So It’s Canadian Pirates vs. The RIAA, eh?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on February 20, 2010 by admin in Music
Saturday, February 20th, 2010Not content with suing dead people, old ladies who don’t own computers, and their own artists and distibution channels, the record industry is going after those archvillains of the arctic, CANADA.
In their never-ending quest for most absurd litigation to make its way into the apparently oblivious judicial system, the record industry is stepping it up a notch. No, it wasn’t enough to steal from their own artists and corrupt the legal system, or to sue a single woman for $80,000 per allegedly pirated song (oh wait, it got reduced to a mere $2,250!), or sue dead people, people who don’t even own computers, and the entire radio industry. No, now they’re taking on the country that – as we all know – is home to the most ruthless criminal networks of the Americas. You know, Canada. Who knew that aside from being a country full of pretty nice people whose greatest crime may be occasionaly finishing sentences with “eh?”, Canada is also a hotbed of profit-robbing music piracy? As far as I knew, the only threat that Canada had brought to the established music industry recently was a really awesome indy scene, but the RIAA sees things a little differently. Fortunately, this may be one of the last times that you’ll have to endure wingnuts like me ranting about this; dinosaur labels like EMI are soon likely to be laying about in massive heaps gasping for their last breaths like their metaphoric counterparts at the end of the Jurassic period, as they continue to blame their $2.7 billion losses on piracy rather than their failure to adapt to competition. I tend to get a little over-the-top when I discuss this topic; for a much more sane overview from an artist’s point of view, check out this New York Times piece by Damian Kulash Jr. of the band OK Go, in which he calmly describes how EMI’s disabling of the “embed” feature on YouTube has probably lost them exponentially more than what they made by “protecting” their property.
Trent Reznor Drives More Nine Inch Nails In The Coffin Of Old-School Music Business
[ Comments Off ]Posted on December 30, 2009 by admin in Music
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009What comes in 1080p high definition video with 5.1 surround sound, spans 3 continents, 4 languages, and takes a team of dozens – including 5 specialist teams and a network of thousands – a total of 12 months to complete? That would be The Gift, which is 3 DVD’s worth of NIN concert video assembled [...]
What comes in 1080p high definition video with 5.1 surround sound, spans 3 continents, 4 languages, and takes a team of dozens – including 5 specialist teams and a network of thousands – a total of 12 months to complete? That would be The Gift, which is 3 DVD’s worth of NIN concert video assembled from source material released by NIN, professionally edited, and color corrected and authored. To be clear about this, the amazing thing about the project is that it’s not an official NIN release; this was assembled primarily by rabid and obsessive fans. Back in January of this year, Trent Reznor joked (see original text here) that a “mysterious, shadowy group of subversives” had somehow gotten their hands on 400 GB’s of raw HD concert footage and that it may be out there on the internet somewhere. Well, the fans took the cue and worked with NIN crew to create what appears to be some mind-blowingly high-quality concert material. And the cost? Unbelievably, it’s free. They’re even soliciting people to provide free physical DVD’s to technophobes that are incapable of figuring out the download options! We mentioned last year how Trent Reznor had ingeniously brought us back into the fan fold with his gift of “Ghosts”, but this video material may really take the concept of “free” as a marketing tool to new heights. You be the judge. The YouTube clip below is promising; we’re downloading the torrent as this article is being posted, so will probably do a follow up next week. Read the rest of this entry »
Pitchfork Top 50 Albums of 2009 – With Torrents?
[ 2 Comments ]Posted on December 20, 2009 by admin in Music
Sunday, December 20th, 2009Pitchfork’s annual list of the 50 best albums of the year is out, and we’ve summarized the list with torrent links, Amazon previews, and free downloads. Enjoy some of the best music you’ve never heard!
Christmas came a little early for me this year; I was just complaining recently that Pitchfork’s annual staff picks of the the 50 best albums of the year wouldn’t be out until almost 2010, and lo and behold, they posted the list last week! If you’re not familiar with Pitchfork’s list, check it out; their staff’s wide-ranging tastes and opinionated reviews will expose you to music you may never have heard of, or would have never thought of listening to if you had. As usual, they spread the list over five pages with no summary, so we’ve done the dirty work and summarized the list for you below. Last year we posted the 2008 list with both torrent and Amazon links, and we’ve done the same this year, but have a suggestion: We know some people torrent so they can preview music before buying, and last year that actually made some sense, because it was hard to track down a retail source for so many indy acts. Things are VERY DIFFERENT this year; bands and small labels are getting MUCH better at marketing and distribution, so EVERY act on the list is available on Amazon, and almost all of them with AUDIO PREVIEWS. Which pretty much negates the need to “borrow” the music via torrents. Several of them also have “Amazon Exclusive” releases, with material you won’t get anywhere else. At least legally. So in the interest of the bands making money, and in the interest of US making money (we get a small percentage if you buy through our links), we encourage you to do all the previewing through the handy Amazon links we’ve provided, rather than the torrents. Enjoy! Read the rest of this entry »
Noah and the Whale – The First Days of Spring
[ Comments Off ]Posted on November 10, 2009 by admin in Music
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009The new release from Noah and the Whale is more than a breakup album; it’s a 45 minute breakup film as well.
The other day a friend of mine in Scotland turned me on to the latest Noah and the Whale release The First Days of Spring
YouTube As A Musical Instrument
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on September 30, 2009 by admin in Music
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009My wikiphiliac ways lead to the strange discovery that not only is YouTube a musical instrument, but Ohio is a piano.
Although clearly not as epic a project as the incredible Kutiman – who remixed hundreds of YouTube music clips to create mindblowing mashups – Audiogravity is still pretty cool. It’s just a bunch of YouTube clips embedded in a single page, but you can start and stop any of them at the same time for some simple atmospheric “jazz”. Created by Darren Solomon of New York musical collaborative Science for Girls