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The RIAA's True Lies
February 6, 2009
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"With so much pirated material online, Hollywood is turning to technological solutions. Perhaps most important, media companies are learning from the music industry's mistakes and trying to avert broader adoption of piracy techniques. The No. 1 lesson: provide the video on the platform that users want it."
-- From the New York Times story this week 'Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios'The above quote says so much about what I've been talking about for years in the newsletter.
Had the music industry provided "the platform that users want" years ago, perhaps more consumers would have been engaged enough to buy more music online a whole lot earlier.
It took Steve Jobs and iTunes to prove that people will actually BUY music rather than steal it, and with the announcement in January that the store passed the six-billion-songs-sold milestone, I think (whether the labels like it or not) that Apple has provided a platform that consumers like. And they like it a whole lot. (And again, the fact six billion songs SOLD means six billion less STOLEN)
The technology to provide the industry with solutions for engaging consumers has been out there and available, as it has been for anybody else wanting to create online digital music marketplaces. Why most major music companies still haven't figured out how to profit in the digital space (instead of stores like iTunes, Amazon.com, etc.) direct to their consumers is a whole other issue entirely.
As the quote above states, it's obvious that major "media companies are learning from the music industry's mistakes and trying to avert broader adoption of piracy techniques."
It will be quite interesting to see what technology and marketing techniques are introduced online from this point on as broadband usage increases year over year, and consumers desire for more and more online media increases as well.
If the music industry hopes to generate meaningful revenues as the Internet continues to become the chief distribution channel for all media, it needs to shift its (alleged) association's emphasis from wasting time with politicians to spending time with technology people who can assist the industry in this most critical time.
HERE THEY GO AGAIN...
Yes, I know the RIAA says it has ceased filing lawsuits, but the (alleged) industry association still plays and wastes time in its Washington, D.C. sandbox.
Thanks to attorney Ray Beckerman's website (I reference it each week at the bottom of the newsletter), we can all read the letter that RIAA Chairman/ CEO Mitch Bainwol sent to the Senate and House Judiciary and Commerce Committees back on December 23rd, 2008.
As Ray says on his website, "It falsely represents to those committees: "we (the RIAA) discontinued initiating new lawsuits in August"... As all of my readers know, this is a demonstrable lie ... The letter contains other misleading nonsense."
Ray has the entire letter available for all his readers to see and after reading it I wondered how Mr. Bainwol could write such a letter without knowing he would be openly criticized, and rightly so.
In the letter, Bainwol states (in explanation of the association's alleged stopping the lawsuits against downloaders), "When we originally initiated the litigation program some five years ago, we made clear that lawsuits were not our preferred response. We simply had no other alternatives."
To say that statement is disingenuous would be a gross understatement. "No other alternatives"? That's a pretty sad statement of the RIAA's capabilities as a real functioning industry association, and it speaks volumes about just how useless the association was (and still is) in creating solutions for the industry it supposedly serves. (And remember again, those RIAA execs make BIG-time salaries ... more than many current label execs)
I urge all to read Bainwol's letter and see just how incredulous some of what he has to say really is. If Bainwol actually believes that because of the Supreme Court Grokster decision that "kids are now growing up with a clear understanding that the owners and creators of intellectual property are entitled to compensation, in some form of their work," then he sure disagrees with Richard Cotton, the general counsel for NBC Universal, when he says (from the same article as the quote above and referenced below) that "Young people, in particular, conclude that if it's so easy (illegal downloading), it can't be wrong."
What's even more disturbing is the letter is the statement that the RIAA has reached "a confidential agreement on principles ... with several leading U.S. ISPs (Internet Service Providers)." Well, George Orwell did tell write "Big Brother Is watching You" and that's exactly what Mitch, his RIAA crew, and some politicians would like.
Bainwol still spins lies and the industry that pays him says nothing.
What lies? Simple. A) No ISPs are ever going to surrender tens of thousands of paid subscribers to the RIAA. While the RIAA considers them "evil-doers," those ISPS consider the PAYING customers; B) With "dark nets" and intranets, piracy will still continue to thrive despite all the best efforts of the RIAA, any legislation and any politicians.
