Archive | Good Luck With That
Motley Crue was one of the best hair metal bands of the ’80s. That’s why a Greatest Hits album from the band was a good idea in 1991. The Crue’s Decade of Decadence came out 18 years ago, but the band’s still going strong, or at least medium strength, so for them to have another greatest hits album isn’t a terrible idea either. BUT FIVE? Today the band released Greatest Hits on their own management company’s Eleven Seven label. It’s the fifth hits album the band’s released since 1991. This isn’t even their first Greatest Hits album called Greatest Hits (that, for the record, was their 1998 one).
Sure, we get it. Every time Motley Crue goes to another label and/or gets their publishing back, they release a greatest hits album to capitalize on that. Or labels like Elektra take advantage of one of their former marquee acts by releasing a comp (like 2005’s double disc Red White & Crue, the best of the comps in our opinon). But honestly, is there one Motley Crue fan not alive that doesn’t have at least one of the band’s compilations of music? What are you getting if you pick up the new version? You’ll get two songs from last year’s The Saints of Los Angeles, the title track and a remix of “The Animal In Me.” In other words, pretty inessential, unless you really liked the last album, in which case you already own it. You’re better off saving your money and buying a copy of The Dirt (one of the best rock autobiographies ever) instead. Or waiting for the long-rumored film version of the book to come out and buying the inevitable soundtrack that will serve as Motley Crue’s sixth Greatest Hits album.
From the douchery files: music royalty groups ASCAP and BMI are pressing iTunes and other online music stores to pay performance fees on 30-second song previews available when shopping for music, as well as individual downloads of songs and TV shows and movies featuring their artists’ music.
Yes, this is insane, and it’s ASCAP and BMI desperately trying to share someone else’s piece of the pie. Performance royalty groups have no direct financial interest in music sales, as their business only pertains to when music is performed in public – on the radio, at restaurants, sports stadiums, etc. These groups collect fees and pass it on to composers and songwriters. This is different than when music is sold at retail, when “mechanical” royalties are paid to labels who then distribute the revenue.
So, ASCAP and BMI are arguing that a download is the same as a radio play and therefore a public performance fee should be paid in addition to the standing distribution agreements. However the Digital Music Association, an online media industry defender that counts Apple, RealNetworks and others among its members, counter that legal precedent has already been set that considers downloads private and therefore exempt from performance fees. ASCAP has appealed this decision and the case will be heard later this year.
The really silly (and what will be very controversial) bit is the issue over 30-second samples. iTunes has acquired licenses allowing previews without paying for them, but the groups are trying to change. From a legal standpoint, it can be argued that streaming 30 seconds is no different than streaming an entire song from a site like Pandora (which does have to pay performance royalties).
None of this really affects the consumer unless (or rather, until) the cost of additional royalty fees is passed on in the form of higher prices. This is really more just different factions of the music industry fighting to get a taste of the action. Performance royalty groups see that Apple is the only place still making money off music, and they want to force their way in. It’s highly unlikely the downloads-as-public-performances thing will fly, it’s simply a modern day purchase method – downloading a song from iTunes is the same act as unwrapping a CD you’ve just purchased. But the streaming previews issue could get hairy, and it’s something we’ll keep an eye on. Of course if ASCAP and BMI get their way, iTunes will likely just stop using previews before they pay another dime.
Kittie’s Morgan Landers did a quick story with our pals at Noisecreep, dishing advice on surviving in the music industry. One one hand, she’s somewhat qualified: the band has been around since the Morgan sisters were teens. On the other hand, her advice is “have confidence”, “practice” and “don’t give up”, which if you haven’t applied to your life in general, you won’t make it in any business.
Our industry survival advice? Don’t go around asking for advice from fucking Kittie.
Hypebot reports all four major labels are working together to create yet another new format for digital albums, tentatively titled CMX. Scheduled for a soft launch in November, the “new” format promises liner notes, lyrics, artwork, video, et al (you know, the stuff you can find for free) in one single download.
CMX sounds a lot like Apple’s Cocktail project, and apparently they thought so too, as they turned down involvement.
“Apple at first told us that they were not interested, but now they have decided to do their own, in case ours catches on,” a source close to the CMX project told the Times UK. “Ours will be a file that you click on, it opens and it would have a totally brand-new look, with a launch page and all the different options. When you click on it you’re not just going to get the ten tracks, you’re going to get the artwork, the video and mobile products.”
Does anyone care about these things? I mean, kudos for trying to do anything different, but is anyone really excited about having their downloads come in a flashy widget?
Hans Pandeya, CEO of Pirate Bay acquirers Global Gaming Factory, is still insisting the sale is good-to-go and restates his goals to legitimize the company in a recent interview with Torrent Freak. In fact, his talks to make agreements with US labels have gone so swimmingly, he thinks the notorious Swedish file-sharing site could be traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Which sounds kind of crazy and impossible:
“We are looking into the possibility to get the operation listed on the NASDAQ Small Cap Index,” Pandeya told TorrentFreak, adding that the first priority is to get the major music labels and movie studios on board. “The Pirate Bay is a strong brand in the US and most parties who have showed interest in the project are based there,” Pandeya said.
