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Folk music
2007-02-23 18:15:02
“All music is folk music. I ain’t never heard a horse sing a song.” Louis Armstrong
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Attorney Proposes Licensing Music Distribution, Not Downloading
2007-02-23 18:15:02
Bennett Lincoff, an “intellectual property law attorney”, has recently proposed a new solution for the end of the DRM battle: licencing music distribution instead of music downloading. By altering copyright law so that the only right consumers would need to license from record labels is the right to distribute music would make downloading or streaming free; consumers and owners of networks would only need to secure licensing in order to redistribute a song. Wired News published a summary of Lincoff’s proposal,”Fixing What Is Badly Broken”. Read an excerpt and comment. Do you think this could be the way to go? (Links to: full summary; full article) “Recently, I published a Music al Licensing White Paper through my web site. In it, I propose an alternative to the music industry?s traditional sales-based revenue model for purposes of digital transmissions of sound recordings and of the musical works embodied in them. (…) “To begin with, co...
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Warner approaches EMI for possible merge
2007-02-23 18:15:02
  War ner Music, the world’s fourth-largest music company and home to Madonna and Red Hot Chilli Peppers, said on Tuesday it had approached EMI about a possible bid and that it had the support of Impala, the trade group for independent music labels which has previously challenged consolidation in the industry. Warner Music Group said any takeover offer for Britain’s EMI Group would probably all be in cash, briefly boosting the London-based company’s shares. The U.S. group said its statement was to clarify that its shareholders would not be required to notify their interests in Warner Music under British takeover rules. The approach is the latest twist in a seven-year battle in which EMI, the world’s third-biggest music group, and Warner Music have each tried to buy the other. Both groups are struggling with a decline in physical music sales as digital downloads gain hold, and have also suffered from their artists producing fewer hits recently. A tie-up would g...
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How to describe myself
2007-02-23 18:15:02
“Once someone asked me three words that best describe me and I said ‘Loud, Louder, and Loudest’.” Anastacia
More About: How To , Self , Myself , Crib , Scribe

Will digital kill the radio star?
2007-02-23 18:15:02
Digital technology is turning commercial broadcasting upside down. But the fightback has begun. Radio stations are trying something new - and firing some of their disc jockeys. Now the idea is crossing the Atlantic. Online, satellite, cable and DAB stations are booming like never before. As a result, traditional “analogue” stations are counting the cost in lost advertising revenue and are having to re-think traditional ideas of music broadcasting. Ever since radio stations started broadcasting popular music, they’ve employed disc jockeys to tell us what songs they are playing and to generally keep us entertained. As the industry has opened up to competition, more local and national stations have taken to the airwaves, playing music tailored to every taste from Easy Listening and the Top 40 to smooth jazz and specific kinds of garage and dance music. Yet it seems as ever more of us choose to listen to a wider range of tunes on our personal music players, the very pr...
More About: Star , Will , Digital , Digi

Macrovision boss responds to DRM debate
2007-02-23 18:15:02
Fred Amoroso, CEO and president of Mac rovision, has published a response to Steve Jobs’ comments on Digital Rights Management (DRM) on his company’s website, as an open letter where he suggests, among other things, that Macrovision take over stewardship of Apple’s own DRM technology. Amoroso’s company develops DRM technology that is widely used in commercial DVDs. It also develops DRM for commercial software publishers and other content creators. When Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs posted a letter in the Apple’s website suggesting the company would drop DRM from its iTunes Store offerings if major record labels were to agree, there were many quick reactions from the music industry. Among them was Warner Music CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr whocalled Jobs’ anti-DRM stance “without logic” and suggesting to investors that any “manifestos in advance” of discussions between the companies “is counter-productive”. Amoroso’s...
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Quotes
2007-02-23 18:15:02
  “I think quotes are very dangerous things.” Kate Bush
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MP3 players may pay extra tax in Canada
2007-02-23 18:15:02
An old debate about MP3 players in Canada is in motion once again. The Canadian Private Copying Collective, an association of composers, recording artists, publishers, and record labels is asking the Copyright Board of Canada to re-introduce a controversial extra fee into the sale price of MP3 players in Canada. David Basskin, a member of the CCPC’s board of directors, said it’s time artists be compensated for the copying of their files onto the digital devices. “We’d all like lots of things to be free. But those who create the music deserve to be compensated. When you go and buy an iPod, the retailer gets paid. So you can’t say that the people who make the music should get a free ride.” The effort on the part of the CPCC comes just over two years after the Federal Court of Appeal struck down a similar levy attached to the price of the hard drives of MP3 players. At the time, these didn’t fall into the category of “audio recording medi...
More About: Players , Tax , Play , Player