The major media companies obviously know this and are headed (hopefully) in the right direction. They realize that they have to survive in the world of digital piracy and aren't waiting for bureaucratic suggestions to solve the problem at hand.
In the meantime, in some parallel universe, Mitch Bainwol and the RIAA fight on for truth, justice and the RIAA way.
Down here on earth, technology marches on.
And Now This...
Last week I told you that some of the music played at the Inauguration was "canned."
This week, the news was released that Jennifer Hudson and Faith Hill were singing to tape at the Super Bowl. (Or as it's more commonly called, "lip-synching")
Super Bowl Music Producer (and "American Idol" band leader) Rick Minor insisted that both Hill (who sang "America the Beautiful" before the national anthem) and Hudson, "use the tracks the NFL requires them to submit a week before the game."
"That's the right way to do it," Minor said. "There's too many variables to go live. I would never recommend any artist go live because the slightest glitch would devastate the performance." (Source: http://tinyurl.com/c6ksq8 )
It sure didn't seem to me that "going live" hurt Bruce Springsteen one bit at halftime.
AND THIS...
Jerry Del Colliano's blog post, "The Bloomberg Music/Radio Tax," is a highly recommended read for all this week.
From the post:
"You don't sue people to stop a downloading revolution that could make you richer by selling volume. Five or 10-cent downloads rather than overpriced CDs in Wal-Mart ... You don't reward mega-corporations for firing good, loyal and talented people by nationalizing their local radio licenses. You give them incentives to keep them working.
You don't snuff out the burgeoning Internet streaming business with draconian royalty rates before they've even made a business out of their entrepreneurship. You give them tax breaks and then fair levies based on profitability. You provide certainty by locking in seven-year windows of growth to allow these new businesses to prosper ... What follows is an economic boom."
Read the entire article here: http://tinyurl.com/dgya5n.
AND THIS...
In my commentary of January 16th, 'Changing Channels', I wrote about why I thought award shows were losing audience.
In that commentary I said, "Awards aren't a bad thing. It's nice for anyone to be recognized for excellence within their field. Awards shows are another thing altogether. They generally make for bad TV."
This week, Advertising Age did a story I link to below, "Award Shows: Special, but Not All That Special," with yet more reasons why these shows just ain't what they used to be with the TV viewing audience.
AND THIS...
In a Wall Street Journal article this week titled "Deal to Rock Music Industry," Ethan Smith talks about a potential merger between TicketMaster and Live Nation and writes, "The potential merger between .. .could upset the balance in a music industry in which many companies are just scraping by."
Smith says, "The new firm, to be called Live Nation Ticketmaster, would create an entity the industry never has contended with before: a company capable of dominating some of the most lucrative parts of the business, from ticketing, to concert promotion, to artist management. Smaller competitors would face an immediate disadvantage as they tried to negotiate deals or sign new talent."
Whether or not this deal will come to fruition is yet to be decided, and the article discusses many of the pros and cons (and some obstacles) that might stand in the way.
One thing is certain: Such a deal would forever change the industry landscape.
Read the article here: http://tinyurl.com/clj4hb
Steve Jobs A Music Visionary? Read And Judge For Yourself
Steve Jobs is a Bob Dylan fan because the folk singer is, in the words of Apple's CEO, a "clear thinker." Jobs' own lucid and careful contemplation of the music industry is apparent in a 2003 interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine's Jeff Goodell.
