JANUARY 2006
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MERCHANDISING & COPYRIGHT - Jessica Simpson Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit by Mitch Marconi PageSix.com Jan 30, 2006 -- After going through a painful divorce process, blonde singer and actress Jessica Simpson is now facing a federal lawsuit, after a Los Angeles woman filed papers accusing the star of copying her trademarked cosmetics range, according to published reports. Mara Fox reportedly launched Love Potion beauty products back in 1989 and now believes Simpson and business partners Sephora and D'Lish Fragrance infringed her copyright when they launched Dessert Beauty Deliciously Kissable Love Potion in 2004. Simpson also endorses acne treatment Proactiv and she is using herself to promote the image of the cosmetic line. Jessica was married to Nick Lacey and they starred in MTV's 'Newllyweds' as a happy couple. As if the drama surrounding her divorce wasn't bad enough for her, now she's got to face an unexpected lawsuit.
MUSIC -- Shakin' All Over Revisits Canadian Music From The '60s by Steve McLean, Chart Attack, 27jan2006 -- Canada's music scene is probably the hottest it's ever been right now, but today's stars owe a large debt to their predecessors who helped create a viable Canadian music industry and make this country the hotbed for talent that it's become. Shakin' All Over, a two-hour CBC-TV special (soon on DVD) shines the spotlight on many of these pioneers. The show is based on Nicholas Jennings' excellent 1998 book, Before The Gold Rush: Flashbacks To The Dawn Of The Canadian Sound, which chronicled the country's '60s musical revolution. Narrator Jian Ghomeshi and Jennings, who conducted more than 60 interviews across North America for the special, introduce you to a number of bands and artists who remain well-known today, as well as several you've probably never heard of unless you're a major Canadian music history junkie. "Not many of these shows get made, and there's a good reason," says Jennings of the three years he put into the project. "They're so time-consuming and labour-intensive. To get as many artists and as many songs as we got into the show was a huge amount of work." In addition to the usual suspects you'd expect to find, like The Guess Who, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, Shakin' All Over pays as much attention to relative unknowns like Vancouver's The Seeds Of Time, Ottawa's The Esquires and Montreal's Les Sultans. "There was a mini scene in every major city that supported a healthy roster of bands," explains Jennings. "When you look closely at those artists, they were as much a part of the scene as the big icons. "For every Randy Bachman or Gordon Lightfoot, there were all these other artists that they listened to and respected. We were able to make it like a love-in, where all the musicians talked about each other and what great songs their colleagues wrote." Jennings also spoke to a variety of current musicians — including Sarah Harmer, Matthew Good, Hawksley Workman, 54.40's Neil Osborne, Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page, Sarah Slean and Sloan's Jay Ferguson — to get their perspectives on their musical forefathers. "If you listen to records by The Ugly Ducklings or The Great Scots, they could almost be a hit in this day, because it's so contemporary with the revival of that sound by The White Stripes and The Hives," says Ferguson. The special is brimming with rarely seen archival TV footage from Canada and the U.S., while some classic songs are given new life by modern artists to help bring things full circle. If you miss the show on TV, Jennings says that EMI Canada plans to release it on DVD along with at least one companion CD highlighting some of the memorable music to emerge from the early days of Canadian rock. "Canadian songs of the '60s stand the test of time," he insists. "Canada has always had the strength of songcraft."
BOOKS - THE U.S. BOOK INDUSTRY ENJOYED STRONG GROWTH IN 2005, posting a 9.3%year-over-year increase, according to Nielsen BookScan. BookScan counts most but not all of the book sales. INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE STATISTICS.The average store is in its 12th year of business.The oldest stores are 70, 76, 99, 112 and 129 years old. 2% gross less than a million dollars a year.19% are less than 1000 square feet. 67% are more than 1000 but less than 4000 square feet. 14% are larger than 4000 square feet. The smallest is 305 square feet and the largest is 40,000 square feet. 62% have websites. 96% have email addresses. source: The Southeast Booksellers Assn. (SEBA) as reported in Remainder News.
INTERNET - Sex.com website sells for whopping $12 million by Newindpress, Jan25 2006 -- In one of the biggest sales of a website name, sex.com has changed hands for $12 million, its new owners say.The group of Boston-based investors Tuesday on said they plan to use the instantly recognisable name to create "a market-leading adult entertainment destination by offering compelling, next-generation web interaction experiences".The site was owned by a web entrepreneur who also founded the online dating site match.com.The deal is the highest price ever paid for an Internet domain name, easily beating the previous high of $7.5 million paid for the domain name business.com in 1999.
MUSIC - Rapper Nas Is to Join Label Led by Former Rival Jay-Z by Jeff Leeds NY Times, Jan23, 2006 -- The rap superstars Jay-Z and Nas, who hurled bitter insults at each other in rhyme for years in one of rap's most prominent feuds, have reached a deal that would formalize their much-publicized recent truce and transform the two onetime foes into business partners, according to music industry executives involved in the arrangement. The long-rumored deal sets the stage for Nas to join the artist roster of Def Jam Recordings, the rap label where Jay-Z became president last year in an unusual executive shuffle. But the two stars' personal cease-fire also evolved into an unconventional treaty of sorts between their competing record labels. As part of the deal, Nas's longtime record company, Sony Music, and Def Jam will split the profits - or any loss - from his next two albums, the sources said. Def Jam is expected to lay out the cost of producing and marketing the recordings, and to divide the profits after recovering its expenses. The two music companies will jointly plan and oversee the albums' marketing campaigns. The agreement pays Nas about $3 million, including a recording budget, for each of the first two albums, and provides for two additional albums with Def Jam, the sources said. Sony also retains the right to release a Nas greatest hits album, they added. Representatives from Def Jam and Sony declined to comment. As a result of the deal, Nas's next album instantly becomes one of hip-hop's most anticipated recordings of the year. It is expected to include the first significant collaboration between two wordsmiths who long battled each other for the title of New York's best rapper. The two stars stunned fans in October, when Jay-Z was to headline a radio-sponsored concert at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. He had titled the performance "I Declare War" and billed it as a chance to settle scores. Instead, near the end of the show, Jay-Z, announced, "It's bigger than 'I Declare War.' " Nas, dressed in an Army jacket, appeared onstage, and the crowd roared. The two performed and then embraced, ending their long-standing dispute. The rapprochement was an unusual moment in modern hip-hop, where the list of "beefs," or quarrels between rivals, is so extensive that the commercial rap field occasionally draws comparisons to professional wrestling. But there is a basic difference: the taunts and insults batted back and forth between rappers have occasionally turned into real-world violence, as when a shootout erupted between the entourage of Lil' Kim and supporters of her rival Foxy Brown in 2001 outside the offices of the hip-hop station Hot 97, WQHT-FM. Indeed, critics have complained that the industry's top rappers, record labels and radio stations intentionally stoke such tensions and imperil lives for financial gain. Some observers suggest that the rivalry between Nas and Jay-Z - regarded as veterans in a field where music trends shift overnight - had simply worn itself out.The drama of a feud "sells when you're young and you're believably in a situation where it can be dangerous," said Sacha Jenkins, editorial director of Mass Appeal, an urban lifestyle magazine based in Brooklyn. "It's just not believable from two grown men. I think they're making a unique and potentially wise business decision." Music executives at the two companies are betting it will be a lucrative one. Nas had one more album due on his contract with Sony; now the company will have, in essence, half of two Nas albums, while remaining in a position to keep working with the rapper on a variety of other projects, including a possible film. For its part, Def Jam and its corporate parent, Universal Music Group, add a respected artist to their ranks at a time when the label is trying to refresh its roster. (Def Jam also recently negotiated the exit of one of its veteran acts, DMX, who signed a reported three-album deal with Sony.) Shifts in relationships among artists have driven the two companies to make power- and profit-sharing deals before, as in the case of the rock band Audioslave (created from the ashes of the Sony rap-rock act Rage Against the Machine and the Universal grunge-rock band Soundgarden). The two companies take turns distributing the band's albums. In this case, though, Def Jam and its president will be promoting a rap star whose commercial clout has been called into questioned by Jay-Z himself. Nas, whose real name is Nasir Jones, has sold more than 11 million albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, starting with his classic 1994 debut, "Illmatic." (Jay-Z has sold roughly twice that amount.) Nas's most recent release, "Street's Disciple" in 2004, sold an estimated 687,000 copies, though it was a more expensive two-CD set. Before their recent reconciliation, the two had skewered each other for years in a battle in which they appeared to represent two versions of hip-hop, with Jay-Z cast as the savvy hustler and Nas as the brooding street poet. The rappers emerged as adversaries during the jockeying over who would reign as New York's top rapper after the 1997 shooting death of Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls. It boiled over in 2001, when the two released new albums that included songs directly attacking each other. Jay-Z, in the song "Takeover," teased his rival for selling fewer albums, rapping that Nas "fell from top 10 to not mentioned at all." Nas fired back with the incendiary track "Ether," in which he accused Jay-Z of plagiarism, asking "How much of Biggie's rhymes is gon' come out your fat lips?" Jay-Z then responded with a hastily recorded track, "Super Ugly," that described his affair with the mother of Nas's child. In an interview later on Hot 97, Jay-Z apologized to the woman's family and said his mother had called on his cellphone to chastise him for going too far. More recently, the two had retreated from their harshest criticisms, but their public peacemaking still caught many fans by surprise. Mr. Jenkins suggested that the two stars might have realized they had beaten the odds and had the chance to enjoy career longevity in the corporate music world. "In order to be productive in that world," he added, "certain things have to change and you leave certain things behind."
MUSIC - 50 Cent sued by rapper by IPC MEDIA 23jan06 -- He allegedly stole a lyric for 'In Da Club' 50 Cent is being sued by another rapper for allegedly stealing a lyric for his 2003 single 'In Da Club'. The former frontman of 2 Live Crew, Luther Campbell has filed a claim at Miami Federal Court that says 50 used the opening line of Campbell's song 'It's Your Birthday' and changed just one word. According to Campbell's lawyer, in 'In Da Club', 'Sheila' becomes 'shorty' in the lyric 'Go shorty, it's your birthday'. Campbell's version of the song appeared on his 1994 solo album 'Still A Freak For Life'. 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - was unavailable for comment, BBC News reports. The claim was filed on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein Music, who hold the copyright for 'It's Your Birthday'.Richard C Wolfe, Campbell's lawyer, said: "It's the melody, it's the pace, the style - everything about that one line is the same. We're entitled to a portion of the profits." It is also claimed in the case that Campbell's song 'I Like It, I Love It' can be heard on 50 Cent's 2003 DVD '50 Cent - The New Breed'. In addition to lawyers' fees and other legal costs, Campbell is seeking unspecified damages. Wolfe won a $2.3 million (£1.2 million) judgement against Campbell in 1994 for another rapper who claimed that the 2 Live Crew frontman withheld royalties.
