News archive items listed by month below.
SORIBADA
GOES LEGAL IN KOREA 28/02/06
Soribada – the
biggest Peer-2-Peer file netwoek in Korea – has finally
reached settlement with the Korean Association of Phonogram
Producers.
Soribada will also become a paid service from the start of April.
It will also pay Won 8.5B (£5M) in settlement. The
service launched originally in 2000 and at its peak had 22 million
users. The Korean music industry took legal action against it
in 2002 which dragged on until 2004. At this stage, Soribada introduced
a partly paid service but this was not enough to placate the industry.
It was forced to switch off its file-sharing functionality last
November. This move to go legal by Soribada will now be used by
the Korean music industry to apply pressure on other P2Ps to follow
suit. At 80% Korea has one of the highest broadband
penetration rates in the world.
ASCAP TAKES
ON 24 CLUBS IN THE USA 28/02/06
the American Society
of Composers, Authors and Publishers has filed 24 separate
copyright infringement actions against nightclubs, bars, and
restaurants in 11 states including the cities of Chicago, Houston,
Austin, Dallas and
New York. The establishments have allegedly publicly performed
the copyrighted musical works of ASCAP's songwriter, composer
and music publisher members without receiving their permission
to do so. "ASCAP is simultaneously filing these 24 actions to
create awareness among music users and the public that it is
a Federal offense to perform copyrighted music without permission," said Vincent
Candilora, Senior Vice President of Licensing at ASCAP. "Taking
legal action is always ASCAP's last step in a long process of
contacting, informing and educating business establishments
of their obligations under the Federal Copyright Law. With many
of these cases, ASCAP's licensing efforts have been ongoing
for well over a year, so they have had plenty of time to do
the right thing." ASCAP
provides any business using music the opportunity to receive
permission through acceptance of a license covering the use
of over 8 million copyrighted songs and compositions. Established
in 1914, ASCAP is the first and leading U.S. Performing Rights
Organization representing the world's largest repertory totaling
over 8 million copyrighted musical works of every style and
genre from more than 230,000 composer, lyricist and music publisher
members. Frequently Asked Questions about licensing can be found
on ASCAP's website at http://www.ascap.com/licensing/licensingfaq.html
NOISE
ANNOYS ON KENYAN BUSES 28/02/06
You
pay your fare, you settle down on a nice quiet bus - and the minute
you leave the bus terminal the driver cranks up the volume to an ear
spliting evl - which lasts all journey. The only relief is to get off,
forfieting your fare - but of course freeing up a seat. The Kenya
Times reports that despite repeated pleas from the public,
crackdown by police including arrests and warnings of matatu operators,
the playing of loud, ear drum splitting music in these public service
vehicles has escalated. Pleas from commuters to have the music
volume reduced in these vehicles is treated with contemp say the newspaper. The
operators ensure that the huge speakers are either built inside the
roof or under the seats. When the vehicles are stationary at the termini,
music is usually toned down and commuters who board PSVs are immediately
lulled into assuming that they would not be subjected to the agony of
noise ... "but this is only until the mobile disco starts cruising".
SIA
WARN CLOSE PROTECTION OPERATIVES TO APPLY FOR LICENCES 28/02/06
After
20th March 2006, close protection operatives (aka bodyguards or minders)
are legally required to hold a Security Industry Authority
(SIA) licence
to work in England and Wales. So far the SIA say that only 70
applications have been received out of an estimated 5,000 people who
currently provide close protection services in the UK. A CPO
is defined as anyone
providing contracted security services where they perform activities
that involve establishing and maintaining a safe environment in which
a specific individual can live and work whilst continually minimising
risk. After 20th March anyone providing such services under
contract will have had to have passed identity and criminal record checks,
undertaking 150 hours of knowledge and practical skills training leading
to a national Level 3 qualification and must have a recognised first-aid
certificate. There is a non refundable licence application fee
of £190.00 for a three year licence. The penalties for
working without a licence will include a fine of up to £5,000
fine and / or six months imprisonment. A charge of supplying unlicensed
operatives can be tried in Crown Court where there is no limit to
the amount of a fine and a sentence of imprisonment of up to five
years can be given. A non-front line licence is required for managers,
directors and partners of firms providing CPOs. www.the-sia.org.uk
DOWNLOADS
TAKE OFF IN JAPAN 28/02/06
The Recording Industry
Association of Japan (RIAJ) has issued digital music sales
figures for Q4 2005. Downloads to mobile still dominate in the market,
but only grew slightly compared to PC sales – which more than
doubled. A total of 5M tracks were downloaded to PCs in the final
three months of the year (up 121% from Q3 figures) generating Yen
870.4M. In the middle of last year, RIAJ reported that 96% of digital
sales in Japan were to mobile and this massive dominance by mobile
in the market continues with 77.4M over-the-air downloads in Q4 – although
this was only a 7% increase from Q3. Mobile still, however, made
up 94% of the digital market. Across the whole year, 9.5M PC
downloads were sold compared to 258.4M mobile downloads.
