This Week In News
Photo by flickr user Matt Callow
Coldplay Smashes Records on iTunes, In More Ways Than One...
Legal, British P2P 'by end of year'
Legal broadband subscription services that permit file sharing may appear on the market by the year's end, according to music industry sources - after government intervention brought both music suppliers and ISPs to the table. The UK would become the second country after South Korea where the music business has agreed to offer licenses to file sharing services in a bid to reverse declining revenues.
Andrew Orlowski, The Register
Warner Bros. LP+CD Bundle a Clever Twist
Here's an interesting article about a way to tackle the fatigue that comes with dynamic range compression: For the release of Mudcrutch, the new album by the reunited early '70s band that features Tom Petty, Warner Bros. has released two versions. The CD package will contain an album remastered for the "realities of the marketplace," which means it has the sort of loud, compressed sound that caters to iPod headphones. The vinyl LP will include a CD that was made from the vinyl master, which is quieter and more dynamic.
Glenn Peoples, Coofler
House Subcommittee Votes Yes On Royalty Bill
A U.S. House subcommittee passed a bill Thursday that would require radio stations to pay royalties to artists for playing their music. The Performance Rights Act passed on voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. The next step for the bill is a vote by the full Judiciary Committee. It is possible, but unlikely, that the bill will reach the House floor this year, according to a Dow Jones report. (Read more about the Performance Right here.)
Scott M. Fulton, III, BetaNews
Prince Sues Musicians For Making A Tribute Album For His Birthday
Fifty Norwegian musicians, who teamed up with a Norwegian record label to create what they thought was a nice 50th birthday present for Prince: a "tribute" album with 81 covers of Prince songs. They figured that it would be a nice gesture to send Prince a copy. What they didn't expect was for Prince to turn around and sue the label and all fifty musicians. He's also demanding that all copies of the album be destroyed. There is a question of compulsory licenses here -- as Norway requires about $0.10/song, and with 81 songs, that's about $8 per album. The label believed that since it wasn't making any money on the album, it didn't need to pay.
Mike Masnick, Techdirt
Starbucks Dumping CDs
Starbucks, which has been scaling back its once-grand ambitions to turn itself into an entertainment hub, is about to shrink its plans yet again. We hear that by September, the chain will have dumped almost all of its in-store music retail offerings.
Peter Kafka, Silicon Alley Insider
XM Satellite Radio and EMI Music Publishing Agreement on Pioneer Inno
XM Satellite Radio and EMI Music Publishing today announced that they have resolved the lawsuit brought by EMI Music Publishing against XM over its Pioneer Inno, a portable satellite radio with advanced recording features. The companies did not disclose terms of the agreement.
Trading Markets
"I Don't Value Music Made From Sampling"
Mashup artist Gregg Gillis, aka Girl Talk, is another artist to try the 'pay whatever you want' Internet release model. However, his 55-minute album consists of over 300 samples from other artists, with many current and past hits. No stranger to current controversies in copyright, Gillis also appeared in the documentary Good Copy Bad Copy.
uaudio, MetaFilter
Net Neutrality Advocates Call For Fast, Universal Access To The Net
The United States' anemic broadband penetration rate has led to the formation of a new lobbying group whose goal is to build the political will to bring a more determined, coherent approach to the problem. Many members of the group, including its chief non-profit organizing entity Free Press, have been allies in the fight to shape public opinion and build wide-spread support for the concept of net neutrality.
Sarah Lai Stirland, Wired Threat Level
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