How The Record Labels Kill Off Innovative Startups With Ridiculous Licensing Demands

We recently showed a graphic description of the ridiculous licensing spiderweb any new music startup needs to go through these days. That was a UK depiction, but it's quite similar in the US and other parts of the world as well. What's not seen in the graphic, however, is just what some of the demands are from those copyright holders in order to secure the necessary licenses. We've heard time and time again from innovative music startup after innovative music startup, that when the major record labels come calling, they do so with outrageous demands for upfront payments, excessively high ongoing royalties and a demand for equity. Quite frequently, the record labels try negotiating through lawsuit, by suing the startup as a part of the "negotiation." While many of these lead to "settlements," the results are ridiculously burdensome, leading many of these startups to go out of business.

Playlist.com is a startup that has gone through much of this cycle, including lawsuits from the majors and "settlements." Except, the settlements were so burdensome that Playlist declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to try to get out from under some of its liabilities. What that's also done is given us a glimpse behind the scenes of just how much the labels end up getting from such startups. For example, Playlist apparently owes the four major labels a combined $24.4 million for helping people find and listen to music.

 (Click to enlarge)

These fees were the result of the settlement licenses worked out by the labels, but the company can't even come close to paying them off. And, because of this, people will just get the same music elsewhere -- from offerings that probably don't pay the labels a dime. It's really quite impressive when you look at the long list of innovative music services startups killed by ridiculous major label demands. 

@'techdirt'

Mexico sacks 10% of police force in corruption probe

Die Antwoord & Aphex Twin live @ LED Festival

comment on youtube:
"good video quality but *REALLY* bad sound recording. Aphex was playing the most insane sounds and Die Antwoord were merely background sounds like ghostly voices in a raging sonic storm, it worked quite well. This video shows Die Antwoord as the main sound and aphex as the background."

U.S. Analyst Is Indicted in Leak Case

Overdose Awareness Day

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Not the first nor the last but one of the youngest...

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THE OVERDOSE PREVENTION TRAINING INITIATIVE

AGENDA: Grinding America Down (Trailer)

Wingnut time!

Blair secretly courted Robert Mugabe to boost trade

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Acoustic archaeology: The secret sounds of Stonehenge

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@'New Scientist'

Leonard Cohen - Bird On A Wire (DVD)

Tony Palmer's 1972 Documentary On Rock's Foremost Poet Finally Sees the Light of Day

Thirty-eight years after it was completed, a 1972 documentary following Leonard Cohen—the enormously influential poet, folk musician and, since 2008, member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—on tour in Europe finally has its moment. Originally made as a promotional film for the artist, whose record sales were meager at the time, Bird on a Wire was produced and edited by Tony Palmer, then famed for his seminal 1968 documentary All My Loving, an eye-opening dissection of rock n' roll that featured, among others, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Donovan. In Bird on a Wire, Palmer neatly captured the tour itself––threadbare, fraught with technical difficulties and emotional upheavals––but on first viewing, Cohen balked at the bare bones honesty of the film and demanded a complete re-edit from another source. The result was so disastrous that the film opened and closed on the same day, was forgotten about, then lost. In 2009, 294 cans of celluloid labeled “Bird an a Wire” were found locked in a Hollywood warehouse and immediately shipped to Palmer, who set about re-creating the original film he made all those years ago. The work is a visual poem—Palmer’s camera followed Cohen without judgment, opening the floor to the man as well as the artist. Today’s exclusive clip shows the music legend during an abortive attempt to ask a young German fan out on a date.   

Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire by Tony Palmer is available now on DVD. Tony Palmer tells us more about his first meeting with Cohen here. 

@'Nowness'

I still have a video of this great documentary.

He is such a smooth talker in the clip above..."breakfast" indeed!

United States Gives Itself High Marks on Human Rights, but What Comes Next?

This month, the United States submitted an assessment of its human rights record to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the UN’s newest human rights mechanism, the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).  Unsurprisingly, its report immediately caught flak from the right and the left.  Nationalists and conservatives at the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation complained we should not bother to subject ourselves to scrutiny by states with lesser human rights records and that by doing so we give ammunition to autocrats who can mock our shortcomings.  Progressives applauded the administration for participating seriously in a multilateral process but lamented the failure to address a host of human rights deficits.

In our view, the administration’s report perhaps tries too hard to please everyone and in doing so falls short of what it could have achieved if it had taken a more critical and honest approach to some of the more troublesome elements on the human rights agenda.  It deserves praise for engaging in serious consultations around the country with critics and victims alike to prepare its findings.  Its political instincts, though, were apparently to mute self-criticism in order to forestall attacks from the U.S.-can-do-no-wrong crowd while simultaneously highlighting progress since 2009 as a way to remind voters at home and constituencies abroad that it is different from the Bush administration. 

The real test, however, is how this administration will address such ongoing and thorny issues around detention policy, impunity for torture, immigration and protection of civilians caught in conflict.  On these matters, the report offers very little...

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@'Brookings'

Super-strength alcohol 'is killing more homeless people than crack or heroin'

‘Drainspotting’: Japanese Manhole Cover Art

These aren’t your average manhole covers. In Japan, they actually look pretty, not those cast-iron monstrosities on sidewalks.
Photographer Remo Camerota has gone around the land of the rising sun and snapping away at these gorgeous street art, publishing an award-winning book Drainspotting while he’s at it.
The book, which is also released as an iPad app, took the award for Best Art Book at the NY Book Festival.
The adorned manhole covers feature anything from firemen to birds to flowers. It’s a beautifully simple idea to liven up city streets—just plaster typically ugly urban structures with colorful, vibrant art. 

@'Taxi'

Max Tannone - Dub Kweli - Your Gospel

   

The latest release from Max (Jaydiohead) Tannone is Dub Kwelli, a remix of Talib Kweli and classic dub reggae tracks which you can download

HERE