INXS
SUED BY FORMER MANAGERS 28/02/06
The
former managers of INXS are suing the band for
damages of Aus $7.75M. David Edwards and Michael
Murchison claim that they came up with the idea for the Rock Star: INXS
TV show (in which the band searched for a replacement singer for Michael Hutchence)
but were sacked without remuneration in 2004. The pair filed action
in the New South Wales Supreme Court against
Sydney-based INXS Productions and individual band
members Kirk
Pengilly, Garry Beers and Tim, Andrew and Jon Farriss.
INXS lawyers argue that a suit filed by the band against the two
former managers in the USA should be heard first.
http://www.billboard.biz/bb/biz/newsroom/legal_management/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002074792
GEORGE
MICHAEL FACES DRUG CHARGES 28/02/06
George
Michael is facing drugs charges after being found by police asleep
in his car near Hyde Park in central London early on Sunday
morning. The singer is facing two charges of possession of two different
Class C drugs. George Michael was bailed by police to attend
the police station at a later date.
NEW NICK DRAKE BOOK LAUNCHED 25/02/06
Wednesday
1st March sees the launch of a new book on the life of Nick
Drake, written by Trevor Dann, previously
Head of Music with the BBC. The launch will be at Borders in
London's Oxford Street, Keith James will
play a few of Nick's songs and Peter Rice will
be there with some extracts from his un-released 1967 recording
of Nick's first gig.
NME
GONGS HURLED OUT! 24/02/06
The Arctic Monkeys were
crowned best British band at the NME Awards, winning
three awards on the night. The Sheffield group won best
new band, best track for I Bet You Look Good
on the Dancefloor and beat the Kaiser Chiefs to
the best British group title. The awards
come only a month after the release of their debut album Whatever
People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. The Kaiser
Chiefs, nominated in a record-breaking six categories,
took one gong for best album. Other awards
included Best video, The Importance of Being Idle
- Oasis, Best international band, The Strokes, Best
solo artist, Kanye West, Philip Hall Radar
award, Long Blondes, Best event, Carling
Weekender, Best live band Franz
Ferdinand. The new John Peel
music innovation award went to Gorillaz. Other
awards included Best venue - Brixton
Academy as well as Best dressed award
for the Kaiser's Ricky Wilson and Worst
dressed award (for lycra jump suits no doubt) to Justin
Hawkins of the Darkness. being
the the NME, there is a worst album award
for Back To Bedlam by James Blunt and
a perhaps unwarranted worst band to Son
of Dork.
GUNS
N' ROSES CONFIRMED FOR DOWNLOAD 2006 23/02/06
Rock legends Guns
N' Roses join Metallica, Korn, The Prodigy,
Deftones, Lacuna Coil, InMe, Within Temptation, Hatebreed,
Clutch, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine at
the UK's Download Festival, which
takes place at Donington on June
9-11.
SIA IMPLEMENTION IN
SCOTLAND 23/02/06
Door
supervisors in
Scotland will soon need a Security Industry Authority (SIA)
licence to operate legally, bringing them into line with
England and Wales. The new regulations
are scheduled to be launched in February 2007, with an
enforcement date nine months later in November 2007. The
nine month ‘discretion
period’ will be seen as an attempt to avoid the
delays which dogged the implementation of the scheme in
England, where many doorstaff faced prosecution while
waiting for their SIA badges to arrive. The SIA will also
hold a series of roadshows throughout Scotland in the
summer. The Scottish Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson, pointed
out that the new Act is designed to drive out unsuitable
staff and poor (and sometimes illegal) practices
and benefit legitimate private security businesses and
staff in driving up standards.
IGNORANCE
OF THE LAW NO DEFENCE FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT 23/02/06
A
private individual has been found liable for copyright infringement
despite being unaware of his actions. In Polydor Ltd (and others) v Brown (and others), various
defendants were sued for copyright infringement, including
a Mr Bowles, resulting from his use of Gnutella peer-to-peer
(“P2P”) software. Mr Bowles was held liable
for distributing music files without authorisation for making
400 files available to other Gnutella users. The court
held that “connecting a computer to the Internet,
where the computer is running P2P software, and in which
music files … are placed in a shared directory” is
an infringing act. The court found him liable and held
that “it does not matter whether the person knows
or has reason to believe that what they are doing is an
infringement because innocence or ignorance is no defence”.
The mere fact that the files were present and were made
available means infringement took place. Commercial gain
was also not relevant.
Source www.clintons.co.uk
DIRTY
DANCING TO HIT WEST END 23/02/06
The classic
eighties dating movie Dirty Dancing will
open in London's West end in October 2006 following
a smash hit run in Australia. The musical will lauch
at the Aldwych
Theatre and is written by Eleanor Bergstien and
produced by Kevin Jacobsen. There
will be open auditions for cast in April.
