Reposted from the Topspin Media blog, by Ian Rogers, CEO…

On a panel at SF MusicTech on Monday I made reference to a fact [Topspin] first published back in 2010: while the split between digital and physical sold on Topspin by number of units is 50/50, it’s 75/25 physical/digital by total dollars. This demonstrates a lesson I first learned when I re-started the merchandise division of Grand Royal nearly fifteen years ago: there’s more to the music business than just music and fans are happy to pay for valuable physical goods.  I used to think the Internet’s impact on the music business would be a move to digital and away from physical.  I know now the Internet’s biggest impact is consumer empowerment manifesting in both fan choice and the ability to connect directly with the artists they love.  Trent Reznor opened our eyes to this when he released Ghosts in 2008.  Instead of saying, “Hey stop stealing my digital album!” to his fans he give them choice, from FREE to $300, and said, “How big a fan are you?”

via Direct-To-Fan is NOT a Rich Band’s Game | Topspin Media.

That’s according to Topspin CEO Ian Rogers, who disclosed the ratio at SF MusicTech Summit. “Physical is 75 percent of my business,” Rogers relayed as part of a broader discussion on physical sales.

But what is ‘business,’ exactly? In a follow-up email, Rogers told Digital Music News that the 75 percent figure does indeed refer to actual revenues – meaning, dollars.  In terms of actual units sold, the digital-to-physical ratio moves towards 50:50.

via Digital Music News – 75 Percent of Topspin’s Sales Are Physical….

Last weeks Internet-wide SOPA/PIPA protests divided the Internet between content owners looking for stronger anti-piracy tools and technologists who believed the proposed legislation was an overreach. Those opposed said SOPA/PIPA opened the door to content companies taking down sites such as Tumblr and WordPress based on infringement by even one of the sites millions of users. Though I was at AOL/Nullsoft when Gnutella was created I am not pro-piracy by any stretch – half of what our company, Topspin, sells is easily-pirated digital audio and video it could certainly be argued Topspin stands to benefit from SOPA-style legislation and our raison dêtre is helping artists leverage their creativity to build a fan base and earn a living.

via Ian Rogers: Instead of SOPA, Heres How To Combat Piracy While Encouraging An Open Internet – hypebot.