Today Coolfer feels like continuing the story of Wal-Mart, Evanescence and the word fuck. I posted about the whole fiasco the other day.

Thanks to the reader who sent a link to the a site that contains the lyrics to the song in question, "Thoughtless," from the album Anywhere But Home. It's worth bringing up because I haven't seen the context of the usage mentioned in just one of the many articles written about the lawsuit. (Has any journalist actually listened to the song? Coolfer hasn't heard it since Rhapsody doesn't have Evanescence in its catalog yet. But I did listen to the original version of the song by Korn.)

The word fuck makes two appearences in the song, both in the same line.

"Why are you trying to make fun of me?/You think it's funny?/What the fuck you think it's doing to me?/You take your turn lashing out at me."

There it is, the word fuck. (A few lines later, the word ass is used, though that word doesn't offend like it used to.) Wind-Up Records did not declare this album to be explicit, so it looks like it didn't feel the use of the word fuck, in this context, merits a parental advisory logo. Coolfer isn't offended and doesn't feel the word deserves a lawsuit, but I'm not a parent of a young child and I'm not the one with a policy of carrying only sanitized albums in my stores.

If just the use of the word fuck doesn't merit a parental advisory logo, and labels don't have specific, objective guidelines as to what constitutes offesive material, it's left to the subjective interpretations of the record label (and possibly its distributor).

Since no two people are offended in the same way by a specific word, what good does the parental advisory logo do? If the use of the logo is anything but consistent, its intended function--to alert a parent to the content of the album--will be compromised.

Posted by Glenn at 6:42 PM | Link | Comment (1)
|Music|

The story of the Evanescence CD purchased at Wal-Mart is still percolating in America's media outlets.

Here's some background: A man in Maryland bought Evanescence's Anywhere But Home for his 13-year-old daughter but wanted to return it when he discovered a song contained the word fuck. Wal-Mart wouldn't accept the return and suggest the man take it up with the corporate office. (Obviously the chain doesn't have much of a plan for this kind of scenario.) So the man has sued Wal-Mart for up to $74,500 for each person who has purchased the CD at Wal-Mart in the state of Maryland.

To its credit, Wal-Mart says it has no plans to pull the title. Said the spokesman, "While Wal-Mart sets high standards, it would not be possible to eliminate every image, word or topic that an individual might find objectionable."

The lawsuit claims Wal-Mart knew about the word because the store's online music store give away a free sample of an edited version of the song. Walmart.com is based in Brisbane, California, and its infrastucture, tracks and song samples come from Liquid Digital Media. The Wal-Mart chain is based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Without a statement from Wind-Up Records, we're left to guess as to why the word fuck ended up in Wal-Mart's physical stores. Did the Wal-Mart buyer actually listen to every word of every song before placing the order? The odds are very, very slim. The buyer may not have even listened to a single song. It would have made little difference. Whether or not a CD necessitates a parental advisory sticker is not determined by retailers but rather by the record labels and artists.

The RIAA's website lists the uniform standards for applying the parental advisory logo. One that could pertain to this case states that "some words, phrases, sounds, or descriptions might be offensive to parents if spotlighted or emphasized, but might not offend if merely part of the background or not a meaningful part of the lyrics." Coolfer hasn't heard the song so I can't say in what context the word was used. Context, though, is certainly important. If used in a non-threatening phrase like, "Get the fuck out of here," the word carries a much different meaning than it would if used in a phrase like, "Why can't I get just one fuck?"

There's a lot of anti-Wal-Mart sentiment in the press over this issue, which is surprising. Is it standard Wal-Mart hating, or is it an endorsement for the much-maligned parental advisory sticker? I would guess the former, since there are few people who would publicly admit to being in the corner of Tipper Gore's PRMC (the group responsible for the introduction of the logo).

Now Wal-Mart could be in the position to defend its and Wind-Up's interpretation of the severity and context of the word fuck used in the lyrics of this song. It would be working in some pretty gray areas in that scenario, and my guess is that Wal-Mart, for the sake of its image as a retailer of wholesome entertainment, does not want to end up defending certain uses of the word fuck. Such a debate could turn Wal-Mart's policy upside down. Wal-Mart, its opponents say, are putting themselves in the position to tell people what is offensive and making its customers buy entertainment within those parameters. Now, Wal-Mart would have to tell people what isn't offensive and why they shouldn't mind buying entertainment with the word fuck in it.