MUSIC - Clarkson drops objection to use of her songs on `Idol' by David Bauder Associated Press 23jan06 -- Singer Kelly Clarkson, who vaulted to fame in 2002 as the first winner of TV's ``American Idol,'' made the news again last week when she announced that she would not be letting any of her songs be used by new contestants on the show.
But then Simon Cowell, the most acerbic of the show's judges, scolded her publicly. And now she has changed her mind. Roger Widynowski, a spokesman for Sony BMG, the parent company of Clarkson's record label, said her management is negotiating with the show over which of her songs can be used. ``American Idol'' must obtain permission from the owners of song licenses before music can be used. And while many love the exposure, some artists rigidly control the use of their songs. Early last week, Widynowski said Clarkson would not allow any of her songs to be licensed for other uses. ``It has nothing to do with `Idol,' '' he said. But then Cowell issued a public blasting of the singer, telling her, ``I think that by ignoring the show, you're ignoring the audience who put you there.
``No matter how talented Kelly Clarkson is, she would not be in the position she's in now without winning this show,'' Cowell said. ``And forget the way she feels about us or the producers or anybody else. It's the public who bothered to pick up the phone to vote for her. If she refuses to give songs to be used on the show, it's like saying to every person who voted for her, `You know what? I'm not interested in you anymore.' '' Widynowski initially had no comment on Cowell's remarks. Clarkson has become a major star in the past year, with her recording of ``Since U Been Gone'' triggering both massive sales and critical respect, even from a rock community that has looked warily upon ``American Idol'' contestants. Before her recent success, Clarkson fired Simon Fuller, who created ``American Idol,'' as her manager, saying that although he is a ``great guy,'' she needed someone who could give her career more attention. She teamed with Swedish hitmaker Max Martin on ``Since U Been Gone.'' In an interview last year, Clarkson said she knows she'll always be identified as an ``American Idol'' and she has no problems with that. Kelly Clarkson won`t let `American Idol` use her songs - LOS ANGELES (UPI) 19jan06 -- An 'American Idol' judge has some harsh words for the Fox TV talent show`s first winner, Kelly Clarkson, who hasn`t agreed to let 'Idol' use her songs. Simon Cowell said if it turns out the star is trying to disassociate herself with the show that launched her, it would be career suicide, the New York Post reported Wednesday. 'That (would be) a big mistake,' Cowell said Tuesday. 'When they walk away from the show and try to forget ... it`s not the show itself (that is affected), it`s the people who bothered to vote week after week. 'They`re the people who put her where she is today. And I think that by ignoring the show, you`re ignoring the audience that put you there.' A spokesman for Clarkson could not be reached, but 'American Idol' executive producer Nigel Lythgoe speculated it could be less of a controversy and more of a paperwork misunderstanding, the Post said.
FILM - Robert Redford: Sundance Film festival retains indie spirit by Associated Press 19Jan2006 PARK CITY, Utah -- The Sundance Film festival may look as though it's gone Hollywood with all the celebrity bashes and corporate logos splashed around town. But those are trappings outside the control of Sundance, which has never wavered from its mission of discovery for new film talent, said Robert Redford, whose Sundance Institute oversees the festival. At a news conference as the 11-day festival opened Thursday, Redford said Sundance's knack for showcasing films that went on to commercial success drew marketers hoping to share the limelight."Once the festival achieved a certain level of notoriety, then people began to come here with agendas that were not the same as ours," Redford said. "We can't do anything about that. We can't control that." While film fans crowd festival theaters to catch some of the 120 feature-length movies playing at Sundance, this ski-resort town buzzes with parties, concerts and other events to promote products ranging from jewelry and jeans to washing machines and sports-utility vehicles.One reporter asked Redford if Sundance had evolved into a festival with a "Butch Cassidy" or a "Sundance Kid" personality, referring to the actor's pairing with Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.""Neither one," said Redford, who played Sundance to Newman's Butch. "It's hard for me to answer questions about `Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.' And also, it's such a commercial phrasing. I don't know that we've seen ourselves in that perspective. You might say `Treasure of the Sierra Madre.'"
MUSIC COPYRIGHT - Canadian mp3 tax collectors by p2p news 10 Jan 2006 -- "Music-loving federal tax collectors in B.C. used government computer servers to store and share more than 800 pirated MP3 files, according to an internal investigation report, " says the Vancouver Sun, emphasising it obtained the document through the Access to Information Act. The files were, "only uncovered during routine maintenance of the Canada Revenue Agency's network," the story states. "The possession of MP3 files can potentially cause a storage burden on CRA's networks as well as the possibility of breaking copyright infringement laws," says the CRA report, also saying, "a total of seven CRA employees in B.C. were found to have MP3 files on their computers". According to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Canadians download more pirated music than the residents of any other country," states the Vancouver Sun categorically, probably referring to the the OECD Information Technology Outlook report for 2004. However, the OECD study says nothing of the kind. In fact, the US accounted for more half the total the world's file-sharers, followed by Germany (10.2%), Canada (8.0%) and France (7.8%), reported the OECD, stating that governments around the world should develop new policies to balance the interests of suppliers, and consumers, providing protection for intellectual property rights, but making it easier to distribute music and other content online. The OECD also said about a third of all Net users in OECD countries, France, the United States, the UK, Germany, and others, have downloaded files from p2p networks. Meanwhile, five of the people cited by the CAR, "had only a handful of songs on the server, but one employee was storing 117 and another 733," says the story. But the 733 files were, "placed in a folder titled 'music' that was 'set up so that anyone logged on to CRA's networks could gain access to these files'," the story says, still quoting the CAR document. It's interesting to see the files described as 'pirated' with the images that evokes "We need to be clear that the use and sharing of mp3 files may have been authorized by the copyright holders, and that the existence of mp3 files or the use of peer-to-peer software doesn't itself constitute or prove copyright infringement," says Digital Copyright Canada's Russell McOrmond (top right). "It's this fact, not problems in Canadian Copyright law, that caused the major labels to loose their case in front of the federal court when trying to get the names of 29 people using peer-to-peer sharing tools." In March, 2004, "We are confident that the court will require internet service providers to disclose the identities of alleged digital music infringers," said CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) general counsel Richard Pfohl . However, Justice Konrad von Finckenstein decided, "No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorised the reproduction of sound recordings. They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer user(s) via a P2P service." McOrmond says the situation with the unauthorized downloading of music in Canada was complicated by the music and recording industry itself when it lobbied for, and obtained from past heritage minister Sheila Copps, the controversial Private Copying regime. "It essentially said the making of private copies, regardless of source, was not an infringement," states McOrmond. "The interpretation of the federal court and the copyright board has been that this makes the unauthorized downloading of music for personal use not an infringement. The unauthorized uploading or sharing of music is not covered by the regime, suggesting unauthorized sharing is just as illegal in Canada as it is in other countries."
MUSIC - Canada's Maple Blues Awards by BRAD WHEELER, Globe&Mail, 17Jan2006 -- Downchild Blues Band - the durable Toronto outfit was honoured as the year's finest entertainer and top electric act at the Maple Blues Awards, an annual gala that celebrates achievements in Canadian blues. As well, Come On In!, the band's 14th album, and first since 1997, was judged recording of the year. Also gaining multiple honours was Paul Reddick, a Toronto songwriter and performer who released, to critical favour, Villanelle, a warmly-recorded roots and blues album that also earned Colin Linden recognition as the year's best producer. Reddick, whose image-laden lyrics are informed by poetry and olden blues hollers, gained trophies for songwriting and male vocals, but lost out to Toronto virtuoso Carlos del Junco as the top harmonica blower. As much as for its album, Downchild earned voters' appreciation for an extensive Canadian tour in 2005, a live schedule that saw the 36-year-old blues institution hit venues such as Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom, the Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, Sask., Toronto's Mod Club Theatre and the Capital Music Hall in Ottawa. Known for its lively rock-influenced music, the band had four of its members nominated for individual awards, including winners Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick, chosen best bassist and drummer, respectively. Though Toronto-based artists fared well, the nationwide scope of the awards was reflected in the victories of Harry Manx and Garrett Mason. British Columbia's Manx, a singular artist who won as the year's top solo performer at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in December, gained the nod as the top blues acoustic act on the strength of West Eats Meet, a recording that incorporates Eastern and Western folk influences. Young Nova Scotian guitarist Mason, son of blues legend Dutch Mason, followed up last year's Juno prize for best blues album (I'm Just a Man) with his selection as the Maple Blues top new artist. Other winners included Toronto's Jack de Keyzer (guitarist of the year), Montreal's Dawn Tyler Watson (female vocalist), Kenny Wayne (keyboard), and Chris Whiteley (horns). Lifetime-achievement honours went to Danny Marks, for his years of performing and broadcasting, and Richard Flohil, a long-time publicist and promoter whose career was recognized with the year's Blues Booster trophy. Legendary U.S. guitarist B.B. King, as he so often does, won the prize as the top international artist.
FILM & TV - Golden Globe Awards by AP 17jan06, LOS ANGELES -- A groundbreaking film about a love affair between two cowboys took top awards at the 63rd Golden Globes in a ceremony that dealt almost entirely with low-budget, art house films that have not yet broken through to blockbuster-size audiences. The Globes are known for rewarding deserving but less obvious TV shows and stars. Organizers of the Golden Globes - The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was founded more than 60 years ago by a group of Los Angeles-based journalists working for overseas publications. Its annual Golden Globe awards have enabled the non-profit organization to donate more than $5.5 million in the past eleven years to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals.