Music execs criticise DRM systems
2007-02-16 06:14:01
And the Digital Rights Management (DRM) debate is rocking the craddle once again. A Jupiter Research survey on the attitudes to Digital Rights Management systems in Europe music firms has hit the news in perfect timing. Conducted before Apple boss Steve Jobs stirred the topic earlier this month, the study announces that almost two-thirds of music industry executives think removing digital locks from downloadable music would make more people buy the tracks. Analyst Mark Mulligan, one of the authors of the report, said he was “surprised” at the strength of the responses which came from large and small record labels, rights bodies, digital stores and technology providers. The survey was carried out between December and January and it revealed that about 54% of those executives questioned thought that current DRM systems were too restrictive. Also, 62% believed that dropping DRM and releasing music files that can be enjoyed on any MP3 player would boost the take-up of digita...
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Digital Music Group signs deal with YouTube
2007-02-14 18:12:02
YouTube , the popular online video sharing site owned by Google Inc., has signed a deal with Digital Music Group Inc. to offer such 1960s U.S. television programs as “I Spy” and “My Favorite Martian”. Digital Music , who has already signed a number o deals earlier this month, said on Monday the deal also includes an agreement to allow certain music, for which it controls the rights, to be used in users’ videos uploaded to YouTube. Digital Music owns publishing or distribution rights to over 40,000 music recordings and over 4,000 hours of video content including television shows and films. The two-year-old company has online partnerships with Apple Inc.’s iTunes Music Store, Napster Inc. and Wal-Mart. YouTube has been under pressure recently from content owners such as Viacom Inc., which last week asked it to pull down over 100,000 of Viacom’s videos illegally posted by users. But YouTube has also signed deals with music companies including Wa...
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Drop the Computer
2007-02-13 18:12:01
  ?WE’RE going to make some history here today,? said Steve Jobs at the beginning of his annual speech at Macworld, his company’s cult-like trade show in San Francisco. He was as good as his word. First, he launched a product that promises at last to bring digital entertainment from people’s computers to their television screens without fuss. Then he unveiled an even more impressive device that transcends the description ?mobile phone?. Mr Jobs, who was so excited that he had lain awake all night, made it clear that he considered this day a watershed in the three-decade history of Apple Comp uter , a point that he emphasised by announcing that his firm would henceforth drop ?Computer? from its name. Indeed, Apple’s laptop and desktop computers, which are selling briskly, were hardly mentioned. Nor were Apple’s iPods, which dominate the market for portable music players. Both of the new products are really computers, but people won’t think of them as...
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EMI may end digital copy protection
2007-02-13 18:12:01
EMI is considering whether to abandon copy protection for digital music, in a move that would set the British company dramatically apart from three principal rivals. The British group behind Norah Jones and Robbie Williams has sounded out online music retailers about switching to the MP3 format, abandoning the proprietary digital rights management technology developed by Apple. However, industry insiders believed that EMI was getting cold feet, because the plan could lead to a precipitate drop in its already flagging revenues. The decision would leave its entire catalogue without any protection in the digital era. This week, Steve Jobs, the chief executive of Apple, to the music industry, in which he suggested that the majors drop their demand for copy protection, to ensure that songs sold from iTunes can be copied on to any digital music player. However, EMI?s thinking is at odds with its competitors, who believe that Apple should instead try to license its copy protection software...
More About: Copy Protection , Digital , Digi , Copy , Prot

What I like to wear
2007-02-10 06:10:01
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing clothes that covered my entire body.” Christina Aguilera
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Will Apple pick music?s digital locks?
2007-02-10 00:09:02
  Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple , has set out his stall on the future of the music industry In an open letter on the Apple website, Mr Jobs argues that the copy protection software used to protect digital music downloads from piracy has not worked. In the letter he outlines a world where the record industry abandons so called Digi tal Rights Management (DRM) systems. “In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. “This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat.” he wrote. Digital locks Apple uses its own DRM system known as FairPlay, which means music downloaded from the iTunes store can be played on computers running iTunes that have been authorised by the consumer and only one portable device, iPods. Users can copy downloaded songs to a CD and then copy the disc back on to the computer so that the songs can then be moved to other port...
More About: Music , Will