CARPENTER'S
FALL COSTS ROYAL COURT £32,000 23/02/06
The Royal
Court Theatre has been fined after a carpenter
fell five metres whilst working on a lighting box, breaing
his wrist and leg and suffering wrist injuries. The
Theatre was fined £18,000 for breaching the Health & Safety
At Work Act 1974 and £4,000 for failing
to carry out proper risk assessment. West London Magistrates
also imposed costs of £10,000.
CREAM'S LOST LYRICS FOR SALE 23/02/06
Original lyrics from Cream which were found in an old shopping bag are expected to make up to £100,000 (E140,000) at auction. The lyrics of White Room, Wrapping Paper and Cities of the Heart were written in ball point pen by lyricist Pete Brown who co-wrote many of the band's lyrics with Cream bassist Jack Bruce. Ginger Baker and Eric Clapton added the music in the legendary band's songs.
GIDDINGS
SOLO AGAIN 22/02/06
John Giddings has
announced that he will not be extending his five year contract
with Live Nation and has returned his agency, Solo,
to independence. he will keep the Solo company name. Giddings
has confirmed that he still has an excellent trading relationship
with Live Nation and he is currently booking Starsailor, The Rolling
Stones, Iggy Pop and promoting
the Isle
of Wight Festival in the UK. Story
from AUDIENCE magazine - news for
the international contemporary live music industry (issue
72).
02
WIRELESS LINEUP ANNOUNCED AS CHANNEL 4 CONFIRMS BROADCAST 22/02/06
The O2
Wireless Festival will take place in London's Hyde
Park on 22nd-25th June and at harewood
House in Leeds on 24th-25th June. Acts confirmed
include Leeds Headliners The Who and Massive
Attack whilst London features The
Flaming Lips, David Gray Goldfrapp, KT Tunstall, Pharrell, Depeche
Mode DJ Shadow and recent additions the
Strokes . Consumers can buy tickets via
their mobiles for the first time by going to O2 Active. Channel
4 have decided to renew their TV broadcasting
commitment for
another two years. The broadcaster will extend
their transmission to five hours over four days, plus
feature highlight programmes throughout the festival in
an evening slot. Additionally, Channel 4’s T4 programme
will feature a one-hour special on Saturday 24th June,
to capture exclusive acoustic performances by a number
of artists in front of a specially invited audience.
LOUD
MUSIC LINKED TO ECTASY RUSH 22/02/06
loud
music appears to prolong the toxic effects of MDMA
(ecstasy) on the brain, according to a study conducted
in rats.In the absence of loud music, however, the reduced
brain activity caused by ecstasy use appears to be short-lived.
The study from the Institute of
Neurological Science in Catanzaro in Italy
also illustrate the potential danger of drugs that have
been popularly accepted as relatively safe because of
their short-term effects. Increasing evidence suggests
that this club drug is associated with a number of detrimental
effects, including increases in body temperature, toxicity
to the brain and memory loss. The study group injected
rats with low doses or high doses of the drug, or placebo.
Rats from each group were then subjected to white noise at an
intensity similar to what people are exposed to in nightclubs
and at 95 decibels (the maximum noise level permitted in nightclubs
under Italian law) and the effects of the drug were apparent
as quickly as three minutes after it was administered. In
the absence of the loud music, low doses of MDMA did
not affect the rats' brain activity compared with rats
given placebo. When combined with the loud music, however,
low doses of the drug were associated with decreased
brain activity, the report indicates. Brain activity
was further reduced among rats given a high dose of
the drug.
THE
GREASY POLE 21/02/06
Universal Music UK names Hassan
Choudhury as VP of International, Universal
Music Group International has
promoted Mark
Crossingham to general manager of Concord/Fantasy and
Universal names Bogdan Roscic as the new
MD of the Decca Music Group UK. Collection
Society PPL/VPL names John
McGuire as its new head of broadcasting. He was
previously business affairs manager at Sanctuary
Group. Warner
Music International is restructuring and, after
20 years in London, moving to New York. Paul-Rene
Albertini will
be replaced by Patrick Vien (formerly of
NBC Universal) as chairman/CEO of WMI, reporting directly
to CEO Edgar
Bronfman jr.
SINGAPORE
JAILS FILESWAPPERS 21/02/06
Two men in Singapore have
been jailed for file-sharing music. Mohamad Azry
Zainol got
four months for sharing 600 songs and Mohd Faizal
Osman got
three months for sharing 300 songs.
