Music videos Blog

Listen to Music Free, but Pay to Carry it With You

Lala.com is like a subscription music service, but without the monthly subscription fee. Lala is betting that in return for getting all that free access to music at home, listeners will pay to buy the songs they want to take with them on iPods and other music players.

I really like the approach this site is taking.
Shame there arn’t more albums yet. But im gonna buy an album from their site (one I like) anyway, even though i usually dont buy music, just to support their approach.

Freeplay Music Library- Good for Developers

Freeplay offers free network synchronization to all BMI/ASCAP & SESAC, national network content broadcasts in exchange for music cue sheet compliance. (Domestic and International). Other commercial uses of Freeplay, are usually subject to fees and must be negotiated in advance.

This is a GREAT source. The rates and use regs are fair and reasonable, but above all the music rocks. Huge selection and all the folks at Freeplay are very easy to work with. They actually answer their e-mail! I have used them for years and have never had a problem.

A girl on Youtube has a wonderful voice - straight from the 20ies

This girl is quite a phenomenon on Youtube. Never contacted by media industry she adds a video almost every day. Check out What a Wonderful World, Santa Baby, Mambo Italiano and others. This site has a list of links to Youtube videos and no ads as of yet. Best of luck to her.

am i the only person to think her voice isn’t that great? she better than some american idol out there but shes not so awesome like some of the people make her out to be.

Why Music Videos Are Still Relevant

Music videos ??” remember them? Those tiny movies set to music that once dominated the programming at MTV and VH1? A quarter-century after their birth, it’s hard to remember that videos once seemed to herald the end of audio-only music consumption.

I was never a fan of music videos. I remember in high school (early 90’s- heigh of music video popularity) many people would be totally into crappy music just because it had a spectacular video. I didn’t have MTV, and I was often baffeled as to why a particular song was so popular until I saw the video at a friends house. It is supposed to be about the MUSIC

A Plea for Piracy

[.pdf file]. The subtitle to this article is: “When copyright owners stop selling older works, maybe pirates deserve some legal cover.” Interesting read.

It shouldn’t even need to be piracy - it should just be “right.” Quality ideas eventually become the people’s - if one wants to maintain absolute control, then one needs to keep it to themselves. The “information wants to be free” slogan isn’t about cost - it’s about thought becoming a virus - it lies dormant in the mind of the creator, but once passed to another, is in essence in control of its own destiny. It’s out and free and it’s a losing fight to try to recapture it.

The biggest shame is that this legal fight is taking place over popular music and mainstream media - some of the worst examples of thought out there. But, who knows what will be considered a classic in 100 years. I hear the odds on Small Wonder are paying 56,003,022:1 That might be worth a bucks gamble…

Stomping True: 25 Metal Bands That Never Sold Out

A common criticism of metal bands, such as Metallica, is the fact that many of them end up “selling out” their harder edged sound for a more polished mainstream sound in the quest to be number one. Despite this, there are many bands out there, including Testament, Overkill, Iron Maiden, and more, that have never strayed far from their roots…

They’re all sell-outs.

You take cash for music, you’ve sold out.

Those bands are playing to their crowd every bit as much as Britney is to hers. If they change their product too much, their audience will abandon them.

Survivalism (Nine Inch Nails) is #1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart

This is NIN’s fourth consecutive number one single.

Who else believes Trent got pissed off yesterday about the RIAA coming after websites for hosting songs that Trent released and the label signed off on (this was on Digg yesterday too) when he decided yesterday to release the whole album on the official site?

Indie labels “revolting” against eMusic’s low prices? Hardly

Some indie labels are dissatisfied with the low price per track that eMusic offers, but CEO David Pakman is unapologetic: low prices lead to higher profits, he claims.

I’ve been a member since 2002, and there are lots of things that I love about eMusic. I can echo the comments of others here who have been exposed to lots of new shit on eMusic, and I’m definitely an album downloader. I don’t download illegally, but I sure as hell do not want to pay $18 for a CD either. I like the idea that at least a tiny bit of money might find its way back to the band, at least in some cases.

However there are a few really frustrating things about eMusic that keep it from being as good as it could be.

