Reports are a brewin’ about a new “social network” called Google Me after a tweet was posted by Digg’s Kevin Rose. That’s right, Facebook, you allegedly have a competitor being released into the social media realm soon.
It brings me to ask questions about the upcoming social network…
Will it be artist friendly? Is there going to be a music player for bands and artists? Are they going to take aspects of Myspace to help the cause?
Choice may already be disappearing for online music distribution.
Are these gadgets deciding the fate of the music industry?
Sometimes all the little bits of news happening over the course of a week seem unrelated, but taken together, they form an interesting picture of what’s going on in the world.
Take, for example, two seemingly unrelated bits of music news, both of which, on the surface, seem to have little to do with the burgeoning independent music movement.
Item #1
Reuters posts a news story about the “music business” (whatever that is) needing Eminem’s new album, Recovery, to be incredibly successful. The gist of the article is that music sales have dropped so dramatically over the last decade that the industry is at the point where it needs a huge smash hit to pull it away from the brink of collapse.
Item #2
Buzz is again floating to the surface around the launch of a Google music service. Google, word has it, is planning on opening a digital music store which will be linked directly to search results. Google a band name, and you will be given the option to buy.