Amazon.com does not list a clean version for Anywhere But Home, so this is not a case of the wrong version being sent to Wal-Mart. There's only one version here, and it looks to me that Wind-Up didn't find the song's use of the word fuck to be so offensive as to warrant a parental advisory sticker (and all the work that goes along with creating and manufacturing two versions of the same album).

Posted by Glenn at 1:52 PM | Link | Comment (6)
|Music Industry|

• Not only will ringtones be used as a revenue stream, but they will also be used by labels to promote albums. On January 3rd, says Billboard.com, J.Lo's "Get Right" single and ringtone will be released. What better way to promote her album Rebirth than be getting her 30-second snippet played in movie theaters, waiting rooms and classrooms around the country?

• Music sales have fallen in the last half of 2004. Online sales through the middle of last week rose 28%, according to the NY Times. Next week's Soundscan numbers will tell the tale. Coolfer doubts music sales will pick up much at the end of the month. Look for 2004 sales to finish pretty much even with 2003's tally--which would mean the last two weeks of December would give up just as much ground as the first two weeks of the month.

• While reading an article on the recently deceased football player Reggie White, I learned something I didn't previously know: White and Michael Wright (a.k.a. Christian rapper Mike-E) started a Christian music label, Big Doggie Records. Here are some song lyrics I found online:

"The Big Doggie's in house with the Pack Attack/The Big Doggie's in the house!/Basically, this groove is dedicated to a friend of mine/Goes by the name of Reggie White, you see him all the time/Hangs out with the fellas called the Packers of Green Bay."

• James Gibson was one of a group of law professors who wrote a brief that encouraged the Supreme Court to hear the Grokster case. He wrote an article on file-sharing for The Providence Journal that explains in plain language the practicalities of downloading and IP law. Of the many excuses people use to download music he says, "It's impressive how many law-abiding citizens become self-righteous perpetrators of this vigilante justice--a vision of justice that conveniently corresponds with their self-interest in getting music at no cost." James hit the nail on the head, though these "delusions," as James calls them, will probably prevent most P2P supporters from judging his article on its merits.

Posted by Glenn at 7:20 PM | Link

• The NY Times has two "best of" lists. Pop music critic Jon Pareles' top ten list is headed by U2's How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb and puts Bjork's Medulla at #4, which is the highest showing Coolfer has seen for that technically impressive but wholly unlistenable album.

Also, Ben Ratliff has his list of the top ten jazz albums of the year. His #1 choice was Joe Lovano's I'm All For You on Blue Note.

• Ringtones will soon make consumers long for the good ol' days of spending a mere 99 cents for an entire near-CD quality song. Enter Blingtones, which Coolfer posted on in September. This time it gets some ink in the NY Post. Blingtones is a new division of a European media company that sells 30-second hip hop ringtones for an insane $2.49. Four cellular carriers have signed on and the catalog is up to 60 songs. Allegedly.

"Among the hip-hop producers signed to BlingTones are: Rockwilder, who has worked with Missy Elliot and Jay-Z; Denuan Porter, who has produced tracks for 50 Cent and Eminem; Salaam Remi, whose artists include Nas; and Hi-Tek, who has worked with Talib Kweli and Snoop Dogg."

At this point, the "world's first wireless record label" doesn't appear to be much more than a series of press releases. Not even the name of the company has been registered as a domain name--unless this primitive website is the company's store.

• The Guardian travelled to Senagal to cover its biggest pop star, Baaba Maal. In Africa, he says, music stars have a status and respect that exceeds their Western counterparts.

"'A musician in Africa,' he says, 'should be someone who educates. You can educate people and tell them their history and share information with people with your songs. When anything happens, people want to know your reaction, your advice, and what they should do. And not just to do with culture. It can be anything, from politics to religion.'"

