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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
B E A T S H E E T
A Weekly Report on the Convergence of Music and the Net
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| http://www.thestandard.com |
Tuesday, February 29, 2000
TOP STORY:
* Grammy Shut-out: Online journalists denied access to Grammy's
NET NOISE:
* Grooving with Lumeria.com
UPBEAT:
* Tickets.com plans to turn ATMs into box-offices
* Elvis Costello sells albums on E-music.com
* Gigmania.com to feature content from Digital Club Network
SOUND OFF: Can watching a Web site be comparable to attending the event?
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TOP STORY:
~~~~~~~~~~
And the winner is ... print journalism!
Online reporters kept away from Grammy Awards
By Julene Snyder
For a spokesman, Recording Academy Vice President of Communications
Adam Sandler is good at not saying much. When asked for comment about
claims made by online music-news outlets that they were given severely
limited access to last week's Grammy Awards show, Sandler agreed to an
interview. But once on the phone, the representative of the group that
hosts the Grammy's agreed to talk only briefly on "background" about
the matter, saying he'd send a few lines of comments on the story via
e-mail.
As promised, Sandler later e-mailed the following statement: "Due to
severe space limitations at the Staples Center and the proliferation
of dot.com's, it was impossible to accommodate everyone, even those
that had been credentialed last year to cover the Grammy Awards when
the show was at the Shrine Auditorium. The decision was not made to
create an exclusivity to protect our Grammy.com. We made available a
'pool feed' of our Web site content to those dot-com's, such as
Checkout.com, that wanted it. Users of the feed would have been able
to make it appear as though their dot-com was backstage at the awards
show. But when presented with the availability of this arrangement,
most dot-coms chose to not participate and instead complain about
allegedly being excluded."
The key word here is "appear." Why would any reputable news
organization want to fool people into believing that they were
backstage when, in fact, they weren't?
Allstar.com's Managing Editor Carrie Borzillo is among the journalists
frustrated by the decision. "This is the first year in my eight years
of being a journalist in Los Angeles, that I did not get into the
Grammy's," she says. "Allstar has been around since December of 1996,
and we cover the Grammy's every year." In the past, Borzillo was
typically doing double-duty, covering the event for a print
publication as well as Allstar.com. "I was a little surprised that
they made the rule that no online people were going to come in."
Allstar got around the limitations easily enough. "I just hired a
couple of people who were already credentialed, and had them do
double-duty. So we were able to still do the same amount of coverage,
but we had to work around [the Recording Academy] to do it."
That's the same route that Wall of Sound - a division of Go.com -
took. When denied press credentials, Wall of Sound's News Editor
Anders Wright never considered covering the Grammy's via the
Grammy.com Web site. "What you're covering there is not the Grammy's,"
he says. "What you're covering there is what Grammy.com is putting on
their Web site."
After some urging, Sandler agreed to allow a portion of our
conversation to be used in this story regarding the thought processes
behind granting press credentials. After he determined that this
writer had never covered the Grammy's in person, he offered a brief
primer: "It's important for you to understand this, so you can write a
good story. Picture in your mind three rooms: a general photo room, a
print room and a TV/radio room." OK, got it.
"The print room has 70 different bodies in it, some are three from the
same paper, two from the same paper. The TV/radio room has 180 people
working it. The TV/radio room only has one camera. So essentially,
what we were doing with the dot-coms was giving them an online pool
feed through a content arrangement. But they wanted to be in there by
themselves, which is equivalent to bringing your own camera into the
TV/radio room. If ABC, CBS, NBC, CNBC, CNN and all the outlets that
make up my count of 180 were happy with a pool camera, then we apply
the same philosophy to the dot-coms."
I heard his explanation clearly, but it sounded like sophistry to me.
Being on site would have held distinct advantages for online
journalists. Even from some isolated back room, television and print
reporters had access to winners, as they were brought backstage. And
they could toss out questions to guests as they arrived or mingled
with the press before taking their leave.
Maybe there's some irony in the fact that online journalists are not
satisfied with an online feed. But clearly I'm not the only one of the
pack that feels there's no substitute for being there in person.
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NET NOISE:
~~~~~~~~~~
Lumeria.com
Quirkiness can be a double-edged sword. It's tricky to balance on the
fine line separating fascinating iconoclast from fringe-dwelling
weirdo; many try to walk the oddball tightrope, but few succeed with
true elan. Happily, quirk is made into a fine art at Lumeria.com, the
self-described "bold, sensual and thrilling new music lifestyle
community" that debuted on Valentine's Day. Cofounded by
"musicologist/tastemaker" Chuck Kelley and "world renowned gentleman
of leisure" The Millionaire, the site's streaming sounds are something
completely different. We're talking sets that segue from the late,
lamented Serge Gainsbourg to utterly obscure tracks like Tipsy playing
"Mr. Excitement" (or is it vice versa - no matter) and far, far
beyond. Groovy rotating DJ's, feature stories like an overview of Tiny
Tim's career and a "lexicon for the layabout" from the pages of
Britain's "The Idler" journal. Swanky, swelligant and smooth as a
snifter of Black Velvet on the rocks.
