INDIE NEWS BEAT April 5, 2004 Edition
* The Future Of Music And Video: Latest Legal & Business Developments
* Launch Of International Legal Action Against Illegal File-Sharing
* Registration Now Open for FMC's Policy Summit 04
* VPL And MTV Ink New Deal For Independent Music
* Disc Makers Kicks Off 2004 IMWS Southeast Showcase
* Metal And Hard Rock Music Videos For The Web & Mobile Phones
* A European Music Office In New York City
* Serving-Up The Best In Digital Music And Lifestyle
* Austrian Electronic Music Festival Visits NY
* Film Music Network Announces Jobs Site
MusicDish/Mi2N Founder To Speak On Changing Legal & Business Landscape
Record company initiatives, Proliferation of Download Services such as Apple iTunes, Wal Mart, Microsoft and MTV, music licensing as a way to promote new artists as well as a source of revenues, Music on Demand on VOD systems,... Music trade magazine founder and editor Eric De Fontenay will be addressing these and other pressing issues as a speaker at "The Future Of Music And Video: The Latest Legal And Business Developments."
Co-sponsored by The Bar Association Of The City Of NY and The CUNY Graduate Center, the event features leading entertainment executives including: CHAIR: Steve Gordon, Esq., former Director of Business Affairs TV/Video for Sony Music, President of Steve Gordon Clearances, and author of the forthcoming book "The Future of the Music Business" (Backbeat Books 2005) Steve Nelson, Chairman and CEO, m/OD Music on Demand, Inc., and founder, President and Executive Producer of The Cable Channel David Hughes, VP Technology Strategies and EMD, Sony Music David Gottlieb, SVP Marketing and Artist Development, RCA Music Group John Simson, Executive Director, SoundExchange
"We're really only at step 2 or 3 in a 12-step transformative process that will ultimately result in an almost indistinguishable music industry," commented Eric. "As a business magazine editor, I've seen everything from outsourcing by EMI, new copyright bills and contradicting court orders, an explosion of online download stores as Apple iTunes misses its 100M download mark... and that's just in the past two weeks!"
"As a 'content' publisher, I also have a first-hand realization of the profound challenges, opportunities and especially uncertainty that faces not only the music industry, although it happens to be its primary arena. And while we may not have a crystal ball to divine the industry's future, we need to understand and accomodate/co-opt the business & societal changes being wrought by digital technology rather than fight them. We need to learn to make lemonade from the lemons we've been given, as the saying goes"
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Today we are announcing a wave of legal actions against illegal file-sharing in several countries. We are targeting individuals whom we believe are illegally making available hundreds or thousands of song files containing our members' copyrighted music.
This is the start of an international campaign against online copyright theft, and it is the logical next step in the fight against piracy, coming after our extensive education and warning campaigns of the last few months.
Our message today is that illegal file-sharing is jeopardising the livelihoods of all those who work in the music industry, that education alone has proved insufficient in stopping it and that illegal file-sharers are now no longer going to be able to continue their activities with impunity from the law.
We are also making it clear that illegal file-sharing is not, as some might mistakenly think, an anonymous activity - if you log on to a file-sharing network and start uploading copyright music you can easily be identified. What you are doing is a totally illegal activity and you may have to face the legal consequences.
Our litigation activities are only one part of a larger strategy.- a strategy which combines developing new online services, education and public awareness and, where it is essential, enforcing the law.
Legal action is not a move we take lightly, but we are absolutely determined to see it through. Illegal file-sharing is robbing thousands of people of their jobs and livelihoods, from the musician to the sound engineer, from the record company talent scout to the record shop assistant. It has contributed to the loss of almost five billion euros of annual record sales over the last five years - those are revenues on which the whole economy of the music industry, and the people working in it, depends.
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Registration Now Open for FMC's Policy Summit 04
The Future of Music Coalition will be hosting its Fourth Annual Policy Summit May 2 - 3, 2004 at George Washington University's Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. We continue to bring the best and brightest people working in music and technology together to discuss the most critical issues impacting our community and reframe these complicated questions to benefit musicians and citizens.