UK
DRINKS TRADERS CALL FOR CLEAR GUIDANCE ON NEW LAWS 21/02/06
The
Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) has called
on the government to produce clearer Licensing Act guidance
to reduce the bureaucratic burden on the trade. In its response
to the government’s initial review of the Licensing
Act 2003 guidance, the WSTA claims the length
and complexity of the application forms along with the ambiguity
of the guidance has created a bureaucratic nightmare
NEW
WEMBLEY WILL NOT BE READY FOR FA CUP FINAL 21/02/06
The
new Wembley Stadium will not be completed on time
and FA chief executive Brian Barwick has announced
that the FA Cup final on May 13 will be played
at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. England's
two World Cup warm-up friendly matches against Hungary on May
30 and Jamaica on June 3 will take place at Old Trafford.
In a statement to the Australian stock exchange, stadium lead builder Multiplex
said: "Multiplex understands that the English Football Association
is to transfer the 2006 FA Cup final to its reserve venue (Millennium
Stadium) ... Whilst disappointed with the decision, Multiplex
continues to work towards targeting completion of Wembley National
Stadium at the earliest possible date. Multiplex have faced a host
of problems including blackmail over threats of sniper attacks on
crane operators, their pipe supplier going into liquidation and
most recently press allegations of drug taking by site workers. Bon
Jovi, The Rolling Stones and Robbie Williams have
dates scheduled at the new stadium later in the year.
WE
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO LISTEN TO... 20/02/06
New reasearch
by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard
Law School and research firm Gartner predicts
that by 2010, one-quarter of online music sales will be
driven by such "taste-sharing applications" as e-commerce takes the
cue from the notion that friends give the best recommendations.
What started with Amazon.com's "collaborative
filtering" approach Which made product suggestions to consumers
based on what they bought, has become a more precise science and
the technology 'exploding' although advances
in recommendation technology have raised concerns about
privacy too. Last month, iTunes customers
complained about a new feature called "MiniStore," a
list of personalized recommendations based on an individual's
music library. Critics say Apple shouldn't have access
to such information. New technologies such as ChoiceStream makes
recommendations based on about 25 attributes, such as "macho," "romantic," "mainstream," and "obscure." Editors
monitor the technology to make sure that when new music
or movies arrive, the automated system places them in
the appropriate category. Then algorithms create recommendations
for users based on their previous choices. Another application, MusicStrands, is
working to make "music discovery" a social activity. Last week,
the company rolled out a new free version that lets users see
what their friends are listening to in real time. This kind of
social interaction, the Berkman Center study predicts, will help
democratize musical tastes. "Instead of primarily disc jockeys
and music videos shaping how we view music, we have a greater
opportunity to hear from each other," the study states.
Another application, Pandora's,
uses 40
musicians classify about 8,000 songs per month. They identify
a song's fundamental traits from among 400 possibilities.
The traits of a Beatles song,
for example, might include "melodic songwriting" and "a clear
focus on recording studio production." And everytime a
consumer clicks on a Pandora suggestion - Pandora gets
paid!
STONES DRAW MASSIVE CROWD IN RIO 20/02/06
The
Rolling Stones played to an estimated two million (yes
2,000,000) fans on Brazils' Copacabana Beach in Rio
de Janeiro on Saturday night (18th February).
Over 10,000 police were on hand to maintain order at the
free event
SAD
EARLY DEATH OF LYNDEN DAVID HALL 17/02/06
Lynden
David Hall, who had his biggest hit with 'Sexy
Cinderella' has died at the tragically early
age of 31, robbing UK music of one of its best home
grown soul singers. Hall had been diagnosed with Hodgkin
Lymphoma. A BRIT Nominee and MOBO winner, Hall was most
successful in the late nineties and his 1997 album Medicine 4
My Pain sold over
100,000 copies. He released his third album In Between
Jobs last year as well appearing in the
hit film 'Love
Actually' peforming as 'the wedding singer'.
Born 7th May 1974 he died on February 14th 2006. He
was married.
KAISERS,
COLDPLAY AND BLUNT TOP BRITS 16/02/06
The Kaiser
Chiefs won three gongs at the 2006 Brit Awards held
at Earls Court on Wednesday 15th February with Best British
Group, Best Live Act and Best British Rock Act. Other winners included James
Blunt with Best Pop Act and British Male Solo Artist, KT
Tunstall won British Female Artist, Lemar, British
Urban Act, Jack Johnson, International Breakthrough
Act, Kanye
West - International Male Solo Artist, Arctic Monkeys, British
Breakthrough Artist, Coldplay won two with "Speed
Of Sound" winning Best British Single and X&Y winning
the Mastercard Best British Album, Green Day won
International Group and American Idiot won
best International Album, Madonna - International Female
Solo Artist and Paul
Weller won the Outstanding Contribution award.
ENGLAND
BANS SMOKING IN PUBLIC 16/02/06
The
UK Parliament has voted by 384 to 184 to ban all smoking
in pubs and clubs, including private clubs. The House of
Commons voted in favour of the ban by a wide margin on Tuesday
after MPs were given a free vote to stave off possible defeat
for the government. The result means that, 50 years after British
scientists became the first to establish a link between smoking
and lung cancer, England joins the growing list of countries to
ban workplace smoking. But while anti-smoking campaigners celebrated
and pub owners pondered the implications for business, critics
condemned the government for interfering and denying people choice.
