Gawker
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music videos
What If We Don't Want Our YouTube TV?
The record labels like to think they built MTV — and have been punishing every new idea for promoting music since. That self-defeating dynamic could destroy a nascent YouTube partnership between Google and Universal Music. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by SandhayaHammer: Wrong wrong wrong. MTV is irrelevant, not the form. As someone who's been involved with music videos for the past... 2 Responses | Other threads
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meltdowns
The fake crisis that's killing startups
Ever heard of Uber.com? Join the club. But the Los Angeles-based social networking startup now says it's a victim of "the crisis in the economy." Investors like Discovery Communications and Universal Music Group, which sunk up to $7.6 million in the social network-turned-publishing platform, want what's left of their money back. Discovery's investment came just last May, with the company looking to use the site for its Miami Ink and LA Ink shows on TLC. But was it really the economic meltdown, or just investors coming to their senses? More »
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By Jackson WestComment by Shadowlayer: "Artist and designer Glenn Kaino originally envisioned the site as a social network for jetset hipsters" Full of FAIL! I tell... 2 Responses | Other threads
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copyfight
Prince can't keep babies from dancing on YouTube
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel has ruled that fair use — a complex set of exemptions to copyright meant to allow for commentary, criticism, and parody — must be taken into consideration before rightsholders request the removal of infringing content from websites like YouTube. The improper takedown suit was brought by Stephanie Lenz after Universal Music Group asked the popular video-sharing site to remove a clip of Lenz's then 13-month old son dancing to party-jam classic "Let's Go Crazy" by his purple majesty, the pied piper of Minneapolis, Prince. Lenz and her lawyers from the Electronic Frontier Foundation can now proceed with their case seeking damages against Universal for issuing an improper takedown request.
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By Jackson WestComment by WagCurious: I was going to prove how happy I am with these guys by raising my Adwords bid on "film and... more » | Other threads
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music
Buzznet receives $25 million from Universal Music Group
Los Angeles-based social network Buzznet finally confirmed a long-rumored investment from Universal Music Group, which PaidContent earlier reported to be around $25 million, brining the total invested in the company to over $32 million. The social network, which has been focused on music fans from the start, has also become quite acquisitive, picking up popular music blog Stereogum and, most recently, Gawker Media title Idolator. And they may be looking to add more, according to an email published by The Daily Swarm. (Via Tech Confidential) -
digital music
What MySpace Music backers don't get: Recorded music is no longer a product, but advertising
Shawn "Jay Z" Carter signing with LiveNation demonstrates that one of the most entrepreneurial artists of our generation has decided that the business of recording music is advertising. The No. 1 digital music retailer, iTunes, has understood this for some time — Apple sells iPods, and iTunes is a service to make it relatively cheap and easy to fill those iPods. Carter will be happy to make a little chump change from digital sales, but the MC knows the real money is in branded events and merchandise. What the labels call "piracy" is actually free distribution of promotional material, and such a model is not without precedent. More » -
digital music
Qtrax spends $1 million to tout free online downloads — but record industry begs to differ
Free P2P music service Qtrax launched at Cannes yesterday with the support of all four major labels: Warner, Universal, EMI and Sony BMG. Or so Qtrax claimed in its announcement, a star-laden extravaganza which reportedly cost $1 million. But Silicon Alley Insider reports that Warner, Universal, EMI, and Sony are only in negotiations with Qtrax and have not settled on final terms. More »
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Comment by scoobydoo: All you have to do is read their website (the corporate one): [www.ltdnetwork.com] Once you see all the BS terms they... more » | Other threads
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all out of ilike
Universal Music Group Pulls Its Streams From iLike
Continuing its trend of pulling its music from online services that won't pay it heed—or at least a nice chunk of money—Universal Music Group has yanked 30-second sound samples of its labels' songs from iLike, the music-sharing site that's quite popular with the Facebook set. According to Silicon Alley Insider, the dispute stems from a lapsed agreement between UMG and the sound-sample middleman Muze, which supplied iLike with UMG's streams. So now iLike and Universal are trying to hammer out some sort of deal that will restore the label's audio to the service, a deal which, if precedent is any indication, will likely involve iLike cutting some sort of punishing check to Doug Morris and his merry band of shmoos. All that, just so some sophomore at UW-Whitewater can keep introducing himself to prospective conquests with "In Da Club." [Idolator] -
nokia
Universal Music Group has partnered with Nokia to provide a subscription music service to mobile phones. Unlike PC-based subscription services such as Napster, Nokia's offering will let users keep any music downloaded after their one-year subscription expires. Of course what they don't tell you is how much this will cost, or limits on numbers of downloads. [Digital Music News] -
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doug morris
The world's stupidest recording exec, in easy-to-read comics format
In one interview with Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris, Wired was able to unravel years of consumer perplexity at the record labels' digital naiveté. Why, exactly, were they being so stupid about selling music online? Morris not only likened the music business to a Shmoo, but he also admitted that he (nor, apparently, anyone in the industry) understands technology. In case his rambling about faucets that produce Coca-Cola were too confusing, Joel Watson has broken the interview down into more understandable terms with his Web comic Hijinks Ensue. More »
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Comment by Columbiagirl: I could have told you they don't understand technology. Heck, they don't understand business. At Columbia we had "guest speakers"... more » | Other threads
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quotable
"We make a lot of money from him, and suddenly you're wearing golden handcuffs. We would hate to give up that income." — Universal Music Group chief Doug Morris, on why Universal won't leave Apple's iTunes store anytime soon. Steve Jobs does have an interesting relationship with his girlfriends, doesn't he? [The Register] -
digital music
Is Universal's Doug Morris the stupidest recording exec ever?
