Warner Music's Bizarre "New"
Format
February 4, 2010
-- From Billboard's
Nashville office: "In an acknowledgment of growing consumer
dissatisfaction with the traditional CD format, for the first
time a major label is replacing the typical 10-plus song CD release
with two six-song CDs whose release dates are separated by mere
months."
This is not a new format. It's a traditional
CD with only 6 songs. So, even if they were accurate in their
assessment of the problem (they weren't), their solution is to
give us more of what they think we don't like, with less music.
Brilliant fucking move. (More...)
EMI Looks For Life Support
February 4, 2010 -- Reuters reports: "EMI Group posted a £1.03
billion ($1.62 billion) operating loss for the year to end-March
after writing down the value of its artists and catalog, and
said it risked breaking its banking covenants."
The Financial Times says, ""The
accounts show that EMI Music will fall far short of critical
covenants on its debt when these are tested between March and
December this year and could suffer further shortfalls next year."
Another source told Digital Music News to expect a "near-term
blowup." Oh, goodie! (More...)
Followup -- Feb. 7
-- Citigroup, who financed Terra Firma's purchase of EMI and
is carrying the bulk of the debt, "believes that Terra Firma's
equity in EMI is worthless and that the firm should hand over
the company to the bank."
New Hurricane Alley Photo Set
February 4, 2010 -- We were supposed to be recording, but Carl's
Marshall has been in the shop. So here are some photos from a
recent gig at the Branding Iron North in Tucson. (More...)
For Movies, Money is the Measure, Not
Viewers
January 27, 2010 -- For all the hype about Avatar taking over
the title of highest-grossing film ever, there are 25 films that
have sold more tickets. By that measure, Avatar falls
between Thunderball and Grease and has another
50 million to go before it catches Titanic. (More...)
Money Talks
January 25, 2010 -- Having obviously decided that our political system
wasn't quite corrupt enough already, the Supreme Court has proclaimed
that money is how corporations "talk," so limiting
how much they can contribute to political campaigns is an infringement
on their freedom of speech. (More...)
Judge Reduces Award in Jammie Thomas Case
January 22, 2010 --
"The need for deterrence cannot justify a $2 million verdict
for stealing and illegally distributing 24 songs for the sole
purpose of obtaining free music," Judge Michael Davis wrote
in explanation of his decision to reduce the damages in the RIAA's
case against Jammie Thomas-Rasset. "Moreover, although plaintiffs
were not required to prove their actual damages, statutory damages
must bear some relation to actual damages."
Davis added that $1.92 million in damages
"for stealing 24 songs for personal use is simply shocking."
He also said the RIAA may have a retrial if it does not accept
his ruling. (More
at Wired...)
Follow-up -- January 27 -- A week after the judge reduced damages to
$54,000, the RIAA offers Jammie Thomas-Rasset an opportunity
to settle the case for $25,000.
The offer is refused.
January 28
-- RIAA
wants a new trial.
A Trio of Bad Things
January 21, 2010 --
Obama's DOJ once again weighs in to support the RIAA, Verizon
starts (or is at least prepared to start) throwing people off
the internet, and the book publishers have caught the RIAA/MPAA
brain virus that causes paranoia and destroys math skills. (More...)
Price-Fixing Suit Against RIAA Revived
January 17, 2010
-- The US Second Circuit Court
of Appeals in New York has ruled that the case of Starr v
Sony should not have been dismissed, as it contained "plausible
evidence of unfair cooperation and violations of Section 1 of
the Sherman Antitrust Act." (More...)
Nielsen Soundscan Stops Making Sense
January 10, 2010
-- For like the 4th year in a
row, Nielsen Soundscan is trying to convince us all that selling
a billion things for $1 each is somehow a sales increase over
selling a half-billion things for $10-$15 each. (More...)
And the Decade's Best Selling Band Was...
January 3, 2010 --
The Beatles still rule the sales
charts as their album 1, a collection of number one hits
that everyone has heard a bajillion times in the 40-45 years
since their original recordings, outsells everything else released
in the decade -- with only four months of sales. (More...)
Once in a Blue Moon
January 1, 2010 --
Unless I get to play a gig, I never
go out on New Year's Eve. Last night we (Hurricane Alley) did
a Tucson show, drawing me out into the world on drinking's amateur
night. As it's been several years since I played on December
31, it was only fitting that last night was a blue moon. (More...)
21st Century: The First 10 Years -- This
is the Future?
December 29, 2009
-- When I was a school-age kid in
the 1960s, the 21st century was an unimaginable realm where science
fiction became had become reality -- either something of a cross
between Star Trek and the Jetsons or a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
I don't see any flying cars. (More...)
Record Bosses Trying To Cash In On Actress's
Death
December 24, 2009
-- Actress Brittany Murphy is
being buried today, but record labels are already trying to gather
enough material to release an album by the actress, safe in the
knowledge that she won't be complaining about royalties. (More...)
Researcher Offers Simple Test For Payola
December 23, 2009
-- With access to the data gleaned by the 2004 payola investigation
under then-attorney general Elliot Spitzer, a researcher at the
University of Buffalo has determined that it's really very easy
to tell which songs are played for pay. (More
at the UB Reporter...)
Britain's Great Christmas Chart Wars
December 23, 2009
-- Britain's No. 1 selling Christmas single has been declared
to be a song by Rage Against the Machine, capturing the prestigious
holiday chart position held just a few short years ago by Bob
the Builder. (More...)
Random Stuff
December 18, 2009 -- For your amusement, here are a few of the things
I am pondering this week, including "How long can the music
industry possibly last without changing their tune?" (More...)
Independent Artists Shafted by Imeem Sale
December 12, 2009 -- Independent artists who sold their music through
imeem's Snocap music storefronts on MySpace and other sites won't
be paid what's owed even after MySpace Music's acquisition of
some - but not all - of imeem. Interestingly enough, paying the
major artists is what put imeem out of business in the first
place. It's a common scenario -- The indies step up and embrace
new opportunities, if they start to gain attention, the majors
step in, suck all the money out, buy the shell that's left and
bury it out back. (Complete Story at Wired.com)
Stacatto
December 10, 2009 -- Hollywood is thinking that 2009
will be a record-breaking year, with revenues expected to
top $10 billion for the first time. Obviously, the MPAA is right
-- downloading is killing the movie business, just like television,
VCRs and rentals did. (More
pointless ranting...)
Piracy Lawsuit Could Cost RIAA
Billions
December 8, 2009 -- Sony, EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music are
currently on trial in Canada for copyright infringement. So far,
they have admitted to "stealing" (as the RIAA likes
to call infringement) more
than 300,000 songs. (More...)
MPAA, Murdoch Compete For 'Idiot of the
Month'
November 24, 2009 -- The MPAA's Dan Glickman shows up somewhere to
remind us that the MPAA still does not possess a clue. Glickman's
ignorance seems to pale in comparison to Rupert Murdoch's inane
quest to remove Fox News from the results of Google searches.
(More...)
Shout-Out to Our Number One Fan
November 24, 2009 -- It has come to my attention that I've neglected
to mention Orly, who has attended each and every Hurricane
Alley performance to date, despite the fact that I told her
that her name was weird the first time I was introduced. The
entire band has agreed that this qualifies her as our number
one fan, and we'd like to thank Orly for her continued support.
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