1.) There are tons of records I have in my saved for later/too many songs list. When an obscure street/Oi band has their entire discography on one record, with like 40 tracks, I’m not gonna blow almost half my monthly allotment on that one record. It is a lot of work to listen to the 30sec snippets to figure out which tunes to download. There should be a max of 15 DLs debited for one album. I’ll admit that this is somewhat offset by the fact that there are tons of full albums of great jazz for 5 or 6 DLs.

2.) Rap skits, and other short tracks. I gave up on the shitty eMusic Download Manager long ago, but even using a decent DL manager is a pain in the ass if you want to save DLs by excluding this crap. Stuff under 30secs should be free. There is nothing to lose here but the ability to rip lazy people off.

3.) Records lacking reviews. I’m generally happy with the editing staff, and the editor’s picks. But there is too much stuff available with no review or addl. info on the eMusic site. I have to go back and forth btw. Google, Amazon and fansites to figure out whether something is worth getting. This is especially a pain in the ass when you are not familiar at all with an artist. I very often end up downloading the record with the review rather than the unreviewed one.

4.) eMusic has a lot of shit records by good bands. Fine, good bands make shit records all the time. If you don’t know the songs listed on the record you might be a little wary. However, some of these shit records are compilations where the songs listed are not the original versions, and they are not upfront about this. Often you have to find this out by listening or in the user reviews.

5.) Building on #3&4, there should be an incentive program for reviewers. Shit, I’ll write reviews for 1 download credited to my account apiece. They could limit it to 150 words, 5/month or 5 total freebies/record to weed out some of the fucktards that would try to play the system by pasting or only reviewing popular releases which are reviewed to death already.

6.) No carryover. I don’t want to spend a half hour figuring out how to use up 7 DLs. Inevitably, I end up with a record that I really want to download the whole thing, but I just choose the first 7 songs. Then I have to clean up the rest in a month. I have some jazz records lined up in lists by # tracks for this purpose, but I shouldn’t have to. I realize that the database works a lot more efficiently by just zeroing everyone’s account, but c’mon!

Still, despite these problems I continue to support eMusic as a much more realistic way to obtain music for a fair price without DRM, and I encourage others to do the same. eMusic is far from perfect, but it is the best legal way to obtain DRM free music from a large number of artists.

Listen to Year Zero (Nine Inch Nails)

Listen to the full Year Zero album on NIN-s official website

I own every Halo and have Year Zero on pre-order, so I’m not here to shit talk, but ‘Meet Your Master’ and ‘The Great Destroyer’ suck ass. I also could have done without ‘Capital G’, and ‘TBOTE’.

Keane give out free USB memory stick with new single

Keane are to give out a free memory stick with their new single ‘Nothing In My Way’. The gadget will allow fans to transfer the song - as well as other tracks, videos and screensavers - onto their computer and then their MP3 player.

It’s still a nice marketing idea to do this (”Get your limited edition Keane memory sticks!”). I wonder how much these will go for on eBay once they sell out.

The Ninth Album: Is there hope left for Metallica?

By early 2008, Metallica will have released their ninth album. While metal heads are eagerly anticipating this release, there are just as many who are somewhat concerned by its outcomes based upon the band’s recent history. This is a history that is perceived by many as a band losing sight of both their roots and their fan base…

Where is the anger that drove the early songs - even Lars mentioned it in the Some Kind of Monster movie - they sold millions of cds with songs about anger and hatred and this psychotherapist wuss guy wants then to write about their feelings - WTF. Being a Metallica fan who literally lost interest after the Black cd - i’m not holding out alot of hope for the new CD.

Podcasters stage cancer benefit using “First of May” by Jonathan Coulton

As a benefit for the family of Joe Murphy, a podcaster and XM Radio personality who passed away on April 1st, a group of podcasters spearheaded by Paul Fischer and Phil Rossi have created a Creative Commons-licensed version of Jonathan Coulton’s hilariously profane song ‘First of May.’

I have to ask ad I dont mean to be rude..
Whats the deal with funny guys dying on April 1st?
First Mitch Hedberg, then Joe Murphy.
One things for sure, heaven is a funnier place.
Tell Sam and Chris we said hi, Joe.
When we get there, teach us to smile again.
Dugg for Jonathan Coulton.

Indie musician J Robbins of Jawbox and his son desperately needs your help

J Robbins is a well-known indie producer and musician from the band Jawbox. He was recently given some devastating news about his 1 year-old, Callum.
What’s even worse is, he’s on single payer insurance which covers very little of the immense cost of Callum’s treatment.
If you haven’t yet played Santa to someone this year, this might be the time.