Earlier this month Edgar Bronfman, the mogul behind Warner Music Group, copped to starting the current file-sharing war between the recording industry and consumers, blaming the business's "glacial" adoption of digital sales. If the recording industry ever needed a poster boy for its digital naiveté, it could sign up Universal Music Group's Doug Morris. Seth Mnookin spent an afternoon with Morris on behalf of Wired magazine. Along with equating the music industry to a Shmoo, Morris blamed college students for stealing music while admitting he's ignorant of technology. More »
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Comment by mandarin: Only a matter of time these guys will be out in the streets... Know nothing about technology? Study up just... more » | Other threads
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quotable
"There was a cartoon character years ago called the Shmoo. It was in Li'l Abner. The Shmoo was a nice animal, a nice fella, but if you were hungry, you cut off a piece of him and put onions on it, and if you wanted to play football you just made him like a football. You could do anything to him. That's what was happening to the music business. Everyone was treating the music business like it was a Shmoo." — Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris, on the "opportunities of digital music." [Wired]
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Comment by 0x6772: Where have I heard an evil person saying this recently... oh yeah, right, in a Hollywood movie. Strange, that. more » | Other threads
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digital music
How record labels can cash in on digital sales
Colombian rock star Juanes sold more than 6 million songs during his new album's digital prerelease. The sales set a record, according to Universal Music, which distributed the songs via legitimate Internet and mobile vendors. People actually paid for music. Good for Juanes; better, hopefully, for the digital consumer. It's not that music execs are wholly clueless. For a hits-driven industry, sales speak much louder than anticopyright zealots' rhetoric. it's that they haven't had enough success stories like this one to persuade them to buy into the digital marketplace. -
rumormonger
Warner Music is threatening to pull out of Apple's iTunes, continuing the trend started by an angsty Universal Music Group. Record labels and Hollywood studios alike are upset by Apple's inflexibility on pricing. Warner's contract is up at year's end, and is considering a switch to a month-to-month deal, as Universal has done. [Washington Post] -
digital music
Beating Apple requires big thinking, but not this big
Doug Morris, head of Universal Music, the most powerful of the four major record-label groups, thinks he has a plan to reclaim the music industry from Apple, maker of the iPod and iTunes. There are scant details and the plan is in flux, but the basic idea, dubbed Total Music, is this: All of the studios will pool their content for online distribution and share in the revenue. The service will be a subscription subsidized by any form of provider: device manufacturers, music stores, cellphone carriers, whomever. The consumer doesn't have to pay for a music service because it's baked in, the music industry finally gets the revenue stream that they've been missing. But we're skeptical. More »
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By Tim FaulknerComment by Baberaham Lincoln: But will it work on my iPod? more » | Other threads
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Comment by Acererak: If you check Media Defender's e-mail logs, you'll find that Reznor's latest album, "Year Zero," and its accompanying ARG marketing... more » | Other threads
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digital music
Universal Music considers forcing Internet users to pay for music
Not everyone thinks that Columbia Records chief Rick Rubin's proclamation of a music subscription future is crazy. Universal Music is currently exploring the subscription business model, according to Digital Music News's sources. The initiative, known as TotalMusic, would tie digital music to Internet service providers — forcing all internet users to pay for music, regardless of whether they'll actually use it. Apparently this idea isn't too popular with Internet service providers, because it would increase costs (ESPN 360 has suffered similar problems in its attempt to pass costs onto ISPs instead of the end user). No doubt Universal Music views TotalMusic as a brilliant solution to piracy woes — if everyone is forced to pay for music, none would pirate. Of course, that logic posits that everybody pirates ... and everyone wants Universal's music.
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Comment by cv: They should call it TotalFailure so they don't have to rebrand it later. more » | Other threads
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digital music
Universal defends copyright, disses copy protection
Just because you can do something doesn't make it right. On the one hand, Universal Music is dropping digital-rights management — what we used to call copy-protection software — from its online music library. On the other hand, it's suing online-video site Veoh for violating the same copyrights it's no longer protecting. A contradiction from Universal's earlier stance that iPods are full of "stolen music"? Not at all. The legitimate complaint people have had with DRM software is that it goes farther than U.S. copyright law does in restricting what people can do with music they've paid for. UMG is joining rival label EMI in selling music without the protection afforded by software code. But the rights enshrined in our legal code? They still remain in force. Copier beware. -
myspace
Universal vs. MySpace Goat Rodeo
Universal Music Group is suing MySpace for copyright infringement, a proceeding Federated Media's John Battelle likens to a "big poo-flinging goat rodeo." At issue is music and video from Universal ending up on various nerds' MySpace pages — what the suit dismissively calls "so-called 'user-generated content.'" The suit claims the content is in fact "user-stolen," which doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Certainly not as jazzy as "goat rodeo." More »
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By Chris MohneyComment by GaryGnu: I'm more disturbed that the 2nd YouTube video for goat rodeo involves a gay event that appears to require people... more » | Other threads
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