Posted by Glenn at 2:32 PM | Link | Comment (1)

Coolfer loves getting reader mail. Recently I got some mail from a bitter reader who has been banned from leaving comments at both Coolfer and Gothamist. He wasn't aware that Movable Type collects the IP addresses of everybody who leaves a comment. (Remember when the folks at Warner Bros. failed to realize that very fact?)

So here's a Christmas present to my readers: Half-witted, laughable commentary from a reader's email. It's also the first negative reader mail I've received, which also makes it very dear to me.

Enjoy.

What a nerd - you search my ISP out to ban me. Afraid of what I might say? Can't defend yourself? So weak. Keep your one-way communication going so you can feel good about yourself. Realize that many probably think you're an idiot. Ignorance is bliss, right? Truly though, my problem with you is the same as with Gothamist - your sites have no passion, no free thought. You're as PC and all-pleasing as CNN. Read Gawker to see how a true blog should read. Jessica has soul; Jessica is real. You're not. You're transparent. Just trying to help as I do feel sorry for you (as well as Gothamist). The number of clicks you may get is only an indication of popularity; not quality. Open your eyes. Feel music rather than listen to it. Love is the law.

Alien X, I shared your email with Jessica. She said you're wrong, she has no soul.

In case you all are wondering, I don't do this blog to make myself feel special. Like all other bloggers I've met, I have a life outside of my blog.

Many of you who have read for a while know that I started my blog to present a different side to the music industry dialogue on the Internet. I didn't agree with much that was said, so I started my own blog, and I hope I've been able to improve the discourse over the last year and a half.

This is not a hipster contest. I'm not out to try to be cooler than thou. Nor am I going to approach news and issues in a Gawker style. I read Gawker and I think Jessica does a great job, but that's not my style. If my style is too dry for you, if you think Coolfer is transparent and idiotic, you have some options:

• Don't read it
• Keep reading it and keep your rude comments to yourself
• Keep reading it and leave intelligent, thoughful comments
• Start your own blog
• If you are going to try to put me down, at least do better than the guy above. He gets an failing grade. No game, guy. Zero.

If you do like my blog, I hope you'll keep reading, keep emailing and keep leaving comments.

Happy Holidays.

Posted by Glenn at 1:40 PM | Link | Comment (7)
|Coolfer|

• Thank goodness Billboard.com checks band websites so we don't have to. A message at the Sigur Ros site says, "The foundations for all the album's songs have now been recorded. The boys are adding layers to the songs and will be joined by the girls of (longtime collaborators) Amina later this week to start recording strings for most of these songs." The post includes links to photos taken in the studio.
• WeedShare partners up with CD Baby. Weed files can be shared legally and played up to three times before requiring purchase. Great idea, let's hope it takes off. (Read at mi2n.com)
• Mario's "Let Me Love You" tops the Hot 100 singles chart. (Read at Billboard.com)
• The FCC's Michael Powell and his transition from free speech propopent to increased regulation. (Read at the NY Times)
• Digital music solutions company Loudeye, which is nearly unparalleled in its ability to lose money, secured a cool $25.2 million in private financing. (Read at Digital Music News)

Posted by Glenn at 12:41 PM | Link

As a rebuttal to the article "CD Sales Collapse" in the current issue of Rolling Stone, the president of indie store coalition CIMS spoke out to tell people what writer Steve Knopper left out of the article. Don VanCleeve talked to Knopper for the article and says his comments were not reported.

Turns out indie retail is "killing it this Christmas." But Soundscan data says indie retail is doing pretty poorly. VanCleeve explains that not only have retailers diversified, but they've brought in titles that bands own themselves and usually sell on the road. These special items help indie retailers compete against mass merchant prices they could never match.

"We bring in big quantity on those titles and do enough marketing so that the customer thinks it is a giant new release. For us, it IS a giant new release. And, we don't bother getting these titles Soundscanned because who cares? We are not playing radio games or getting people paid by the scans so why bother. Some recent pieces we bought directly from bands that are selling like hotcakes are Daniel Lanois' release Rockets and the Radiohead DVD The Most Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time. We are also recording and releasing instore performances with great success. Our most recent, Rilo Kiley Live at Fingerprints, is doing amazing business. Stores feature titles like these (non-distributed and out of the mainstream) in all of their email marketing and in the stores. Our thinking is that it sure helps to have something cool and generally unavailable to compete with $7.99 U2 CDs at the Beast."