I’m sorry for this trouble.

But I have the same answer as when people asked for money for the people who saved Richard Hammond when he crashed that car.

I don’t take fame into account when selecting who to make my charitable contributions to. Fame (permanent or temporary) just isn’t part of the equation that determines how deserving you are of charity.

Kanye West Flips Out at MTV Europe Awards

In a tirade riddled with expletives, Kanye said he should have won the prize for Best Video for “Touch The Sky,” because it “cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons.” … “If I don’t win, the awards show loses credibility,” Kanye said.

Most nights at work I wear my Kanye West staff shirt cause it’s black and comfortable (I work at a record store)… Every time I get a “cool shirt!” comment from someone I have to hold back the Kanye insults. He’s a fuckin dipshit.

Hard Rock Park To Give ???Backstage??™ Preview

Ground has been broken in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Hard Rock Park, the world
??™s first rock ???n??™ roll theme park, and a 6-city U.S. tour of music and memorabilia starts today to promote the opening of the Park??™s preview center this month.

Wow! I’m a total theme-park hound dog, so I can’t wait for this park to open up. Then good ol’ BlackBelt and family can chill out somewhere in *Rock & Roll Heaven*! Hey, I wonder if can get KISS to play there? They could get them reenact the whole *Phantom of the Park* concert with the evil robot KISS impostors! Ha!

The 500 greatest guitar riffs of all time.

A member of the Something Awful forums comprises a list of the 500 Greatest Guitar Rifts while providing a link to each song’s video on You Tube and a link to the guitar tablature

this list doesnt make all that much sense, though there are a lot of great songs in here. i dont understand why kind of second tier guitar business gets dugg… (i.e. that tapping guy from a couple months ago). purple haze #16? blasphemy.

Beatles to sue EMI for millions

The Beatles are to sue music companies EMI and Capitol for millions of pounds in royalties. They are also seeking to reclaim rights to all the Beatles’ master recordings.

Doesn’t Michael Jackson own the rights to a lot of the Beatles songs?

I wouldn’t want to guess at the weird things Jacko would make beatles do for their rights back. “Don’t just stare at it, eat it.”

Songs About Killings Live On, Not Just In Raps

Behold the classic murder ballad. It’s a song form about the most gruesome of events, told in a light, sometimes even pretty way, so that it might take a several listens to recognize the bloody gore oozing underneath an otherwise benign melody. The murder ballad has been around for centuries and continues forward as a part of popular culture.

Jenny was a friend of mine- the killers

We took a walk that night, but it wasn’t the same
We had a fight on the promenade out in the rain
She said she loved me, but she had somewhere to go
She couldn’t scream while I held I close
I swore I’d never let her go
Tell me what you wanna know
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on
There ain’t no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
So come on, oh come on, oh come on

I know my rights, I’ve been here all day and it’s time
For me to go, so let me know if it’s alright
I just can’t take this, I swear I told you the truth
She couldn’t scream while I held I close
I swore I’d never let her go

Tell me what you wanna know
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on
And then you whisper in my ear
I know what you’re doing here
So come on, oh come on, oh come on
There ain’t no motive for this crime
Jenny was a friend of mine
Oh come on, oh come on, oh come on

The 25 Most Exquisitely Sad Songs in the Whole World

There’s no shortage of sad songs about rainy days and lovers who don’t bring flowers. And then there are songs that truly bring the pain — songs so despairing they can make us wonder why we even bother. Here are 25 little ditties so crushing, they could knock Dick Cheney to his knees.

Well, it looks like we all have songs to add to this list. I would add “From the edge of the deep green sea” by The Cure to this list. Very sad song.

Bruce Springsteen To Release Live CD/DVD From Seeger Sessions Band/Tour

Recorded over three nights’ worth of shows last November with the Seeger Sessions Band, this will be released simultaneously by Sony on DVD (including Hi-Def Blu-Ray) as well as on a two-CD set audio set on June 5.

I hear grandpa Sprinklesteen loves him some DRM. Wish this Boss key would work against BS. With crap like this getting dug digg is going down fast. Better cash in ASAP and sell this puppy.

