meta-roj

SunnComm’s MediaMax Surpasses the Five Million CD Mark [business wire via tmc net, august 19, 2004]

Over 5 million MediaMax CDs are in the hands of USA music fans!

read the cd label… it might not be a cd.

Is music safe on compact disc? [bbc news, august 4, 2004]

Compact discs were sold as the durable alternative to vinyl – but anyone who opens the case of an ageing CD may be in for a nasty surprise.

it’s something we drop in here periodically, partially as a recognition that despite my own pro-cd perspective, cd’s are not perfect or archival.

(a business model worthy of emulation)

Phish to Donate at Least $100G From Show [ap via abc, august 1, 2004]

The charitable giving arm of the jam band Phish says it will donate at least $100,000 of the proceeds from the band’s final concert to nonprofit groups in Vermont.

more successful bands need “charitable arms”

i didn’t post anything on the news that realnetworks found their way into the ipods – because i was sure this would either fizzle (not likely) or explode. i think we got the explosion.

Storm over iPod ‘hacker tactics’ [bbc, july 30, 2004]

“We are stunned that RealNetworks has adopted the tactics and ethics of a hacker to break into the iPod, ” said Apple in a statement.

“We are investigating the implications of their actions under the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and other laws.”

“We strongly caution Real and their customers that when we update our iPod software from time to time it is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods.”

“outsider cool” company apple has become the institution on this one. rip, mix, burn – on our terms.

first it was stolen then it was shared. now it’s fucking up holidays.

‘Vertigo’ early? [nme.com, july 23]

If it is on the Internet this week, we will release it immediately as a legal download on iTunes, and get hard copies into the shops by the end of the month. It would be a real pity. It would screw up years of work and months of planning, not to mention f**king up our holidays. But once it’s out, it’s out.

it appears that the lost pre-release cd from u2 is live on the p2p networks.

a statement from the band is pretty grim about the whole thing, but there’s always the outside chance that this is an aphex twin promotion. doesn’t seem likely.

i haven’t heard the tracks myself.

on the other hand, the spin so far has been interesting…

U2 Album Goes Missing … Turns Up on P2P Networks [digital lifestyles, july 19, 2004]

Having tracks available, even in unfinished form, so far in advance of the album’s release is likely to tempt many fans who would not normally lift music from P2P networks. However, even though many people will undoubtedly download the tracks using file sharing programs, it is unlikely that this alone will result in lost sales.

If the disk finds its way to a CD pressing plant, then they’ll have a problem.

Want the New U2 Album Early? [slyck, july 20, 2004]

Apparently, the band is so concerned about this (providing this is not a clever publicity stunt) that the French police have been called in to investigate the physical theft.

U2 Vertigo theft [p2pnet, july 20, 2004]

File sharers don’t need idiots literally stealing music and posting it on the p2p nets.

Listen to the flip side [guardian, july 22, 2004]

Prior to Oberholzer-Gee and Strumpf’s report, there were no empirical studies based on actual file sharing behaviour, and the music industries in the US and the UK have based their policies on, at best, incomplete research. At worst, the surveys and analyses they quote are misleading and inaccurate.

the music industry has never let a pesky thing like reality interfere with their business model.

[hi suw! congratulations!]

we like chuck d around here. we really, really, do.

How Copyright Law Changed Hip Hop, An interview with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Hank Shocklee

Chuck D: We have a powerful online community through Rapstation.com, PublicEnemy.com, Slamjams.com, and Bringthenoise.com. My thing was just looking at the community and being able to say, “Can we actually make them involved in the creative process?” Why not see if we can connect all these bedroom and basement studios, and the ocean of producers, and expand the Bomb Squad to a worldwide concept?

if you want a model for a career in music, it’s hard to go too wrong with sir paul.

sure, paul’s fumbled a few times along the way, but 3000 live shows is really, really amazing.

reported by reuters, the beatles are apparently actually negotiating to put their catalog online in some legit form…

reuters credits cnet, and both remind us all about the whole apple vs. apple lawyer thing.