The bill now passes to the House of Lords where it is expected
to pass without amendment. If so, it will become law by mid-2007.
Ireland banned smoking in restaurants, pubs and workplaces in 2004,
and six countries imposed bans on smoking of varying severity
last year. There are some 20,000 private clubs and 53,000 pubs
in England and Wales and any premises which ignore the ban will
face a fine of up to £2,500
(E3,500). The few exemptions to the new law will include prisons,
long stay care facilities and hotel bedrooms
MASSIVE
MOBILE GROWTH IN CHINA 15/02/06
China
Mobile has announced the its subscriber base has accellerated
to a collossal 42 million users! This equated to a 3.9% increase
in its user base each month. And the company now claims that
mobile music services in China generate more revenue than the entire
traditional music industry there. Due to massive physical piracy (at
85% of units sold), the Chinese music market has been long suffering but
mobile points to a better future. And China is becoming a
clear example of a 'leap-frog' market – the Chinese may not only
skip CD adoption but also possibly fixed-line downloading too
and go straight to mobile. Despite massive subscriber growth, mobile
penetration in China currently lies at 30%, so content revenues
look set to skyrocket further. Eamonn
Forde at Five Eight magazine suggests
that "as
the locus of the global consumer economy shifts from west to east (with
its markets-in-waiting such as China, India and Indonesia), it is clear
that music on enabled mobile phones will not only be the future of digital
music, but more than likely the future of the music business itself".
NEW
NOISE AT WORK RESTRICTIONS WILL HAVE TWO YEAR TRANSITIONAL
PHASE
FOR UK MUSIC INDUSTRY 15/02/06
Companies in the UK are
being warned that under new Noise at Work Regulations the
levels employees can be exposed to will be reduced by almost half.
This legislation is due to come into effect in April, with a two-year
transitional period for the music and entertainment industry until
April, 2008. Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) litigation claims
could potentially be on the increase due to the fact that NIHL is
a recognisable industrial injury. These regulations could open up
the music and leisure sector to the level of claims previously seen
in heavy industry during the early 1980s. The new and reduced noise
levels will mean that a much larger working population will fall
within the scope of the regulations and that industries/activities
previously not classed as 'high risk' noisy environments will now
have to re-evaluate their position with respect to noise exposure
to employees, including the Leisure industry (eg clubs, pubs, discos), venues,
music stores, orchestral musicians and bands.
UNION
SQUARE LAUNCH CLASSICS BY MILES DAVIES AND STAN GETZ ON WEB 15/02/06
Union
Square Music has signed a deal with Vital:PIAS Digital (VPD)
for digital distribution of the The USM catalogue which contains thousands
of masters from labels as Savoy Jazz, Denon Classics, Egrem and recordings
by Miles Davis, Stan Getz, Hank Marvin, Richard Clayderman,
Ibrahim Ferrer and Compay Segundo. VPD is a
division of PIAS Group Sprl and specialises in the supply and sales of
audio and audio-visual entertainment content across multiple global services
with particular emphasis on Online and Mobile platforms. VPD
delivers to over 150 digital service partners worldwide including iTunes,
Napster, OD2
and MusicNet (AOL US, HMV & Virgin, MTV and others). Peter
Stack, Managing Director Union Square Music said “At USM we
have been exploiting our catalogues successfully in the physical format for
many years. We look forward, together with our partners at Vital:PIAS, to transferring
our marketing and sales skills into the digital market place. This new arrangement
represents a very exciting prospect.”
LOLLAPALOOZA
BACK AS THREE DAY EVENT 14/02/06
Lollapalooza will
return to Chicago's Grant Park as a three-day event
in 2006. Organizers Capitol Sports & Entertainment confirmed that
the one-time touring festival is not only growing in length, but in
size as well, taking over more of the park to house eight stages that
will present as many as 130 acts.
02 RACK UP MOBILE
MUSIC PRESENCE 14/02/06
In the UK Virgin
Radio and mobile operator 02 are to launch the
first 'visual radio' service which will be available on the majority
of new Nokia mobile handsets. The mobile operator is also said to be loooking
at karaoke on mobiles (heavens forbid, how will I ever be able to
snooze on the train again). The radio service will provide mobile music
and a screen information service. 02 already sponsor the Wireless
Festival in London's Hyde Park and from 2007
will rebrand the Millennium Dome with the 02 name. Rival Orange already
sponsors the Glastonbury Festival.