The 25 Strangest Music Videos Of All Time

Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

I can’t remember the name of the song, but I saw a really strange video by Add N to X a few years ago. Something about robot hookers.

Glad to see Dir en Grey on there though. I might nominate Malice Mizer’s “Illuminati” for this list. Anyone else seen that?

Third Nine Inch Nails track leaked - Me, I’m Not

Track 6 from the upcoming Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero has been leaked to the public through another USB drive found at tonights venue.. Links to the symphony of noise project currently tracking the yearzero ARM

Fair enough.

RATM is an amazing band, and I agree completely with your point.

I’ll agree that NIN is mainstream in that sense… I just can’t stand hearing some asshat piss all over a band that, in my opinion, should fit into a category with RATM, Tool, Massive Attack, etc, and use the term mainstream as a derogatory. NIN might have mainstream success, but, where I live, if I want to hear NIN (or any of the above mentioned bands) more than once a day, I have to load up the iPod… because I sure as hell won’t get to hear it on the “mainstream” radio beside Nickelback and Blink 182.
I appreciate the clarification. You’re more than entitled to your opinions and preferences in music… and I apologize. I think I became a bit reactionary to the comments of “mainstream garbage” and “anyone who likes NIN is gay”.
It’s ignorance I can’t stand… not unique opinions. Cheers!

Ever Feel Guilty About Pirating Music? Here’s the Solution. [pic]

This is the way around a guilty conscience for file sharing.

Its too bad all band members dont just have a paypal. Everytime i downloaded a pirated cd i would send each member for the band $3.
Something to think about.

And heres a mirror in case this goes down:
http://www.getsdrunk.com/cheezy/albums/userpics/consciencecleared.jpg

Man thwarted in EBay auction of rare record to try again

A disappointed Warren Hill says he’s going to try again to sell his fabled acetate of the Velvet Underground’s famous first recording, despite being thwarted by a prankster EBay bidder.

What I don’t understand is why this guy doesnt sell it to the Norwegian guy that didnt win the auction. He offered him 128 500 $ for it and still wants it.

For those who can read Norwegian:
EDIT : Now I understand

Save Our Internet Radio - The View from Paradise

Don
??™t let the RIAA silence your favorite Internet radio station!

I’ve bought more new records because of RadioParadise, Pandora etc than I have ever before. The RIAA are even dumber than we thought if they think that stopping people hearing music is a good way to protect their industry.

2007 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees: Van Halen, R.E.M., and More

Van Halen made a “jump” into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday along with Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, R.E.M., the Ronettes and Patti Smith. A panel of 600 industry experts selected the five artists to be inducted at the annual ceremony, to be held March 12 in New York.

Grandmaster Flash FTW!!!

(Ooh White Lines) Vision dreams of passion
(Blowin??™ through my mind) and all the while I think of you
(High fry) a very strange reaction
(For us to unwind) the more I see, the more I do
(Something like a phenomenon) Baby!
(Tellin your body to come along, but white lines blow away)
(Blow! Rock it! Blow!)

Thats one of the best scenes from Shaun of The Dead!

The 25 Most Ridiculous Band Names in Rock History

You start a rock band, which you just happen to name after spending several hours huffing paint and drinking bleach. You’re discovered by a major label and start selling a lot of records. And suddenly you realize that the stupid name you thought up when you were huffing all that paint is going to follow you around for the rest of your life.

I for one think The the is an absolutely ingenious and sarcastic name for a band, despite the oddness. Also, Thirty Odd Foot of Grunts and Archers of Loaf are both great names for a band. I’m surprised the poster didn’t include the Artist formerly known as Prince, or currently known as [unpronounceable].

UK government resists music industry pressure, caps copyrights at 50 years

Some of the earliest hits from the British Invasion will fall out of copyright protection over the next few years after the UK decided against extending the term of music copyrights.

How long has the 50 year thing been around? Saying that they have no real pension is ridiculous, these people make ridiculous amounts of money, the ones that don’t usually have a 9-5 to support them anyway. What I’m saying is, is that it’s their own damn fault for leaving it till the last minute (year..) to start bitching and moaning instead of doing something about it earlier. Surely they should have planned ahead knowing that they will no longer own the IP rights to their song in 50 years..

Rage Against the Machine reunites (Reuters)

Reuters - Militant rap-rock group Rage Against the Machine reunited after a seven-year absence during a California music festival over the weekend, offering a sharpened version of their old message: fight the power.

