Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Vote for Sligh’s BandChris Sligh may have been voted off American Idol, but he’s already got a CD out and you can listen to some songs here. You can also vote for his band on the site to help them get more exposure. It won’t get rid of Sanjaya, but it’ll help out a decent guy. From what’s I’ve heard, his CD has a rich, nice sound.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Is the RIAA Crumbling?Music industry executives announced this morning that they were withdrawing support for the trade group the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and launching a new representative body called Respect the Artist, Respect the Audience (RARA).
The move comes in the wake of a perceived failure of the RIAA to achieve its goals of fostering a business and legal climate that supports and promotes its members’ creative and financial vitality. The RIAA has in recent years become synonymous with the industry’s flagging business models and poor reputation with music fans. Recently the RIAA was ranked as the least popular business organization is the USA.
In announcing the break the four major record labels Sony/BMG, Warner Music, Vivendi Universal and EMI have also committed to dropping all pending lawsuits, and will instead join with Apple and Microsoft to create an environment where Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology will be eliminated from their online music stores. The companies are joining other personal electronics manufacturers and independent labels in a new organization, Respect the Artist, Respect the Audience (RARA) that will focus on creating a climate better associated with the creation of art, and the fostering of musical talent.
Of course, this came out on April 1st, so we’ll see if it’s real. I think something like this is inevitable, however. The RIAA has probably done more to hurt the music industry than recover any money.
UPDATE: It’s a joke, apparently. But this isn’t. EMI is dropping DRM and Apple will follow.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Great CD!
In the late 1970s, Boz Scaggs, a former member of the Steve Miller Band (which I also like) released this solo album which remains one of my favorite CDs from that era. It was called Silk Degrees and it’s just been re-released this week with some live bonus tracks. For some bizarre reason critics called it a disco album, even though it was no such thing. But then, critics then as now were clueless.
They had a real hate on for disco. It, like hip-hop, had over taken rock at the time and some people thought it was a threat. You saw a lot of artists from the Rolling Stones to Paul McCartney cut disco tracks. Hard to believe it was so big, but for awhile it was. Personally, I enjoy disco. But this is not a disco album. I was about 19 when it came out and listened to it a lot. I still have the vinyl version and I plan to get the CD.
It’s a classic and very enjoyable. Scaggs is kind of a blue-eyed soul singer, but he has his own style which makes him unique. There were a ton of hits that came off this one CD. Lido Shuffle, Lowdown, Georgia, and more.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
The System is BrokenThe US Copyright Office has released their new set of rates for the payment of royalties by Internet Radio, and they ignored all of the facts presented by webcasters (including RP) and gave the record industry exactly what they asked for: royalty rates so high that they will put RP (Radio Paradise) and every other independent webcaster out of business. See Kurt Hanson’s newsletter for 3/2/07 for the details on how the rates work and what they will mean to stations like RP. You can participate in the discussion about this issue in our Listener Forum.
For some time, we’ve suffered with a system where we pay a large chunk (10%-12%) of our income to the Big 5 record companies - while FM stations and radio conglomerates like Clear Channel pay nothing. Now they want even more. In our case, an amount equal to 125% of our income. Our only hope is to create as much public awareness and outrage about this staggeringly unfair situation as possible. Neither the record industry nor Congress are ready to listen to us at this point. But members of the media may well be, and we need to get their attention.
The RIAA and congressional dupes are out of control. But ultimately, these kind of tactics will backfire. The genie is out of the bottle. The RIAA is unbelievably greedy and their tactics would make Putin proud. But this is going to hurt them in the end.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Speaking of American IdolHere’s a preview of Bucky Covington’s CD, out in April. He sounds pretty good. Especially on song Different World, which is about the days before PC took over.
Also, Entertainment Weekly has an article on Chris Daughtry this week, on what an angry, uptight dude he is. No surprise. But he should clean up now that Idol has chosen his song “Home” as the loser’s song for the year. Last year, Daniel Powter’s song “Bad Day” sold a zillion copies after Idol picked it as the loser’s song.
Mandisa has a CD coming out in June and she has lost a lot of weight. She looks pretty good. In fact, she’s working as a model now. Wow.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Death to DRMIt looks like DRM is on its last legs. Yay!
The music industry is looking ahead to life without copy protection.
Major label EMI — home of Coldplay and Norah Jones — is in discussions with online music stores about selling its music without copy protection, or digital rights management (DRM), according to two sources with direct knowledge of the talks who would not speak for attribution because discussions are ongoing.