VanCleeve says to expect indie retailers to make even more moves to remain relevant to both customers and "the bands that want to reach their customers."

Posted by Glenn at 11:00 AM | Link
|Music Industry|

• As I pulled out my copy of Los Kjarkas' Coleccion de Oro the other night and looked at the band's Andean clothing, I realized I had just seen a very similar garb a few nights prior. Michelle Mae of Weird War was wearing something very similar at the Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (she's wearing it in this picture). I also recalled the Slate article in which this poncho trend was called "a widespread aesthetic offense." No argument there. It looks good when you're getting your picture taken next to an alpaca on the terraced slopes at Machu Picchu. It doesn't look as good in an urban setting. And it goes without saying that now is the time for the legendary Bolivian band to return to New York City for a concert. They'd fit right in--and might even have women asking to buy the clothes right off their backs.

• The guy's got a point. Keane pianist Tim Rice-Oxley is probably tired of critics' derogatory use of the word "mainstream" to describe the Brit pop band's ...uh... heartfelt music. In comparing his band's music to The Streets "Dry Your Eyes" and Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out," Rice-Oxley said, "Both are great, but I definitely don't think our music is more mainstream in a negative way. We're not Natasha Bedingfield. We're doing the same thing we were 18 months ago when we released 500 copies of a single on (independent record label) Fierce Panda and no one cared." Sure. When nobody's listening, a band can be as mainstream as it wants and its nothing but a "struggling" band. Sell a million albums and the tag "mainstream" will get you dragged through the mud.

• Well, it's official: It's a slow news week. There's nothing going on outside of a few items that are on my "no fly zone" list and some late "best of 2004" lists. Coolfer is burned out on lists, especially the ones that go to 50. Well, this is almost interesting: Snoop Dogg and his lawyers have sued a woman for extortion. My, how Snoop has grown and matured. A few years back he would have had the woman shot in the back.

Posted by Glenn at 11:29 AM | Link | Comment (2)

Like I've said, nothing sells like death. 2Pac's latest album proved that adage--as if Ray Charles didn't already--by topping the sales chart in its debut week. His Loyal To The Game moved 330,000 units. It is his fifth #1 record. While impressive for a dead rapper, that was only 7,000 more units than Now 17, which in its seventh week experienced a hefty holiday increase.

The only other debut in the Top 10 was Ashanti's Concrete Rose. It debuted at #7 with a bit over 250,000 units sold.

The other titles in the Top 10 were the same names and faces we've been seeing for the last few weeks: Eminem, Shania Twain, U2, Destiny's Child, Toby Keith, Usher and Jay-Z/Linkin Park.

Here's something many bloggers may be interested to hear: The Postal Service's Give Up, now in its 89th week, scanned nearly 11,000 units last week. That wasn't good enough to make the Top 200--#200 was taken by Duran Duran's disappointing Astronaut with 13,561 units--but it was over 1,000 units better than the band continuously named as "the next big thing," Scissor Sisters. Bottom line: If the Sisters can't sell more records than a band on Sub Pop, they're never going to be the next big thing.

Sales for the week were 28% higher than last week. Chain stores had a big increase. Non traditional outlets--which includes online download stores as well as e-commerce sites--had the smallest increase over last week of all retail segments.

That 28% gain over last week is overshadowed, though, by the fact that unit sales during this week last year were roughly 15% higher.

For the year, sales have risen 1.25%. In two weeks, that number will probably inch even closer toward zero.

Posted by Glenn at 11:10 AM | Link | Comment (1)
|Music Industry|

• The Flaming Stars: Named and Shamed (Alternative Tentacles) Whiskey and beer music.
• Michael Mayer: Touch (Kompakt) Great artist, great label.
• Motley Crue: "If I Die Tomorrow" (single) A Metallica-like metal balad.
• Graham Coxen: Happiness In Magazines (Astralwerks) Better than Blur's latest.
• Fiery Furnaces: EP (Rough Trade) Good songs. No throwaways.

