Archive for the ‘In The News’ Category
jamie on July 11th, 2008
Ran across an interesting article on TechCrunch this week on last.fm. Besides being one of my favorite places to get 128kbps MP3’s of new artists on the web (just check your cache after streaming a track), they are bucking the system when it comes to paying royalties. Indie artists no longer need to share give up part most of their rolayites to soundexchange for songs playing at last.fm. The company pays royalties out directly to unsigned artists. Read more at TechCrunch.com
jamie on June 26th, 2008
Yep, that’s a quote. In an interview, when asked what she though of piracy and mp3’s and the internet, she said “Yeah, I love it. I think it’s brilliant and I’ll tell you why…”. Read more at TorrentFreak.
jamie on June 13th, 2008
Following up on a previous post about a lawsuit in which Universal Music tried to sue Troy Augusto for selling promo CDs on eBay, a U.S. District Judge in LA ruled this week that Universal Music Group gave up ownership of the CDs when it mailed them to Augusto. Therefore, the first sale doctrine holds, and Augusto was within his rights to sell the discs.
You can follow the case, in which Augusto is represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, on the EFF’s website.
jamie on June 12th, 2008
This rolled through my newsreader twice today- then, I heard the Katy Perry song on the radio on my way home. So, I had to mention that Lindsay Lohan and new gal-pal Sam Ronson seem to be spending a lot of quality time together, even shacking up at Linds’ place in LA. L-Lo goes Lesbo? Is the Hollywood’s biggest attention whore just trying out a new lifestyle? Anyway, about the song: it’s not nearly as good at the Jill Sobule track by the same title.
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl
Jill Sobule - I Kissed A Girl
jamie on June 2nd, 2008
Rock N’ Roll pioneer and guitar hero Bo Diddley died today in Jacksonville, Florida. We was 79, and had been rockin’ for most of those (his first single was released in 1955).
From A.P.:
Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
Diddley was also a pioneer in guitar effects, and known for his visually distinctive box of a guitar, called “The Twang Machine”.
jamie on May 2nd, 2008
This is a music blog, but I do have other interests in life- and occassionally, they intersect. Today is just one of those days. I’ve been trying to catch up on reading some of my favorite music blogs, and noticed this post on My Old Kentucky Blog: Asthmatic Kitty adds seven artists to roster…. The intersect is in the addition of illustrator Laura Park. I’m a big fan of all kinds of art, and have a print of Park’s hanging in my living room. It’s cool to see a record label taking on a visual artist this way.
To celebrate the additions to their roster, Asthmatic Kitty are releasing a free sampler album with one piece from each new artist. You can download the sampler here, or stream it on Muxtape.com.
jamie on April 17th, 2008
The Austin City Limits festival announced their lineup this week. The festival takes place each year in Autin, TX (fitting, for a festival names the AUstin City Limits Festival, huh?) in September. Each year, the lineup is amazing, and this year is no disappointment. Below are just a selection of acts appearing at this year’s ACL Fest:
Foo Fighters
The Swell Season
Band of Horses
Iron & Wine
Jamie Lidell
Gnarls Barkley
N.E.R.D.
The Raconteurs
Hot Chip
José González
The Black Keys
Silversun Pickups
Nicole Atkins & The Sea
Tristan Prettyman
Five Times August
Eli “Paper Boy” Reed and the True Loves
Xavier Rudd
Ingrid Michaelson
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
Duffy
G. Love & Special Sauce
Neko Case
Tegan & Sara
Check out www.ackfestival.com for the full lienup, and tickets.
jamie on April 17th, 2008
Akon’s a faker- go figure. The Smoking Gun.com published thier investigation into the singer’s background yesterday, revealing that his claims of four and a hlaf years of imprinsonment and being the former leader of a notorious car theft ring are in fact complete fiction. They detail the evidence completely in the article, Akon’s Con Job. Is Akon the latest Vanilla Ice? I think so.
jamie on April 11th, 2008
photo by mysteriouskyn
If you write about music, activlely promote music, or just know the right people, chanses are you get promo CDs. I’ve got stacks of them. I give ‘em a listen, but then what? Should I catalog and store these promo CDs forever, just because the record label that sent it marked it as “Licensed for promotional use only. Sale is prohibited.” or “Item is to be returned to the distributor upon demand.”? I think not. Half of them are either utter crap, or just not my thing- file in the circular file. Well, Universal Music now says that throwing away these promo CDs is “an unauthorized distribution” that violates copyright law.
jamie on April 4th, 2008
Is the music industry headed towards an on-demand streaming business model? Will the day come when people no longer want to own the songs they listen to? It’s an interesting thought, and could potentially lead to the death of album art. Anyway, I found this article interesting: Something Important Is On The Horizon In The Music Business