Musicbrigade and RTL Launch Germany?s Largest Online Music Store
2007-02-10 00:09:02
RTL.de and Music brigade have announced details of the launch of German y ’s most extensive online digital music service to date, offering 1.5 million audio files alongside more than 20,000 music videos for both download and streaming. In addition this new joint platform will feature extensive editorial coverage on a wide range of music topics as well as a number of community tools and initiatives that will promote interaction among like-minded music fans. The co-branded service will be available online at musicbrigade.rtl.de and musicbrigade.de from Wednesday February 7th, 2007. Musicbrigade was founded in 1999 in Sweden as a specialist in legal online music video streaming. Musicbrigade now has access to one of the world’s largest music video archives containing more than 71,000 titles and a large percentage of its audio and video files are also available as paid-for downloads. The Musicbrigade service is currently available in seventeen European countries including Germ...
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Music wants to be free
2007-02-09 12:09:01
  It was uncharacteristically low-key for the industry?s greatest showman. But the essay published this week by Steve Jobs, the boss of Apple, on his firm?s website under the unassuming title ?Thoughts on Music ? has nonetheless provoked a vigorous debate about the future of digital music, which Apple dominates with its iPod music-player and iTunes music-store. At issue is ?digital rights management? (DRM)?the technology guarding downloaded music against theft. Since there is no common standard for DRM, it also has the side-effect that songs purchased for one type of music-player may not work on another. Apple?s DRM system, called FairPlay, is the most widespread. So it came as a surprise when Mr Jobs called for DRM for digital music to be abolished. This is a change of tack for Apple. It has come under fire from European regulators who claim that its refusal to license FairPlay to other firms has ?locked in? customers. Since music from the iTunes store cannot be played on non-iPod m...
More About: Free , Want , Ants , Advil

Steve Jobs - Thoughts on Music
2007-02-09 12:09:01
  With the stunning global success of Apple?s iPod music player and iTunes online music store, some have called for Apple to ?open? the digital rights management (DRM) system that Apple uses to protect its music against theft, so that music purchased from iTunes can be played on digital devices purchased from other companies, and protected music purchased from other online music stores can play on iPods. Let?s examine the current situation and how we got here, then look at three possible alternatives for the future. To begin, it is useful to remember that all iPods play music that is free of any DRM and encoded in ?open? licensable formats such as MP3 and AAC. iPod users can and do acquire their music from many sources, including CDs they own. Music on CDs can be easily imported into the freely-downloadable iTunes jukebox software which runs on both Macs and Windows PCs, and is automatically encoded into the open AAC or MP3 formats without any DRM. This music can be played on iPods ...
More About: Steve , Steve Jobs , Jobs , Thoughts

Warner rejects end to DRM systems
2007-02-09 12:09:01
  War ner Music has rejected a suggestion from Apple boss Steve Jobs that record companies should remove copy protection software from digital music downloads. Its boss Edgar Bronfman, said Mr Job’s proposal was “without logic and merit”. At present, most download sites, including Apple’s iTunes store, use such software to limit the number of machines on which songs can be played. Mr Jobs said this week that Digital Rights Management systems had not ended piracy and so should be removed. ‘Best alternative’ In an open letter, the Apple boss added that removing such software would also allow greater usability for customers, as any online music store would be able to sell songs that would work on all players. “This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat.” said Mr Jobs. Yet Warner Music, the world’s fourth largest record company, is far from convinced. It is home to artists including M...
More About: System , Systems , Stem

Steve Jobs takes first step to free-DRM music
2007-02-08 00:07:03
  Apple Inc. hits the news once again this week when Chief Executive Steve Jobs called, just yesterday, the four major record companies to start selling songs online without copy protection software known as digital rights management (DRM). Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit for the record companies in continuing to sell more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on CDs, while selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system. “If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies,” he said in a statement posted to his company’s Web site. As you have read before, Apple has been under pressure in Europe to make iTunes music compatible with players other than the iPod. On January 25 Norway’s consumer ombudsman said Apple must open access to iTunes ...
More About: Music , Steve Jobs , Free