MUSIC - Alicia Keys, manager, form TV, movie production company by AP January 12, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- After conquering the world of music, Alicia Keys is expanding into movie and television production.Keys, 24, and her longtime manager, Jeff Robinson, said they have formed a company whose first project will be a UPN TV series inspired by Keys' experiences as a biracial youngster growing in New York. "A lot of times I watch TV and I watch film and there's so many things I'd love to talk about that I feel don't get the opportunity to be shown," Keys told The Associated Press. "Sometimes things become very stereotypical and one-sided, and I feel like it's such a colorful world."Their company, New York-based Big Pita, Lil' Pita, will provide "the opportunity to expose that array," Keys said in a phone call. She's also intent on developing projects that give women their due, she added."I was mostly raised by very strong women, and I consider myself one as well. So I'd like to see things explore that and see that strength shine through," she said.Keys, a singer, songwriter and musician, was born to a white mother and black father. Her parents split when she was 2 and she was raised in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York by her mom, Terri Augello.The new company's eye-catching name has a special meaning for Keys and Robinson, who have worked together for more than a decade: "Pita stands for pain in the ass," Keys said. "That's what he and I both are, so watch out."The two will serve as executive producers for their untitled TV drama, which has a script commitment from UPN and which Robinson said may be on the air by next fall. The pilot, not yet cast, will be written by Felicia Henderson ("Soul Food," "Moesha,").Keys is making her film acting debut in the upcoming "Smokin' Aces," which stars Ben Affleck and Andy Garcia.Asked about movies their company will produce, Robinson and Keys declined to provide details."I couldn't give away all my secrets," Keys said in her trademark husky tones. But she said the films will be "the most thrilling" aspect of the company's work.The goal is to create projects she's proud of, Keys said _ and some with juicy roles for her."One of the great parts of being able to produce your own movie is to come up with a story that you find interesting. ... You don't have to wait for someone to tell you what they think" you should do, she said.She labeled herself a "very independent person. People do tend to call me a control freak, and I will gladly say that I am, in a good way. I'm totally involved in what I do."Keys began playing piano when she was 7, with dance and voice lessons following. She studied at the Professional Performance Arts School in New York, graduating at 16 and studying at Columbia University briefly before deciding to devote herself full-time to music. Her first album, "Songs in A Minor," debuted atop the Billboard chart in 2001 when she was 20.With nine Grammy Awards to her name, Keys is nominated for five more at next month's ceremony, including best R&B album for "Unplugged."She vowed that her music won't suffer as she expands into new areas."I'm a juggler by nature, that's how I've always been. My dream is to be part of a multitude of things. These activities feed back into my music, my music feeds back into these activities."Asked about her next album, she said: "It's bubbling. I'm very excited about it."Robinson, president of MBK Entertainment, attests to Keys' ability to handle a heavy load."Alicia is a very energetic workaholic. She's always thinking. We're always feeding ideas off each other _ which generates huge cell-phone bills, by the way," Robinson said."I'm constantly telling her to slow down, let's not conquer the world in one day. But she wants to do it all."
MUSIC - Beach Boys sue over lost memorabilia by UPI Jan 13, 2006 -- The Beach Boys launched a $20 million federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles charges memorabilia stored North Hollywood was stolen and put up for auction in London. The veteran Southern California rockers staved off a scheduled Oct. 28 Cooper Owen Auction of their possessions in London. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court claims warehouse owner Allan Gaba kept more than a dozen crates belonging to the band members when they moved their belongings out of his facility in 1994, The Los Angeles Times reported. The suit also charges Roy Sciacca of Gem Systems Inc., a production and memorabilia company with offices in Agoura Hills, Calif., and Nevada, lied to Cooper Owen about where the goods came from, saying they had been purchased decades earlier, the Times said. Neither Gaba nor Sciacca could be reached for comment.
BOOKS - Doubleday to add author's note to future editions by cbc.ca 13dec06 -- Future editions of James Frey's hotly contested memoir A Million Little Pieces will include an author's note about the content, his publisher revealed . A spokesperson for Doubleday Books declined to say exactly what the note will include or why it was being added to the book, which tells the story of the author's criminal past and his battle with addiction. Although many memoirs carry a note to readers stating that names and events have been altered, Frey's did not. Controversy has swirled around Frey and his book this week since the release last Sunday of an in-depth investigation into segments of A Million Little Pieces by the Smoking Gun website. Site editors alleged that Frey had fabricated or significantly exaggerated aspects of his past in the retelling. During an interview n CNN's Larry King Live, and at other times, Frey has admitted to embellishing parts of the story. However, he maintains that these alternations are common in the memoir genre. On the show, he defended the "emotional truth" of his work. "The essential truth of [my] drug and alcohol addiction is there. The emotional truth is there," Frey told host Larry King. "I think you will find people who will dispute every memoir ever written." Daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who helped vault Frey's 2003 memoir into bestseller status last fall by selecting it for her book club, phoned in near the end of the King interview Wednesday night to throw her support behind Frey. "What is relevant is that he was a drug addict … and stepped out of that history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves," Winfrey said.
COPYRIGHT - Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce by L.E.Harris NewsVol. 10, No. 1, Jan11, 2006
EC EXAMINES DATABASE DIRECTIVE - A recent European Commission study examined theeffectiveness of its database directive, which was introduced to stimulatedatabase production. The EC found that, since the implementation of itsdirective, which created a broad intellectual property right on the compilationof facts, database production in the European Union has actually fallenslightly.
AUSTRALIA TO LEGALIZE PERSONAL COPYING - The Australian government is set tolegalize personal copying, such as videotaping television shows and copyingsongs from CDs to MP3 players. The introduction of fair use provisions willmean that Australians will no longer be breaking the law each time they tape aTV show or copy music. The government has yet to decide whether to introduce alevy on blank recording media such as CDs and iPods.
FRANCE COULD SANCTION FREE ONLINE DOWNLOADS - The French Parliament voted inlate December 2005 to pave the way for legalizing peer-to-peer downloading ofcopyright-protected music and movies. French law currently includes a conceptcalled "private copy", which allows people to copy music and other content forthemselves and their friends, and although a French court recently held thatdownloaded music does meet the "private copy" definition, the amendment wouldcodify and solidify this decision. The Association of Audionauts, a grouprepresenting some 100 people accused of illegal file-sharing, is proposing aroyalty tax on Internet Service Providers to compensate copyright-holders.
MUSIC PUBLISHERS TARGET UNLICENSED SHEET MUSIC - The Music Publishers'Association ("MPA") is to send "cease and desist" letters to commercial Websites that offer copyright-protected print music. The planned action marks thefirst time that the MPA has adopted a collective approach to alleged copyrightinfringement by commercial Web sites.
CARTOONIST SUES AMAZON FOR BREACH OF COPYRIGHT - Robert Crumb, thecounterculture artist behind characters such as Fritz the Cat, has filed acopyright infringement lawsuit against Amazon.com. Amazon were displayingCrumb's famous "Keep on Truckin' " image whenever an item was not in stock,with instructions to keep searching. Although Amazon has since removed theimage, the parties have been unable to agree upon a figure for damages.
CANADIAN COPYSHOP OWNER GETS PRISON SENTENCE - Riaz Lari, owner of the UComputecopyshop in Montreal, was sentenced to six months in prison for violation ofprevious court orders to stop selling illegally photocopied textbooks. Lari'ssentence was suspended on condition that he complies with a permanentinjunction that prohibits him from selling the photocopied textbooks.
UK ARTISTS SEEK INCREASED ROYALTIES FOR MUSIC DOWNLOADS - Songwriters in the UKare asking the UK copyright tribunal to award them between 7 pence and 9 pencefor every music track downloaded from the Internet. The composers currentlyreceive 5 pence a track, and the British Phonographic Industry wants to cutthis amount to 2 pence.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CD-ROM DECISION TO STAND - The U.S. Supreme Court hasrefused to review a ruling that allowed National Geographic to reproduce imagesin a CD-ROM format. The U.S. Court of Appeals decision, which held that theCD-ROM was a revision of an existing work rather than a new work, had beenchallenged by freelance photographers, who claimed that the addition of newmaterials made the CD-ROM a new work.
NUMBER OF MUSIC FILE-SWAPPERS FALLS - The number of Americans illegally swappingmusic online has dropped by 11% since the 2005 Supreme Court decision inGrokster, according to pollsters NPD Group. However, the number of filesswapped has stayed the same, suggesting that although some casual downloadersmay have stopped file-swapping, the most active sharers remain online.
MUSIC - NARAS present the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards -- Having now celebrated 47 years of musical excellence through the GRAMMY Awards, NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premier outlet for honoring achievements in the recording arts and supporting the music community. The recording industry's most prestigious award, the GRAMMY, is presented annually by The Recording Academy. A GRAMMY is awarded by The Recording Academy's voting membership to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. It is truly a peer honor, awarded by and to artists and technical professionals for artistic or technical achievement, not sales or chart positions. The annual GRAMMY Awards presentation brings together thousands of creative and technical professionals in the recording industry from all over the world. The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Staples Center in Los Angeles & broadcast live on CBS at 8pm.
MUSIC - Legal Music Downloads Reach New Record - Figures from Nielsen SoundScan revealed that the final week of 2005 set a new record for most music tracks legally downloaded during a one-week period, with 20 million tracks. The previous record was set one week earlier, with 9.5 million tracks sold. For the year, downloaded track sales increased nearly 150 percent from 2004, with 352 million tracks sold.