I saw rage play in Philadelphia in ‘99. The entire spectrum was filled.. You can’t get that kind of energy in a crowd from any other band. Unbelievable.

Colbert Accepts Decemberists’ Counter-Challenge!

Last night on “The Colbert Report”, history was made as Stephen Colbert accepted the Decemberists’ challenge to a guitar solo duel.

off topic…

but am I the only one here who HATES pitchforkmedia with ardent, fiery passion?

Look at their ratings for Coldplay… 5/10. On all three albums. Apparently they’re so calm, they have no “substance”. The Doors? 6/10. Foo Fighters? 3/10. U2? 5/10.

What. The. Fuck.

“Don’t Download this Song” Song by Weird Al for Free

About how to break national copyright laws and get the RIAA on your tail. “You start out stealing songs, then you’re robbing liquor stores…” Very much tounge-in-cheek.

I started to download this song, and listened too it, utter crap.

Weird Al lost his touch years ago, sounds like Al ripped off Camp Chaos and
the whole “USA for Africa” sound:

‘Sue the World’ from Camp Chaos:
http://www.campchaos.com/blog-archives/2006/05/napster_bad_sue_all_the_world.html

Record exec to academic: stop criticizing us or I’ll tell your university

Andrew Dubber, who is on faculty at the University of Central England, blogged a link to a story critical of RIAA lawsuits. Paul Birch, a British record exec wrote him an angry letter, telling him that he wasn’t allowed to post that kind of thing to his personal blog, because he works for a university that is funded by the government.

You say you want a revolution well you know, it’s here. It’s a “magic juke box” that turns limited scarcity into infinite reproduction without taking away anything from anyone. Copying is a good thing. In every instance, there’s more of something than there was before it was copied. Magic! Nobody loses their property. Nothing is ever stolen.

And every claim of copyright COPIES previous claims of copyright. And there has never been a single claimed instance of copyright that did not copy someone else. All claims of copyright are hypocritical. If copyright was ever really real, and not arbitrarily enforced, nothing new and innovative could ever be produced, whether it was scientific or artistic. Absolutely everything which is made is copying the ideas of someone else in part.

Harry Potter talking about people “flying on broomsticks”, talking about “magic” and “dragons”? COPIED someone else. Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions? COPIED previously established scientific principles. Copernicus proving the earth revolves around the sun? COPIED ancient Greek mathematicians. If people didn’t COPY scientific and artistic progress would be impossible. Every single pop song ever played? COPIED chords and progressions and notes of others. Really, all claims of copyright/patent are no different than little children screaming “jinx” at each other.

And these same people that scream “jinx” at you have no problem themselves hypocritical COPYING others every single day all day long. They use doors and windows in their homes. They use wheels. They use fire. They use words. The copyright/patent system is the biggest puff bluff ever perpetuated, all because the economic proof that copyright and patents cause technological scientific and artistic stagnation (rather than the falsely alleged “progress̶ didn’t exist when patents seemed a good idea. What reason is there for patents when it’s economically provable they do exactly the opposite of what was their alleged intention?

I think it’s very possible to pass a constitutional amendment banning all copyright and patent. This is something the masses could be rallied for to slam corporate protectionism and Hollywood hypocrisy. I see it happening. What’s to stop State by State constitutional ballot initiatives banning copyrights and patents? Big stuff happens in politics now and then. Political parties come and go. Imagine there’s no copyrights … it’s easy if you try.

Hard Rock Park To Give ???Backstage??™ Preview

Ground has been broken in Myrtle Beach, SC, on Hard Rock Park, the world
??™s first rock ???n??™ roll theme park, and a 6-city U.S. tour of music and memorabilia starts today to promote the opening of the Park??™s preview center this month.

As a Myrtle Beach resident I can tell you that we are looking at this new park with both trepidation and anticipation. In the 15 years I’ve been here there have been numerous ventures that have been hailed as the next great thing to bring more tourists to our beaches including, Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, and numerous theaters in the vein of Branson, MO. Most have failed but a few have made it. The biggest problem is we don’t have an interstate that comes all the way here and our airport pretty much sucks! However, we do have a KISS coffee shop that kicks some serious ass besides the fact that a coffee is probably like 10 bucks.

