Pearl Jam goes digital for live bootleg series

Billboard: Pearl Jam will on September 1 launch its own digital download store via its official Web site...Hours after their completion, full concerts from the group's fall tour will be available for $9.99 as 192K MP3s, which are nearly 50% higher than the standard bit rate.
As with past incarnations of the bootlegs, which were initially available only on CD, the material will be mixed on the fly by longtime Pearl Jam engineer Brett Eliason. Eliason's company, Basecamp Productions, also developed the software to power the download store.

Network Live's First Multi-Platform Effort With Bon Jovi

HollywoodReporter: We missed this one earlier last week: Network Live, the AOL-XM-AEG joint venture headed by Kevin Wall, has announced its first multi-platform effort: On Sep.19, Bon Jovi's will perform his new album, "Have a Nice Day" at the AEG's brand new venue at the Nokia Theatre Times Square in New York, and the audience could choose to enjoy the program on AOL.com, via XM or by attending one of the high-definition and 5.1 surround sound simulcasts being held at more than 100 Regal, United Artists, Edwards, and Georgia Theatre Co. movie screens in 50 U.S. markets.
Related:
-- Network Live: AOL-AEG-XM's Joint Venture: Our Full Coverage

Points.com hands out MSN music as rewards

News.com: More in digital music as promo trends: Toronto-based Points International has teamed up with Microsoft's MSN to let customers swap bonus reward points for music downloads.

Ad Execs Rethink Music

Reuters: U.S. advertisers and their agencies are becoming talent scouts, music producers, programmers and promoters to reach the consumers who tune out from the world around them with iPods and other music players, eschewing ad-heavy radio.
Broadcasters are also reaching out to the iPod fan base. Radio Disney, part of Walt Disney Co., said last week it would sell downloads of songs on its playlist via iTunes, connecting its brand more closely to singers popular with kids.

Clear Channel, Yahoo Plan Concert-Promotion Deal

WSJ: Clear Channel is announcing a major marketing partnership with Yahoo...The Yahoo partnership will work by alerting fans who access music or videos by a particular artist to upcoming concerts by that performer in the fan's geographical area. A link within the alert will give the fan the option to buy tickets to the show.

MySpace Adds Content For A Song

Reuters/Hollywod Reporter: Online lifestyle community MySpace.com has expanded the kinds of exclusive content it offers its members. Among the new features unavailable elsewhere are a podcast by Foo Fighters and a personal blog maintained by Smashing Pumpkins founder Billy Corgan.
Other MySpace album debuts included Audioslave's chart-topping "Out of Exile" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Monkey Business"....

Music Promotion by Networking

Newsweek: Independent music groups are taking a leaf from the networking industry and staging "listening parties" for new albums similar to Tupperware parties. "Managers supply the host with promotional materials as well as order forms or directions on how to preorder from the band's Web site. The hosts not only get an advance look at the album, but for their trouble, "we swag them out," says David Derring, a manager for the Graham Colton Band (as heard on the WB's "Everwood"!). "We give them free CDs, T shirts, free tickets to concerts, that kind of thing. The kids love it." So the big difference is the hosts don't make any money off the parties, just receive promotional items.

It's a good way for bands to spread the word about their music in an age where the traditional promotional channels are being overrun by the record labels promoting formulaic bands. "If a hard-core fan will spread the word to their community of friends, that's better than radio or MTV or anything." (via Ringtonia.com)

Coldplay to use 'download' ads to push new album

DigitalBulletin: In Uk, Coldplay's new album, X&Y, is to be launched through an outdoor campaign using screens that can send tracks to people's mobile phones via Bluetooth technology.
The Bluecasting technology has not been used before for large-format outdoor advertising. It can measure the number of Bluetooth users downloading content.

Coke's Renewed Music Push

Just saw this banner ad for CokeMusic.com over at another site....Coca Cola is using Google AdWords for this push...
For now, it is trying to run off the mojo of American Idol, using it with some virtual Karaoke.
Would be interesting to see how far they take it...right now it is mainly a viral marketing tool...
In UK, of course, they have MyCokeMusic, a more formal effort, much like other music download sites, even though it is not doing too well over there...

New Single For Free

The Hollywood Reporter:EMI Music is using new methods to promote new singer Joss Stone, including giving away the new single "The Right Time" and having it feature in an ad for Gap. "The four-week campaign kicks off Thursday, when Gap.com begins offering Stone's recording as a free Windows Media format download in exchange for the consumer's e-mail address...Cingular subscribers will be offered a ringtone of Stone's recording for a two-week period of exclusivity through the wireless company's Cingular Sounds pre-release program."