Even before illegal services like Napster took off, the world of online music used to be “a place for artists to control and directly profit from their music. But in most online services today that dream has been lost, with the services functioning as online arms of the record companies while the artists receive pennies … Continue reading “Online Music: Where’s The Variety?”
“Around the country, copyright concerns are fueling a grassroots movement that brings together artists frustrated by the corporate lock on popular-culture icons, musicians pondering the distribution of their work in the era of sampling and Napster, and technophiles worried about the ways that new digital copyright-protection technology is fencing in the formerly wide open electronic … Continue reading “The Rise Of “Illegal Art””
Napster is back, and it’s legal this time. The embattles song-swapping service was shut down last year after the recording industry filed multiple lawsuits alleging copyright violation. The new Napster is owned by media company Roxio, which had no connection to the original service, and which is hoping that the notoriety of the Napster name … Continue reading “But Will Anyone Use It?”
“With its relaunch on Thursday, Napster, the most notorious name in music downloads, will collide with the hottest music player on the market, the iPod. That’s because music downloaded from Napster will not be playable on Apple’s insanely popular iPod. The newly legal Napster service and the iPod use incompatible file formats.”
Not hard to figure out why Universal is cutting CD prices. “After years of gouging customers, the recording industry is desperate. Sparked by Napster, and continued through such file-swapping services as Kazaa, Morpheus, and Grokster, the free-music revolution has left the major labels reeling and hemorrhaging. And CD prices, which despite promises to the contrary … Continue reading “CD Price-Cut Is Desperation Play”
The idea that copyright protection must evolve to encompass the new digital media seems like a reasonable one on the surface. After all, no one ever really denied that Napster users were stealing music, right? But David Weinberger says that, as usual, politicians and corporate America have taken a legitimate issue and wildly overreacted, proposing … Continue reading “Why Digital Rights Management Is Anti-American”
The recording industry has sued four students who run Napster-like file-sharing sites at three universities. “The suits ask for the highest damages allowable by law, which range up to $150,000 per copyright infringement or, in other words, per pirated song. If awarded, the judgments could run in the millions of dollars. ‘Frankly, we are hopeful … Continue reading “Recording Industry Sues Students For File Trading”
Ever since the record industry began cracking down on illegal file-trading services like the now-defunct Napster, consumers looking for a legal way to download music online have been stymied by an industry which seemed more interested in stonewalling the digital music movement for as long as possible than in finding a way to turn the … Continue reading “Finally, Legal MP3s!”
“Like it or not, the music industry is in a free fall, and things are about to change. The very foundation on which the business is structured – selling music to stores – is eroding at an astonishing pace. Sales of recorded music have fallen about 16 percent over the last two years. By contrast, … Continue reading “The Changing Face Of Music Sales”
Thursday October 31 FRIDA – WHERE’S THE ART? There’s plenty to like about the new Frida Kahlo biopic. But also some serious wrongs. First, where’s her art? Then, “the film unintentionally demeans Kahlo by depicting her as a charming naif, rather than a savvy professional. OK, so she often wore folkloric Tehuana clothes and mimicked … Continue reading “Media: October 2002”