THEATER - 'The Phantom' Sets All-Time Mark on Broadway by Jeffrey Lunden, NPR 10jan06 -- Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera became the longest-running show in Broadway history Monday. The streak of 7,486 shows over nearly 18 years breaks the uber-composer's own record, which he set with Cats. Since 1988, 11 million people have seen The Phantom on Broadway, where the show has netted more than half a billion dollars in tickets. And, almost 18 years since it opened, it's still playing at near capacity. Lines of ticket holders snake around the block before each performance at the Majestic Theatre. That's a far cry from the early 1980s, when the idea for the show came to composer Andrew Lloyd Webber when he picked up a copy of the 1910 Gaston Leroux novel about a disfigured man in a mask who haunts the Paris Opera and falls in love with a beautiful young singer. Lloyd Webber says he didn't think much of the novel -- but he thought it might make a good show. "I was very keen to write something that was a high romance," says Lloyd Webber. "Having done Evita and having done Cats and various things which didn't let me kind of go in that direction at all." So in 1986, The Phantom of the Opera opened in London, starring Michael Crawford -- known only for musical comedy at the time -- and Sarah Brightman, who was then Lloyd Webber's wife. It came to New York two years later, with the same nucleus of a cast -- and an unprecedented $18 million box office advance. Phantom director Hal Prince has won a Broadway-record 20 Tony Awards. His theory for its success is that audiences recognize a piece of themselves in the tortured Phantom's plight. "Phantom of the Opera is not exactly a brain-twister, but psychologically, there's something going on that touches people and makes them think about their own responses to deformity -- what are their reactions; you know, just how romantic are they?" There have been many adventures along the way -- some intended, and some not. For instance, the show's remote-control boat, which conveys Christine into the Phantom's lair, has proven vulnerable to radio signals from passing taxicabs. "You know, these things happen," says Phantom portrayer Howard McGillin, who has played the show's lead in 1,400 performances. "The audience, I think, loves that stuff, because you feel like you're in on a moment that's really spontaneous." Audiences have certainly found enough moments of scripted spontaneity and energy to keep them in the seats -- and keep the show onstage. As Lloyd Webber says of his work taking up the top two spots in Broadway history, "I never thought it would happen with Cats" -- much less that Phantom of the Opera would overtake it.
RADIO - Howard Stern on Sirius Satellite Radio by D.Hinckley, Daily News 09jan06 -- The biggest gamble in the short life of satellite radio begins as Howard Stern starts what he calls his creative rebirth at Sirius. The most prominent morning host on commercial radio for 20 years, Stern joined Sirius because he says the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) vague content guidelines made it impossible for him to do his "real show" any more. Because satellite listeners pay a monthly subscription fee, like cable TV watchers, the FCC does not regulate content - though Stern's arrival has amplified calls for such regulation to be authorized. Stern's switch to Sirius, with his colorful promise of no-holds-barred radio, has triggered a tidal wave of publicity and raised at least two longer-term questions. First, how much attention will he receive three, six or 12 months from now? While satellite's reach makes his show available everywhere, his initial Sirius audience will be only l5%-20% of what it has been on terrestrial radio. Second, will he give satellite radio in general the promotional push for which Sirius and rival XM are hoping? Both Sirius and XM have bled billions of dollars in startup costs and routinely run multimillion-dollar quarterly operating deficits. Sirius says it has committed half a billion dollars to Stern's show, and just last week announced he was getting a bonus of more than $200 million in Sirius stock. Sirius clearly is counting on a windfall payback down the line, in subscription and advertising revenue. Right at the moment, both XM and Sirius say subscriptions are running strong. XM says it just passed six million and projects nine million by yearend. Sirius says it ended 2005 with 3.3 million, many of the new ones Stern-driven, and projects six million by yearend. That puts satellite listenership ahead of many past projections, which envisioned 20 million radios in service by 2010. Some Wall Street analysts still see Sirius stock as a gamble, while XM seems to be generally regarded as a solid player.
BOOKS & FILM - Music Mogul Richard Branson sees Asian animation as the future of film by Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent 07Jan2006 -- He has built an empire on music, planes and trains. Now Richard Branson is expanding into the comic-book and animation business. The multimillionaire's books division is teaming up with the Gotham Entertainment Group, the leading comic publisher in south Asia, to produce new magazines with spin-offs in movies, animations, toys and video games. Shekhar Kapur, who directed the film Elizabeth, and Deepak Chopra, the author of best-selling books on alternative medicine are contracted to produce up to 100 storylines, mostly in English, designed for the Asian audience. The project is founded on the belief that in the next decade Asia will become one of the largest producers and consumers of entertainment products. The first film from Virgin is already scheduled for this summer under the director John Woo, whose work includes Face/Off. The new business will be divided into Virgin Comics, with offices in New York, and Virgin Animation, with a staff of up to 150 people, mainly artists, working in Bangalore within 18 months. The concept is the brainchild of Sharad Devarajan, who heads Gotham Entertainment, and Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son. Mr Devarajan said they hoped to reach a global audience with their new comics and films but also start a "creative renaissance" in India. In the US, sales of graphic novels have grown by 44.7 per cent in the past year and the market has doubled in the UK since 2003. Kapur said: "The art of the two-hour captive, non-interactive product called the 'movie' is history. Comic book characters are the new cult, the new religion." He has built an empire on music, planes and trains. Now Richard Branson is expanding into the comic-book and animation business. The multimillionaire's books division is teaming up with the Gotham Entertainment Group, the leading comic publisher in south Asia, to produce new magazines with spin-offs in movies, animations, toys and video games. Shekhar Kapur, who directed the film Elizabeth, and Deepak Chopra, the author of best-selling books on alternative medicine are contracted to produce up to 100 storylines, mostly in English, designed for the Asian audience. The project is founded on the belief that in the next decade Asia will become one of the largest producers and consumers of entertainment products. The first film from Virgin is already scheduled for this summer under the director John Woo, whose work includes Face/Off. The new business will be divided into Virgin Comics, with offices in New York, and Virgin Animation, with a staff of up to 150 people, mainly artists, working in Bangalore within 18 months. The concept is the brainchild of Sharad Devarajan, who heads Gotham Entertainment, and Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son. Mr Devarajan said they hoped to reach a global audience with their new comics and films but also start a "creative renaissance" in India. In the US, sales of graphic novels have grown by 44.7 per cent in the past year and the market has doubled in the UK since 2003. Kapur said: "The art of the two-hour captive, non-interactive product called the 'movie' is history. Comic book characters are the new cult, the new religion."
MUSIC - Michael Jackson Souvenir Law Suit Tossed by Josh Grossberg Jan 5, 2006 -- Michael Jackson apparently has other things to worry about than some missing memorabilia. A federal judge has tossed a $10 million lawsuit brought two years ago by the erstwhile King of Pop against a New Jersey businessman over disputed Jackson family mementos because Jackson stopped pursuing the matter in court. In March 2004, the Gloved One sued Henry Vaccaro, a construction company owner based in Asbury Park, accusing him of wrongly taking possession of old Jackson props, photos, personal notes and assorted doodads following a dispute with other Jackson family members. Vaccaro scored the cache of collectibles--which also included gold records, costumes and personal items such as skin bleach, pictures and even underwear--after a long legal battle with Michael's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, and brothers Tito and Jermaine. The case was settled in 2002, with Vaccaro taking ownership of a warehouse full of family belongings. Vaccaro launched two pay-per-view Websites, TheJacksonVault.com and MichaelJacksonCircus.com, attempting to sell the stash. In April 2004, Michael Jackson's lawyers obtained a restraining order forcing Vaccaro to stop using Jackson's mug and moniker on the sites and forbidding the sale of any items the Moonwalker claimed were his. By then, Vaccaro contended, it was too late. Vaccaro claimed to have shut down the domains after Jackson lawyers first notified his bank of the lawsuit. He also said a European collector had snapped up the entire collection for more than $1.4 million. Jackson's lawyer, Brian Wolf, said his client's possessions should not have been included in the sale, only those belonging to the rest of the Jackson clan. He hoped to negotiate the return of the items. According to court documents, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled in favor of the suit's dismissal after the singer's attorneys failed to go ahead with the case. Jackson's legal team was preoccupied fighting child-molestation charges, of which he was acquitted last June. Following that court victory, Jackson took up residence in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain. Jackson's reported cash-flow problems--his myriad legal battles and extravagant ways have apparently drained his bank account--might have also factored in to his lack of pursuing the Vaccaro case. Reps for Jackson and Vaccaro did not respond to calls for comment on the dismissal. Jackson, meanwhile, told the BBC last week that he was still at work on his long-gestating all-star Hurricane Katrina benefit single, supposedly featuring contributions by Mariah Carey, James Brown and Snoop Dogg, among others. The project has languished since Jackson first announced it back in September.
FILM - Annual SAG & Directors Guild Awards by David Germain, Canadian Press Jan 05, 2006 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented Jan. 29 in a ceremony televised on TNT and TBS. The Directors Guild of America will present its awards Jan. 28.
MUSIC - Five new inductees into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame by cbc.ca 04 Jan 2006 -- A gala ceremony featuring these and other top performers will be held Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Singer and poet Leonard Cohen, Quebec singer-songwriter Gilles Vigneault, big band composer Carmen Lombardo, ragtime composer William Eckstein and classical composer and lyricist Lionel Daunais are being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Three others, singer Anne Murray, record industry pioneer Herbert Berliner and Quebec singer and radio host Lucille Dumont will receive Legacy Awards for their contributions to songwriting in Canada. CBC Radio One will broadcast highlights of the ceremony on Feb. 6 and CBC Radio Two plans a longer broadcast later the same day. The gala will appear on CBC Television in a one-hour special presentation on March 6. CBC Radio's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher will host the gala. Rufus Wainwright, Louise Pitre, Sarah Slean, Claire Pelletier, Jarvis Church, and Jimmy Rankin are also scheduled to perform. A full lineup of which of the inducted songs will be performed and who will perform them will be released later this month. Nelson has requested to sing a Cohen song. The gala will include musical tributes to Cohen, Murray and Dumont by a new generation of artists. Five of Cohen's songs, including Hallelujah, Suzanne and Bird on a Wire, are on a list of 26 songs that will be added to the commemorative lists in the Hall of Fame. Among the songs to be inducted is Sugar Sugar, which will be performed at the gala by original writer Andy Kim with reggae-rock group Bedouin Soundclash. The Stampeders will sing their inducted song, Sweet City Woman, with country group Doc Walker. Gilles Vigneault's timeless classic Mon Pays will be performed by his daughter Jessica Vigneault and Martin Léon. Hot young artist Marie-Mai and Fred St-Gelais will sing his Pendant Que. Founded in 1998 by music publisher Frank Davies, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of popular music songwriters in Canadian history.
