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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, August 8, 2000
TOP STORY:
* Of Artists and End-Runs
NET NOISE:
* ASCAP.com
BEATS:
* Magex "Solves the Napster Dilemma"
Will provide DRM for Universal's Bluematter trial
* Biting the Hand
Is there actual news in them there press releases?
* Dot Dot Dot
MTVi stays private ... Hendrix estate wins domain fight ... Napster
stuff a bust ... Oopsie
SOUND OFF:
* Who would you cast in "Napster: The Movie"?
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TOP STORY
~~~~~~~~~
Of Artists and End-Runs
By Julene Snyder
Anyone familiar with how the record industry works knows better than
to dream of becoming a rock star. One enduring snapshot of the
dream-as-nightmare came way back in 1995, when producer Steve Albini
published his now-widely reproduced screed about major label deals in
Baffler No. 5. Albini concludes his manifesto with a scenario that
shows a hypothetical label raking in $3 million and the fictional band
earning "about 1/3 as much as they would working at a 7-11, but they
got to ride in a tour bus for a month."
The song remains the same today. It costs money to make records. It
costs money to promote and distribute them. It costs money to build
Web sites. Money, money, money. The labels shell out the cash and are
entitled to be compensated for their expenses and expertise, right?
Not according to several big names. Until now, the artists doing
end-runs around traditional label deals have been more likely to come
from the garage than the pages of Spin. But a new cadre of musicians
are going for their own distribution on the Web - and cutting out not
only the labels, but the lawyers and other types who profit from the
convoluted morass of entertainment law.
Prince has had a notoriously rocky time with the majors. After years
of acrimony with Warner Bros., the Paisley one is downright disgusted
with the whole business. An essay he recently posted on his Web site
(www.npgonlineltd.com) gets blunt about who's zooming who. "(T)he
fundamental reason y those 'young people' r xchanging music online is
that they r xcited about the music, that they r actually developing a
sense of appreciation of what good music is." Prince's answer? To
market his new music through his own Web site, making him one of the
first to abandon the Big Five ship entirely. "What record companies
don't really understand is that Napster is just one illustration of
the growing frustration over how much the record companies control
what music people get 2 hear," he writes in his "4 The Love Of Music"
essay. "Does (Time Warner chief Richard Parsons) really think that
what motivates an artist 2 create is the fact that record company
xecutives r making millions off his back when he barely manages 2
scrape by even after selling hundreds of thousands of copies of his
album?" (Prince may have more on his side than a good argument. On
Tuesday, 28 states filed a price-fixing suit against the Big Five.)
But Recording Industry Association of America CEO Hilary Rosen might
be closer to the artist formerly known as the Artist than she
realizes. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, she said, "I think
if artists don't want to be with record companies, they shouldn't sign
with them." She made a similar comment when asked about Sheryl Crow's
comment that artists should hold their own copyright. "Sheryl's a
great person and a good friend of mine, but if she doesn't like her
contract, she shouldn't have signed it."
That kind of response makes musicians like former Byrds member Roger
McGuinn snort with derision. "That's out of line," said McGuinn when
asked about Rosen's comment. "Basically the major labels are the only
game in town, so there's no alternative."
McGuinn's testified last month before the U.S. Senate Judiciary
Committee that as a royalty artist, in most cases "a modest advance
against royalties was all the money I received for my participation"
for work recording 15 Byrds albums for Columbia Records. Bottom line?
"Even though I've recorded over 25 records, I cannot support my family
on record royalties alone."
And so McGuinn is effusive about a deal he recently signed with
MP3.com. "They offered an unheard of, non-exclusive recording contract
with a royalty rate of 50 percent of the gross sales," he said. He
says he's made thousands of dollars from recordings of traditional
folk songs whose rights reside in the public domain. MP3.com, he says,
has "offered me more artistic freedom than any of my previous
relationships with mainstream recording companies."
Of course, as far as the Byrds catalog goes, McGuinn can't sell those
records on MP3.com; they belong to the record company. There's some
irony in the fact that one of those songs is "So You Want To Be a Rock
and Roll Star?" with its prescient lines, "Then it's time to go
downtown/Where the agent man won't let you down/Sell your soul to the
company/Who are waiting there to sell plastic ware." Then again, if
the next generation of musicians thinks twice before signing on the
dotted line - and has actual alternatives - major labels may find
themselves signing a different Byrds lyric: "A time to cast away
stones."
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market, branding, vertical markets and demographic usage.
Available only at http://www.thestandard.com/store/econsumers/?nst=nhsr
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NET NOISE:
~~~~~~~~~~
ASCAP.com
The online home of the American Society of Composers, Authors and
Publishers is chock-full of useful information for those of us wading
through the fetid swamp of entertainment copyright. Here we learn that
more than 80,000 composers, songwriters, lyricists and music
publishers make up ASCAP's membership. We're informed that the
organization is diligently collecting license fees and
performance-royalty payments along with lobbying Congress and
litigating when necessary to collect those greenbacks. We can get
detailed information on complex subjects like estate-planning for
copyright holders, bone up on the definitions of common licensing
terms, find out how songwriters get paid when their songs shows up on
the tube. If you don't find details of who holds the copyright of a
particular song in ASCAP's online ACE database, never fear, the tune
in question is probably licensed by one of the other two U.S. music
licensing organizations, BMI (www.bmi.com) and SESAC (www.sesac.com).
