These ideas are better than yours

Two interesting news pieces today
Both dealing with one of my favorite topics – digital distribution

Def Jux is simply trying to win. Love it. I tried this with Seven Heads, but we were simply not a strong enough brand. I hope this works for El and Amaechi. Several hundred game already!? LOVE IT!

Record labels try their own retail with download stores By IAN MOUNT

Definitive Jux, an independent label representing underground hip- hop artists, has just launched a download store from its own Web site, where it's selling artists on its label like Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic, for 98 cents a song -- a penny less than on iTunes. The move follows similar online stores by Britain's Warp Records and Canada's Arts & Crafts. Definitive Jux says it decided to open its own store after selling well on iTunes but feeling that its acts were getting lost in the competition there with major-label bands.

Selling music without a retail middleman means the label gets a far bigger cut of the profits. ITunes keeps almost a third of the price of each single from Definitive Jux, according to the label's co- founder, Amaechi Uzoigwe. And the cost of launching a music download store has fallen from $50,000 a few years ago to "considerably less that that," he says. He says the site has had several thousand dollars in sales during its first week in operation.

Small labels like Definitive Jux can get lost in the shuffle on big music services like iTunes, in part because the download inventory there has increased so rapidly, says Ted Schadler, an analyst at Forrester Research. "The competition for real estate has increased because Apple has broadened the portfolio," he says. Apple says the iTunes store carries more than 1,000 independent labels.

Direct selling could prove challenging for labels, since few people keep the label in mind when shopping for music. "Aside from the cognoscenti that knows about a label, this makes a critical assumption -- that when you and I like a band, we also know the label," says Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner. In a nod its hardcore fan base, labels like Definitive Jux are stocking their sites with unique concert footage and outtakes. And, they're not cutting their ties to iTunes, only adding another outlet.

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And the Nike iPod? – Steve Jobs simply gets it. This, my friends, is the combination of money, power, intelligence, influence and guts. Steve Jobs thinks is a piss in the wind entrepreneur with a billion dollar bank account. A true leader while dinosaurs sit in conference rooms and big mouth know-it-alls run their mouth and throw stones.

Nike and iPod Run Together

Nike announced on Tuesday that it is developing running shoes that will wirelessly communicate with Apple's iPod. The system, called Nike+iPod, will allow users to access time, distance, pace and calories burned through the headphones of an iPod nano. The Nike+iPod Sports Kit is expected to retail for about $29 US and should be available in two months. Consumers will have to purchase a pair of compatible shoes, which feature a special insole sensor, in order to use the system.Nike also launched a line of clothing, including jackets and shorts, that is designed to hold iPods while keeping wires untangled and hidden.