Last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs created a huge stir when he called on the music industry to dump DRM, saying it hinders sales. Yahoo Music general manager Dave Goldberg predicts that by Christmas, most of Yahoo’s catalog will be DRM-free.
“The labels understand that DRM has to go,” he says. “It’s nothing but a tax on digital consumers. There’s good momentum behind DRM going away.”
He says sales would increase by 15% to 20% without DRM. Consumers have bitterly complained about DRM, which puts rules on how a song can be used. For instance, songs bought at Apple’s iTunes Store can be easily played only on an iPod, and not on digital devices from Microsoft and SanDisk.
Once the music business dumps these stupid things, they will see unprecedented growth. Watch.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Death to DRMThe head of Apple has done a great thing. Called for the end of DRM. And this from the guy who gave us iTunes and the iPod. Yes!
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, jolted the record industry on Tuesday by calling on its largest companies to allow online music sales unfettered by antipiracy software.
The move is a gamble for Apple. Its iPod players and iTunes Store have defined the online music market, and they have much at stake in the current copy-protection system.
Under terms reached with the major record labels, online music stores embed software code into the digital song files they sell to restrict the ability to copy them. Because Apple uses its own system, the songs it sells can be played only on the iPod. That limitation has drawn increasing scrutiny from European governments, pressure that Apple has recently begun to acknowledge.
Mr. Jobs’s appeal, posted on the company’s Web site Tuesday, came in the form of an essay titled “Thoughts on Music,” but in essence it was a letter to the “Big 4” music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI.
DRM is a joke. The RIAA will never stop downloaders. More importantly, DRM stands in the way of music sales. Watch. Years from now, when DRM is forgotten, music will be doing gangbusters from downloads.
Friday, January 12, 2007
McPheever
Season 5 American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee’s CD will be out at the end of the month. After a month delay. I am looking forward to hearing what she wants in an album. I actually really liked Kellie Pickler’s CD and also Chris Daughtry’s. And I’ve become a Kelly Clarkson fan. Even though I’m not into country that much, I also like Carrie Underwood’s latest effort. I have to say, the American Idol machine really puts out some talent. They have single handedly revived pop music at a time it was in peril.
Personally, my favorite new bands lean more in the direction of Evanescence and The Killers. But I enjoy good pop. Most people do, which is why it’s called pop music (short for popular).
I liked McPhee last year, even though she gave off major diva vibes at times. I was rooting for Taylor Hicks, and his first CD delivered. Now I am curious to hear what Kat has done. So far, all the Season 5 alum have done really solid work. I wish Elliot Yamin would get one out soon. All we have so far is a Christmas single available on iTunes.
Monday, January 08, 2007
The Death of DRM?I sure hope so. This Wired writer believes it’s about to happen, taking iTunes with it. Here’s one of the reasons he gives.
There’s already a case study of what an MP3 store could look like: the Russian site AllofMP3.com, which people are still reporting access to, despite attempts to starve it of U.S. credit cards. Its popularity also indicates that digital music pricing should drop (a 10-cent to 25-cent per unprotected MP3 sounds about right to me).
Since increased sales of a digital good can’t affect inventory, the labels would more than make up for the price drop by selling far more songs—especially considering the endless targeting capabilities online music stores could eventually offer. (For instance, what if something like Pandora were used as a front end to an AllofMP3-type service?)
I agree. It’s the best example of a music download service I have seen so far. In fact, it’s great and the prices are what they should be. If they were around the same price here (say .25 cents a song or less) the volume the music business would be making would be astronomical. They are insane not to try to emulate that instead of trying to jack up prices on Napster and iTunes. A song file has no physical media, no inventory costs, no middle man costs (except the selling site). They really need to wake up and quit suing innocent people.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
1001 Free Albums
Radio 3.net offers 1001 great albums from the 1950s through the 2005 in streaming format. If you haven’t heard them, I highly recommend the Count Basie’s Atomic Basie and The Wildest by Louis Prima, Both from the 50s. Very enjoyable stuff.
Prima’s CD includes his wife Keelie Smith, who’s a great singer to this day. And the fantastic Sam Butera on the Sax. It ust have been a top party album in it’s day. I love listening to it because it’s fun from beginning to end.
The Atomic Basie is considered one of the top Jazz records of all time. It’s very cool stuff. They also have some Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. Not to mention Duke Ellington. Of the current stuff, I really like the Kings of Leon “Youth And Young Manhood” also The Thrills “So Much for the City”. But there’s plenty of good stuff here.