MUSIC - Headphones deafen you, "Who" star tells iPod fans by Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter January 04, 2006 -- THE WHO’S guitarist Pete Townshend has warned the iPod generation to turn the volume down, after revealing that increasing deafness may force him into retirement. Townshend, 60, famed for his guitar-smashing escapades, said that he had been unable to complete recording sessions for a new Who album because of the irreparable hearing loss he has suffered. “I have terrible hearing trouble,” he said. “I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf.” Writing on his website, Townshend said that excessive volume at the group’s explosive 1960s concerts was not the cause. He blamed the earsplitting sounds emitted through studio headphones during years of recording. He warned the users of iPod headphones: “My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead. The downside [to downloading] . . . may be that we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound.” Noise-induced hearing loss is caused when the delicate hair nerves of the ear suffer continuing trauma from loud sound vibrations. Users of portable music players are advised to limit listening to one hour a day and keep the volume down, but research found that four out of ten young adults listened for longer. Apple iPods sold in Britain comply with EU volume standards and can play only at up to 104 decibels. Musicians are particularly vulnerable to hearing loss. Phil Collins, 54, has suffered a 60 per cent hearing loss and the American rapper Foxy Brown, 26, is to undergo an operation to restore her hearing after going almost totally deaf. Townshend said that work with Roger Daltrey on the first studio album from The Who for 25 years and plans for a world tour this year had been delayed because “my ears are ringing, loudly”. Although he can still hear speech, he has to take a 36-hour break between bouts of recording to allow his ears to recover. Beethoven continued composing despite losing his hearing but Townshend finds recording impossible at times. Describing an attempt over Christmas, he wrote: “With my hearing rolling off severely now at around three or four kilohertz, I don’t have much luck with high harmonics or piano overtones. Needless to say, I didn’t finish what I started. “Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. Music is a calling for life. You can write it when you’re deaf, but you can’t hear it or perform it.” About 4.7 million Britons, one in ten adults, are estimated to suffer from tinnitus. Good quality earplugs can reduce the noise level by up to 20 decibels at a rock concert. Townshend blamed the “often accidental buzzes, shrieks and poor connections that cause temporary high-level sounds” in recording studio headphones for his plight. Barbra Streisand also suffers from tinnitus and Peter Stringfellow has to wear a hearing aid as a result of years spent in noisy nightclubs. Townshend also disclosed that the late John Entwistle, The Who’s bassist, played out of time at concerts because he too couldn’t hear properly. For information on protecting your hearing access http://www.dontlosethemusic.com/ or http://www.markvinet.com/
BOOKS - Britain's prestigious Whitbread Book Awards by London Guardian 03jan05 -- The Whitbread prizes are awarded in five categories - novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book. Each category winner receives $8,700. One of the five finalists will receive the $43,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award. British retail and leisure group Whitbread Group PLC announced last year that it would no longer sponsor the prizes, which were founded in 1971 and are open to residents of Britain and the Republic of Ireland. A search is underway for a new backer.
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MERCHANDISING & COPYRIGHT - Jessica Simpson Faces Copyright Infringement Lawsuit by Mitch Marconi PageSix.com Jan 30, 2006 -- After going through a painful divorce process, blonde singer and actress Jessica Simpson is now facing a federal lawsuit, after a Los Angeles woman filed papers accusing the star of copying her trademarked cosmetics range, according to published reports. Mara Fox reportedly launched Love Potion beauty products back in 1989 and now believes Simpson and business partners Sephora and D'Lish Fragrance infringed her copyright when they launched Dessert Beauty Deliciously Kissable Love Potion in 2004. Simpson also endorses acne treatment Proactiv and she is using herself to promote the image of the cosmetic line. Jessica was married to Nick Lacey and they starred in MTV's 'Newllyweds' as a happy couple. As if the drama surrounding her divorce wasn't bad enough for her, now she's got to face an unexpected lawsuit.
MUSIC -- Shakin' All Over Revisits Canadian Music From The '60s by Steve McLean, Chart Attack, 27jan2006 -- Canada's music scene is probably the hottest it's ever been right now, but today's stars owe a large debt to their predecessors who helped create a viable Canadian music industry and make this country the hotbed for talent that it's become. Shakin' All Over, a two-hour CBC-TV special (soon on DVD) shines the spotlight on many of these pioneers. The show is based on Nicholas Jennings' excellent 1998 book, Before The Gold Rush: Flashbacks To The Dawn Of The Canadian Sound, which chronicled the country's '60s musical revolution. Narrator Jian Ghomeshi and Jennings, who conducted more than 60 interviews across North America for the special, introduce you to a number of bands and artists who remain well-known today, as well as several you've probably never heard of unless you're a major Canadian music history junkie. "Not many of these shows get made, and there's a good reason," says Jennings of the three years he put into the project. "They're so time-consuming and labour-intensive. To get as many artists and as many songs as we got into the show was a huge amount of work." In addition to the usual suspects you'd expect to find, like The Guess Who, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, Shakin' All Over pays as much attention to relative unknowns like Vancouver's The Seeds Of Time, Ottawa's The Esquires and Montreal's Les Sultans. "There was a mini scene in every major city that supported a healthy roster of bands," explains Jennings. "When you look closely at those artists, they were as much a part of the scene as the big icons. "For every Randy Bachman or Gordon Lightfoot, there were all these other artists that they listened to and respected. We were able to make it like a love-in, where all the musicians talked about each other and what great songs their colleagues wrote." Jennings also spoke to a variety of current musicians — including Sarah Harmer, Matthew Good, Hawksley Workman, 54.40's Neil Osborne, Barenaked Ladies' Steven Page, Sarah Slean and Sloan's Jay Ferguson — to get their perspectives on their musical forefathers. "If you listen to records by The Ugly Ducklings or The Great Scots, they could almost be a hit in this day, because it's so contemporary with the revival of that sound by The White Stripes and The Hives," says Ferguson. The special is brimming with rarely seen archival TV footage from Canada and the U.S., while some classic songs are given new life by modern artists to help bring things full circle. If you miss the show on TV, Jennings says that EMI Canada plans to release it on DVD along with at least one companion CD highlighting some of the memorable music to emerge from the early days of Canadian rock. "Canadian songs of the '60s stand the test of time," he insists. "Canada has always had the strength of songcraft."
BOOKS - THE U.S. BOOK INDUSTRY ENJOYED STRONG GROWTH IN 2005, posting a 9.3%year-over-year increase, according to Nielsen BookScan. BookScan counts most but not all of the book sales. INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE STATISTICS.The average store is in its 12th year of business.The oldest stores are 70, 76, 99, 112 and 129 years old. 2% gross less than a million dollars a year.19% are less than 1000 square feet. 67% are more than 1000 but less than 4000 square feet. 14% are larger than 4000 square feet. The smallest is 305 square feet and the largest is 40,000 square feet. 62% have websites. 96% have email addresses. source: The Southeast Booksellers Assn. (SEBA) as reported in Remainder News.
INTERNET - Sex.com website sells for whopping $12 million by Newindpress, Jan25 2006 -- In one of the biggest sales of a website name, sex.com has changed hands for $12 million, its new owners say.The group of Boston-based investors Tuesday on said they plan to use the instantly recognisable name to create "a market-leading adult entertainment destination by offering compelling, next-generation web interaction experiences".The site was owned by a web entrepreneur who also founded the online dating site match.com.The deal is the highest price ever paid for an Internet domain name, easily beating the previous high of $7.5 million paid for the domain name business.com in 1999.
MUSIC - Rapper Nas Is to Join Label Led by Former Rival Jay-Z by Jeff Leeds NY Times, Jan23, 2006 -- The rap superstars Jay-Z and Nas, who hurled bitter insults at each other in rhyme for years in one of rap's most prominent feuds, have reached a deal that would formalize their much-publicized recent truce and transform the two onetime foes into business partners, according to music industry executives involved in the arrangement. The long-rumored deal sets the stage for Nas to join the artist roster of Def Jam Recordings, the rap label where Jay-Z became president last year in an unusual executive shuffle. But the two stars' personal cease-fire also evolved into an unconventional treaty of sorts between their competing record labels. As part of the deal, Nas's longtime record company, Sony Music, and Def Jam will split the profits - or any loss - from his next two albums, the sources said. Def Jam is expected to lay out the cost of producing and marketing the recordings, and to divide the profits after recovering its expenses. The two music companies will jointly plan and oversee the albums' marketing campaigns. The agreement pays Nas about $3 million, including a recording budget, for each of the first two albums, and provides for two additional albums with Def Jam, the sources said. Sony also retains the right to release a Nas greatest hits album, they added. Representatives from Def Jam and Sony declined to comment. As a result of the deal, Nas's next album instantly becomes one of hip-hop's most anticipated recordings of the year. It is expected to include the first significant collaboration between two wordsmiths who long battled each other for the title of New York's best rapper. The two stars stunned fans in October, when Jay-Z was to headline a radio-sponsored concert at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. He had titled the performance "I Declare War" and billed it as a chance to settle scores. Instead, near the end of the show, Jay-Z, announced, "It's bigger than 'I Declare War.' " Nas, dressed in an Army jacket, appeared onstage, and the crowd roared. The two performed and then embraced, ending their long-standing dispute. The rapprochement was an unusual moment in modern hip-hop, where the list of "beefs," or quarrels between rivals, is so extensive that the commercial rap field occasionally draws comparisons to professional wrestling. But there is a basic difference: the taunts and insults batted back and forth between rappers have occasionally turned into real-world violence, as when a shootout erupted between the entourage of Lil' Kim and supporters of her rival Foxy Brown in 2001 outside the offices of the hip-hop station Hot 97, WQHT-FM. Indeed, critics have complained that the industry's top rappers, record labels and radio stations intentionally stoke such tensions and imperil lives for financial gain. Some observers suggest that the rivalry between Nas and Jay-Z - regarded as veterans in a field where music trends shift overnight - had simply worn itself out.The drama of a feud "sells when you're young and you're believably in a situation where it can be dangerous," said Sacha Jenkins, editorial director of Mass Appeal, an urban lifestyle magazine based in Brooklyn. "It's just not believable from two grown men. I think they're making a unique and potentially wise business decision." Music executives at the two companies are betting it will be a lucrative one. Nas had one more album due on his contract with Sony; now the company will have, in essence, half of two Nas albums, while remaining in a position to keep working with the rapper on a variety of other projects, including a possible film. For its part, Def Jam and its corporate parent, Universal Music Group, add a respected artist to their ranks at a time when the label is trying to refresh its roster. (Def Jam also recently negotiated the exit of one of its veteran acts, DMX, who signed a reported three-album deal with Sony.) Shifts in relationships among artists have driven the two companies to make power- and profit-sharing deals before, as in the case of the rock band Audioslave (created from the ashes of the Sony rap-rock act Rage Against the Machine and the Universal grunge-rock band Soundgarden). The two companies take turns distributing the band's albums. In this case, though, Def Jam and its president will be promoting a rap star whose commercial clout has been called into questioned by Jay-Z himself. Nas, whose real name is Nasir Jones, has sold more than 11 million albums, according to Nielsen SoundScan data, starting with his classic 1994 debut, "Illmatic." (Jay-Z has sold roughly twice that amount.) Nas's most recent release, "Street's Disciple" in 2004, sold an estimated 687,000 copies, though it was a more expensive two-CD set. Before their recent reconciliation, the two had skewered each other for years in a battle in which they appeared to represent two versions of hip-hop, with Jay-Z cast as the savvy hustler and Nas as the brooding street poet. The rappers emerged as adversaries during the jockeying over who would reign as New York's top rapper after the 1997 shooting death of Notorious B.I.G., also known as Biggie Smalls. It boiled over in 2001, when the two released new albums that included songs directly attacking each other. Jay-Z, in the song "Takeover," teased his rival for selling fewer albums, rapping that Nas "fell from top 10 to not mentioned at all." Nas fired back with the incendiary track "Ether," in which he accused Jay-Z of plagiarism, asking "How much of Biggie's rhymes is gon' come out your fat lips?" Jay-Z then responded with a hastily recorded track, "Super Ugly," that described his affair with the mother of Nas's child. In an interview later on Hot 97, Jay-Z apologized to the woman's family and said his mother had called on his cellphone to chastise him for going too far. More recently, the two had retreated from their harshest criticisms, but their public peacemaking still caught many fans by surprise. Mr. Jenkins suggested that the two stars might have realized they had beaten the odds and had the chance to enjoy career longevity in the corporate music world. "In order to be productive in that world," he added, "certain things have to change and you leave certain things behind."