Posted by Glenn at 4:22 PM | Link | Comment (1)
|Music Review|

While name-dropping Paul Westerberg earns you far fewer cool points than throwing a reference to Let It Be-era Replacements into a conversation, the former 'Mats frontman still makes good music and puts on a great live show. And yes, he peppers those shows with 'Mats sing-a-long favorites like "Skyway" and "Can't Hardly Wait."

Billboard.com has some details on his upcoming swing through the West Coast with his backing band, His Only Friends. And Paul wants to find a new word for touring:

"'I've gotta find a new word for 'tour.' Will I tour? I don't know. Will I appear? Yes. I will be appearing places. Whether its television or big shows or little shows, I don't quite know yet.'"

Extra credit:

• Download Westerberg's "As Far As I Know" MP3 from the Vagrant Records website.
• A Replacements scrapbook at the Twin/Tone website.
• LA Times music critic Robert Hillburn, who is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominating committee, says of the Replacements, "They'll never get to the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame because they didn't sell enough records, but creatively they deserve to be there."

(One note: Billboard.com says the San Francisco show is at the Great American Music Hall, while the Vagrant website lists Slim's as the venue.)

Posted by Glenn at 3:56 PM | Link | Comment (1)
|Music|

Blogger Byron Crawford is urging people to sign his petition to get Kanye removed from all Grammy ballots. There's even a press release at mi2n. Kanye is nominated for "Album of the Year," "Song of the Year," "Best Rap Solo Performance" and seven others.

Here's an excerpt:

"Two categories in which he was nominated were Song of the Year and Best Rap Song for 'Jesus Walks,' a song he bought from an Indianapolis-based MC named Rhymefest and re-recorded. While it is true that Rhymefest was given a songwriting credit and nominated for two awards along with West, we do not feel that it is appropriate for The Recording Academy to reward this kind of behavior, especially in light of statements he has made with regard to his capabilities as an artist and the fact that he rarely acknowledges the fact that he buys a lot of 'his' music from other artists."

So the issue here is not that Kanye has bought songs from songwriters. This happens all the time in the music world and a few hundred times a day in Nashville, no doubt. The issue at hand is that Kanye, according to Crawford, bought the song "Jesus Walks" from Chicago MC Rhymefest and tried to pass it off as a collaboration.

The question at hand is whether or not Kanye actually deserves songwriting credit, which would impact the category of his nomination. The notes in College Dropout say Kanye officially splits songwriting credits with C. Smith (Rhymefest). According to Grammy rules, the "Song of the Year" award is given to the songwriter, while the "Record of the Year" is given to the artist and producer, engineer and mixer.

If "Jesus Walks" was indeed ghostwritten, then technically Kanye should not receive songwriting credit and should not have received the "Song of the Year" nomination. Technically. Correct? (Any entertainment lawyers reading this, please feel free to pitch in.) The thing about ghostwriting, often called music's "dirty little secret," is that the real writer is hidden while the purchaser takes full credit. In this case, Kanye is taking only partial credit. And ghostwriting is so common, would the Academy be likely to go by the book with its rules and nomination process?

More on ghostwriting:

• Here a definition of a ghostwriter from Film Music Magazine: "A person who composes music for another composer but is not credited on the cue sheet or in the final product in any way. In a ghostwriting situation, the person hiring the ghostwriter takes credit for writing the music and the ghostwriter is usually not allowed to reveal to anyone that he/she wrote the music or worked on the project in any way."
• The blog Move The Crowd on ghostwriting and hip hop.
• Ghostwriting is commonplace in the literary world, as evidence by the title of this how-to book: Write A Book Without Lifting A Finger.