NEW
FACES SAME PLACES 13/02/06
Sony BMG have
announced a much anticipated reshuffle with Rolf Schmidt-Holtz switching
roles with Andrew Lack. Schmidt-Holtz will
become CEO and Lack will become chairman. Meanwhile Tim
Bowen,
who has worked at both pre-merged companies, is to become COO. Mark
Terry has been promoted to General Manger of Virgin
Records UK and Tim Crouch is named
as the new VP of Operations at EMI Music UK
EBAY
MORRISEY AUCTION SPARKS NEW TICKETING ROW 13/02/06
Morrisey's long-awaited
spring tour has sold out in hours, leaving thousands ticketless
and tickets re-selling on eBay at inflated
prices. The Observer sunday newspaper reports
that Wesley
Doyle, a 37-year-old fan tried in vain to get
tickets for his three-night residency at the London
Palladium. "The
tickets were available at 9.02, but they sold out by 9.03
and, a minute later, I logged on to find tickets available
on eBay" he
recalls. In the space of less than five minutes, ticket prices
shot up from an official £34.50 to £80.
For the full story including comment from SJM's Rob Ballantine and eBay's Charlie Coney see http://observer.guardian.co.uk/cash/story/0,,1707650,00.html
NEW TECHNOLOGY TO
PROTECT MUSIC RIGHTS 10/02/06
Anyone who watched the Sony
BMG 'rootkit' fiasco unfold, which left SongBMG with
egg on its face when plans to protecxt copyrights by DRM (Digital
Rights Management) protection backfired leaving consumers computers
open to invasion from viruses rand SonyBMG open to lawsuits
from a number of consumer groups and US District Attornies
might not be surprised to see that The Fraunhofer Institute, who
developed the MP3 format, have launched a new
piece of watermarking technology to track pirated files on P2Ps.
It is selling it as an alternative to DRM: http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/02/09/fraunhofer/index.php
BRITS
TO GO TO SXSW 10/02/06
The BPI have announced that KT
Tunstall, The Editors, Brakes,
The Feeling and Jim
Noir will perform at the UK At South By Southwest (SXSW)
showcase on 17th March. The shows are in association with BBC 6Music. Morrissey, Goldfrapp, The
Zutons, Corinne Bailey Rae and Richard
Hawley all feature in the Radio 2 showcase.
U2
TRIUMPH AT GRAMMYS 10/02/06
U2 picked up 5 gongs
at thre Grammys, sprinting past pre-award leading contenders Mariah Carey and Kanye
West to win five awards at the 48th annual Grammy Awards, held on
february 8th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The band surprised many by winning album of the year and rock album of
the year for "How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" as
well as song of the year and best rock performance by a duo or group with
vocal for "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own." West
picked up three awards including best rap album, Kelly Clarkson picked
up two including best pop vocal and Chemical Brothers won
best electromic/dance album. Live performances included Paul McCartney
and Sly Stone.
INDIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY ASKS FOR GREATER PROTECTION 10/02/06
The
Indian music industry is calling for the Indian government to make foreign
CD and DVD imports duty-free to help bolster a music market hit hard by rampant
piracy. The IT sector in India benefits from such a duty-free position. With
a 50% piracy rate von a unit by unit sold basis, the music industry
is calling for the introduction of a per-unit counterfeit levy on seized
pirate product to offset lost sales. It is also calling for tax breaks for
companies who invest in IP protection. India accounts for 4.7% of global
unit sales. It is a market dominated by cassettes (52.7% of all units sold)
and 90% of all sales are of domestic acts:
UK CLUBS TO USE BIOMETRIC SCANS 10/02/06
Six
late night clubs and bars in the English town of Yeovil have
banded together to start biometric fingerprint scanning of customers.
The licensees of the bars will store details of customers photographs
and fingerprints in an attempt to cut down on on access for previous
troublemakers. The scheme has received government funding
but is not linked to police computers. Attempts by clubs in Alberta,
Canada, to scan patron's ID cards fell foul of data protection laws.
This has not been tested in the UK as yet (see News, November 2005).
GREAT
WHITE MANAGER PLEADS GULITY 08/02/06
The manager
of rock act Great White, who set off fireworks inside a Rhode Island
nightclub and started a fire that killed 100 people three years
ago, pleaded guilty yesterday (Feb. 7) to involuntary manslaughter. Daniel
Biechele, 29, the manager of Great White, faces
up to 10 years in prison for his role in the Station nightclub fire
in February 2003 where 100 people died. He will be sentenced on May 8
in Providence Superior Court in Rhode Island's state capital. Biechele
admitted in court that he set off the fireworks that accompanied Great
White's Feb. 20, 2003, at the Station in West Warwick, Rhode Island State
prosecutors said the pyrotechnics caused the fire that killed 100
patrons of the club and injured some 200. Biechele also acknowledged
that he spoke with one of the club's owners, Michael
Derderian, and asked for permission to use the fireworks that
night. The state said Derderian gave Biechele permission to light the
pyrotechnics display. Biechele and club owners Jeffrey and
Michael Derderian were each charged with 100 counts
of involuntary manslaughter with criminal negligence, and 100 counts
of involuntary manslaughter in violation of a misdemeanor. All three
pleaded not guilty in separate arraignments in December 2003.