GGF is currently wrapping up the funding for the Pirate Bay acquisition and most of the investors are from the US, which is another argument in favor of moving operations from their current base in Sweden. Despite these ambitious plans, GGF will still have to move a few mountains to get copyright holders on board without losing the current visitors.
Without an unlimited library of music, movies and software the current users will leave the ship and move on to the next torrent site. With copyright infringing links still present, none of the copyright holders will agree to enter. The pirate’s dilemma.
Pandeya agreed that this is not an easy task to complete, but assured us that GGF is confident that they can pull it off, and that a NASDAQ listing is realistic once agreements with the major music and movie studios are in place.
Take all of this optimism with a grain of salt, as former executive Wayne Rosso has called shenanigans on Pandeya with cries of false promises and shady business. Obviously, legitimizing and monetizing a one-time illegal file-sharing site has yet to work (see: Napster, LimeWire et al), and those didn’t carry the notoriously indignant, shit-starting image of The Pirate Bay.
While it’s the red-headed stepchild of media, we like radio. Sure, there are plenty of other ways to get music, and the commercials, limited playlists and dopey jock chatter can grate, but it’s still a great, and free, way to get information out there and hear new music. And when you’ve got stations in your area like WSOU that play metal all the time, you can’t help but appreciate the medium.
Not everyone feels that way, however. Information Week reports that as of Thursday, Radio Shack will hence forth be known as ”The Shack.” The company’s Chief Marketing Officer Lee Applbaum said in a statement that many of their customers already dropped ‘radio’ and just called it ‘The Shack,” and they’re merely embracing what consumers have already done.
“We have tremendous equity in consumers’ minds around cables, parts a nd batteries, but it’s critically important that we help them to understand the role that we play in keeping people connected in this highly mobile world,” added Applbaum. “You will see a real focus on mobility and wireless products from leading brands in our new advertising.”
Wait, what? Why don’t they call themselves “Cables, Parts and Batteries Shack” then? Sure, you want to remind consumers that you’re not just the place to go to get RCA cables and antennas, I get it. But how does rebranding yourself after a crudely built cabin rectify that? And will Shaquille O’ Neal sue? And sure “radio” isn’t the sexiest medium, but what’s sexier, a radio, or a hut?
Noted thespian Nicolas Cage hasn’t been setting the box office on fire recently, but his son Weston might be picking up the family slack. Weston Cage, or “Arcane,” is the singer of Eyes of Noctum, a black metal band currently on an east coast/southeast tour.
While the music black/goth tunes on the band’s Myspace page, taken from their album Inceptum, sound decent, it’s likely due to the contributors. The album was recorded by Fredrik Nordstrom and features Hellhammer (Mayhem, Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir) and Snowy Shaw (King Diamond). Shaw played all the drums on the album, and according to an interview with SickDrummer, doesn’t sound particularly psyched about the band’s former drummer.
Fredrik and I are great friends, and occasionally I do sessions for him or in his studio. Most recently was last summer for a band I think is called Eyes of Noctum with Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage’s son as the leader/singer. Fredrik just called me one night, asking me to attend in the studio as some sort of coach for this poor young LA drummer who simply couldn’t get it down, so after having wasted several days, Fredrik as the producer just had to take charge of the procedure and get things moving. I got there the next morning thinking I’d be coaching the guy, then understand they expect me to do ghost drumming, then the next day I’d be listed as the drummer. I’m a very quick learner, and although I don’t consider myself a very good black metal drummer (since I hit the drums very very hard, playing that ultra fast gets tricky), but I did my best to please them with all their wishes and requests, and I nailed it all in a few days time, and everybody was happy.
Nicolas Cage hasn’t plugged his son’s band a ton, probably because he has his own plugs going on.
The band’s dates are as follows:
Jul 17 2009 The Studio@Webster Hall New York, New York
Jul 18 2009 The Sterling Hotel Allentown, Pennsylvania
Jul 19 2009 El’N'Gee New London, Connecticut
Jul 20 2009 Europa Brooklyn, New York
Jul 22 2009 Sonar Baltimore, Maryland
Jul 24 2009 Zeropack Live Winchester, Virginia
Jul 25 2009 Nara Sushi Richmond, Virginia
Jul 27 2009 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, Louisiana
Jul 31 2009 The Meridian Houston, Texas
via [brooklynvegan]
Reuters has a nice piece from the Book Expo America, where a panel discussed learning lessons from the music business’ transition (or lack thereof) to the digital age as e-books (and its piracy) become more ubiquitous. Seems these bookworms like to talk a big game…
“Our aim is not to beat up the music industry … but that said, they sure did screw it up,” Andrew Albanese, Publisher’s Weekly features editor, told a panel discussion on the topic.
OH SNAP. It’s on. Dude thinks he can do it better? WHATCHU GOT!? In all fairness, it is probably best in this case that “learning lessons” means “don’t do what they did.”
along with free samplers from The End and Southern Lord.
Posted by Bram Teitelman on Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Good Luck With That