Category Archives: Music

Legal To Download Music: Court Sides With Music Swappers

Music, Web & Tech

FILESWAPPING In a victory for the privacy rights of Canadians, the Federal Court on Wednesday, March 31, denied the music industry’s request for Internet Service Providers to disclose the identifty of subscribers alleged to have infringed copyright laws. The court’s decision comes on the heels of the Tuesday release of a study which found that online music sharing does not clearly affect CD sales.
Matthew Ingram, in today’s Globe and Mail, writes “on the topic of downloading, the judge was succinct: Canada’s Copyright Act allows users to reproduce a musical work onto a recording medium for their private use, and thus, “downloading a song… does not amount to infringement.”
Also in the Globe, Janet McFarland tells the Recording Industry Association to …

“Do nothing on the legal front, and let people continue to copy music files just like they have copied songs and movies and TV shows on cassettes for years. It’s a frustrating solution, because a huge amount of revenue is lost when people copy music instead of buying it. But the problem is not easily fixed with legal action. The ruling Wednesday shows the courts have little sympathy for the cause. And the Internet is too large to police effectively anyway; websites and file-sharing service are too easily shifted to plug every hole.”


McFarland goes on to suggest that the recording industry continue to encourage the development of paid music sites on the Internet, such as iTunes and Napster, and the made-in-Canada / G-7 and European Union solution to peer-to-peer file swapping: levies on recordable CDs and on MP3 players, with future consideration being given to the implementation of surcharges on Internet use to further compensate the music industry.

All the Rave: File Sharing and the Pepsi Generation

Music

NAPSTER

The year 1999 is recognized by many as a watershed year for the Internet.
In August of that year, Shawn Fanning, the 19-year-old who created Napster in a fit of Red Bull soda-fueled coding, instantly transformed anyone who used it from a passive settler for sub-par radio pop into a music hedonist, someone with the power, suddenly, to choose.
When Pepsi allied with Apples iTunes in a new advertising campaign aimed at training consumers to buy music online, they also determined the right price for a song downloaded off the Internet: one bottlecap.
Writing on the Straight GoodS website, Robert Labossiere suggests that Pepsi’s deal with iTunes sounds a sour note, as does their anti-establishment advertising campaign which, to Labossiere’s sensibilties, smacks of self-serving music industry hypocrisy.
For a more academic analysis of the issue, read Christopher May’s peer-reviewed essay “Digital rights management and the breakdown of social norms”, published by the University of Illinois’ First Monday magazine.

Pop music for adults: coming full circle

Music

USATODAY Looks like the baby boomer generation continues its domination of the social, political and cultural zeitgeist, overwhelming every other age-group demographic, at least in terms of economic clout.
According to the latest figures made available by our favourite group of coconuts, the Recording Industry Association of America, people ages 30 and older are buying 56% of the recorded music sold across North America, up nearly 14 points from a decade earlier. Although pop music may have been dominated by young people since the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, change is afoot if Elysa Gardner’s USA Today article, Pop: Rated G for grown up, is to be believed.

Irish Troubador’s Home Recording

Music

DAMIEN RICE “O”, the sophomore release of Irish singer/songwriter Damien Rice is, all at once, reflective, wistful, intimate, conspiratorial, exhilarating, melancholy and cathartic, and one of the most remarkable CDs released last year.
A self-styled folk rock artist, Rice’s deft songwriting ability and his plaintive, bittersweet vocals — accompanied often by a truly transcendent Lisa Hannigan — all given depth by a musical palate grounded in emotional intimacy, make “O” a must add to your CD collection.