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Tuesday, March 27, 2001
TOP STORY:
* A More Perfect Union?
NET NOISE:
* Copyright.net
BEATS:
* IUMA Lives to Rock Another Day
DOT DOT DOT:
* MP3.com Goes to Court Again ... Senate Judiciary Committee Meets ...
Farmclub and GetMusic Hook Up? ... Kerbango Goes Kerblooey
SOUND OFF:
* Should ISPs boot individuals who are accused of illegally trading
copyrighted material over their system?
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TOP STORY
~~~~~~~~~
A More Perfect Union?
Courtney Love says she wants justice for all in the music biz.
By Julene Snyder
When the film about Courtney Love's life is made - and it seems
inevitable, given the public's insatiable appetite for juicy celebrity
dish - her struggles with the major label system will undoubtedly be
featured. If the screenplay was written today, it would surely include
her most recent salvo, a call for musicians to form a new union and
remake the way recording contracts are written.
Love - who's suing Universal Music Group for violating a California
labor law that allows artists to terminate their contracts with
entertainment companies after seven years - wrote an open letter in
mid-March asking recording artists to rally behind her and form an
organization to represent their interests in Washington. (Love and her
manager, Jim Barber, didn't respond to repeated requests to comment
for this story.)
However artists feel about the issue of forming a new union - Love's
letter said R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, U2, Alanis Morissette, Bush and
Q-Tip have contacted her to voice support for the idea - it's a safe
bet that musicians and major labels alike are watching her lawsuit
closely. The issues she raises are particularly urgent in today's
post-Napster era, when artists are closely watching developments that
concern copyrights, revenues and the very way that the majors do
business. If she prevails in court, we could see a stampede of artists
lining up to hop on Love's fight-the-power bandwagon. Los Angeles
Times writer Chuck Philips said that a win for Love could "rewrite the
economics of the recorded music industry and lead to a wholesale
exodus of recording acts from their labels." In other words, we're
talkin' about a revolution.
Or are we? Organizing wildly diverse musicians - who run the gamut
from wannabe to superstar - sounds like the sort of pipe dream that
only makes sense in a trashed hotel room at 4 a.m. For one thing,
whether or not Love wins her suit, the vast majority of working
musicians will never attain her level of wealth or success. For them,
issues like getting affordable health insurance are far more pressing
than whether the major labels set up the system to benefit themselves
first and foremost. And some industry veterans would point out that,
after all, there are already unions for musicians to join - the
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the American
Federation of Musicians.
But Love says that these organizations don't do a good enough job for
enough artists: "Neither union represents all artists," she writes in
the letter, which describes several well-known artists who wound up
broke in spite of selling huge numbers of records. They range from the
three members of the group TLC who filed for bankruptcy, to Jimi
Hendrix, whose heirs work "menial jobs," to Florence Ballard, an
original member of the Supremes who was reportedly on welfare when she
died in 1976.
Few will deny that the music industry has horror stories a-plenty in
its vaults, but Dick Gabriel, spokesman for the AFM, says he's
drafting a response to Love's letter that will detail the work the
union is doing to address many of the concerns that Love raises.
"She's got an open invitation to call us," Gabriel says, adding that
the union has been involved in talks in Washington regarding issues of
particular interest to musicians, such as last year's battle over
adding sound recordings to the list of copyrighted works that could be
considered as "works for hire," and that he's spent much of the last
year traveling around the country telling bands about the union.
But no union is going to solve all the quandaries that musicians face
over the course of their careers. Dean Kay, who's on the board of both
the American Society of Composers and Publishers and the National
Music Publishers' Association, believes that the larger issue is
simply that artists need to learn to make smart choices, understand
their rights and retain good legal representation. "Hit records are
usually really hot - and then they're not," he says. "Some musicians
run out and spend their money without considering that their career
will probably be short-lived and that they should provide for
themselves and their future when they're successful."
Members of AFTRA and the AFM can participate in pension plans and get
health insurance, but Love says musicians don't get nearly the share
of profits as their counterparts in the film and sports industries do.
