News from the Music Industry

More on Major Music Labels
The worlds most powerful music executive aims to join forces with other record companies to launch an industry-owned subscription service, according to Business Week. Said exec is Doug Morris of Universal. Doug thinks that the music labels have given Apple too sweet a deal. We got rolled like a bunch of puppies is his description of the negotiations. The new service will be called Total Music, and will be funded by a tax on TM-compatible music players. Gizmodo identifies one downside: this is clearly not a move away from DRM, but towards more of it. You can bet those downloads are going to be wrapped thicker than a 5-year-olds Christmas present. TechCrunch identifies another problem: itll make the music players too expensive. Total Music may market itself as offering free unlimited music, but it?s not really free, the cost is just hidden. That cost: $90 per device. Total Music already looks to me& how to put this& as dead as DRM? In as much trouble as a major music label? Talking of major labels, it seems that one of the big four will release In Rainbows early next year. Gizmodo described this as a cop-out. Indeed, if you follow the link, youll see far harsher terms. Youll also see a more recent acknowledgment that the CD release was intended all along, and shouldnt come as a surprise. Im neither surprised at the news nor annoyed that I paid for the download. Im tempted to describe Radioheads impending bargain with a major as Faustian, but I think theyll get a far better deal than that would imply. But heres Faust Arp, one of my favorite tracks from In Rainbows.

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 02:12:44 EDT
Kidnapcdrelease.mov
8/7/04 Check out this short video from the Kidnap CD release party. 8/6/04 The band responsible for our new intro music is playing together again. As of yet, untitled is the case. Stay tuned for more info