MUSIC - 50 Cent sued by rapper by IPC MEDIA 23jan06 -- He allegedly stole a lyric for 'In Da Club' 50 Cent is being sued by another rapper for allegedly stealing a lyric for his 2003 single 'In Da Club'. The former frontman of 2 Live Crew, Luther Campbell has filed a claim at Miami Federal Court that says 50 used the opening line of Campbell's song 'It's Your Birthday' and changed just one word. According to Campbell's lawyer, in 'In Da Club', 'Sheila' becomes 'shorty' in the lyric 'Go shorty, it's your birthday'. Campbell's version of the song appeared on his 1994 solo album 'Still A Freak For Life'. 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - was unavailable for comment, BBC News reports. The claim was filed on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein Music, who hold the copyright for 'It's Your Birthday'.Richard C Wolfe, Campbell's lawyer, said: "It's the melody, it's the pace, the style - everything about that one line is the same. We're entitled to a portion of the profits." It is also claimed in the case that Campbell's song 'I Like It, I Love It' can be heard on 50 Cent's 2003 DVD '50 Cent - The New Breed'. In addition to lawyers' fees and other legal costs, Campbell is seeking unspecified damages. Wolfe won a $2.3 million (£1.2 million) judgement against Campbell in 1994 for another rapper who claimed that the 2 Live Crew frontman withheld royalties.
MUSIC - Clarkson drops objection to use of her songs on `Idol' by David Bauder Associated Press 23jan06 -- Singer Kelly Clarkson, who vaulted to fame in 2002 as the first winner of TV's ``American Idol,'' made the news again last week when she announced that she would not be letting any of her songs be used by new contestants on the show.
But then Simon Cowell, the most acerbic of the show's judges, scolded her publicly. And now she has changed her mind. Roger Widynowski, a spokesman for Sony BMG, the parent company of Clarkson's record label, said her management is negotiating with the show over which of her songs can be used. ``American Idol'' must obtain permission from the owners of song licenses before music can be used. And while many love the exposure, some artists rigidly control the use of their songs. Early last week, Widynowski said Clarkson would not allow any of her songs to be licensed for other uses. ``It has nothing to do with `Idol,' '' he said. But then Cowell issued a public blasting of the singer, telling her, ``I think that by ignoring the show, you're ignoring the audience who put you there.
``No matter how talented Kelly Clarkson is, she would not be in the position she's in now without winning this show,'' Cowell said. ``And forget the way she feels about us or the producers or anybody else. It's the public who bothered to pick up the phone to vote for her. If she refuses to give songs to be used on the show, it's like saying to every person who voted for her, `You know what? I'm not interested in you anymore.' '' Widynowski initially had no comment on Cowell's remarks. Clarkson has become a major star in the past year, with her recording of ``Since U Been Gone'' triggering both massive sales and critical respect, even from a rock community that has looked warily upon ``American Idol'' contestants. Before her recent success, Clarkson fired Simon Fuller, who created ``American Idol,'' as her manager, saying that although he is a ``great guy,'' she needed someone who could give her career more attention. She teamed with Swedish hitmaker Max Martin on ``Since U Been Gone.'' In an interview last year, Clarkson said she knows she'll always be identified as an ``American Idol'' and she has no problems with that. Kelly Clarkson won`t let `American Idol` use her songs - LOS ANGELES (UPI) 19jan06 -- An 'American Idol' judge has some harsh words for the Fox TV talent show`s first winner, Kelly Clarkson, who hasn`t agreed to let 'Idol' use her songs. Simon Cowell said if it turns out the star is trying to disassociate herself with the show that launched her, it would be career suicide, the New York Post reported Wednesday. 'That (would be) a big mistake,' Cowell said Tuesday. 'When they walk away from the show and try to forget ... it`s not the show itself (that is affected), it`s the people who bothered to vote week after week. 'They`re the people who put her where she is today. And I think that by ignoring the show, you`re ignoring the audience that put you there.' A spokesman for Clarkson could not be reached, but 'American Idol' executive producer Nigel Lythgoe speculated it could be less of a controversy and more of a paperwork misunderstanding, the Post said.
FILM - Robert Redford: Sundance Film festival retains indie spirit by Associated Press 19Jan2006 PARK CITY, Utah -- The Sundance Film festival may look as though it's gone Hollywood with all the celebrity bashes and corporate logos splashed around town. But those are trappings outside the control of Sundance, which has never wavered from its mission of discovery for new film talent, said Robert Redford, whose Sundance Institute oversees the festival. At a news conference as the 11-day festival opened Thursday, Redford said Sundance's knack for showcasing films that went on to commercial success drew marketers hoping to share the limelight."Once the festival achieved a certain level of notoriety, then people began to come here with agendas that were not the same as ours," Redford said. "We can't do anything about that. We can't control that." While film fans crowd festival theaters to catch some of the 120 feature-length movies playing at Sundance, this ski-resort town buzzes with parties, concerts and other events to promote products ranging from jewelry and jeans to washing machines and sports-utility vehicles.One reporter asked Redford if Sundance had evolved into a festival with a "Butch Cassidy" or a "Sundance Kid" personality, referring to the actor's pairing with Paul Newman in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.""Neither one," said Redford, who played Sundance to Newman's Butch. "It's hard for me to answer questions about `Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.' And also, it's such a commercial phrasing. I don't know that we've seen ourselves in that perspective. You might say `Treasure of the Sierra Madre.'"
MUSIC COPYRIGHT - Canadian mp3 tax collectors by p2p news 10 Jan 2006 -- "Music-loving federal tax collectors in B.C. used government computer servers to store and share more than 800 pirated MP3 files, according to an internal investigation report, " says the Vancouver Sun, emphasising it obtained the document through the Access to Information Act. The files were, "only uncovered during routine maintenance of the Canada Revenue Agency's network," the story states. "The possession of MP3 files can potentially cause a storage burden on CRA's networks as well as the possibility of breaking copyright infringement laws," says the CRA report, also saying, "a total of seven CRA employees in B.C. were found to have MP3 files on their computers". According to a recent report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, "Canadians download more pirated music than the residents of any other country," states the Vancouver Sun categorically, probably referring to the the OECD Information Technology Outlook report for 2004. However, the OECD study says nothing of the kind. In fact, the US accounted for more half the total the world's file-sharers, followed by Germany (10.2%), Canada (8.0%) and France (7.8%), reported the OECD, stating that governments around the world should develop new policies to balance the interests of suppliers, and consumers, providing protection for intellectual property rights, but making it easier to distribute music and other content online. The OECD also said about a third of all Net users in OECD countries, France, the United States, the UK, Germany, and others, have downloaded files from p2p networks. Meanwhile, five of the people cited by the CAR, "had only a handful of songs on the server, but one employee was storing 117 and another 733," says the story. But the 733 files were, "placed in a folder titled 'music' that was 'set up so that anyone logged on to CRA's networks could gain access to these files'," the story says, still quoting the CAR document. It's interesting to see the files described as 'pirated' with the images that evokes "We need to be clear that the use and sharing of mp3 files may have been authorized by the copyright holders, and that the existence of mp3 files or the use of peer-to-peer software doesn't itself constitute or prove copyright infringement," says Digital Copyright Canada's Russell McOrmond (top right). "It's this fact, not problems in Canadian Copyright law, that caused the major labels to loose their case in front of the federal court when trying to get the names of 29 people using peer-to-peer sharing tools." In March, 2004, "We are confident that the court will require internet service providers to disclose the identities of alleged digital music infringers," said CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association of America) general counsel Richard Pfohl . However, Justice Konrad von Finckenstein decided, "No evidence was presented that the alleged infringers either distributed or authorised the reproduction of sound recordings. They merely placed personal copies into their shared directories which were accessible by other computer user(s) via a P2P service." McOrmond says the situation with the unauthorized downloading of music in Canada was complicated by the music and recording industry itself when it lobbied for, and obtained from past heritage minister Sheila Copps, the controversial Private Copying regime. "It essentially said the making of private copies, regardless of source, was not an infringement," states McOrmond. "The interpretation of the federal court and the copyright board has been that this makes the unauthorized downloading of music for personal use not an infringement. The unauthorized uploading or sharing of music is not covered by the regime, suggesting unauthorized sharing is just as illegal in Canada as it is in other countries."