Apple Still Can’t Buy Beatles’ Love

The long and winding road to DRM-free downloads from a major record label led this week to the door of The Beatles’ label, EMI. To the disappointment of many, the deal between Apple and EMI won’t include the long-awaited release of the Fab Four’s catalog on the iTunes Music Store.

“Hopefully for them, that will drive a percentage of people who already own the music on CD to go out and buy it again.”

How does this make sense?

Even if you already have the cd you can just import it into iTunes.

Why Music Videos Are Still Relevant

Music videos ??” remember them? Those tiny movies set to music that once dominated the programming at MTV and VH1? A quarter-century after their birth, it’s hard to remember that videos once seemed to herald the end of audio-only music consumption.

I don’t understand why there isn’t one channel that don’t broadcast in the best sound and video format “Videos”;I remember when MTV first came out they would advertise a “special”stereo box that you could get from your cable company so you could get MTV in 2 channel stereo sound,YES most TV`s at the time had one mono speaker on them”I’m 39 Y/O”Video awards are bullshit,videos used to be a artform and I’m sure they still are!I would love to see a radiohead video in crisp clear HD or in 5.1. sound but NOOOOO MTV don’t have to do that,lets get a bunch of former thugs and some white no talent trash “you know who I’m talking about” and throw a party one night for something we dont do anymore.FU MTV you used to be a trend setter now your a follower.

College advises students to push back against the RIAA

Only one student at North Carolina State University responded to the RIAA’s offer for an early settlement, meaning that 23 others are likely to be sued. But the university is advising students to push back against the recording industry.

The infinite wisdom of government continues with the response I got:

Dear Friend:

Thank you for your e-mail message and for your interest in public policy.

In order to better serve the 36 million residents of California, I am now
using an e-mail system located on my Senate website. This system enables
me to provide more and better responses to you and other constituents
while saving taxpayer dollars. (Unfortunately, limited resources do not
allow me to respond to e-mails generated by third-party organizations.)

If you would like a reply to your message, I encourage you to visit my
website e-mail system at
Simply fill in the fields, type in your message, and click ???Submit??? at the
bottom of the page.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope you will keep in touch.

Sincerely,

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

The baby on Nirvana’s Nevermind album is 17 (Pic)

Wow i feel old.

The differences between a baby’s penis and a 17 year old’s are huge. If I was him I wouldn’t care if you saw my penis when I was a baby. It’s not like it’s being used in as a sexual reference in the picture. He’s got nothing to be ashamed about in my opinion.

Weird Al - Ridin’ Dirty (White & Nerdy)

This is Weird Al’s best. Definitely worth a listen!

Weird Al ROCKS! I’ve been listening to him since I was a kid…so awesome. Glad to see hes making a new album called Straight Outta Lynwood. Looks like its gonna be a album full of papradies of rappers…lmfao. I can’t wait. Thanks for finding this.

Consumer Electronics Association lambasts the RIAA

CEA president/CEO Gary Shapiro lambasted the RIAA concerning a letter the RIAA sent to Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) about copyright issues. Shapiro said that the RIAA has avoided participating in the copy-protection technical working group because the RIAA does not want to change its business model. No surprises there!

Rick Boucher is one of the few congressmen who actually knows what he’s talking about when it comes to tech issues. He definitely knows “the internet is not a dump truck” and much more beyond that. It’s reassuring that someone on the hill doesn’t have their head completely up their ass on an issue that’s so important to this country’s economy. I’m only sorry I was too lazy to vote for him while I attended Virginia Tech.

Guitar Lessons Removed From YouTube in Copyright Dispute

Guitar instructor shows people how to play parts of songs on YouTube, and incurs the wrath of the music industry.

According to copyright law, the RIAA can only hold rights to it’s own recordings, that is, the recordings of the songs they produced, or purchased. This is just about the only limitation there is. If someone plays the song, from say sheet music, or from memory, and makes a recording of his own performance of the song, that recording is legally his, and the &*$#%$ can shovel it. Sure enough they can accuse him of plagiarizing the song, but only if he claims the song is his, and does not attribute it properly to say the other singer or band …

Who is YsabellaBrave? A 2nd lonelygirl15, or merely a young talented woman?