The preciseness of Jobs' assessment of what the future held for digital rights management, music subscription services, the four largest recording companies, and Apple is amazing. The interview in retrospect is a fascinating read. Jobs correctly predicted that attempts by the major labels to find a technological solution to piracy would fail. When it came to subscription music services, he said the public would reject them. He foresaw a day when iTunes would sell 1 billion tracks a year -- a bold statement, considering that at the time, iTunes had only sold 20 million songs
One can sense from Jobs' comments that he was ready to pounce on a music sector that five years ago possessed precious little tech savvy. He described leaders at the top labels as technologically innocent. Also by 2003, Jobs had concluded that Apple was ready to move beyond computers. He suggested that his company's talent at melding innovative hardware and software designs could help it build winning consumer products.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Despite iTunes Accord, Music Labels Still Fret
Last month the music industry and Apple, long uneasy partners, seemed a picture of harmony when they agreed on new terms for pricing on iTunes, Apple's online music store. Behind the scenes, however, the relationship remains as tense and antagonistic as ever.
The announcement on Jan. 6th seemed to signal a rapprochement between the music industry and its biggest distributor: record companies gave up their demand for copyright protection (called digital rights management) and Apple allowed flexible pricing, so the labels could charge more for new or popular tracks.
But according to one music industry executive involved in the negotiations, Apple's primary goal was securing distribution of music over its iPhone, as mobile phones are expected to become an increasingly important outlet for music. Disagreements over the timing of the changes also resulted in a particularly tense conversation on Christmas Eve between Steven P. Jobs the chairman and chief executive of Apple, and Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, the chairman of Sony Music.
Read more about it by clicking here.
'The Day The Music Died'? ... 50 Years Later
(CNN) -- The facts are these: Just after 1 a.m. February 3, 1959, a three-passenger Beechcraft Bonanza went down about five miles northwest of Mason City Municipal Airport, near Clear Lake, Iowa. The plane crash took the lives of the pilot, Roger Peterson, and three musicians: Charles Hardin Holley, better known as Buddy Holly, 22; Ritchie Valens (originally Valenzuela), 17; and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, 28.
It has become famous, in Don McLean's "American Pie" formulation, as "the day the music died." The event has echoed through rock 'n' roll history for 50 years, representing, if not the end of rock 'n' roll itself, the close of an era, the end of the first bloom of rock anarchy and innovation.
"It was like a curtain coming down," said Terry Stewart, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, which is co-hosting a series of events in Clear Lake for the anniversary, including classes putting the event in historical context. As they have for decades, visitors have been making the pilgrimage to the resort town about 110 miles north of Des Moines. On Monday night, the 50th anniversary of the trio's deaths, the city's Surf Ballroom and Museum will host a huge concert in conjunction with the Rock Hall.
Read more about it by clicking here.
EarBuzz.com & Sam Ash Join Forces For Indie Artists
earBuzz.com and Sam Ash have announced jointly an exclusive program that makes earBuzz.com the music reseller for artists and customers of Sam Ash Music, specifically, SamAsh.com, placing music on earBuzz.com with the added ability to place music on iTunes and other sites. Sam Ash has chosen earBuzz for several reasons, not the least of which is their unsurpassed "100% of the purchase price to artists" policy:
Sam Ash CEO David Ash commented, "earBuzz offers the best site for independent artists to distribute their music online, and helps musicians widen their audience quickly and effectively. Also, like Sam Ash, earBuzz offers musicians the best possible deal. We are proud to be associated with earBuzz and to help expand the market for independent artists."
This and eBuzz announces WWX -- The NEW earBuzz.com Worldwide top-10 Distribution Program that gets music to iTunes, MySpace, and top=10 download sites, and has Same-Day Pay.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Google: Latent Music Titan, Is Google's Eric Schmidt The Next David Geffen?
CNetGoogle is increasingly moving into digital music, CNet's Greg Sandoval reports. On the one hand, YouTube, the search giant's video service, is in talks to renegotiate music licensing deals with three of the four major record labels. On the other, partner Amazon.com, which provides a music store through Google's Android mobile operating system, is turning over big music sales. Google declined to comment on just how big those sales are, but sources tell Sandoval that the music labels are "very happy" with the Google's mobile arrangement with Amazon.
The CNet writer also suggests that Google could one day tap into the huge digital music market by providing a searchable music store of its own. "Incredibly," Sandoval says, "Google CEO Eric Schmidt, a lifelong technologist, could find himself becoming an accidental music industry titan, a sort of digital-age David Geffen or Ahmet Etegun."