Keynote Speeches from
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Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN)
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
Thirty-five panelists already confirmed
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...including Danny Goldberg (Chairman and CEO, Artemis Records), Janeane Garofalo (Actor and Comedian), Mike Dreese (Newbury Comics), Kim Coletta (Desoto Records and band Jawbox), Gigi Sohn (President, Public Knowledge), Derek Sivers (CD Baby), William Terry Fisher (Professor of Law, Harvard Law School), Ann Chaitovitz (Director of Sound Recordings, AFTRA), Thomas Frank (Author and Editor, The Baffler), Ron Gertz (President and CEO, Music Reports), Seth Hurwitz (9:30 Club), Dave Meinert (PNW Chapter of Recording Academy, Owner/President of Blue Team Management), John Nichols (Writer, The Nation), Tim Quirk (Executive Editor, Music, Real Networks and band Too Much Joy), John Simson (Executive Director, SoundExchange), Koleman Strumpf (Department of Economics, UNC), Siva Vaidhyanathan (NYU)...with many more to be announced!
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VPL And MTV Ink New Deal For Independent Music
The UK and European independent record sectors are delighted that Video Performance Limited and MTV Networks Europe have agreed a new three year deal for the independents.
This both preserves the principle of collective licensing, so crucial to the independent sector, achieves fair value for the use of videos, and gives MTV unlimited access to one of the greatest music video libraries in the world. Thousands of companies will be delighted to learn that the deal has been struck on behalf of all VPL members, with the larger companies demonstrating solidarity for the whole sector throughout the last few months.
Specific details of the deal remain confidential to VPL and MTV, but after the very public dispute, many companies have openly expressed their satisfaction that MTV decided to return to the negotiating table last Thursday, after a press conference organised by independents at the Royal Society for the Arts. Independent record companies were today celebrating a deal that clearly establishes the value of the video rights licensed to MTV.
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Disc Makers Kicks Off 2004 Independent Music World Series Southeast Showcase
Disc Makers, the nation's leading independent CD manufacturer, is kicking off the latest installment of the Independent Music World Series (IMWS), the premier music showcase series for independent musicians. The Southeast showcase finals will take place at 3rd & Lindsley on July 22, 2004 and will feature the top six acts as selected by Billboard Magazine performing for $35,000 in music gear and prizes.
The $35,000 prize package features everything independent musicians need for a career boost including a complete CD manufacturing package, post-production sweetening, and promotional posters from Disc Makers, a full array of recording gear and the QS 8.2 Digital Keyboard from Alesis, a complete set of DJ gear from Numark, professional Shure microphones, Fender guitars and amplifiers, a 5-piece drum kit from DW Drums, EXL110 Electric Guitar Strings and EXL170 Electric Bass Strings from D'Addario, a free copy of METAJAM from Broadjam, Remo drumheads, a Sabian cymbal package, a one year membership to TAXI, and one year of web hosting from CD Baby. Additional event partners include Music 123, XM Satellite Radio, and Nashville Scene.
"We are delighted to again join forces with our sponsors to help promote indie artists in the Southeast," says Tony van Veen, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Disc Makers. "These artists keep the music industry energized and thriving. The IMWS is one of the ways we at Disc Makers recognize their talent and effort, and reward the artists for their hard work."
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Musicbrigade seals licence agreement with Sound Pollution to stream the cream of the Music Videos represented by Sound Pollution over the Web and to offer Music Videos as downloads over mobile 3G networks.
Musicbrigade, Europe's original and biggest music video destination on-line has signed a licence agreement with Sound Pollution on behalf of some of the international independent record labels that Sound Pollution represents in Scandinavia. The deal will see Musicbrigade stream videos over the web and offer as downloads over mobiles from labels such as Nuclear Blast and Sound Pollution, offering the music videos by such rock acts like In Flames, Edguy and many more.
Stockholm based Musicbrigade already has agreements in place with EMI/Virgin, Universal and Zomba as well as the majority of the UK independent labels, through VPL, and can today boast almost 5,000 music videos - easily the largest on-line archive of music videos in Europe. In addition, Musicbrigade has already offered more than 250 music video titles for downloads over mobile 3G network through the operator Hi3G.
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A European Music Office In New York City
The European Music Office, in conjunction with many European music promotion organizations, has initiated a project designed to "pre-figure" a future European Music office based in NYC, with the support of the European Union.