"Like the music business, the film and the sports industries generate
billions of dollars in income each year, but those industries offer
far better benefits to the men and women who create their wealth." She
says musicians should not only go public and speak out against unfair
record contracts, they should realize that "artists have all the
power."
Evan Silverman, guitarist and vocalist of the band the Rosenbergs -
which achieved some notoriety by turning down a proffered contract
from Farmclub, a division of Universal - says Love is on the right
track by advocating a new union. "Most musicians, including the
Rosenbergs, have no health insurance or music equipment insurance,"
Silverman said via e-mail. "With a union, quite possibly the days of
artists getting 6 cents from each record sold can be over."
While it could be years until the court case is decided - Love claims
she'll take it to the Supreme Court if necessary - one hopes the
majors are at least paying attention to the grumblings in the ranks.
One also hopes that the music industry's latest crop of Next Big
Things is socking away some money now - before they wind up as a
"Behind the Music" segment on VH1.
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NET NOISE
~~~~~~~~~
Copyright.net
It describes itself as an "intellectual rights community," but
Copyright.net is playing anti-piracy hardball with an orb of steel.
From the moment one arrives, the site pulls no punches: Immediately
upon entry, you're greeted by a pop-up window that assumes you're a
newly blocked Napster user trying to reinstate your account. Music
publishers have employed the software firm to police individuals
caught infringing copyrights through peer-to-peer platforms like
Napster. Along with blocking Napster accounts, Copyright.net has
reportedly booted people from their Internet service providers for
infringing copyrights via non-centralized p-to-ps like Gnutella. The
latter move may or may not be a strictly kosher interpretation of the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the company is moving at a
full-speed ahead, no-holds-barred, damn-the-torpedoes clip. Its
Copyright Agent software searches the areas of a person's hard drive
that have been made open to file-sharing networks, looks for
infringing files and makes note of the alleged bootlegger's IP
address. If the idea that anyone can poke around on your hard drive to
keep you on the straight-and-narrow digital music path makes you
nervous, you're not alone. But no matter: Copyright.net promises
you'll be able to trade in your illegal digital copy of a particular
song for an authorized, copy-protected version that you can listen to
once or twice. Then you're welcome to buy a legit version of the song.
Capiche? Sounds like an offer you can't refuse.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BEATS
~~~~~
IUMA Lives to Rock Another Day
After a month in limbo, the Internet Underground Music Archive, a
pioneering unsigned band site, was acquired by Italian music portal
Vitaminic for just under a million dollars in cash and stock in a deal
announced late last week. IUMA suspended operations early last month
when its parent company EMusic.com pulled its funding due to mounting
losses and poor stock performance. A press release hyping the deal
quotes IUMA founder Jeff Patterson "ranting" the following statements:
"IUMA cannot be stopped. We were here first and we are going to be
here forever. When we ran out of cash the staff volunteered. When the
staff became overwhelmed, the artists volunteered. We're supported by
a community of 25,000 artists with a voice that grows stronger every
day, and we are simply too passionate to let this community die."
Read more at TheStandard.com:
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,23112,00.html?nl=bts
DOT DOT DOT
~~~~~~~~~~~
MP3.com Goes to Court Again ... Senate Judiciary Committee Meets ...
Farmclub and GetMusic Hook Up? ... Kerbango Goes Kerblooey
MP3.com went to court yet again Monday, this time to determine the
amount of monetary damages due to indie label TVT Records for
copyright infringement. The trial is expected to last two weeks; the
San Diego-based company could be held liable for anywhere from $750 to
$150,000 for each TVT copyright that was "willfully infringed." Read
more at
http://www.thestandard.com/article/display/0,1151,23122,00.html ....