You’ve seen the digg link to her page - it’s been dugg over 2800 times.
On her profile at YouTube.com there are photos of a twenty-something woman with a full mouth, dark eyes, and in thumbnails from her videos, ever-changing hair.
But the question is - who is she? Is she an act, like lonelygirl15 last year, or an original, shooting to fame?

“Pretty girl sings karaoke online, men pop boners across the planet”

Seriously not to knock this girl or anything, but what we have here is simply a girl doing a common thing that people do in bars across the blanet on a daily basis.

However do it online where millions of men can use the anonymity of the internet to contact her and try for her hand in marriage, and you get your 15 minutes of fame.

Come on males, please stop watering down the integrity of what really constitutes worthy entertainment. It’s karaoke. She’s good looking. Ok. Still no excuse for causing this much of an uproar. It’s like Paris Hilton becoming famous for being a slut. Makes no sense.

Skype Founder: Kazaa, Napster Help Music

Kazaa, Napster Inc. and other creators of file-sharing applications have been good for the music industry, Niklas Zennstrom, founder of the now-defunct Kazaa and CEO of Skype, said Monday

Uuuuuuuuhhh Isn’t the skype founder the guy who put together Kazaa as well? Doesn’t that make his remarks pretty obvious?

Bill Gates says Windows is good for computers.

Freeplay Music Library- Good for Developers

Freeplay offers free network synchronization to all BMI/ASCAP & SESAC, national network content broadcasts in exchange for music cue sheet compliance. (Domestic and International). Other commercial uses of Freeplay, are usually subject to fees and must be negotiated in advance.

Why would this be good for developers ? They only waive the synch fee for US National network broadcast. Everything else has a normal synch fee. Game developers or website developers would have to pay a synch fee. Blog use requires synch fee.

The composer and Freeplay make money off of performance royalties.

Free use for non-commercial or educational use.

The music — sounds like your average canned production stuff.

DJ Spooky: How a Tiny Caribbean Island Birthed the Mashup

Paul D. Miller, also known as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid, has been producing beat-heavy electronic music for more than a decade. From his early solo trip-hop efforts to his more recent collaborations with jazz giants, Spooky has always approached music from multiple angles at once. He has the chops of a musician, the genre-blending……….

DJ spooky is kind of a hack. I’m pretty sure he just read the book Wikinomics and applied all of those ideas to music tech. He even uses the exact subtitle of the book “Mass collaboration changes everything”… like he just thought of that on the spot.

I like the guy, but I think he fancies himself some kind of philosophical hero. Hes more of a scholarly know it all than a DJ.

How Bands & Musicians Got Their Names..

Bands often have unusual names and here are the origins of some popular bands both past and present. One thing that you will discover if you look into this area is that RUMORS abound! If we cannot confirm an origin, we have given alternatives found in other sources.

Black Sabbath is from an old Hollywood Movie titled “Black Sabbath” starring Boris Karloff. And before that band name, they were called Earth, and before Earth some of the members were from a band called Polka Tulk. I am typing this from my memory, not cut and paste from the all Holy Oracle Wikipedia.

Record Industry Dying? Sales Down 20%

First things first: Overall album sales for the January 1-April 2 period are down 16.6% to 117.1 million units, led — or perhaps misled — by a 20.5% decline in CD album sales.

Good! As far as I’m concerned, the RIAA are crooks. They deserve to die out. Mosts artists now have an online presence and should be more than able to sell their art online and actually PROFIT from their intellectual properties.

Allofmp3 To Give Entire Catalog Away For Free!

“A Moscow-based Web site that the U.S. Commerce Department has branded as the world’s highest- volume online seller of pirated music announced plans Tuesday to release hundreds of thousands of albums free…”

The article makes the mistake of saying that PirateBay is operating illegally. Kind of makes me think that the author doesn’t know what he’s talking about and is just trying to do the bidding of the recording industry.

“Don’t Download this Song” Song by Weird Al for Free

About how to break national copyright laws and get the RIAA on your tail. “You start out stealing songs, then you’re robbing liquor stores…” Very much tounge-in-cheek.

I started to download this song, and listened too it, utter crap.