Read more about it by clicking here.
Eddie Van Halen Reinvents The Guitar
After years of wearing down metal frets and having pieces of his guitar rip off or malfunction during shows, Eddie Van Halen says he's built a guitar that even he can't destroy. On the Wolfgang, frets are fashioned of stainless steel, and metal gadgets are custom-made by a company that specializes in medical tools. Sections of wood are left unpainted so the instrument can breathe and age -- "like a Stradivarius," the 54-year-old musician explains with a degree of pride.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Award Shows Not Scoring, Award Shows: Special, but Not All That Special
Advertising AgeVirtually every annual award show has suffered annual audience erosion. The Oscars, Grammys and many other award shows on broadcast TV have suffered their lowest or near-lowest ratings in 2008 or 2009.
Brad Adgate, senior vice president at Horizon Media, points out that some of the problems faced by these shows are obvious. The shows are too long, there is a glut of award shows, many of the nominees are too obscure, and too much time is spent on less-prestigious categories. Other challenges are growing. The current median age of award programs proves that younger viewers are less interested in these types of shows. Also, award shows now face competition from a surplus of similar reality programs on TV, such as "American Idol."
Award shows still deliver higher ratings than most regularly scheduled shows, but they are not the blockbuster events on TV that they use to be. The Oscars have been called "The Super Bowl for Women," Adgate notes, but these days "The Super Bowl for Women" is the Super Bowl.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios
(From The NY Times) -- Hollywood may at last be having its Napster moment -- struggling against the video version of the digital looting that capsized the music business. Media companies say that piracy -- some prefer to call it "digital theft" to emphasize the criminal nature of the act -- is an increasingly mainstream pursuit. At the same time, DVD sales, a huge source of revenue for film studios, are sagging. In 2008, DVD shipments dropped to their lowest levels in five years. Executives worry that the economic downturn will persuade more users to watch stolen shows and movies.
"Young people, in particular, conclude that if it's so easy, it can't be wrong," said Richard Cotton, the general counsel for NBC Universal.
Read more about it by clicking here.
DVD Plunge May Force Studios to Write Down Movies
(From Bloomberg News) Plunging DVD sales threaten to reduce profit for studio owners Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co., and News Corp., and may force them to write down the value of movies, analysts said. Fourth-quarter shipments fell 32% in the U.S. and Canada to 453.6 million DVDs, according to L.A.-based Digital Entertainment Group. The drop is the biggest since the industry-funded researcher started keeping track in 1997.
The decline is being fueled by viewer shifts toward rental services such as Netflix Inc., the U.S. recession and technology that makes it easier to stream Web videos to televisions.
"Making a movie just won't be as profitable as it once was," Barclays Capital analyst in New York said in an interview. "There will be a complete bottoms-up reconstruction of the economics of the film business."
Read more about it by clicking here.
India Set To Follow Cheap Car With $10 Laptop
The government-developed computer prototype will assist in bridging the 'digital divide' between rich and poor. India is poised to unveil the ultimate in credit-crunch computing: a 500 rupee (£7) laptop.($10 U.S, currency) A government-developed prototype, due to be shown for the first time, will mark the most ambitious attempt yet to bring computers to the developing world and to bridge the "digital divide" between rich and poor.
It is also the latest example of ultra-cheap engineering to emerge from the sub-continent. India has already given the world a 100,000 rupee (£1,420) car, the Tata Nano, and a super-basic £10 phone - goods that are now expected to find favor among relatively affluent Westerners as the global economic downturn bites.
However, the launch of a viable computer that costs less than most paperback books would herald a startling new era in thrifty manufacturing. The Indian laptop, which has been on the drawing board for at least three years, will be the center of attention at the launch of India's new National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology, a scheme to boost learning in rural areas through the Internet.
Read more about it by clicking here.