Thankfully, they all have searchable databases, so you'll never again
have to wonder if your favorite rock icon still owns the rights to
that anthem-turned-commercial.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BEATS
~~~~~~
Magex Claims to Solve the Napster Dilemma
Will provide DRM for Universal's Bluematter trial
What is it about the phrase "digital rights management" that causes an
overwhelming sense of sleepiness to kick in? Well, nudge me if I nod
off in relating the news that Magex is the winner in Universal Music
Group's new digital download trial dubbed bluematter. Secure delivery
is the promise of Magex, meaning that you can't have it if you don't
pay so don't even think about it, bucko. Those who venture forth to
try bluematter will be offered a $4 credit in their cutely named
"digital wallet" to make it less painful to actually pay for a tune.
It turns out to be a bit buggy, at least according to Inside's Jon
O'Hara, who should win an award just for staying awake long enough to
write about various permutations of DRM services. Magex's new CEO, Pat
Campbell, confidently calls Magex the "solution to the Napster
dilemma." In related news, Sir Paul McCartney has invested an
undisclosed amount of money in Magex, adding to coffers that are
already bulging with a recently completed $80 million round of private
equity funding.
Biting the Hand
Is there actual news in them there press releases?
An Internet writer from a national publication came up with a great -
if just a wee bit mean - idea for these pages this week. Mr. X (not
his real name) says that he receives "a zillion PR e-mails every day."
Go on, we feel your pain. He continues, "Among the most persistent
mailers is the appropriately named Greg Wilfahrt of MP3.com, who sends
out a barrage of irrelevant and tedious mailings every day. Today, for
example, we have the triumphant news of MP3.com's alliance with "the
leading country station in the nation's 15th largest market." This
strategy of conspicuous activity seems intended to constantly remind
us that MP3.com is still alive and actually doing things, even though
it's a lot less interesting (and a lot less trafficked) than Napster.
It reminds me of the way my little sisters would be extra diligent and
good after I got into trouble with my parents when I was a kid just to
make me seem badder. Mr. X can't complain in print about this annoying
flood, but we're happy to complain on his behalf. In fact, we may just
come up with an exciting new weekly feature about spam disguised as
news. Now all we need is a name ....
Dot Dot Dot
MTVi stays private ... Hendrix estate wins domain fight ...
Napster stuff a bust ... Oopsie
Turns out that Viacom won't be floating its online music network,
MTVi, after all. The company apparently rethought its strategy and
decided not to sell MTVi shares to the public in part because of fears
that "the market isn't going to appreciate the value of it," according
to Viacom COO Mel Karmazin. MTVi includes SonicNet, VH1.com and
MTV.com. ... The Associated Press reports this morning that the
family of Jimi Hendrix has been awarded rights to Jimihendrix.com by a
U.N. arbitrator. Apparently, the previous owner of the domain name,
cybersquatter Danny Hammerton, has also registered names like
Elvispresley.net, Jethrotull.com, Lindamccartney.com, Mickjagger.com
and Paulmccartney.com, in hopes of hitting the motherlode. ...
You'd think that there would be a wealth of merchandising
opportunities revolving around the little application that could. But
there's just a handful of items offered up on eBay, and most of those
are related to napsterwear.com, a bare-bones site that offers up
nothing but a few dull T-shirts and the requisite baseball hats.
Where, oh where are all the hilarious bumper stickers? Is "Metallica
bad. Napster good." really the best we can do? ... In last week's
lead story, we inadvertently referred to CNN Talkback Live host Daryn
Kagan as a "he." We're informed that said personality is "very much a
'she' and should be referred to as such." We regret the error.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUND OFF
~~~~~~~~~
This week's ago: Who would you cast in "Napster: The Movie"?
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.
FEEDBACK: Last week's question: What was the sharpest comment you've
seen or heard regarding Napster?
Best move the record industry can make to save itself: $5 CDs. Napster
is popular because people know they're being gouged. How can the
industry defend its high prices when burnable blanks sell for under $1
each? The only people who can afford $18 and $19 CDs are folks who
still buy Eric Clapton records and drive SUVs.
- John Firehammer
The Napster/Gnutella phenomenon is simply the market responding to the
recording industry's intransigence in offering real digital content.
Had they a year ago offered users a viable alternative that protected
digital rights, they would not be facing what they are today.
Now, they are offering for download a few titles at $16 per CD - this
is their way of punishing users for wanting to download music. This
response reminds me of when the Japanese came to America with
inexpensive, fuel-efficient cars to respond to the energy crisis. What
did Detroit give us in response? The Chevy Vega. You want a car that's
cheap with good mileage? Here's what you get. It's a
passive-aggressive response to real market demand.
No industry looks good when it gets caught with its pants down. Let's
hope the other areas of digital rights management step up and put real
value propositions (with adequate digital rights management schemes)
in place before piracy becomes the way of the road.
- John Richardson
Daily Dose of the Truth: Stealing is stealing! When are these geeks
and their new digital economy going to get it? I guess they love
feeding lawyers and the crooked established record labels that
continue to steal from artists too (like changing the copyright law
recently)! If they want this "Crapster" to survive, the CEO will have
to donate a few million dollars to members of the U.S. Congress
(namely Republicans). If these sites continue to go on, the only new
music will be cute boy bands with bad hair and stubbly shaves, naughty
but virginal blond female teenyboppers or white rappers that hate
everyone! Everyone else will be stuck downloading music from the 50s
through the 90s, because all the other artists and labels will just go
for broke in the next three to five years. (The Republicans will love
that!) We, musicians, need to get paid to buy drugs, have sex, tour
and make new music. And that is the cold honest truth!
- Cyrus Sullivan
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder. Send news tips and press releases to
julene@well.com.
Edited by Steven Zeitchik (szeitchik@thestandard.com).
Copyedited by Elese Veeh (eveeh@thestandard.com).
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