Posted by Glenn at 12:39 PM | Link | Comment (5)
|Music|

• Some details on and the track listing for the upcoming album by NYC's Out Hud. (Read at Billboard.com)
• Interactive kiosks and the potential they offer music retailers. (Read at the Denver Post)
• Engadget previews Napster's upcoming "all you can eat" monthly subscription plan. (Read at Engadget)
• Roxio is purchased by Sonic Solutions, Napster to go it alone. (Read at Digital Music News)
• Ouch...a brutal album review for The Exies that sums up formulaic "alternative" rock. (Read at RollingStone.com)
• The NY Post on the Scissor Sisters' show at the Hammerstein: "Whether you're gay or just wish you could dance as if you were, Scissor is a group not to be miss." (Read at the NY Post)
• Indie record store B&D Records is celebrating its 25th anniversary. (Read at Pittsburgh Live)

Posted by Glenn at 12:26 PM | Link

• It is a damn shame that a publicity stunt like this gets any attention from CNET. For a change, Downhill Battle should speak out against illegal downloading in addition to its complaits against the RIAA's lawsuits. Yeah, it sucks that the RIAA sues people, but--correct me if I'm wrong--these people are in fact breaking they law. That merits a few lumps of coal each, does it not? But Downhill Battle will play the anti-corporate card and get some press and attention in the process, all the while standing far outside all intelligent debates about P2P. (Read at CNET)
• Ric Ocasek has joined Sanctuary Producer Management, reports Billboard Bulletin. He was formerly Senior VP of A&R for Warner Music Group.
• Why stop with one hit soundtrack? The movie "Ray" will have a second soundtrack, out February 1st. (Read at Billboard.com)
• Sony BMG and EMI Publishing sign a new media licensing pact. (Read at Digital Music News)
• Sea Ray announced in an email today that they are breaking up. Their final show will be at NYC's Mercury Lounge on January 21st. Said the band, "The biggest difficulty we've failed to overcome is the financial challenge of being in an independent band full-time while maintaining any semblance of a personal life, as well."

Posted by Glenn at 2:42 PM | Link | Comment (1)

Thank goodness there's at least one blogger, Danceblogga, who does a good job of covering the goings on in dance music. Danceblogga links to a few sites that have covered something he mentioned a few times last week: the breakup of Spundae, the weekly party started in San Francisco. Newcity Chicago says Godskitchen, which purchased Spundae Worldwide last year, is taking over all but two cities and changing the name to Godskitchen, which calls it "more or less a name change."

LA.com's blog also covers the Spundae-to-Godskitchen switch.

Spundae San Francisco will keep its name, and it will start a new Spundae LA from scratch. In LA, the event will be moved back to Circus Disco, its original home, from the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater.

Posted by Glenn at 12:22 PM | Link
|Music|

This is a slow week for new releases. Slow for everything but Christmas shopping. Music retailers are sure to be hoping for a late rush of music purchases. CDs aren't holding up against DVDs, games and other items in the fourth quarter. The 2004 sales recovery, which stood at 7% in June, is now 2%. Gretchen Wilson was on "60 Minutes" last night and will surely see a sales spike this week.

• Various: Hed Kandi: Winter 2004 the Mix (Hed Kandi)
• Mannie Fresh: Mind of Mannie Fresh (Cash Money)

Concerts in NYC this week:

• Elefant/The Prosaics at the Bowery Ballroom tonight
• American Popular/The Morning Theft at Luna Lounge on Tuesday
• Buck 65 at Sin-e on Tuesday
• Cedric Im Brooks at Satella on Thursday (Sadly, I'll be out of town)
• Aster Aweke at SOB's on Friday (Even worse that I am going to miss Aster perform)

Posted by Glenn at 9:57 AM | Link | Comment (3)

• The NY Times reviews a slew of box sets. The comments on the new Bon Jovi box set are particularly funny.

"Jon Bon Jovi's heartfelt autobiography is in this box, which includes more than three dozen previously unreleased songs. Not in the lyrics, which wrap endless clichés around vows of romance and determination, or in the music, which can't believe it's not Springsteen or the Who. It's in the liner notes from Mr. Bon Jovi, who details triumphs and disillusionments and new starts. Yet by the time those feelings reach the songs, they've been stripped of anything but the generic."

• The San Francisco Chronicle wonders what's up with radio in the tech-savvy Bay Area, and talks to radio executives to gauge the state of the industry.

"'Radio's gotten bashed a lot over the past years,' says Steve DiNardo, general manager of Live 105 (KITS) and Alice (KLLC). 'The fundamentals are that there are still millions of people listening, and there are very few better ways to connect a local advertiser with a local audience that's appropriate for his or her product or service. Radio still feels very relevant to me and to the communities that we're serving.'