Objectives of the action aim at widening the knowledge of the European cultural operators in the US market and creating an information contact point facilitating the development of European music in the US. This will be accomplished through an on-going study of the market and an aggregated database of key US contacts in various fields of the music and related media businesses. The office will perform services for the immediate priorities of the participating promotion organizations.
This office eventually will propose its services to all the national music promotion organizations based in Europe, with constituents including record labels, publishers, organizations, managers and most other music related businesses.
This project will be directed in the US by Robert Singerman, a 25 year veteran in developing US and international artists and companies, in association with the European Music Office and the many organizations.
Robert Singerman, using the services of Miriam Lockshin and other internationally known experts in the US music business, will identify and establish a pool of consultants to be available for consultancy work for European Music professionals, upon requests of the European national music promotion organizations.
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HPNOTIQ Liqueur & INgrooves Join Forces To Serve-Up The Best In Digital Music And Lifestyle
Heaven Hill Distilleries, producers of HPNOTIQ Liqueur, on March 31 announced an innovative music marketing partnership with INgrooves, a premier digital music label with a vast catalogue of Dance & Electronic content. The partnership aims to establish the HPNOTIQ brand with the trend-setting digital music culture.
Under the arrangement, the hottest brand in the distilled spirits industry and most innovative digital music provider will deliver digital music from featured INgrooves artists to HPNOTIQ consumers via a customized music downloading interface on www.HPNOTIQ.com and at national and co-sponsored major Dance & Electronic music events.
"INgrooves artists and musicians are masters of inspiring emotion through music," said David Salmon, HPNOTIQ brand director of sales. "The HPNOTIQ/INgrooves partnership captures the five senses -- sight, sound, taste, touch and smell -- and is a great match for the brand's fun and approachable lifestyle."
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Electronic Music Festival Presents Contemporary Music Productions From Austria
The Austrian Cultural Forum and mica-music information center austria proudly present the second edition of moving patterns, a festival dedicated to the phenomenon of Vienna Electronica from April 23-28, 2004, in New York City. The six-evening program is packed with concerts, DJ parties, and screenings and will present stars and world-renowned icons from various disciplines - avant-garde, rock, pop, and electronic music. It will show how generally valid statements have emerged from initial experiments.
The program will highlight the following artists:
* Hans Platzgumer, guitarist, rocker, and aficionado of electronic music presenting his new project with German digital wizard e.stonji;
* dZihan&Kamien, founders of the Couch label and lounge experts who most recently performed with a big orchestra;
* Sofa Surfer Michael Holzgruber;
* Wolfgang Schlogl aka I-Wolf, another Sofa Surfer, who recently produced an album with a strong pop bent;
* the great Dance DJ Electric Indigo, a label and network initiator;
* Troyer, who has been praised profusely by many experts;
* exclusive collaborations such as stellar trumpeter Franz Hautzinger and New York legend Phill Niblock;
* a trio consisting of Patrick Pulsinger, founder of the Cheap label, bassist Werner Dafeldecker, and the outstanding Hans-Joachim Roedelius;
* Klaus Filip, programmer of underground freeware instruments in collaboration with New York artist o.blaat;
* avant-garde musician Dieter Kaufmann, without whom we could not imagine Vienna Electronica in its present form;
* and the transcontinental cooperation of Gameboy Music Clubbers, who have been branded as "chip musicians."
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Film Music Network Announces Jobs Site
The Film Music Network announces the launch of www.FilmMusicJobs.com, a new online web service with current industry job listings for composers, songwriters, bands and more. Current job listing categories include:
* Film & TV Composers Needed for Film & TV Productions
* Songs / Music Needed to License for Film & TV Productions
* Assistantship and Internship Opportunities
* Music Supervisors Needed
The job listings, updated daily and open to members of the Film Music Network, feature a wide variety of industry opportunities - most for film and television projects seeking personnel immediately.
"FilmMusicJobs.com was designed as a quick way for our members and the industry to see a comprehensive list of current job openings we provide to our members. With daily updates and the ability for our members to submit music directly to those seeking music, we're looking forward to expanding our job services even more in the coming months," said composer and Film Music Network founder Mark Northam.
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Provided by the MusicDish Network. Copyright Tag It 2004 - Republished with Permission