(2010-09-14) Rogers Topspin Music Profile

Profile of IanRogers' Topspin Media, a player in the Music Industry. (They run a Platform that lets a musician run their own retail channel.) Rogers had once headed up Yahoo Inc.'s $140-million music business after selling his music software company, Media Code... "What he's creating is the missing link between artists and their fans," said Jeff Price, chief executive of TuneCore, an online music distribution company. "There are other companies out there doing what Topspin does, but most of them are not getting as much traction. He has a track record of having a vision and executing on it unwaveringly.".. Artists can use Topspin's tools to bypass record labels. Bands can build their own online fan base and sell music, merchandise and even concert tickets directly to consumers. In return, Topspin gets a cut of the sales. As musicians become more established, they can hire managers and, eventually, labels to take over those tasks. Whoever ends up with the job still would use the tools provided by Topspin... Topspin's clients include Arcade Fire, Beck, Eminem, David Byrne, Brian Eno and more than 2,000 other artists, many of whom don't have label contracts. Still, the company is not yet profitable.

Is Band Camp in the same space?