THERE IS HOPE FOR US AFTER ALL
Maybe it's the fact that people are tired of hearing someone tell them to "get real." Maybe it's because people are tired of the Oprah-fication of the nation. Maybe it's because the American public is actually getting smarter. (Okay, that's a far over-reaching assumption) In any case, Dr. Phil's ratings are down, and down big time. In fact, the Dr. Phil show has seen the worst ratings drop of any major syndicated talk show, down 27% from last season. Not only that, but the show has lost a third of its core demographic -- women 18-49. (Source: http://tinyurl.com/chw4pa )
TURN IT TO 11 AGAIN
Spinal Tap is hoping to record new songs this year, which would mark the semi-fictional band's first batch of new material since their 1992 album "Break Like the Wind." "It'll be for download as well as on conventional media later this year," actor Harry Shearer told BBC 5 Live.
BONNAROO BRUCE
Phish will headline two nights at this year's Bonnaroo Music Festival with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band also topping the bill. The Beastie Boys, Nine Inch Nails, Wilco, Snoop Dogg, David Byrne, Al Green, TV on the Radio and many more will be on hand at the Manchester, TN festival on June 11-14th.
DYLAN EXPANDS
Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour on Sirius XM is expanding by four hours starting this Sunday.
DIAMOND DAVE TO ROCK ON WITH VAN HALEN
Eddie Van Halen said he plans to keep his reunion with David Lee Roth going. Last year's Van Halen tour grossed $93 million.
OBAMA PICKS AN RIAA LAWYER
President Obama's latest Department Of Justic echoice is the RIAA lawyer who killed Grokster. His latest pick for a senior Justice Department post is Donald Verrilli, the lawyer who pulled the plug on Grokster, sued Google on behalf of Viacom, and represented the RIAA in a file-sharing case against Jammie Thomas. Can't our president do better than this guy?
ELTON PACKS UP THE RED PIANO
Elton John will end his Las Vegas residency, the Red Piano, on April 22nd, Yahoo! reports. The concert, which debuted in February 2004 at Caesars Palace's Coliseum, will have run for 241 performances by its close.
DON'T BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU, DEPT
The Performance Rights Act is expected to be reintroduced to Congress this week, according to Billboard.biz. If the bill passes, terrestrial radio will no longer be exempt from paying royalties to artists and labels whose music they play over the air. Artists and labels have long lobbied for the bill to pass once again, while the National Association of Broadcasters have opposed, saying playing music acts as a promotional tool. With radio stations in the worst financial shape in history, if this bill passes it will only hurt artists who struggle to get radio play.
SAY WHAT?
The Guardian reports that Cameroonian singer Manu Dibango is suing Michael Jackson and Rihanna 26 years after the King of Pop borrowed his "mama-say mama-sa ma-ma-coo-sa" chant for Thriller's "Wanna Be Startin' Something." Rihanna worked the same chant into her hit "Don't Stop the Music." Jackson admitted to "borrowing the line" from Dibango's "Soul Makossa," and settled with the singer out of court. However, Rihanna's use of the line came with permission from MJ but not Dibango, thus the Cameroonian is seeking 500,000 pounds compensation.
Quotes of the week
"Put down that guacamole!"
-- Bruce Springsteen to the TV audience as he prepared to give them a "12-minute party" at Super Bowl halftime. (And that he did)"I have an album to promote dummy. It's not rocket science."
-- Bruce Springsteen to Bob Costas, on why he chose to perform at Sunday's Super Bowl after turning down past invites"Well, I see people playing it and they look ... completely funny. But I like the idea that it introduces kids to music. It's a great thing to be immersed in. And you know, various ideas are always being brought to us [as the Beatles] where we look at it and decide, is it a good thing? And the guys from 'Rock Band,' they said, 'We'd like to do just a special Beatles edition, we'd like to do different periods -- you know, you get early days, Liverpool, then psychedelic, and on from there.' It's very cool."
