Hoping to boost revenue, MySpace Music has begun experimenting with audio advertisements that users must hear if they want to listen to music for free online. The 30-second ads began appearing last week when users listen to songs on artist profiles, album pages, playlists and pop-out players. They expand on a trial that began in December.

The ads are impossible to avoid, unlike the visual, banner ads that can be put out of sight in background windows as users listen along while doing other Web surfing or computer work. But the audio ads are timed so that a user can listen to up to 100 songs on a playlist or to a full album with just a single interruption after the first song.

The oral pitches make online listening more like over-the-air radio, although online listeners can choose which songs they hear.

MySpace Music, a joint venture between major recording companies and News Corp., wants to boost the frequency of such ads this month before settling on how often they’ll be running. Other online music sites such as Pandora and Yahoo Music already run similar audio ads.

“We’re testing some new ad products and the response from our users has been positive,” MySpace Music said in a statement. “As always, we are interested in hearing feedback from our users and advertising community as we run these tests.”

Some early advertisers include TurboTax and Office Depot. The ads are sold by online audio ad company TargetSpot Inc.

News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said last week that MySpace’s turnaround is “not yet where we want it.” The company said its digital properties, including MySpace, experienced a fourth consecutive quarter of falling ad and search revenue.

MySpace is being overhauled by Owen Van Natta, a former Facebook executive who joined the company last April as its CEO. Once a leading social-networking site, MySpace has lost market share to Facebook and others. Last year, MySpace cut about 720 jobs, reducing its work force by about 40 percent.

Universal Music Publishing Group’s global chairman and CEO David Renzer is warning 2010 could be the most challenging year yet for music publishers, but is optimistic his company will grow its revenues. Renzer says UMPG, the world’s biggest music publisher, performed strongly in 2009 when it beat its targets and will “push hard” for further growth this year. However, this will need to be achieved in a market he suspects will be even tougher than last year.

“I do think 2010 might be the most challenging environment…

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It’s MTV, minus the “music television.” The network that launched the video about killing the radio star has redesigned its iconic logo - to take out the music video.

The new look, revealed on-air yesterday, features the original 3-D large “M” with the small, graffiti-style “tv” on the right side. But the new design is expanded, so that photos of MTV talent, including the cast of “Jersey Shore,” “The Buried Life” and “My Life as Liz,” can be seen through it….

Steve – I saw you on TV discussing how a woman who owned a cookie business reinvented it by tapping the wholesale market. In this economy, I bet there are a lot of people who would like to reinvent their business, but going wholesale is not a viable option. I am a lawyer for instance. So how do the rest of us reinvent our business? – William

A: I bet that if you think about it, the business you have today is different than the business you thought you would start or the….

With live streaming becoming increasingly popular among the indie music community, our friends over at Justin.tv gave us this tutorial to get artists up to speed with using their site. If you’re not familiar with Justin.tv, it’s definitely worth a look as they have tools geared specifically for musicians.

Justin.tv is a free YouTube-like site that allows anyone to stream themselves on camera in real-time. It has seen a surge of interest ever since musicians started using the site like a video Twitter – as a way to have….

Imagine you’re at a busy metropolitan airport. The luggage carousel goes around, and people stop by, check the luggage tags, and pick up their belongings. As the day wanes, though, there are still lots of suitcases left on the conveyer belt with no luggage tags and no one to claim them. Now, what if I told you that those suitcases are all filled with cash – stacks of bills totaling millions of dollars – and some of it might be yours.

This is the problem created by the music industry’s awful lack of standardized, quality metadata. Before the late 1990s, copyright law offered no compensation to the recording artists or copyright holders…

The Minneapolis rapper known as Dessa doesn’t have a typical hip-hop profile, but her talent more than compensates. Maggie Wander, 28, graduated from the University of Minnesota at 20, and then worked as a medical writer. She co-founded an a cappella group called the Boy Sopranos. She’s an outspoken fan of Jeff Buckley and the kind of arty alt-rockers he inspired. And, under the name Dessa, Wander just released a terrific hip-hop album called A Badly Broken Code.