See www.musiclawupdates.com Archive February 2003 and March 2003 for background information.
DOHERTY ESCAPES
PRISON SENTENCE 08/02/06
Although Babyshambles front
man Peter Doherty spent two weeks on remand he escaped
further prison
today as Magistrates made a community order for his drug convictions,
meant to address the singer's drugs problems. Doherty runs the risk of
a prison sentence should he breach the terms of the order.
CREAM
AND METALLICA PLAN TOURS 08/02/06
Legendary
rock trio Cream, which reunited last year for a handful
of concerts in London and New York after a bitter breakup in 1968, has
scheduled more shows, according to vocalist/bassist Jack Bruce.
The band, Bruce, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, will
play some carefully selected dates and 'not a world tour'. In
the spring 2005 the group grossed $3.6 million from four 3A Entertainment
sell-outs at London's Royal Albert Hall. An October 24th
to 26th run at New York's Madison Square Garden grossed
more than $10.6 million. Metallica have said that
they will take time out from recording a new album to perform at a few
European summer festivalst. So far, only five dates have been announced
on Metallica's web site www.metallica.com:
The group will play the Rock
am Ring and Rock im Park festivals
in Germany on June 3-4, the Gelredome in Arnhem, Holland,
on June 8 and the U.K.'s Download Festival on June 10-11.
Metallica will also play three previously announced shows next month in South
Africa: March 18 in Centurion, March 21 in Durban and
March 25 in Cape Town according to www.billboard.com.
GETMETICKETS FINALLY SHUT DOWN 07/02/06
The Getmetickets.net ticket agency has been
closed by the DTI. This follows numerous complaints from the public over
the company charging excessive prices for tickets to sold-out shows that
never actually materialised:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4685936.stm
CHINA CLAMPS DOWN ON INTERNET PIRATES 07/02/06
The Chinese government has shut down
76 websites and ordered another 137 to remove infringing material in its
latest digital piracy crackdown. The owners of 29 websites have been fined
a total of Yuan 789,000 (around £56,000)
and eight criminal cases against website operators are being pursued. The
Chinese authorities have bowed to growing international pressure to address
the physical and digital piracy problem.In-Stat recently reported that 2007
will be the turning point for the Chinese digital market as the piracy problem
should be contained and the big name download services will launch there.
In-Stat is projecting annual digital music sales of $222M in China by 2008.
Source: Five Eight Magazine
CLASSICAL MUSIC EMBRACES AFTER-SHOW CDS 07/02/06
The classical music industry has
taken positive steps to adopt the new the 'live-CD-after-performance' technology.
SDG will make the English Baroque Soloists' performance of Mozart's Symphonies
Nos 39 and 41 available for purchase after their performance at Cadogan
Hall in London. This is hailed as a 'first' for the classical market echoing
DiscLive and Instant Live's pathfinder role in the popular music market.
NEW
BOOK TACKLES EUROPEAN WITHHOLDING TAX PROBLEM 06/02/06
A new book, Taxation
of International Peforming Artists by Dick Molenaar looks
at the taxation of international performing artists in Europe.
The book points out that the tax rules for international performing
artistes are very different from normal tax rules. For instance,
taxation occurs in the country of performance, regardless of whether
an artiste is self-employed or an employee. Since 1963 the OECD
has adopted this special rule in Article 17 of its Model Convention
as an anti-avoidance measure, and most countries have taken it over
into their tax treaties and national rules. This book provides a
clear outline of the relevant rules and considerations. Unfortunately,
these special tax rules lead to obstacles. This book considers the
problems regarding, for example, the determination of taxable income
and the non-deductibility of expenses and tax credits in the country
of residence, and gives clear examples of excessive taxation. The
top stars with their high earnings may be able to avoid these difficulties,
but other artistes can experience substantial problems when performing
abroad. Research in the book indicates that the tax revenue accruing
from this special taxation is a negligible proportion of a country's
budget. Recent cases before the European Court of Justice have led
to awareness of these problems and some of these were explained
by Dick at last year's ILMC conference. The conclusion is that some
parts of the special artiste tax rules need to be adjusted in the
Member States of the European Union, making the taxation of artistes
fairer.
