Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Intertainer goes dark: Intertainer, an online video-on-demand site, will shut down and lay off most of its remaining staff while pursuing a lawsuit against the major movie studios, its chief executive said on Thursday. The Culver City, California-based company plans to close its movie-selling service on Oct. 23 and lay …
Read More »Uncategorized
Sherman Retorts
RIAA pres Cary Sherman (see Blogcritics interview here) responds to Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro’s commentary in CNET on downloads and copyright from last month: Last month, Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro took the debate over peer-to-peer file sharing to a new level. In brief, he declared that …
Read More »More Ticket Prices and Downloads
Some very interesting feedback on the increased concert ticket price story we discussed yesterday. Nick Snow of Foundmusic.com points us to an article from last year: Members of the popular heavy-rock band Godsmack say they want to make tickets affordable for their current U.S. tour. But the economics of the …
Read More »Universal Changing Artist Contracts to Reflect Downloads
HITS has the scoop: In a move being hailed by artist representatives as a significant step in the right direction, Universal Music Group has made a proactive move to change the economic relationship between artists and its record labels vis-a-vis paid music downloads. Market leader UMG has initiated a new …
Read More »Wallace and Gromit Online
Wallace and Grommit are back with Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions — a series of ten new films featuring Aardman’s Oscar-winning pals and their dubious inventions, available from AtomFilms. The first of the series, “The Soccamatic,” is available for free viewing now. Creator Nick Park won Oscars for two Wallace …
Read More »Increased Concert Ticket Prices = Downloading?
This is not my area of expertise, but the conclusion Krueger makes appears to take for granted that decreased record sales are due to downloading, which strikes me as a rather large assumption – an assumption that I don’t believe has been substantiated as of yet: If you have gone …
Read More »Pawns
Vacationing MSNBC arts and entertainment blogger Jan Herman has been following the issue of foreign aritsts being denied visas into the US of late. He lamented the exclusion of Chucho Valdes from the Latin Grammys back in September: Can refusing him a visa be anything other than the Bush Administration’s …
Read More »The Byrds and Their Hatchlings
John Mallon discusses the Byrds and their progeny in NRO: I am in the land of giants!” Chris Hillman exclaimed as he stepped onstage at the Double Stop Music Hall in Guthrie, Okla. Hillman should know something about giants – despite his unassuming presence, he is a giant in the …
Read More »“No reasonable jury…would recognize the source of the sample”
Samplers of the world rejoice: in my own mind, recognition is the key to the sampling issue. I’m very glad to hear a judge agrees: A federal judge in Nashville has issued the first major ruling in a massive lawsuit over royalties related to rap artists’ sampling of music recorded …
Read More »Curry Cannot Prevent Dutch Govt From Collapsing
The freaking Dutch government collapses: The Dutch government collapsed Wednesday as the fledgling party of murdered anti-immigration populist Pim Fortuyn imploded less than 100 days after storming into a center-right coalition. The three-way government of Christian Democrats (CDA), VVD Liberals and the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) crumbled after a bitter …
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