Mar
11
Pink Floyd Wins Court Battle Against EMI Over Online Royalties
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Pink Floyd has won its legal battle with EMI over online royalties and unbundling of its albums. The group’s lawyers told the High Court in London that it disputed the calculations for digital sales royalties, and was opposed to the selling of individual tracks online.
Judge Andrew Morritt ruled in favor of Pink Floyd. EMI will no longer be able to sell Pink Floyd’s records other than as complete albums without written consent.
EMI must pay £40,000 ($60,000) in costs as in interim payment, while the judge is still deciding the level of fine.
Mar
10
With shrinking audiences, deep layoffs and two management shake-ups, MySpace, the one-time leader in Internet social networking for musicians and music-lovers, decides to overhaul site to rekindle growth. With competition from booming social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and Google Inc jumping into the fray, MySpace hopes to become the first social network to regain its mass appeal.
The revamp of the site now being introduced is in keeping with the strategy all three executives devised over the past 11 months They pulled the curtain back on a new version of the site that will be rolled out in installments over coming weeks and months. The new site recasts MySpace more strongly around its music and media content, with features such as the ability to listen to a music playlist based on songs that other MySpace users are sharing in their stream of updates.
Mar
4
Spanish Indies Are Preparing to Take the Gov’t to Court on Charges of Piracy Negligence
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Due to the “massive free downloading” over the past few years, many Spanish indie labels and distribution sectors are preparing to take the government to court on charges of negligence, and demand compensation for the damage done by piracy to the indie sector. The labels - which all belong to 46-member indie label association UFI or its equivalent in Catalonia, Apecat - gave the government until mid-March of 2010 to respond.
A spokesperson for the culture ministry pointed out that the inter-ministerial commission proposal to block or shut Web sites has been adopted. But the labels say that shutting websites will not solve the problem. If they close down one website, lots of other websites could sprout somewhere else.
“The measure would not resolve the most relevant problem, which is the actual impossibility of us taking civil action against those final users who appropriate music without paying, and systematically violate intellectual property rights,” says Gerardo Carton, director of PIAS Records Spain and spokesman for the 20 or so labels.
It is estimated that the number of stores and other establishments connected to the music industry that have closed in recent years tops 800 in Spain.Carton and UFI quote Promusicae figures, which show that in 2008 there were some 2 billion illegal music downloads in Spain, compared to just 20 million legal downloads.
It’s about time the government does something drastic in saving the music industry before it becomes extinct.
Feb
24
Kick Ass Packaging of the Week: Spiritualized “Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space”
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This album is more than a decade old but it is still well-known simply because of its very unconventional CD packaging! It tries to push the lines of creativity and functionality and it continues to serve as inspiration to those who want to go against the grain with CD packaging.
The premise of the album is that music is like a drug that soothes us and makes us feel like we’re “floating in space”. Everything in this pack resembles an over-the-counter prescription drug.
It is a large prescription box with 12 mini CDs in blister packs complete with a sheet of product information.You have to break each foil seal to take the CDs out. Awesome! Especially because I have this fascination for breaking foil seals.
The downside is that, after you have all the fun breaking the foils and reading the descriptions, you will have to find another case for the 12 CDs (since the foil is already broken, it won’t protect the CDs properly, would it? If you accidentally pull the blister pack wrong side up, then the CDs would fall to the ground). But the main problem is actually in playing the album. It could be a pain in the ass switching CDs now and then.
But for CD packaging enthusiasts, this is definitely a great collector’s item! Expect to hear lots of ooohs and aaahs from your friends as they get overwhelmed by its awesomeness. But make sure you purchase two sets if you plan to include this to your collection. You cannot listen to the music if you don’t break the foil. If you break the foil, its appeal is gone.
Overall, very awesome pack!
Feb
24
Billboard Music and Money Symposium
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When: March 4,2010
Where:The St. Regis
2 East 55th Street at 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10022
This one-day event brings together the best minds from the music, legal, financial and Wall Street communities for an in-depth examination of the financial realities with which the music industry is contending. Don’t miss the premier event for the music industry decision-makers, entrepreneurs and companies interested in providing funding for entertainment ventures.
This annual event attracts almost 250 top-level executives from record labels, publishing firms, marketing and promotion companies, as well as artist managers, attorneys, accountants, strategic advisors, distributors, financial services, analysts and consulting firms.
Reasons to attend:
to learn more about the financial realities of the music industry
to gain insights on how to deal with these problems
to meet new people in the industry
and many more…
Register here.
Sep
16
After upstaging Taylor Swift at the VMAs, I can’t wait to find out what will become of Kanye West’s career. Kanye made numerous apologies and stated he would “take some time off” to reflect – But he will instead join Lady Gaga for the “Fame Kills” tour starting this fall. Will the outburst affect his ticket sales? I can’t wait to find out!
A PD for a major urban mainstream radio station said, “This isn’t an urban tour — urban audiences can be a bit more forgiving than mainstream audiences are. I can see him going on stage and people booing him.”
On the other hand, Ebro Darden, PD for New York radio station Hot 97 (WQHT) said “people who genuinely like Kanye won’t be affected. Tickets for his GaGa tour go on sale in a few days and I’m sure people will be in the building.”