-- Paul McCartney on ET.com on the Beatles 'Rock Band' game scheduled to be released this year."A girl's got to use what she's given and I'm not going to make a guy drool the way a Britney video does. So I take it to extremes. I don't say I dress sexily on stage - what I do is so extreme. It's meant to make guys think: 'I don't know if this is sexy or just weird.'"
-- Lady GaGa on her ridiculous stage outfits"I tell you that woman he had singing for him, singing my song, she gonna get her ass whupped. The great Beyoncé ... I can't stand Beyoncé, she had no business ... singing my song that I been singing forever."
-- Etta James on an audio clip posted on Allhiphop.com talking about Beyonce singing (her song) "At Last" at Obama's Inauguration."As for drugs, it annoys me that people think it's the worst thing in the world compared with, say, not paying your taxes. If you don't pay tax, you may be stealing from someone who needs an operation. As for me and drugs or alcohol: No thanks, I'm abstaining for a while."
-- Lily Allen, talking about her drug use once again, in the new issue of Spin magazine"Department of Eagles, Santogold, MGMT and Little Joy. Best band ever; everybody go listen to Little Joy [her ex-boyfriend Fabrizio Moretti's new band]."
-- Drew Barrymore, answering the question 'What CDs do you have in your car right now?' in People magazine. By the way Drew, it's okay to also admit you might also be listening to a few hits."I'm not 60 in my head; I don't live that lifestyle: My physical attitude is not that of a 69-year-old woman."
-- Tina Turner, talking to the London Daily Mail."Paul's got great taste in women."
-- Heather Mills, writing in Page Six magazine about ex-husband Paul McCartney's girlfriend Nancy Shevell. Of course, Paul would take exception to that since he made the mistake of marrying you, Heather."All women come in different shapes, sizes, and forms and just because you're a celebrity, there shouldn't be a different standard."
-- Ashlee Simpson, defending sister Jessica's recent weight gain on her MySpace page. Well, sorry Ashlee, but whether there shouldn't be or not, right or wrong, there is a different standard. That's why you don't see fat female pop stars who sell millions of records or fat female movie stars who sell tickets.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
THE ONION (www.theonion.com) STORY OF THE WEEK:
Country CD Put On To Impress Repair Guy
WILMETTE, IL-In an effort to impress repairman Jason Delmar, 29, whom he called to fix a malfunctioning dishwasher, local resident Brad Osterberg played Merle Haggard's 1968 album Mama Tried for the entire time Delmar was in his home, the 38-year-old intellectual property attorney told reporters Monday. "He didn't say much, but I think we really connected," said Osterberg, who later added that he always makes sure he has something by A Tribe Called Quest blaring when his usual pizza delivery guy comes. "I just wanted him to feel comfortable. After all, I have a pretty nice place." After leaving Osterberg's home, Delmar reportedly resumed listening to the audiobook of Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow on his repair truck's CD player in order to "get that hillbilly shit out of his head."
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/country_cd_put_on_to.
THE RADIO INTERVIEW on 'THE AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE' - From newsblaze.com
"Steve Meyer is on the front line of global music sales and distribution which he expects will soar to pocket-bursting levels. What's more, he shares his insight and ingenuity with us. Steve gives us both historical perspective and futuristic vision as he chats with Judy about the love of his work, trends of the business and his personal points of view about success, happiness and blending life with the lust for life. Steve joins Judy and helps us discover the thrill of having it all with a sense of balance and purpose. "
You can listen to an interview I did with Judy Piazza of 'The American Perspective' by clicking here: (It runs about 15 minutes)
http://www.thesop.org/index.php?id=10306.
The Blogs
Check out a great blog by Jerry Del Colliano, the Director Executive Programs, Clinical Professor Music Industry & Recording Arts, at the Thornton School of Music,University of Southern California, by clicking here: http://www.insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com.
Website
Check out attorney Ray Beckerman's website at: http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com where he prints news about the RIAA's ongoing activities
TinyURL
Check out www.tinyurl.com where you can make a smaller URL that will work for any webpage you wish to link to or reference. (As you can see, I'm using it in my news stories above!)