Search Results for: As It Is

Two years after Steve Jobs declared that DRM was dead and a year after Amazon launched its DRM-free download store with all four major labels, the vast majority of tracks on iTunes are still delivered with a little piece of code that restricts transfer and use. What is taking so long? Perhaps deep down Steve Jobs doesn’t really want to unlock iTunes. After all, Apple has profited greatly from the closed loop between the iPod and iTunes. But since early summer, reports have come from all corners that iTunes, which currently offers only EMI and some indie product DRM free,… Read more »

“Corporate radio stations need to show musicians the money” is the title of a piece written by SoundExchange executive director John Simson, published in the San Jose Mercury News back in August. But internet song aggregator Orchard suggests it needs to start following its own advice. Orchard’s Greg Scholl fired off a letter to the Copyright Board, and published in Billboard, arguing that it was time for a major audit of the service, which supposedly is supposed to collect royalty money for redistribution to rights holders. Scholl says it’s very difficult to figure out what SX is doing with the… Read more »

One hundred acts on 700 acres can mean only one thing. It’s time for Bonnaroo, dude. The four-day festival of music, art, movies and comedy kicks off on Thursday in Manchester, Tenn., and promises a musical experience designed to please, well, almost everyone who likes music, laughter and $7 showers. Launched in 2002, the festival was largely a gathering of jam bands in the beginning, but has expanded its reach over the years to include performances by Radiohead, the Police and a diverse mix of artists spanning a range of genres. And since the word “bonnaroo” is said to be… Read more »

Every band dreams of the lucky night it’ll be discovered by a music promoter or favorite record label. Overnight you’ve got a hot record, radio stations everywhere playing your songs and your band becomes a household name. It’s the classic musician’s fairy tale. But it is a fairy tale and, for every new artist who is discovered by a major record label, there are thousands who aren’t. For the rest of us, pursuing a career in music is hard. Now, proposed new royalty rates for Internet radio threaten to make it harder. You see, our Americana band Tangleweed was “discovered”… Read more »

My Chemical Romance bassist Mikey Way is temporarily leaving the band to spend time with his new wife. The band will continue with a replacement. Mikey was married on March 8 to fiance Alicia Simmons at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Way’s brother and My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard served as best man. Writing on their official website mychemicalromance.com, Gerard said: “The band has decided to give him and his wife a much needed break from the road to start a life and have a proper honeymoon and do all the things a newlywed couple should do. “I’m very proud… Read more »

NEW YORK – An evening with Hinder is like hanging out with a bunch of frat boys. Only most frat boys don’t have tour buses. Most have pledges – not roadies, managers, security guards and publicists – and sorority girls, not strippers, as their dates. Plus, most frat parties eventually end. But Hinder’s party is showing no sign of winding down. “Lips of an Angel,” their power ballad about infidelity, is a huge hit. Extreme Behavior, their debut album, has topped a million sales and was the 10th best-selling CD of 2006 . And at one point, the band was… Read more »

In a sobering, businesslike, 25-minute speech that aired during prime time Wednesday night (January 10), President Bush announced new plans for the war in Iraq. Those include the much-discussed addition of 21,500 troops, the demand that Iraqi forces take over major combat operations by November and the infusion of $1 billion to help build up the country’s infrastructure. “The situation in Iraq is unacceptable to the American people and it is unacceptable to me,” Bush said during the speech, which had been delayed from late 2006 as he gathered more opinions and shook up his national security team . “Our… Read more »

UNIVERSAL CITY, California – If you’re Panic! at the Disco, how do you end a year in which you went from relative unknowns to one of the hottest bands on the planet? “I might get a tattoo that just says ‘2006,’ ’cause it was such a big year,” bassist Jon Walker said. “Really, just the whole year in general has been amazing to us.” So a tattoo (maybe?) and “a little time off for the holidays,” added drummer Spencer Smith. “Then we’re going to start writing a new record over the winter and hopefully we have something out next fall.”… Read more »