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Remember, The Coneheads Were From France
March 24, 2006
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"If you're going to France, let me give you some help ... 'chapeau' means 'hat,' 'rue' means 'street' ... it's like those French have a word for everything! " -- Steve Martin
"France has neither winter nor summer nor morals. Apart from these drawbacks, it is a fine country." -- Mark Twain
After reading several articles this week about how France's lower house of parliament passed a law that could challenge Apple Computer's dominance of the online digital music market by making it open its iTunes store to portable music players other than its iPods (see the article below ' France Pushes Ahead With iTunes Law ' for all the details), the Coneheads from those great SNL skits immediately came to mind. We loved the Coneheads because they were so ignorant of everything, so we laughed hard when they were asked where they were from and they responded, " Remulac, in France."
The French claim that the law they passed is really a means to prevent Apple (and its incredibly successful iTunes store) or Microsoft (and its successful Windows Media Player) from monopolizing segments of the digital online music market. Gee, I thought capitalism was all about free enterprise and those companies that develop and market products successfully then reap the rewards. The French have a different viewpoint. Marge Simpson said on a Simpsons episode, "We can stand here like the French, or we can do something about it." (Okay, enough France jokes, but it's so easy to make fun of them, isn't it?)
Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris commented, "The French implementation of the EU Copyright Directive will result in state-sponsored piracy. If this happens, legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers." And in essence, she's absolutely right because the law would require online music retailers such as iTunes to provide software codes that protect copyrighted material--known as digital rights management--to allow the conversion from one format to another.
According to a quote in the article below " The new piece of legislation will also allow consumers to use software that circumvents DRM only if it is done to convert digital content from one format to another. Using such software is currently illegal in much of the world."
The ramifications from this law passing in France presents a myriad of problems for all parties involved in digital music's future online and not just Apple or Microsoft. Why the French think this move could actually help the digital music market is somewhat puzzling (I could insert another joke here, but I'm holding back).
The government says the new law is designed to boost the legal digital music market by adapting the country's copyright rules to the rapidly changing online content market. This type of logic just doesn't fly. If anything, it will have an adverse effect on those companies who are willing to invest in the online market. Why would any company want something they've spent so much time developing, want to give away all the technology they created as a result of this legislation?
I think it's safe to say that if this law does indeed get put into action, we'll see Apple, Microsoft and others pull back from the French market for sure, and possibly other European nations in the future if they follow suit with France. The results then will be devastating to all companies who have a vested interest in SELLING music online rather than having people steal it online.
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IN OTHER NEWS THIS WEEK
Nielsen / NetRatings now reports that US broadband penetration is now over 2/3 of the overall internet population, or about 96 million. As broadband usage increases, it means more and more people will spend even more time on computers and computers will become even better full media entertainment centers.
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According to Arbitron estimates and Edison Research, thirty million Americans now listen to Internet radio stations each week.
Microsoft and Epic Records Duet
Microsoft and Epic Records announced an agreement to offer one year of free music and music videos to all Xbox 360 gamers as part of its Xbox Live efforts. The service, which launched Thursday, will showcase 12 artists through the Xbox Live Artist of the Month program.
Read more about it by clicking here.
iTunes Offers First Feature-Length Movie
First came the songs, then music videos and TV shows, and now Apple may be bringing movies to your home computer or video iPod.
Apple took the first step today by making the Disney Channel original film "High School Musical" available for a $9.99 download price. The made-for-TV movie is already widely popular among the "tween" set. The music soundtrack is highly sought-after on the iTunes site -- one of its songs is currently listed as the second most popular download in the soundtrack category.
"It shows how fast digital media technology is moving. The iTunes moniker is already wrong," said Phil Leigh, a senior analyst for Inside Digital Media Inc. "It's moving more quickly than Steve Jobs and Apple anticipated."
Read more about it by clicking here.
Sirius Satellite Tops 4 Million Subscribers
Sirius Satellite Radio recently surpassed 4 million subscribers to its nationwide pay radio service, the company said on Monday. Sirius, No. 2 in the nascent market to rival XM Satellite Radio, had previously said it ended 2005 with 3.3 million subscribers, an increase of 2.2 million, and expects to end 2006 with more than 6 million subscribers.
XM in February said it has more than 6 million subscribers and expects to reach 9 million by the end of the year.
Read more about it by clicking here.
VOD and VCR Make Strange Bedfellows
New consumer research from the Leichtman Research Group, finds that nearly three quarters of VOD users who have a DVR from their cable company strongly agree that their cable service is better because they have both Video-on-Demand (VOD) and a Digital Video Recorder (DVR).
Just 15% feel that they don't need a DVR because they have on-demand service, and 19% feel that they don't need on-demand service because they have a DVR.
Read more about it by clicking here.
Talks To Avert Row With Music Labels Over Digital Downloads Face Collapse In The UK
Urgent talks between Britain's songwriters and leading music labels over royalties on digital music are close to collapse, the head of the songwriters' lobby group said yesterday. Adam Singer, chief executive of the Music Alliance (MA), said that the talks had been unsuccessful and that an agreement was unlikely to be reached before a tribunal hearing in the autumn.