Facing the music - The death of the record store
2007-02-07 00:07:01
  When Sony Music became the largest record label to start selling music online in 1997, hoping to ape Amazon’s success with books, most pundits (this newspaper included) smugly argued that it was likely to end in tears (see article). Book stores, it was said, were dying because they could not compete with Amazon’s millions of titles. But customers would stay loyal to music shops because buying online would deprive them of the joy of browsing the aisles and impressing dauntingly hip sales staff with their insights into obscure acts. Almost a decade later new book stores are popping up across Britain, while record stores are in danger of dying out. On January 11th HMV, Britain’s biggest music retailer, posted a first-half loss. Music Zone, whose 104 shops specialise in cut-price CDs and DVDs, went into administration on January 3rd. Virgin Megastores, some of whose stores occupy the choicest spots in British retailing, said that Christmas music sales had fallen from...
More About: Store , Death , Stor , Record

Apple Inc. and Beatles? Apple Corps settle
2007-02-07 00:07:01
The long and winding road has come to an end for the Beat les , at least as far as the dispute over their Apple logo is concerned. Apple Inc ., the maker of the iPod, and Apple Corps, the guardian of the Beatles? music interests, announced yesterday that they had settled their dispute over the technology company?s name and its use of an apple logo. Under the new agreement, Apple Inc. now owns all the trademarks related to ?Apple? and will license certain trademarks back to Apple Corps Ltd., the London company founded by the Beatles in the late 1960s. The agreement immediately raised speculation that the Beatles? music, which has been unavailable on legitimate digital music services, might soon be licensed for downloads from the Apple iTunes service. Neither company would comment directly on that prospect, though both sides said they were happy to have worked things out. ?We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks,? said Steven P. Jobs, ch...
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DGMI has new video distribution partners
2007-02-03 12:04:01
Digital Music Group Inc. hits the news again this week by announcing a new set of video channel partners, including In2TV, BitTorrent, and Movielink. As part of the agreements, these retail outlets have agreed to distribute videos from DMGI’s catalog through their respective video distribution services. DMGI currently owns or controls the digital distribution rights to more than 4,000 hours of video content, including favorites like “Gumby,” “I Spy,” “The Invisible Man,” “Peter Gunn,” “The Mr. Bill Show,” “Clutch Cargo,” and more. “We are proud to be working with these well known names in the digital video industry,” said Mitchell Koulouris, Chief Executive Officer of DMGI. “We have been very focused on expanding our digital distribution business to include video, TV, and film, and are pleased to begin distributing our video catalog through these new channel partners.”
More About: Video , Partner , Distribution , Part , Partners

iPod Shuffle in bright new colors
2007-02-01 18:02:02
Apple announced yesterday that the iPod Shuffle digital music player is now available in four additional colors from the original silver: blue, pink, green, and orange. The iPod Shuffle is half a cubic inch in volume, weighs half an ounce and features an aluminum design with a built-in clip. It has been a hit with customers since its initial shipment three months ago. Based on Apple?s unique shuffle feature - which lets music fans enjoy a continuous mix of their favorite songs anywhere they go - the “world?s most wearable digital music player” contains one gigabyte of flash memory, holds up to 240 songs and is immediately available in all five colors for $79 US.
More About: Color , Ipod , Colors , Bright

Digital Music Group signs Olivia Newton-John
2007-02-01 06:01:01
  Digital Music Group, Inc., a content owner and global leader in the digital distribution of independently owned music and video catalogs, today announced a long-term digital distribution agreement with pop music icon Olivia Newton-John . Under the terms of the agreement, DMGI will distribute four of Newton-John’s albums, including “Grace & Gratitude,” “Indigo,” “Stronger Than Before,” and “Gaia,” to online music stores worldwide for a term of three years. “Olivia Newton-John is one of the most successful recording artists of the 20th century,” said Mitchell Koulouris, Chief Executive Officer of DMGI. “With fourteen top-ten hits, five number one hits, five top-ten pop albums, and four Grammy awards to her credit (including Record of the Year honors), Olivia Newton-John is considered one of the great female vocalists of our generation. We’re proud to be Olivia’s exclusive distribution partner....
More About: Digital Music , Signs , Sign

McKnight Opens Personal BurnLounge Store
2007-01-31 06:00:02
BurnLounge, the world’s first fan-driven digital download service, announced that Grammy-nominated R&B,soul singer and songwriter Brian McKnight opened his personal BurnLounge Store , delivering access to his acclaimed catalog of albums, including his current release, ‘Ten.’ BurnLounge is a fan-driven digital download service that taps the power of the personal referral from passionate music and entertainment fans. With the BurnLounge platform, artists and fans can participate in the music and entertainment industry by creating and managing their own online digital download stores. Music fans, musicians, DJ’s, and artists can share their passions and personal tastes in their own download Store, while receiving a percentage of the sales.
More About: Personal , Open , Night