MUSIC - Canada's Maple Blues Awards by BRAD WHEELER, Globe&Mail, 17Jan2006 -- Downchild Blues Band - the durable Toronto outfit was honoured as the year's finest entertainer and top electric act at the Maple Blues Awards, an annual gala that celebrates achievements in Canadian blues. As well, Come On In!, the band's 14th album, and first since 1997, was judged recording of the year. Also gaining multiple honours was Paul Reddick, a Toronto songwriter and performer who released, to critical favour, Villanelle, a warmly-recorded roots and blues album that also earned Colin Linden recognition as the year's best producer. Reddick, whose image-laden lyrics are informed by poetry and olden blues hollers, gained trophies for songwriting and male vocals, but lost out to Toronto virtuoso Carlos del Junco as the top harmonica blower. As much as for its album, Downchild earned voters' appreciation for an extensive Canadian tour in 2005, a live schedule that saw the 36-year-old blues institution hit venues such as Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom, the Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, Sask., Toronto's Mod Club Theatre and the Capital Music Hall in Ottawa. Known for its lively rock-influenced music, the band had four of its members nominated for individual awards, including winners Gary Kendall and Mike Fitzpatrick, chosen best bassist and drummer, respectively. Though Toronto-based artists fared well, the nationwide scope of the awards was reflected in the victories of Harry Manx and Garrett Mason. British Columbia's Manx, a singular artist who won as the year's top solo performer at the inaugural Canadian Folk Music Awards in December, gained the nod as the top blues acoustic act on the strength of West Eats Meet, a recording that incorporates Eastern and Western folk influences. Young Nova Scotian guitarist Mason, son of blues legend Dutch Mason, followed up last year's Juno prize for best blues album (I'm Just a Man) with his selection as the Maple Blues top new artist. Other winners included Toronto's Jack de Keyzer (guitarist of the year), Montreal's Dawn Tyler Watson (female vocalist), Kenny Wayne (keyboard), and Chris Whiteley (horns). Lifetime-achievement honours went to Danny Marks, for his years of performing and broadcasting, and Richard Flohil, a long-time publicist and promoter whose career was recognized with the year's Blues Booster trophy. Legendary U.S. guitarist B.B. King, as he so often does, won the prize as the top international artist.
FILM & TV - Golden Globe Awards by AP 17jan06, LOS ANGELES -- A groundbreaking film about a love affair between two cowboys took top awards at the 63rd Golden Globes in a ceremony that dealt almost entirely with low-budget, art house films that have not yet broken through to blockbuster-size audiences. The Globes are known for rewarding deserving but less obvious TV shows and stars. Organizers of the Golden Globes - The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was founded more than 60 years ago by a group of Los Angeles-based journalists working for overseas publications. Its annual Golden Globe awards have enabled the non-profit organization to donate more than $5.5 million in the past eleven years to entertainment-related charities, as well as funding scholarships and other programs for future film and television professionals.
MUSIC - Alicia Keys, manager, form TV, movie production company by AP January 12, 2006 LOS ANGELES -- After conquering the world of music, Alicia Keys is expanding into movie and television production.Keys, 24, and her longtime manager, Jeff Robinson, said they have formed a company whose first project will be a UPN TV series inspired by Keys' experiences as a biracial youngster growing in New York. "A lot of times I watch TV and I watch film and there's so many things I'd love to talk about that I feel don't get the opportunity to be shown," Keys told The Associated Press. "Sometimes things become very stereotypical and one-sided, and I feel like it's such a colorful world."Their company, New York-based Big Pita, Lil' Pita, will provide "the opportunity to expose that array," Keys said in a phone call. She's also intent on developing projects that give women their due, she added."I was mostly raised by very strong women, and I consider myself one as well. So I'd like to see things explore that and see that strength shine through," she said.Keys, a singer, songwriter and musician, was born to a white mother and black father. Her parents split when she was 2 and she was raised in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York by her mom, Terri Augello.The new company's eye-catching name has a special meaning for Keys and Robinson, who have worked together for more than a decade: "Pita stands for pain in the ass," Keys said. "That's what he and I both are, so watch out."The two will serve as executive producers for their untitled TV drama, which has a script commitment from UPN and which Robinson said may be on the air by next fall. The pilot, not yet cast, will be written by Felicia Henderson ("Soul Food," "Moesha,").Keys is making her film acting debut in the upcoming "Smokin' Aces," which stars Ben Affleck and Andy Garcia.Asked about movies their company will produce, Robinson and Keys declined to provide details."I couldn't give away all my secrets," Keys said in her trademark husky tones. But she said the films will be "the most thrilling" aspect of the company's work.The goal is to create projects she's proud of, Keys said _ and some with juicy roles for her."One of the great parts of being able to produce your own movie is to come up with a story that you find interesting. ... You don't have to wait for someone to tell you what they think" you should do, she said.She labeled herself a "very independent person. People do tend to call me a control freak, and I will gladly say that I am, in a good way. I'm totally involved in what I do."Keys began playing piano when she was 7, with dance and voice lessons following. She studied at the Professional Performance Arts School in New York, graduating at 16 and studying at Columbia University briefly before deciding to devote herself full-time to music. Her first album, "Songs in A Minor," debuted atop the Billboard chart in 2001 when she was 20.With nine Grammy Awards to her name, Keys is nominated for five more at next month's ceremony, including best R&B album for "Unplugged."She vowed that her music won't suffer as she expands into new areas."I'm a juggler by nature, that's how I've always been. My dream is to be part of a multitude of things. These activities feed back into my music, my music feeds back into these activities."Asked about her next album, she said: "It's bubbling. I'm very excited about it."Robinson, president of MBK Entertainment, attests to Keys' ability to handle a heavy load."Alicia is a very energetic workaholic. She's always thinking. We're always feeding ideas off each other _ which generates huge cell-phone bills, by the way," Robinson said."I'm constantly telling her to slow down, let's not conquer the world in one day. But she wants to do it all."
MUSIC - Beach Boys sue over lost memorabilia by UPI Jan 13, 2006 -- The Beach Boys launched a $20 million federal lawsuit filed in Los Angeles charges memorabilia stored North Hollywood was stolen and put up for auction in London. The veteran Southern California rockers staved off a scheduled Oct. 28 Cooper Owen Auction of their possessions in London. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court claims warehouse owner Allan Gaba kept more than a dozen crates belonging to the band members when they moved their belongings out of his facility in 1994, The Los Angeles Times reported. The suit also charges Roy Sciacca of Gem Systems Inc., a production and memorabilia company with offices in Agoura Hills, Calif., and Nevada, lied to Cooper Owen about where the goods came from, saying they had been purchased decades earlier, the Times said. Neither Gaba nor Sciacca could be reached for comment.
BOOKS - Doubleday to add author's note to future editions by cbc.ca 13dec06 -- Future editions of James Frey's hotly contested memoir A Million Little Pieces will include an author's note about the content, his publisher revealed . A spokesperson for Doubleday Books declined to say exactly what the note will include or why it was being added to the book, which tells the story of the author's criminal past and his battle with addiction. Although many memoirs carry a note to readers stating that names and events have been altered, Frey's did not. Controversy has swirled around Frey and his book this week since the release last Sunday of an in-depth investigation into segments of A Million Little Pieces by the Smoking Gun website. Site editors alleged that Frey had fabricated or significantly exaggerated aspects of his past in the retelling. During an interview n CNN's Larry King Live, and at other times, Frey has admitted to embellishing parts of the story. However, he maintains that these alternations are common in the memoir genre. On the show, he defended the "emotional truth" of his work. "The essential truth of [my] drug and alcohol addiction is there. The emotional truth is there," Frey told host Larry King. "I think you will find people who will dispute every memoir ever written." Daytime talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who helped vault Frey's 2003 memoir into bestseller status last fall by selecting it for her book club, phoned in near the end of the King interview Wednesday night to throw her support behind Frey. "What is relevant is that he was a drug addict … and stepped out of that history to be the man he is today and to take that message to save other people and allow them to save themselves," Winfrey said.
COPYRIGHT - Copyright, New Media Law & E-Commerce by L.E.Harris NewsVol. 10, No. 1, Jan11, 2006
EC EXAMINES DATABASE DIRECTIVE - A recent European Commission study examined theeffectiveness of its database directive, which was introduced to stimulatedatabase production. The EC found that, since the implementation of itsdirective, which created a broad intellectual property right on the compilationof facts, database production in the European Union has actually fallenslightly.
AUSTRALIA TO LEGALIZE PERSONAL COPYING - The Australian government is set tolegalize personal copying, such as videotaping television shows and copyingsongs from CDs to MP3 players. The introduction of fair use provisions willmean that Australians will no longer be breaking the law each time they tape aTV show or copy music. The government has yet to decide whether to introduce alevy on blank recording media such as CDs and iPods.
FRANCE COULD SANCTION FREE ONLINE DOWNLOADS - The French Parliament voted inlate December 2005 to pave the way for legalizing peer-to-peer downloading ofcopyright-protected music and movies. French law currently includes a conceptcalled "private copy", which allows people to copy music and other content forthemselves and their friends, and although a French court recently held thatdownloaded music does meet the "private copy" definition, the amendment wouldcodify and solidify this decision. The Association of Audionauts, a grouprepresenting some 100 people accused of illegal file-sharing, is proposing aroyalty tax on Internet Service Providers to compensate copyright-holders.
MUSIC PUBLISHERS TARGET UNLICENSED SHEET MUSIC - The Music Publishers'Association ("MPA") is to send "cease and desist" letters to commercial Websites that offer copyright-protected print music. The planned action marks thefirst time that the MPA has adopted a collective approach to alleged copyrightinfringement by commercial Web sites.
CARTOONIST SUES AMAZON FOR BREACH OF COPYRIGHT - Robert Crumb, thecounterculture artist behind characters such as Fritz the Cat, has filed acopyright infringement lawsuit against Amazon.com. Amazon were displayingCrumb's famous "Keep on Truckin' " image whenever an item was not in stock,with instructions to keep searching. Although Amazon has since removed theimage, the parties have been unable to agree upon a figure for damages.
CANADIAN COPYSHOP OWNER GETS PRISON SENTENCE - Riaz Lari, owner of the UComputecopyshop in Montreal, was sentenced to six months in prison for violation ofprevious court orders to stop selling illegally photocopied textbooks. Lari'ssentence was suspended on condition that he complies with a permanentinjunction that prohibits him from selling the photocopied textbooks.