From the "mark your calendar department" comes a reminder that on
April 3, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on the
future of digital music in Washington, D.C. Napster tells visitors to
its site that file-sharing aficionados can "help educate Congress that
it is important not to let the recording industry shut down music file
sharing" by phoning or e-mailing said representatives. For those who
aren't sure what to say when they call their elected representatives,
Napster provides a little cheat sheet with some possible topics of
discussion. ... Variety reports that mega-conglomerate Vivendi
Universal may hook up two of its less stellar properties into one
larger enterprise. Word is that Universal wants to buy BMG
Entertainment's half of the online retailer GetMusic so it can join
forces with Farmclub.com, which spotlights unsigned artists (except
when it points the big lights toward big-name artists, but we
digress). One industry source said to Variety in a moment of
uncharacteristic candor, "They've lost a ton of money on both, so it
might not be such a bad idea." ... Last week 3Com announced it will
pull the plug on its Kerbango Internet radio device by early June. The
company acquired the radio's maker - also named Kerbango, confusingly
- for a whopping $80 million last June. I'll bet Rolling Stone
magazine's a bit miffed that they featured a big ol' picture of the
device in its most recent issue as "hot gear" for spring 2001.
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SOUND OFF
~~~~~~~~~
This week's question: Should ISPs boot individuals who are accused of
illegally trading copyrighted material over their system?
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.
Last week's question: Would you pay $20 a month for a chance at a
slice of MP3.com's million-dollar pie?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Why would I pay MP3.com for ANYTHING? I use the
Internet not to find music, but to listen to MY files. I like grabbing
a copy of CDs which I own via FTP or appleshare, and any service
provider in between is laughable. Once everyone has 30 gigs and keeps
their computer on all the time, even the technophobes will realize
that CDs are an absolute waste of time and effort when you have access
to the network. Once MP3 players get bigger hard drives I won't even
use CDs on the subway. This isn't about intellectual property, it's
about individuals using hardware to manage their rightful information,
and the value which lies in this capability. It is obvious that in the
near future, consumers will be able to provide this service to
themselves with a cheap PC and a decent Internet connection. Thus, I
assert that even if by some fluke or miracle, subscription-models earn
money, they will be obsolete in a few years. Once the average Joe OR
the artists figure out how to serve files, more middlemen become
obsolete. The punk rock ethic is DIY after all. Oh, and one more
thing: Ted Nugent is obviously a fascist. Viva!
- S. Ron Butler
Manager of electronic commerce
Razorfish Subnetwork
I already do. This new policy really only cheats those who already pay
the $19.95 a month for MP3.com's Premium Artist Service. Rather than
paying to have our listings featured in boldface, we will now be
paying to have our listings buried in boldface. One step forward, two
steps back.
- Simon Fraser
Brooks & Fraser
Absolutely not! If I were that much of an unknown artist not to be
already signed with a major label, chances are slim to none that I
would see enough playtime in a month to even get the original $20
back! The customers are supposed to be the people that want to listen
to the music, not the people who supply it! As for claims of
administrative overhead sending out thousands of small-amount checks,
the answer is simple. Don't cut a check unless it reaches a minimum
amount - say $50. Just let the individual artist's account accumulate
month-to-month until the minimum is met, then cut a check and start
over. The artists can check their account status online in the
meantime. The virtual world is SUPPOSED to make life easier (and
there's no reason it can't), not a bigger mess than the living world.
What can I say but greed, greed, greed.
- Todd Quinn
As an artist who's done okay by MP3.com - I've made a couple hundred
bucks - I'd pay $20 or more just to get a peek at the magic
undisclosed "formula" that MP3.com uses to divide up its payback for
playback fund. The whole thing smells mighty fishy, and I think it's
strange - with the daily news stories about Michael Robertson and his
vast "community" of musicians - that no reporter has pinned MP3.com on
just how, specifically, they allocate these funds to artists. Also, I
think it's important to make a distinction between getting paid based
on downloads and entering a lottery for some portion of a set amount
of cash. If you get 1,000 downloads and generate a lot of advertising
or subsequent sell-through revenue for MP3.com, you don't share in the
revenue that your songs generated. And unlike an office football pool,
the prize does not increase based on the amount of players. Instead,
you get an undisclosed stake in a fixed cash prize in a contest with
undisclosed rules. Sound suspicious? Even with a lottery ticket, they
have to tell you what your odds are.
- Patrick Hambrecht
STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Julene Snyder (julene@well.com).
Editor: Michele Keller (mkeller@thestandard.com).
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