will be determined by the artist and the content. Ideally, each of these RSD/Black Friday pieces will be so compelling that we will need between 4000 and 7500 each.

3) All products should be of the highest quality, branded RSD, and numbered.

4) Just like the normal Record Store Day, each participating artist runs a social networking campaign for these special pieces via webpages, facebook, twitter, etc.

PRODUCTION TIMELINE

June 20th: Final discussion on RSD/Black Friday products, quantities, and catalog sales for the Black Friday weekend.

July 14th: RSD is presented with list of Black Friday titles that labels feel are compelling. These are top tier products (ex, like this year’s John Lennon limited/numbered Bag 7” set, Bruce Springsteen’s 10” limited/branded 10”, U2’s live limited/numbered 10” vinyl piece with a new unreleased track, the Rolling Stones’ limited/numbered 7” with unreleased track, etc.).

July 16th: RSD and each label/distribution partners narrow down choices to the 4 or 5 RSD/Black Friday products.

August 15th: All artwork is completed, and both high res and low res images are emailed to Carrie and Michael at Music Monitor Network. In addition, ideas for Black Friday catalog campaigns will be discussed.

September 9th: RSD/Black Friday products go into production, and spreadsheet for CD/DVD catalog titles included in the Black Friday catalog campaign are provided.

November 14th: RSD/Black Friday products ship to the participants.

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The call to action we sent to you all on September 23, 2010 has moved us forward to a Senate vote this Thursday, see below! If you have not yet written your legislators please do it now!!!

Bill Targeting Rogue Pirate Sites up for Vote Thursday

Make your voice heard today!

Dear Copyright Advocates,

As promised, we seek to keep you updated with news from Capitol Hill that affects your rights as an artist or creator. Read on to find out more about a new bill that is targeting rogue pirate sites. And take this opportunity to make your voice heard!

On Thursday, September 30th, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on legislation that will target web sites that profit from infringing music, movies, books, images, software, and other creative works. These websites don’t give a dime to artists. The legislation is called ”Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” or S-3804. It is sponsored by 16 Democratic and Republican senators and its chief sponsor is Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Our online world is now polluted with professional, legitimate-seeming sites that offer a wide array of artistic works for free and are supported by ads sold on the sites. Sometimes these sites even charge subscription fees for access to creative works. NOT A DIME OF THAT MONEY ever reaches the artists who create the work, such as an independent filmmaker we blogged about recently or another independent filmmaker profiled today in The Los Angeles Times. These sites profit from theft, pure and simple.

The legislation would encourage online ad brokers, online payment processors (such as credit card companies) and ISPs to cut off the income flow that feeds this piracy. As comic book author and illustrator Colleen Doran said in her Creators Across America video, “These sites wouldn’t be around if not for the dough.”

A growing number of artists are banding together to support this legislation. Colleen has used her blog to promote the legislation (here and here). In addition, a coalition of artists has put together an online petition you can use to let your elected representatives know how important it is to keep rogue web sites from profiting from your work. As the petition notes: “The theft of copyrighted works like photography, music, movies, books, software and games is a devastating problem… This rampant theft inhibits the ability of American businesses to invest and innovate — and stifles the capacity of American artists and creators to earn a living, support their families, and invest in their own creative development.”

You might also want to let Senator Leahy know you appreciate the hard work he and his colleagues are doing on behalf of artists.

We’ll keep all of you informed as this legislative effort continues.

Best,

Lucinda Dugger

Director of Outreach