Weird Al lost his touch years ago, sounds like Al ripped off Camp Chaos and
the whole “USA for Africa” sound:

‘Sue the World’ from Camp Chaos:
http://www.campchaos.com/blog-archives/2006/05/napster_bad_sue_all_the_world.html

RIAA Boycott: Congress Introduces “Fair Use” Bill; They’re Totally With Us

Wait a minute
??¦ could this be??¦ good news on the DRM front? Really? Somebody pinch me. Reps. Rich Boucher (D-Va.) and John Dolittle (R-Calif.) introduced their “Freedom and Innovation Revitalizing U.S. Entrepreneurship” (or FAIR USE) Act today, one that aims to make crippled DRM illegal.

Am I the only one who gets tired of Congress slamming together words to form a pre-determined acronym?

Just title the bill something meaningful, damn it, and let us sort out how to abbreviate it!

100 Greatest Guitar Solos (w/ Tablature)

What follows is the list of all 100 songs selected, listed with the guitarist who played the solo, the band who released the album, and the album name. Clicking on the song will take you to the guitar tab for that specific solo, and in some cases, additional notes like how to get a similar guitar sound.

Avoid internet tabs… buy the official transcriptions.

I might as well try to give bass players some love, here’s me on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEeTAZ2QufU

Bizarro World. People Actually Bought R. Kelly’s Album.

This guy was brought up on child pornography charges, yet, enough people bought his album to make it number 1. Boggles the mind.

Some people like his music, so they buy his album. I don’t see why it’s a big shock. Some people just don’t give a damn about what the artist does; they just care about the music if it sounds good to them.

It’s Official: Police Reuniting for Grammys

“The Police will reunite to perform at this year’s Grammys ceremony, the Recording Academy announced Tuesday.” All I have to add to that is WOOOOHOOOO!

Id have to argue that Wrapped around Your Finger is the BEST police song EVER.
Forget Sting and Summer, Copeland is THE man!

Article dugg up for awesomeness!

Guitar Lessons Removed From YouTube in Copyright Dispute

Guitar instructor shows people how to play parts of songs on YouTube, and incurs the wrath of the music industry.

This is why you need a program like VideoGet to download usefull videos to your local drive. You never know when some money grubbing pinhead is gonna find a reason to take it down and try to charge you for it.

Resistance meeting turns into free Nine Inch Nails show in LA [w photos]

Tonight a group of about 50 Art is Resistance members, including the select few from last week
??™s A.I.R. gathering in LA, were gathered using a series of cellphone calls and directed to an abandoned warehouse in Los Angeles for a private resistance meeting and intimate live Nine Inch Nails show.

And anyone who made it all the way through “With Teeth” without heaving their player through a window deserves a citation. Reznor has made nothing but shit since The Fragile.

Music Licensing Online: YouLicense

youlicense.pngYouLicense aims to gain traction in the growing market for direct music licensing deals.An online music licensing marketplace, YouLicense enables artists and those seeking musical content to conduct business directly without the need to deal with music companies.

Personally, I think it’s fantastic. About time someone thought of this! There are literally millions of artists out there struggling to make ends meet. This is one step in the right direction of protecting their rights.

Listen and Share and Download free Music

jamendo is a new model for artists to promote, publish, and be paid for their music. jamendo users can discover and share albums, but also review them or start a discussion on the forums. Albums are democratically rated based on the visitors
??™ reviews. If they fancy an artist they can support him by making a donation.

Found some worthwhile music on this already. I find part of the problem with services like these, especially as they grow in size, is that the categories can be too wide or too narrow, or that people upload their details into the wrong place so you find hip hop in ‘classical’ because they think it is a ‘classic’ track or they just want to be spotted in a quieter part of the site.
I might be tempted to stick some of my stuff up on this and see how it pans out.

Media Defender to Spam P2P Networks With 16,000,000 Tracks from One Artist

Spam comes in many shapes and forms and today we have news that anti-piracy company Media Defender has hooked up with telecoms company Sprint and Atlantic Records to give away 16 million free tracks on P2P networks. However, don??™t get too excited, its 16 million tracks from one artist.

You guys are hilarious. Almost every Digg story on the entertainment industry has someone in positive diggs for saying “When will they realize they need to adapt to the market and new technology”. Here they’ve found a way to give away free music through sponsorship, and it’s still not good enough for you. Either that, or your anti-industry group-think is so cemented that you can’t even see someone from the opposing team trying to find an acceptable middle ground. What exactly is it that you want from these people? Do you have a better solution? Better yet, why not join with them to build an acceptable solution instead of just bitching about it?