But according to various researchers, those communities are shrinking. A study by the Future of Music Coalition cited research indicating that the time an average listener spends listening to the radio has dropped to a 27-year low."

Some are not sold on digital radio, saying that it's not the hardware that makes radio valuable, but the content.

• Newcomer Ray LaMontagne talks to the Portland Press Herald about his childhood, his career and how he likes to sell records.

"LaMontagne, who until getting a record contract last year lived in a rustic cabin in Sumner, likes this kind of word of mouth. He trusts it more than advertising high-priced publicity.

'A record label can't make something out of nothing, a label can't buy good press,' said LaMontagne, 31. 'You sell albums by building a fan base and by word of mouth. Word of mouth is everything.'"

• Will the String Cheese Incident pick up where Phish left off? Newsday wonders.

"When Phish went on hiatus, it did boost our crowd," (violin player Michael) Kang says. "But I don't think any one band is going to just take over from them. There are so many good bands out there.'"

• More coverage on Napster creator Shawn Fanning and his new venture, Snocap, this time at the Boston Globe. He didn't beat the industry last time around, so now he's joining them in hopes to legitimately tap into the potentials of P2P networks. Here's how it will work:

"Fanning wants to end the stalemate with Snocap. He created an independent platform where music labels and garage-band acts alike can come and register ownership of their songs.

They lay out a set of rules for each track, specifying whether it can be traded freely on file-sharing networks or whether it must be purchased.

Unlike the original Napster or Kazaa, Snocap's software identifies every new song someone puts on his computer to share with others on a file-sharing network and prevents the unauthorized swapping of copyrighted songs.

Snocap uses each track's acoustic properties to assign it a unique 'fingerprint' and attaches the rules for the song.

When someone adds a song to their shared music folder, Snocap attempts to identify it. It makes a fingerprint and checks it against the list in Snocap's database.

If it finds a match, Snocap sends back a signed 'certificate' with rules that determine whether it can be shared and at what price."

Posted by Glenn at 11:35 AM | Link

Fiona Apple recorded an album that Sony thinks isn't commercial enough to release. Last week Rolling Stone was the latest to cover the building controversy.

There's a Free Fiona website that is campaigning for the release of the album spurned by Sony, Extraordinary Machine. Freedom is such a serious business these days that the Free Fiona folks even have an e-store and are charging upwards of $20 for T-shirts.

Those of you in NYC are in luck. According to the Free Fiona message board, there will be a "Free Fiona" protest in front of the Sony headquarters on Madison Ave on January 28th.

The founder of the Free Fiona website gave away some of the juicy details, and all Coolfer can say is: Get the SWAT team ready, because this is gonna get nuts!

"We are going to set things up so that we are ready to go before lunchtime on the day of the protest.

What we're gonna do:
-Pass out flyers about the campaign
-Pass out buttons that say the website
-Pass out little cartons of apple juice (pending)

The people involved in the protest will have shirts for the campaign and signs (basically oversized versions of the poster) that we will hold while we spread the word in front of the building.

We are also notifying the press and hope to get on the NYC news.

I am getting a hotel suite (pending) where we can have a campaign headquarters to work on emails, watch the news, and eat, and take breaks while we're all in NYC.

The campaign may last all weekend; it depends on how long it takes Sony to announce a release date once we start protesting."

Better bring a book and some comfortable shoes, Dave. Good luck.

Posted by Glenn at 1:11 PM | Link | Comment (3)
|Music|

...Dell is going to sell a lot of music players.

Posted by Glenn at 12:30 PM | Link | Comment (2)
|Digital Music|

Here's a factoid that absolutely fascinated Coolfer: 90% of all MP3 player owners are over the age of 35. So says a report by In-Stat/MDR, according to MBN24.com.

So the music industry is attempting to ween the youth of America off P2P and convert them to paid digital music services. It will certainly be a slow process, and it will be made even slower by the high prices of MP3 players. That prices are high is not my opinion. The statistics don't lie. If MP3 players were anything but high, the average age of a purchaser would be much lower.

Posted by Glenn at 12:11 PM | Link
|Digital Music|