Creepy!

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Bat for Lashes
"What's a girl to do"

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Mark Ronson featuring Lily Allen
"Oh My God"

You’ve got it half right Gene

In a recent interview with Billboard magazine, Gene Simmons of KISS said college kids killed the music business.
“The record industry is in such a mess,” he told the magazine. “I called for what it was when college kids first started download music for free -- that they were crooks. I told every record label I spoke with that they just lit the fuse to their own bomb that was going to explode from under them and put them on the street.
“The record industry doesn't have a f---ing clue how to make money. It's only their fault for letting foxes get into the henhouse and then wondering why there's no eggs or chickens. Every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid's face should have been sued off the face of the earth. They should have taken their houses and cars and nipped it right there in the beginning. Those kids are putting 100,000 to a million people out of work. How can you pick on them? They've got freckles. That's a crook.”
Well Gene, you’ve got that partially correct.
Several studies have concluded that those who share music (not ‘download music for free’ as you put it – there is a difference) have not had a significant influence on slumping record sales. Many studies point to the fact that these “freshly-scrubbed” law breakers did not plan on buying the music in the first place.
But you are correct, file sharing is stealing no matter how you slice it. (Downloading music is not illegal provided that the person who uploaded the music has gone through the proper channels to get permission to do so. There is legal and free music on the Web.) But, the biggest threat to the record industry is the record industry. It has failed to adopt a new business model, and you know the old business saying – evolve or die.
The record industry has robbed musicians and music fans alike for years. The industry has done it by charging musicians for demo cds, and giving away more than they could possibly sell. The industry has allowed advance copies of CDs to get out and find their way to the Internet. The industry is not protecting its investment.
The film industry, which is busily adopting models for digital distribution much like the music industry is, while also fighting worldwide piracy, is attacking piracy by going after the pirates.
Why make the fans bitter, when you can still get the sale.
The film industry is evolving. The music industry is not.
In the interview, Simmons eventually said illegal file sharing “Doesn't affect me. But imagine being a new band with dreams of getting on stage and putting out your own record. Forget it.”
It has never been cheaper and easier to record, release and distribute original music. But one of the biggest reasons these “new band(s) with dreams of getting on stage” can’t get signed to a record label is because dinosaurs like you won’t leave.
Oh, you’re promoting a collection of 150 unreleased songs that’s coming out soon? What’s your contract like? Did you get an eight-figure advance? Sure you did. And there’s more unreleased music on the way? Great! I’m sure some record exec said, ‘Well, we can sign 10 bands nobody has ever heard of, or we can pay the advance to KISS for the crap that wasn’t worth releasing 30 years ago. KISS wins.”

A world without writers

What would a world without writers be like? This video tries to answer that.

Some companies just get it

How do you fight piracy? Do you go after the fans of art? Or, do you go after the pirates themselves?
Last week, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures decided it was time to go after the pirates, and fight fire with fire.
According to an AP article: Paramount Pictures will sell DVDs through Warner Bros. outlets in China to fight rampant movie piracy by bringing low-cost legitimate goods quickly to market.
Warner, Paramount and Paramount's Dreamworks affiliate are selling new titles for $3 in China as little as two months after their U.S. theatrical release, the companies said. They said that will be the earliest release and lowest price in any market worldwide.
According to the article, China is the world's leading source for illegally copied movies, and pirates can get DVDs on the street less than a week after a title’s release abroad and months before a legitimate DVD is available. Pirated DVDs sell for as little as 68 cents.
What does this mean? Well, entertainment companies are starting to realize that their products are not, despite what some people thing, necessities. Therefore, as disposable income diminishes, the cost of unnecessary things has to come down as well.
The cost of pirated products drives the market. If you had a choice between a really great, and legal copy of a DVD, for $20, or a decent illegal copy of a DVD for $2, chances are you’ll choose the cheaper version – despite the fact that it was made illegally.
But, if the cost of a pirated DVD and a legitimate DVD are comparable, customers will always pick the higher-quality product for a slightly higher price.
These companies have the right idea. To put piracy out of business you have to treat it like a legitimate competitor – and beat it at its own game.
Will this ever come to the U.S.? Probably not anytime soon. We’re still willing to buy DVD’s for $20-$30. But once we make the conscious choice to cut our discretionary spending, these companies will probably change their tune.
Now if the music industry would take notes from the movie industry on how to deal with pirates, the world would be a much happier place.

Jane Jensen: Rocking the Rockabye

It’s been a long time since Jane Jensen released her last CD, 2002’s Burner. Too long. In fact, I was beginning to think Burner was the last we were going to hear from the singer who rocketed onto the indie scene in the mid-90s with a role in the new Troma classic, Tromeo and Juliet, and a powerful major/minor-label release – Comic Book Whore.
She returned this week with My Rockabye. Fans of Jensen will be surprised with her latest effort, since it’s a complete departure from the industrial dance influenced sounds of Burner and Comic Book.
While some of Jensen’s harder influences remain on My Rockabye, for the most part she has pretty much left behind the Candy and Razorblades for a more organic, more cohesive sound, which she combines with some downright fun and introspective lyrics.
The disc kicks off with the fun, folktronic Bedtime Baby, a song about mom and dad wanting the kids to go to bed so they can have a little… um … alone time. And while many songs follow the same guidelines, track 8, New Love, breaks the mold wide open, with Spanish, lounge and jazz influences, and Jensen utilizing her bluesy voice to it’s fullest potential. It’s the disc’s definite WOW moment.
Now, I have just listened to the CD online (on CD Baby) and I haven’t ordered my copy yet, (after several hours in release, CD Baby is already sold out), but the second I have a chance to I’m getting this disc. As a longtime Jane Jensen fan, I am impressed, ecstatic and enamored by My Rockabye. It was well worth the wait.

Check the CD out HERE.