Sep
16
I stumbled upon Alex Cornell’s Wes Anderson Film Festival works and I love his style. His works really standout that I just can’t not feature him in our blog! Luckily, I had the chance to interview this talented young graphic designer from San Francisco.
Could you tell us something about yourself?
I am 24, about to turn 26 (we skip 25 where I’m from to avoid the stress). I am currently living in San Francisco, getting my MFA in design, working and writing for ISO50, freelancing, and running an intermittent solo music career. I went to Duke for my undergrad and studied psychology. I don’t recall doing much work, but I think I may have just forgotten about it with expert use of selective memory. Most of my time at school was spent playing guitar and singing in a band called Running Lights.
What and who are your influences?
For me, first and foremost would be Scott Hansen (ISO50). Before I even knew what graphic design was, I was following Scott’s work. Scott is able to move between both music and design, and create incredible work in both fields. As these are the same two creative arenas I find myself in, he has always been a major source of inspiration and someone to look up to. Otherwise, I would say I am influenced by the design
of Build or Non-Format, the writings of Michael Beirut, and the irreverence of Stefan Sagmeister. And the entire country of Japan. Also John Mayer – I probably built the entire first couple versions of myself around what I thought John Mayer might do.
How do you work on a concept? I try and think about: A) what hasn’t or isn’t being done, B) what would make me laugh, C) what would be the worst possible idea, and D) what is practical (and/or what I can make practical in short order). I will usually just sit and think for about 30 minutes and try and think of ideas. Usually, this is enough to grab some concept but not anything visual. The visual brainstorming is a lot harder and usually takes way more time. This process begins alone, like my conceptual brainstorm, but ends up with me surrounded by piles of books, movies, etc. Each and every time I begin a new project I am frozen with fear that I won’t be able to think of anything good. Every single time.
I really like your works for your hypothetical Wes Anderson Film Festival . Could you tell us about it?
I made the materials for the hypothetical festival over the course of a 15-week semester. Much of the finished product work was completed in a short amount of time, once I had nailed down a visual style and look/feel (after about 4 weeks). It was a fairly smooth process of development actually –much more so than I had become accustomed to. I really enjoyed being able to wield a certain amount of weirdness and randomness throughout the project. For example, I had a lot of fun titling every piece of the project something very long and unusual. There was no single name for the festival because this seemed tired and expected. Instead, each time the brand is encountered, there is a different (but equally) bizarre headline.
That’s a well-polished work for a class project. I will ask you questions that we ask all our designers. To you, what makes a good package?
A good design must be intuitive and simple, first. After that, if it can also be strange, beautiful and exciting than you have a great success. This balance is very important. I also gravitate towards packages implementing really tactile materials. There are magazines that I read because I like the way the pages feel. I force myself to enjoy the content as well so I can hold the paper longer.
Well said. Now, what makes a bad package?
If it attacks you, like clamshell packaging, this would be a good indicator of a “bad” package. Also, bad graphic design can ruin even the best physical package designs.
Thanks a lot for sharing your talents and brilliant mind, Alex. We can’t wait to see more of your designs. Keep it up!
Sep
10
New Business Models
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Whenever someone criticizes the music industry for their stubborn refusal to accept new business models (and the subsequent pressure on governments and ISPs to police the end users because the industry is not making as much money as it used to), the question that inevitably pops up is: what are these new business models?
In fact, we’ve been highlighting them for years. Well-known artists like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have paved the way for a new era of music business by trying out innovative new ways to engage the consumer. Letting the consumers choose the price for an album is one model that worked; offering goods that can be infinitely duplicated (music) for free and tying it to scarce goods (vinyl records, t-shirts, collector’s items etc.) is another.
I think this works simply because Radiohead is already a very established superfamous band and that the fans will support them whatever business model they choose. I doubt if this trick will give much difference to the struggling new artists. But the whole point is that, the musicians and the people in the music industry should embrace different kinds of mediums and have the courage to try inventive strategies to market their music. This is a challenge to the artists, and a greater one to the indie musicians.
Sep
8
Kick-Ass Packaging of the Week: Flight of the Conchords
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Flight of the Conchords’ Bret and Jermaine officially made the crossover from TV stars to rock stars via this full-length self-titled album. If you still haven’t seen them on HBO, one youtube video can definitely convince you that these guys are awesome cool. The pair is seriously funny and is definitely worth every penny and time. Aside from the content of this album, you will also fall in love with the stunning package especially if you are into paper stuff and saving mother earth. The case is made of hard paper that has a gorgeous colorful illustration and pop-up artwork. Awesome!
Sep
8
Jay-Z’s much-hyped new album, The Blueprint 3, will be released today, Sept. 8.
This will mark Hova’s (the name that rapper,Jay-Z calls himself since he considers himself the “God” of rap) third album following his alleged retirement in 2003 and the third installment in his critically-revered Blueprint series. The Sept. 11 release was originally planned to fall eight years to the day following the 2001 release of Blueprint.
The album, produced by Kanye West, will feature the already chart-topping single “Run This Town” with West and Rihanna. It hit number one in the UK Singles Chart this week, marking Jay’s first UK single in the top spot, according to MTV UK. Clearly he has won over the oft-pop-dominated UK music world, as he is scheduled to support Coldplay at their Wembley Stadium show later this month.