Dessa is the only woman in Doomtree, a predominantly white…

Ozzy Osbourne’s long-awaited autobiography is an official hit in the U.S. - the book has landed on the New York Times bestseller list. I Am Ozzy, which chronicles the shock rocker’s rise to international fame, has hit the number two spot on the “hardcover nonfiction” list.

The book was originally scheduled to arrive in 2008 but was delayed twice before its release last month, winning rave reviews. Just last year, the singer revealed he may…

If you are trying to make money selling recordings, or producing them you are selling into a market that is auguring into the earth. If you are a pure-play label – either cash out soon and go home before it’s really too late, or start writing a new business plan. It is time for you to start over.

If you really want to do 360 deals, then get the capacity, personnel and expertise to actually produce results or you are toast. Todays nimble entrepreneurs and emerging music service environment is going to eat your lunch. Specialization is in, generalization is out.

If you are a record producer or engineer, create other products to produce. Broaden your horizons. What are you going to be a producer of? What “insanely great” product can you create?

If you think you can survive in the recorded music business, find something else to sell. Simple as that. There is no recovery from this decline. Sure songwriters and publishers can still make money licensing for film, TV and new media (like ring tones), but the engine that has driven the music business for the past 60 years has run out of steam.
Recorded music as a propellant into prosperity is no longer viable.

Accept this fact, move on and adapt. Use this as a jumping off point. Reinvent yourself or your business.

This has been my mantra for the past 6 or 7 years. If this RIAA graph above is not evidence enough, then I don’t know what is. If you think being signed by a “record label” is your ticket to ride, then nice to have known you. Enough already. I can’t believe how many people still want this. American Idol?

And if you are the RIAA, and think trying to preserve recorded music as a “business” is a sound investment, I would advise you look for another job, and soon. Gaming Soundscan to count T-Shirts as a way of propping up the numbers and thinking everything is ok is self deception. Look around you.

This is the truth people. Recorded music sales are going to end as a viable business driver ’cause it is just not working anymore and is an outmoded concept of what music was all about. “Digital” tracks are not going to cut it as they have been conceived thus far because it is just the same thing in a different form. Fixing music in time makes no more sense. Music is more fluid than ever. Subscription revenue and streaming licenses are not going to support anyone when they are optional. We need something new, something bold.

With this as a background I created Music Power Network. To help people discover the future of music for themselves, and create a plan to take their careers forward.

We have to dig deep here. This is a time to be honest with ourselves. What is your music career all about anyway? How are you going to survive? What are your goals and your dreams? How do you define success? You can’t eat passion and you can’t spend perseverance. What is your business plan? What is your marketing plan? We need some new ideas. What are you going to do?

It is too easy to say that a 360 model is the way to go. 360 for who? You or the “label”? What do you really need? Who is actually going to provide the services required? What does the team look like? Where is the value, talent and capital going to come from? Who is going to back your vision?

Think you have it figured out?

I am going to put together a team of people to search for the best new music business plans for musicians, songwriters and producers. In the coming weeks we will put this competition together and announce it officially at SXSW or sooner. Details will be forthcoming on how to enter, who the judges are and what the prizes will be. I promise you it will be worthwhile and interesting.

So start working on your strategy and your business plans. To be notified when the competition is announced, please click here and enter your email on the bottom of the page.

Please leave comments below on any ideas you have for judges, prizes, people to reach out to, etc.

Dave

Michael Jackson’s doctor has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter over the singer’s death. Dr Conrad Murray entered his plea during a short court hearing in Los Angeles earlier today (February 8). A judge must now decide if the case is to go to trial. If found guilty, Dr Murray faces up to four years in prison.

He has been bailed for $75,000 - a quarter of the sum prosecutors originally requested…