Search Results for: shrinking

A dispute over royalty rights on copy-protected CDs and other types of music discs is helping to stall the release of some new music technology, and could result in record labels owing tens of millions of dollars in back payments to music publishers. At issue are “double session” CDs that include two versions of each song on a disc, formatted for playback on different kinds of devices. The most widely distributed type are copy-protected discs that prevent CD tracks from being copied to a hard drive, but that also include a digital version of the songs, often in Microsoft’s Windows… Read more »

Japanese electronics and entertainment giant Sony Corp. reported a 98 percent decline in profit for the April-June quarter as sales faltered in key businesses such as electronics, video games, movies and music. Sony said Thursday it earned 1.1 billion yen ($9 million) in the first quarter of its fiscal year, down from 57.2 billion yen for the same period last year. Sales for the Tokyo-based company fell 6.9 percent to 1.6 trillion yen ($13.5 billion) from 1.7 trillion yen. Sony set off a plunge in Tokyo share prices in April after it reported a loss in the final quarter of… Read more »

The chief lobby group of the nation’s major recording labels today said it is preparing hundreds of lawsuits against Internet users who illegally trade copyrighted music files. The lawsuits will target people who share “substantial” amounts of copyrighted music, but anyone who shares illegal files is at risk, RIAA President Cary Sherman said in a conference call today. The first round of lawsuits will be prepared during the next eight to 10 weeks. They will ask for injunctions and monetary damages against file swappers, Sherman said. “We have no hard and fast rules about how many files you have to… Read more »

In a pairing that would alter the architecture of the music business, Apple Computer Inc. is in talks with Vivendi Universal to buy Universal Music Group, the world’s largest record company, for as much as $6 billion, sources said. Such a seemingly unlikely combination would instantly make technology guru Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder and chief executive, the most powerful player in the record industry. Universal, which reaps about $6 billion in sales annually from artists such as 50 Cent, Shania Twain, U2 and Luciano Pavarotti, would be controlled by a maverick who revolutionized the computer market and coined the mantra… Read more »

Nearly 7,000 music industry representatives and more than 1,000 bands are descending on Austin this week for the 17th annual South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival. Even for a place that calls itself the “Live Music Capitol of the World,” the planes, buses and vans arriving full of shaggy-haired men and tattooed women carrying guitars and drums adds a new dimension to the city. The musicians and industry representatives have come for four days of industry panels, discussions and trade shows. To balance out the shop talk, the festival features four intense nights of live music with 1,000 acts… Read more »

EMI Group Plc played down chances of an attempt to merge or sell its business on Friday, saying it was more convinced than ever it was best off alone despite a rapidly shrinking music industry. Signs so far this year point to a steeper than expected decline in global music sales of four percent, but the world’s third biggest music group remains on track to meet its targets, EMI’s head of recorded music Alain Levy said. “When we originally announced a merger with Warner Music, we made clear the best option after that was to remain as a stand-alone. That… Read more »

EMI Group Plc. on Monday threw cold water on reports that it had agreed to pay pop diva Mariah Carey a lump sum to end her multimillion-dollar recording contract after her latest album, “Glitter,” flopped. Recent reports suggested EMI had agreed to pay Carey off with as much as $50 million, just eight months after its Virgin label signed the star in one of the most expensive recording deals ever only to see “Glitter” sell a mere 2 million copies. “EMI wishes to make clear that it has made no such payment or agreement,” EMI said in a brief statement… Read more »

This is a difficult transition for the entertainment community. There is a growing desire, if not need, to return to some form of business as usual, yet an uncertainty as to whether this is a viable option. Parties and premieres are being resurrected, but companies are doing so furtively, like children worried about parental admonition. Stars are returning to the business of hyping their movies, albeit sheepishly. The TV trade wants its Emmys, yet seems bent on making the ceremony at once non-competitive and non-ceremonial. Dealmakers who have been struggling with the rules of the “new civility” are starting to… Read more »

In an ever-shrinking world, artisans are often drawn to fusions that would have been unthinkable a generation or two ago – often, these boundary-breaking combinations work better on paper than in practice. Afro Celt Sound System, which has been at it for the better part of a decade, makes good on an unlikely melange of cross-cultural influences only hinted at by the band’s moniker. At this, their first Gotham show since 1999, the ensemble drifted between lilting bits of bucolic melody (generally anchored by the lovely uilleann piping of Emer Mayock) and unabashedly sensual rhythmic pulse (heightened by the contributions… Read more »