Search Results for: System of a Down

The leading trade associations for the music and technology industries, which have been at loggerheads over consumers downloading songs on the Internet, have negotiated a compromise they contend will protect copyrights on movies and music without new government involvement. Lobbyists for some of the nation’s largest technology companies will argue under the new agreement against efforts in Congress to amend U.S. laws to broaden the rights of consumers, such as explicitly permitting viewers to make backup copies of DVDs for personal use or copy songs onto handheld listening devices. “How companies satisfy consumer expectations is a business decision that should… Read more »

The Recording Industry Association of America may not want people to share digital files, but the organization certainly seems to be in favor of open access to its website. On Monday, the RIAA site was hacked for the sixth time in six months. This time, the defacement resulted in bogus press releases on the front door, touting the joys of cheese and interspecies romantic relationships. The RIAA’s role as the music industry’s voice against digital piracy makes it an obvious target for those who are angered by what they see as the organization’s overly vehement crusade for copyright owners’ rights.… Read more »

I spent 24 hours on the road with Good Charlotte recently. Most of what I saw I already knew from TV reports on tour-bus life, probably from episodes of “Diary”: You can’t do much in the bathroom, it’s eight grown men living in the space of a large bedroom, running water is a luxury and the food sucks. That’s not, however, what I went to report on. Good Charlotte are a band with punk values – they look it, they grew up on the music and they believe in the punk ethos. At the same time, though, their video has… Read more »

Faced with adverse publicity to copy protection on CDs, a year ago Bertelsmann Music Group bravely gave in and promised to replace a clutch of Natalie Imbruglia CDs which were protected by Midbar’s Cactus Data Shield. But a year is a long time, BMG is at it again, this time apparently set on applying copy protection to all its music products. Not, of course, that this should be surprising. The music companies are absolutely intent on copy-proofing their products, and although they’ll maybe retreat a little when irate consumers pelt them with ordure, they’ll be right back just as soon… Read more »

The European Union must make an identity code for compact discs compulsory when it unveils a draft law aimed at combating piracy later this year, industry executives said on Tuesday. “What we are asking for is a little code. It’s a very cheap way to fight piracy,” said Yolanda Smits, international trade adviser at the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). Smits was one of several representatives from music and film industry bodies speaking at a news conference in Brussels, where the European Commission is expected to unveil its proposal for a law on piracy in early December. But… Read more »

In an industry that obsesses over first-week album sales, heavy MTV rotation and radio airplay, the Shortlist Music Prize is trying to help offbeat or niche recording artists find a wider audience. Now in its second year, the contest taps successful musicians to champion the work of peers who have yet to make an impact on the charts. Among this year’s “listmakers” are India.Arie, Alanis Morissette (news), U2’s Larry Mullen Jr., and filmmakers Baz Luhrmann (news) and Spike Jonze (news). “Most of the attention that records get as far as awards and all that stuff is based on record sales,… Read more »

Anyone old enough to remember spinning vinyl records also remembers relegating them to the nostalgia pile when CDs became the listening standard more than a decade ago. Now, CDs may be headed for the same fate. Over the last couple of years, manufacturers and record companies have rolled out two new musical formats – DVD-Audio and Super Audio Compact Discsthat they hope will replace the CD. “It’s really getting rolling. The number of titles is increasing rapidly,” says John Trickett, chairman of the 5.1 Entertainment Group, which has produced almost 100 DVD-Audio titles. “If you compare it to the launch… 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 »

Age brings change, but the changes were decidedly for the better Tuesday when the Rolling Stones kicked off their Licks World Tour, named for an upcoming compilation that marks the British supergroup’s 40th anniversary. On their ’90s tours, the Stones had largely become a grizzled stadium jukebox. On this trip, however, in addition to mixing stadium, arena, theater and club dates – often in the same city – the band is taking new liberties with its set lists. Tuesday’s two-hour-plus tour opener at the FleetCenter included its share of rarely and never-played nuggets that thrilled and puzzled the arena crowd.… Read more »

Just when it seemed all systems were go, it now appears that Lance Bass’ trip into space may be off – though his team insists otherwise. When Bass returned to Moscow over the weekend following a weeklong crash course at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Russian space officials didn’t welcome the singer with open arms. The sticky issue of payment had not been resolved by the last Russian deadline of Friday (August 30), and on Tuesday (September 3), the Russian Space Agency pulled Bass off his training regiment in Star City. To make matters seem more dire, spokespeople for… Read more »