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UPBEAT:
~~~~~~~
Do You Need Tickets Back With That Cash?
Tickets.com tests ATM service in Las Vegas
There are some who can't remember a time before ATMs, but we who
recall those dark days do so with a shudder. Once, a person had
horrifyingly few options if they needed cash. You could go to the
bank, stand in line and deal with a teller every time you needed 20
bucks. You could try to cultivate a relationship with your corner
store so they would cash the occasional personal check. You could opt
to keep large wads of green around your house to avoid the problem
altogether. It may be that 10 years from now people won't remember
what a hassle it was to score a pair of hot concert tickets if
operations like Tickets.com succeed in revamping the ticket-buying
experience. The company has just announced plans to launch a service
that lets consumers in Las Vegas get tickets at their ATMs, making
them "virtual box office 'will call' windows." Couple this with the
firm's recent option of letting consumers print their tickets at home,
and soon we may not have to leave the house at all. Of course, that
will make attending the shows we've bought tickets for problematic,
but surely some intrepid dot-com can figure out a way around that.
This Year's Business Model
Elvis Costello puts his albums up for sale on Emusic.com
When perpetually sardonic songster Elvis Costello's deal with Ryko
expired, apparently he wasted no time in exercising his newly obtained
rights to 12 of his albums, promptly putting them up for sale to
consumers as MP3 downloads at Emusic.com. Reports are that Costello
will split the revenue 50/50, which is said to be typical of deals
that Emusic has with other artists. Among the albums are seminal works
like 1977's "My Aim Is True," "This Year's Model" (1978), 1980's "Get
Happy!!" and 1984's "Goodbye Cruel World." Costello is quoted on the
site thus: "If only I had been paying attention back in the 70s, I
could be writing this greeting in Fortran. As it is, mere words cannot
express ... so see you in cyberspace. The future lies ahead." Fortran?
Oh Elvis, you're such a geek.
See Me, Hear Me, Before You Pay to See Me
Gigmania hooks up with Digital Club Network
Ever go to see a band and find out when it's far too late that the
band in question sucks? Yeah, me neither, but if you're in the habit
of buying tickets to shows when you don't know what you're getting, a
new service announced by Gigmania.com promises to save you from such
heartache. Streaming content from Digital Club Network will let users
"virtually preview a band before making the cover charge commitment."
Whew. Now if only they can find a way to make bands sound as good in
person as they do in the studio, we'll really have something here.
SOUND OFF:
~~~~~~~~~~
Last Week's Question: "Is Internet access a right or a privilege?"
"Get over it, it's neither. Stop whining and get a job, then get a
computer if you want and start surfing. We should all enjoy the
freedom of the Net as it is now. In the not too distant future we'll
be looking at these as the 'good old days.' If you don't think this
cyber-Wild West will be tamed, you're dreaming."
- Eugene Cantera
Director of Public Relations
The Dallas School of Music
"In the past, the Internet would have been a privilege. Now that you
can buy almost anything you need (or want), I think it should be a
right. I know that in one of my college classes, the professor
constantly asks us to view an Internet site, or even for us to find
sites, that directly affect our grades. If the Internet is called a
privilege, how in the world are we supposed to find these sites?
Lately, I have noticed that schools and colleges have been buying many
computers for use by their students. Yes, the Internet is now a right
held by anyone who uses it, no matter how they treat/use it. The new
millennium has brought us full-swing into the computer and Internet
age."
- Ryan Stollenmaier
"Boring answer: Internet access is a commercial transaction like any
other. Whether you personally pay or not is a different matter.
Cynical answer: Internet access for many people feels like a right,
not a privilege, e.g., office staff and students. 'We're stuck in this
office/college, of course they must give us free Internet access.'
Buddhist answer: All pleasure is a privilege, appreciate it while you
can. Realistic Answer: The Internet is spreading faster than any
medium in history. For the developed world, the Internet has
transcended 'right' to become a fact. For developing countries, the
Internet will be the privilege that exaggerates wealth differences
rather than reducing them."
- Dan Channer
WPP Group
This Week's Question: Can watching a Web site be comparable to
attending the event? In particular, if you caught the Grammy.com
Webcast, did you feel like you were at the event?
E-mail your opinions to julene@well.com with "sound off" in the
subject line and we'll print a selection of the responses in next
week's newsletter. Letters may be edited for clarity and length, so
keep them short and include your name and affiliation, if any.
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send newstips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
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