GLITTER
TRIAL SET FOR FEBRUARY 20TH 03/02/06
Former British glam rocker Gary
Glitter is expected to go on trial on February 20
in southern Vietnam to face charges of committing obscene acts
with two girls aged 10 and 11. The trial will be held in Ba
Ria Vung Tau province, 80 miles east of Ho Chi Minh
City, he said. Glitter, 61, who won fame as a flamboyant glam
rocker in the 1970s, has been accused of kissing and fondling
the girls and engaging in other physical acts at his rental
home in the coastal resort city of Vung Tau last year. More
serious charges were dropped. He has been held in prison near
the coastal town of Vung Tau since November 19 after he was
seized in Ho Chi Minh City trying to board a flight out of
the country
NOKIA AND LIVE NATION LAUNCH TICKETRUSH 03/02/06
Nokia has
partnered with Live Nation to launch the ticketrush.co.uk ticketing
service in the UK. When you register, you get text alerts
about upcoming gigs. Later in the year, the service will
be extended so that consumers can buy tickets via their mobiles.
CHANGING
FACES 03/02/06
Michael Caplan is named senior VP of A&R
for the Sony Music Label Group. And EMI Canada
has recruited Melissa Auf Der Maur (solo
artist and former member of Hole/Smashing
Pumpkins) as an A&R scout. And its goodbye to Smash
Hits, once the UK's dominant pop magazine andf the
jewel in EMAP's crown in the late eighties.
Its being closed due to falling sales.
SWISS MP3
LEVY CHALLENGED 03/02/06
MP3
player manufacturers including Apple are opposing
a proposed 'iPod tax' on devices in Switzerland.
They feel the taxes are too high and will bite into the slim margins
they claim to operate on. A 4GB flash-based player could have a
SFr 19 tax, a 4GB hard-drive based player could be taxed SFr 2
and a 400GB DVD-recorder could see a SFr 138 tax applied. Similar
taxes have been rejected in Japan and Canada while a proposed one
in Australia looks unlikely despite revisions to the country's
Copyright Law.
GREAT
WHITE MANAGER EXPECTED TO PLEAD GUILTY 03/02/06
Dan
Biechele, former manager of Great White,
is expected to plead guilty to a number of charges following
the death of 100 people in a fire in a club in Rhode Island in
2003. It is alleged the band's firework display triggered the
fire.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4667196.stm
BMI
SUES PORKYS! 03/02/06
Broadcast
Music Inc., the performing rights organization better
known as BMI, has sued a Fresno restaurant for copyright infringement,
claiming it played songs written by Van Morrison, Dwight
Yoakam and others without paying royalties. The suit,
filed in federal court in Fresno, seeks to stop Porky's rib house from
playing music written by BMI-represented songwriters and to pay
damages for each claim of copyright infringement.
BERMAN & ROSEN REUNITE
WITH GLOBAL STRATEGIES 03/02/06
Former Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) leaders Jay
Berman and Hilary Rosen today announced
the formation of a new partnership, Berman Rosen Global Strategies. With
offices in Washington DC and New York
City, they will focus on intellectual
property protection, digital media technology and distribution,
international trade issues and anti-piracy strategies and the
communications and public affairs issues related to this marketplace. "Digital
delivery and acquisition of entertainment is changing with
lightning speed and so is the need to protect and promote the
creative expressions that provide this entertainment. We
can help guide businesses in the entertainment space on a variety
of important issues such as licensing, public policy and anti-piracy
tactics, both in the US and
internationally," said Berman. “We have a
unique combination of knowledge and experience,” said
Rosen. “Over
the years we each have advised a number of analysts on factors
relating to piracy in the entertainment business. One
thing was always missing – the ability to place a valuation
on the costs of piracy on the multiples expected from any financial
investment.”
TOWNSHEND
CONFIRMS WHO TOUR 03/02/06
Despite
his recent claims thatb his hearing was badly damaged from studenio
and work and headphone use in the past, Pete Townshend has
squashed rumors that the Who's planned 2006
tour might not get off the ground after all. "There will be a
tour," he insisted. "We already have European festival dates
slotted in June and July." writing on www.petetownshed.co.uk.
Townshend said the Who will then head to North America for a
tour that will feature "three or even four legs" and run from September
to December. "We go on to the rest of the world in 2007," he
added. Townshend's has also said that the Who's first
new studio album since 1982's "It's Hard" will
be released "sometime in the early summer.
WEMBLEY
STADIUM OPENING DATE STILL NOT CONFIRMED 01/02/06
Wembey
Stadium in London faced a big set back
this week after Stadium builders, Multiplex,
stated that they were only ''70%' confident that the stadium
would be ready for the planned handover. The UK's premiere football
clash, the FA Cup Final, is now at risk and
the Football
Association have taken out a contimgency plan with
an alternative booking at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Concerts
booked in include Bon Jovi, The Rolling
Stones and Robbie Williams. Multiplex
have faced cost problems, building issues and recently major
problems with their pipe-supplier who went into administration.
COACHELLA
O6 HEADLINERS MAPPED OUT 01/02/06
Tool will
join Depeche Mode as the headliners for the 2006 Coachella
Valley Music & Arts Festival, which will be held on
April 29th and 30th at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California.
Tool performed at the first Coachella in 1999 but has not played live
in the United States since late 2002. The band is expected to release
a new album at some point this spring.
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