Search Results for: Face The Music

The industry gets upset when anyone calls this a “tax” so I’ll use the “voluntary license” term, even though tax is much more accurate. A true voluntary license wouldn’t require everyone having a certain provider to opt-in, but that’s exactly what this plan would require. In fact, as the slides indicate, eventually it would basically require all ISPs to “opt-in” forcing all of their members to “opt-in.” Suddenly, everyone has to pay. That’s not a voluntary license. It’s a tax. However, even if we step back and pretend it’s really a voluntary license, and even if we grant the premise… Read more »

EMI Group, home to stars from the Rolling Stones to Norah Jones, came under more pressure to find a suitor on Wednesday after its debt was slashed to “junk,” sending its shares to their lowest level in more than 10 years. EMI, the world’s third-largest music company, saw its stock slump 13 percent after Moody’s slashed its debt below investment grade late on Tuesday on concerns about the weak outlook for the music industry, stoking fears about the group’s profits and dividend. Faced with an increasingly gloomy outlook, EMI has been in talks in recent months with two rivals –… Read more »

Verizon Communications faced tough questions from a federal judge on Friday as the telecommunications giant sought to resist being drafted as the recording industry’s copyright policeman. Claiming that the privacy of its users and the viability of the Internet itself were at stake, Verizon argued that it should not have to kick off customers who use “peer to peer” services like Kazaa and Morpheus to download songs for free, and should not be required to monitor its users’ activities. “We don’t want to be the policeman in this process,” Verizon attorney Eric Holder said. Holder faced a skeptical reception from… Read more »

The U.S. Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation into two online music services, both scheduled to launch this fall, that are backed by the world’s largest record companies. According to two senior executives in the record industry, federal investigators notified the record labels that they intend to examine possible anti-competitive aspects of the digital music ventures created by the music industry’s big five: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music, EMI Group and BMG. The Justice Department does not comment on ongoing investigations. The two online services under investigation, MusicNet and pressplay, are the record industry’s best effort… Read more »

BeMusic, the world’s largest music services group owned by Germany’s Bertelsmann, unveiled a new structure and management team on Tuesday that will oversee the group’s joint venture with Napster. Bertelsmann’s eCommerce arm, which agreed an alliance last year to help build a legitimate version of online rebel Napster, said its Chief Executive Officer Andreas Schmidt would take the top post at BeMusic, home to the world’s largest music club and online CD retailer. Bertelsmann is developing BeMusic as a one-stop music shop, bringing together its online music store CDNow, music club division BMG Direct, recently acquired online song-storage company Myplay… Read more »

German media giant Bertelsmann’s shakeup of its flagging music division looks set to continue with U.S.-based subsidiary Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) reportedly looking to lay off hundreds of employees in its efforts to cut costs and raise profits. Rumors followed the appointment last week of former BMG Germany chief Thomas Stein to head BMG’s European division. Stein replaces Richard Griffiths, who is leaving the company by mutual agreement after six months in the job. “We have a new European management team and everything is being reviewed,” said a BMG Europe spokeswoman in Munich, who confirmed that BMG’s top management would… Read more »