Read more about it by clicking here.
France Pushes Ahead With iTunes Law
France's lower house of parliament passed a law on Tuesday that could challenge Apple Computer's dominance of the online digital music market by making it open its iTunes store to portable music players other than its iPods. French officials said the law is aimed at preventing any single media playing system--Apple's iTunes or Microsoft's Windows Media Player, for example--from building a grip on the digital online music retail market.
Read more about it by clicking here.
AND OF COURSE HE'LL WRITE A RAP SONG ABOUT IT AND PUT IT ON HIS VERY NEXT CD
C-Murder, aka Corey Miller, released from a Louisiana jail and placed under house arrest. The rapper, who posted a $500,000 bond, is awaiting retrial on a second-degree murder charge.
IF YOU SAMPLE, YOU PAY
A judge halting sales of Notorious B.I.G.'s breakthrough album, Ready to Die, after a jury decided the title song used part of an Ohio Players tune without permission.
LARGER THAN LIFE NOW
Shakira's hometown of Barranquilla, Columbia. erecting a 16-foot, 5-ton statue of the singer.
WHILE HE PLOTS HIS COMEBACK, AT LEAST HE HAS A JOB
Robert Blake telling the Associated Press he spends his days working as a "stable boy," exercising horses at a friend's ranch while plotting a career comeback.
BABS SEZ FAREWELL YET AGAIN
The New York Post reporting Barbra Streisand plans to mount yet another farewell tour, the diva's first since 2000, playing 20 arena shows around the country this fall. (Editor's note: Though Ms. Streisand is a staunch Democrat, ticket prices will be likely only be affordable to Republicans)
RADIOHEAD HITS THE ROAD
Radiohead announcing plans to hit the road for a limited series of club and festival dates this summer in Europe and the U.S., including Tennessee's Bonnaroo Festival on June 17.
WHEN YOU GOT IT, FLAUNT IT
Pamela Anderson snapping up a two-bedroom penthouse condo at Panorama Towers in America's latest playground for the rich, Las Vegas. The $1 billion luxury high-rise now under construction just west of the Las Vegas strip.
IT TOOK A LONG TIME, BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
The impoverished daughters of the late South African composer Solomon Linda, who wrote "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," winning a six-year battle over royalties that awards them 25 percent of past and future royalties.
ULTRA MIAMI UPDATE
The Killers and Prodigy headlining this year's Ultra Music Festival in Miami this weekend, an event expected to draw around 50,000 people.
FANTASIA FILM
Lifetime producing a film about Fantasia's life before becoming American Idol #3, showing her overcoming sexual abuse, poverty and illiteracy. The Idol winner could play herself.
HAIR MEANS MONEY
Jessica Simpson teaming up with her stylist Ken Paves and launching a line of hair extensions.
COMING SOON!
- Tim McGraw, Greatest Hits Vol. 2 (3/28)
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones (3/28)
- Morrissey, Ringleader of the Tormentors (4/4)
- Drive By Truckers, A Blessing and a Curse (4/11)
2006 Industry Conferences
Date Name Location Digital Hollywood Spring March 28-30, 2006 Santa Monica, CA MusExpo 2006 April 30-May 3, 2006 Los Angeles, CA Streaming Media East 2006 May 23-24, 2006 New York, NY Home Entertainment 2006 June 1-4, 2006 Los Angeles, CA
Quotes of the week
" Another poll this week has found that three out of five Americans believe in hell. You know it as Jet Blue."
-- David Letterman" A new study says that obese people can lose weight if they walk 12 miles per week. As a result Applebee's is introducing a new 12 mile long buffet. "
-- Conan O'Brien" It would be better to make it before I was 73. "
-- Sharon Stone in People, on why she decided to do Basic Instinct 2 now.
NARIP Information
NARIP (The National Association of Record Industry Professionals) promotes career advancement, education and good will among record executives. To find out more about this great organization, how you can join or attend their events, just go to: www.narip.com.
The B-Side - 'Blips'
YEAH, BUT IF YOU'RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK AND NEED TO GET IN IMMEDIATELY, THE MOVIE TICKETS WON'T MEAN MUCH: CHESTERFIELD, Va. - A hospital is promising emergency room patients they'll be seen by a doctor in 30 minutes or less -- or else receive an apology and free movie tickets. Shortening emergency room waiting times is part of a hospital-wide initiative aimed at improving patient care, said Pam Hash, administrative director of emergency services at the newly opened St. Francis Medical Center. The free movie tickets were the marketing department's idea.
"One of the big dissatisfiers for patients is the wait time they spend in the emergency department," Hash said.
Other hospitals around the country have offered 30-minute guarantees to make themselves competitive. If the wait times are exceeded, patients are compensated with everything from restaurant gift certificates to free medical care. There are exceptions to St. Francis' 30-minute guarantee, such as when the emergency department has multiple critical-care patients or is so crowded that ambulances are being diverted to other hospitals. (Gee, that's good to know!)
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