Vista offers music rental service
2007-01-31 06:00:02
  Sanity Music is teaming up with Microsoft to offer a subscription music service which, for the monthly cost of “a couple of CDs”, will give Autralian users access to the retailer’s entire music catalogue. The initiative was announced at the consumer launch of Vista , Microsoft’s new operating system and marks the first time that such a service has been offered outside the United States. When it’s deployed in April, the service will give consumers an alternative to the pay-per-song/pay-per-album model that is the more common platform for digital music distribution - one that is dominated by Apple’s iTunes Store. Exact details on the pricing were not announced but it seems the service will cost between $40 and $60 a month for an “all you can eat” menu of music. There are more than a million tracks in the Sanity catalogue. The main service is renting music since the songs will only play as long as the subscription is current. There will ...
More About: Rental , Service , Offers

Digital Music inks deal with Apple?s iTunes
2007-01-27 17:58:01
Shares of Digital Music Group Inc. rose about 7 percent in extremely heavy trading Wednesday, after the company filed documents that outlined a three-year pact with Apple Inc.’s iTunes . The Sacramento-based company will sell its video content on Apple’s widely popular iTunes store, according to a document filed late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Cupertino-based Apple will pay fixed wholesale prices for each downloaded television program or movie. Digital Music ’s collection includes historic news broadcasts and classic TV episodes, including “Hopalong Cassidy” and “My Favorite Martian.” Digital Music acquires the rights and digitizes music and videos and makes them available to online music stores, including iTunes, Google Video, RealNetworks, Napster, Wal-Mart Music and Yahoo Music!
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EU consumer groups join forces against iTunes
2007-01-25 23:55:02
French UFC-Que Choisir and its German counterpart Ferbraucherzentralen consumer groups have joined a Nordic-led drive to force Apple Computer Inc. to change rules for its iTunes online music store, including compatibility with other digital music players. This battle for “a more consumer friendly licensing agreement for iTunes in all of Europe” started June 2006 when consumer agencies in Norway, Denmark and Sweden claimed that Apple was violating contract and copyright laws in their countries by making its iPod the only portable music player compatible with songs purchased from the company’s iTunes Music Store. The consumer protectionist organizations are mainly concerned about the interoperability of titles purchased, better contractual terms, and liability rules. “Consumer s have a right to play the music they buy online on whatever devices they choose,” explained the four organizations, who called on music sellers to take such clauses out of agreemen...
More About: Itunes , Force , Itune

Midem puts DRM on the table
2007-01-25 11:55:01
    One of the biggest topics at Midem this year is the effectiveness of DRM and whether majors will abandon the technology in the near-term. Panel discussions and after-hours chatter have been incredibly heavy on the topic, though few could point to a concrete development ahead. And the labels themselves appear to be moving in different directions. Earlier this month, there were rumours about a shift towards MP3s by one major while others adopt a protectionist attitude that will increasingly include locks and keys. Despite the differences, labels are soul-searching for a way to boost digital sales, and DRM is increasingly being viewed as a drag on revenues. Still, a shift away from DRM represents an irreversible experiment, and labels will ponder the terrain carefully before taking the plunge. “Labels are going to think long and hard before they abandon DRM,” incoming BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said during a discussion at MidemNet over the weekend. In...
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Digital Music Energy Shifts to Cannes, MidemNet
2007-01-23 17:52:01
The action this weekend was in Cannes , France, the setting for another edition of MidemNet. The digital music conference, once a small warm-up to the larger Midem, grabbed a healthy, international crowd and several notable speakers.  And of course, few could argue with a backdrop of the French Riviera and its distinctively sassy attitude. At the Palais de Festivales, attendees rubbed elbows with a number of heavy-hitters, including Rob Glaser, Chris Anderson, and Terry McBride, all present to help navigate the current chaos that is the digital music industry.  As usual, the Midem conference dovetails the NRJ Music Awards, what Americans would refer to as the “French Grammys”. The ceremony drew superstars like Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Christina Aguilera, and Lionel Ritchie, a nice injection of celebrity.  The result was a rather energized resort community, despite the off-peak and somewhat chilly season. Ted Cohen, now head of Los Angeles-based consultancy TAG Strategic, hea...
More About: Digital Music , Energy , Mnet