UK ARTISTS SEEK INCREASED ROYALTIES FOR MUSIC DOWNLOADS - Songwriters in the UKare asking the UK copyright tribunal to award them between 7 pence and 9 pencefor every music track downloaded from the Internet. The composers currentlyreceive 5 pence a track, and the British Phonographic Industry wants to cutthis amount to 2 pence.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CD-ROM DECISION TO STAND - The U.S. Supreme Court hasrefused to review a ruling that allowed National Geographic to reproduce imagesin a CD-ROM format. The U.S. Court of Appeals decision, which held that theCD-ROM was a revision of an existing work rather than a new work, had beenchallenged by freelance photographers, who claimed that the addition of newmaterials made the CD-ROM a new work.
NUMBER OF MUSIC FILE-SWAPPERS FALLS - The number of Americans illegally swappingmusic online has dropped by 11% since the 2005 Supreme Court decision inGrokster, according to pollsters NPD Group. However, the number of filesswapped has stayed the same, suggesting that although some casual downloadersmay have stopped file-swapping, the most active sharers remain online.
MUSIC - NARAS present the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards -- Having now celebrated 47 years of musical excellence through the GRAMMY Awards, NARAS (National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) continues its rich legacy and ongoing growth as the premier outlet for honoring achievements in the recording arts and supporting the music community. The recording industry's most prestigious award, the GRAMMY, is presented annually by The Recording Academy. A GRAMMY is awarded by The Recording Academy's voting membership to honor excellence in the recording arts and sciences. It is truly a peer honor, awarded by and to artists and technical professionals for artistic or technical achievement, not sales or chart positions. The annual GRAMMY Awards presentation brings together thousands of creative and technical professionals in the recording industry from all over the world. The 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 8, at Staples Center in Los Angeles & broadcast live on CBS at 8pm.
MUSIC - Legal Music Downloads Reach New Record - Figures from Nielsen SoundScan revealed that the final week of 2005 set a new record for most music tracks legally downloaded during a one-week period, with 20 million tracks. The previous record was set one week earlier, with 9.5 million tracks sold. For the year, downloaded track sales increased nearly 150 percent from 2004, with 352 million tracks sold.
THEATER - 'The Phantom' Sets All-Time Mark on Broadway by Jeffrey Lunden, NPR 10jan06 -- Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera became the longest-running show in Broadway history Monday. The streak of 7,486 shows over nearly 18 years breaks the uber-composer's own record, which he set with Cats. Since 1988, 11 million people have seen The Phantom on Broadway, where the show has netted more than half a billion dollars in tickets. And, almost 18 years since it opened, it's still playing at near capacity. Lines of ticket holders snake around the block before each performance at the Majestic Theatre. That's a far cry from the early 1980s, when the idea for the show came to composer Andrew Lloyd Webber when he picked up a copy of the 1910 Gaston Leroux novel about a disfigured man in a mask who haunts the Paris Opera and falls in love with a beautiful young singer. Lloyd Webber says he didn't think much of the novel -- but he thought it might make a good show. "I was very keen to write something that was a high romance," says Lloyd Webber. "Having done Evita and having done Cats and various things which didn't let me kind of go in that direction at all." So in 1986, The Phantom of the Opera opened in London, starring Michael Crawford -- known only for musical comedy at the time -- and Sarah Brightman, who was then Lloyd Webber's wife. It came to New York two years later, with the same nucleus of a cast -- and an unprecedented $18 million box office advance. Phantom director Hal Prince has won a Broadway-record 20 Tony Awards. His theory for its success is that audiences recognize a piece of themselves in the tortured Phantom's plight. "Phantom of the Opera is not exactly a brain-twister, but psychologically, there's something going on that touches people and makes them think about their own responses to deformity -- what are their reactions; you know, just how romantic are they?" There have been many adventures along the way -- some intended, and some not. For instance, the show's remote-control boat, which conveys Christine into the Phantom's lair, has proven vulnerable to radio signals from passing taxicabs. "You know, these things happen," says Phantom portrayer Howard McGillin, who has played the show's lead in 1,400 performances. "The audience, I think, loves that stuff, because you feel like you're in on a moment that's really spontaneous." Audiences have certainly found enough moments of scripted spontaneity and energy to keep them in the seats -- and keep the show onstage. As Lloyd Webber says of his work taking up the top two spots in Broadway history, "I never thought it would happen with Cats" -- much less that Phantom of the Opera would overtake it.
RADIO - Howard Stern on Sirius Satellite Radio by D.Hinckley, Daily News 09jan06 -- The biggest gamble in the short life of satellite radio begins as Howard Stern starts what he calls his creative rebirth at Sirius. The most prominent morning host on commercial radio for 20 years, Stern joined Sirius because he says the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) vague content guidelines made it impossible for him to do his "real show" any more. Because satellite listeners pay a monthly subscription fee, like cable TV watchers, the FCC does not regulate content - though Stern's arrival has amplified calls for such regulation to be authorized. Stern's switch to Sirius, with his colorful promise of no-holds-barred radio, has triggered a tidal wave of publicity and raised at least two longer-term questions. First, how much attention will he receive three, six or 12 months from now? While satellite's reach makes his show available everywhere, his initial Sirius audience will be only l5%-20% of what it has been on terrestrial radio. Second, will he give satellite radio in general the promotional push for which Sirius and rival XM are hoping? Both Sirius and XM have bled billions of dollars in startup costs and routinely run multimillion-dollar quarterly operating deficits. Sirius says it has committed half a billion dollars to Stern's show, and just last week announced he was getting a bonus of more than $200 million in Sirius stock. Sirius clearly is counting on a windfall payback down the line, in subscription and advertising revenue. Right at the moment, both XM and Sirius say subscriptions are running strong. XM says it just passed six million and projects nine million by yearend. Sirius says it ended 2005 with 3.3 million, many of the new ones Stern-driven, and projects six million by yearend. That puts satellite listenership ahead of many past projections, which envisioned 20 million radios in service by 2010. Some Wall Street analysts still see Sirius stock as a gamble, while XM seems to be generally regarded as a solid player.
BOOKS & FILM - Music Mogul Richard Branson sees Asian animation as the future of film by Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent 07Jan2006 -- He has built an empire on music, planes and trains. Now Richard Branson is expanding into the comic-book and animation business. The multimillionaire's books division is teaming up with the Gotham Entertainment Group, the leading comic publisher in south Asia, to produce new magazines with spin-offs in movies, animations, toys and video games. Shekhar Kapur, who directed the film Elizabeth, and Deepak Chopra, the author of best-selling books on alternative medicine are contracted to produce up to 100 storylines, mostly in English, designed for the Asian audience. The project is founded on the belief that in the next decade Asia will become one of the largest producers and consumers of entertainment products. The first film from Virgin is already scheduled for this summer under the director John Woo, whose work includes Face/Off. The new business will be divided into Virgin Comics, with offices in New York, and Virgin Animation, with a staff of up to 150 people, mainly artists, working in Bangalore within 18 months. The concept is the brainchild of Sharad Devarajan, who heads Gotham Entertainment, and Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son. Mr Devarajan said they hoped to reach a global audience with their new comics and films but also start a "creative renaissance" in India. In the US, sales of graphic novels have grown by 44.7 per cent in the past year and the market has doubled in the UK since 2003. Kapur said: "The art of the two-hour captive, non-interactive product called the 'movie' is history. Comic book characters are the new cult, the new religion." He has built an empire on music, planes and trains. Now Richard Branson is expanding into the comic-book and animation business. The multimillionaire's books division is teaming up with the Gotham Entertainment Group, the leading comic publisher in south Asia, to produce new magazines with spin-offs in movies, animations, toys and video games. Shekhar Kapur, who directed the film Elizabeth, and Deepak Chopra, the author of best-selling books on alternative medicine are contracted to produce up to 100 storylines, mostly in English, designed for the Asian audience. The project is founded on the belief that in the next decade Asia will become one of the largest producers and consumers of entertainment products. The first film from Virgin is already scheduled for this summer under the director John Woo, whose work includes Face/Off. The new business will be divided into Virgin Comics, with offices in New York, and Virgin Animation, with a staff of up to 150 people, mainly artists, working in Bangalore within 18 months. The concept is the brainchild of Sharad Devarajan, who heads Gotham Entertainment, and Gotham Chopra, Deepak's son. Mr Devarajan said they hoped to reach a global audience with their new comics and films but also start a "creative renaissance" in India. In the US, sales of graphic novels have grown by 44.7 per cent in the past year and the market has doubled in the UK since 2003. Kapur said: "The art of the two-hour captive, non-interactive product called the 'movie' is history. Comic book characters are the new cult, the new religion."
MUSIC - Michael Jackson Souvenir Law Suit Tossed by Josh Grossberg Jan 5, 2006 -- Michael Jackson apparently has other things to worry about than some missing memorabilia. A federal judge has tossed a $10 million lawsuit brought two years ago by the erstwhile King of Pop against a New Jersey businessman over disputed Jackson family mementos because Jackson stopped pursuing the matter in court. In March 2004, the Gloved One sued Henry Vaccaro, a construction company owner based in Asbury Park, accusing him of wrongly taking possession of old Jackson props, photos, personal notes and assorted doodads following a dispute with other Jackson family members. Vaccaro scored the cache of collectibles--which also included gold records, costumes and personal items such as skin bleach, pictures and even underwear--after a long legal battle with Michael's parents, Katherine and Joe Jackson, and brothers Tito and Jermaine. The case was settled in 2002, with Vaccaro taking ownership of a warehouse full of family belongings. Vaccaro launched two pay-per-view Websites, TheJacksonVault.com and MichaelJacksonCircus.com, attempting to sell the stash. In April 2004, Michael Jackson's lawyers obtained a restraining order forcing Vaccaro to stop using Jackson's mug and moniker on the sites and forbidding the sale of any items the Moonwalker claimed were his. By then, Vaccaro contended, it was too late. Vaccaro claimed to have shut down the domains after Jackson lawyers first notified his bank of the lawsuit. He also said a European collector had snapped up the entire collection for more than $1.4 million. Jackson's lawyer, Brian Wolf, said his client's possessions should not have been included in the sale, only those belonging to the rest of the Jackson clan. He hoped to negotiate the return of the items. According to court documents, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled in favor of the suit's dismissal after the singer's attorneys failed to go ahead with the case. Jackson's legal team was preoccupied fighting child-molestation charges, of which he was acquitted last June. Following that court victory, Jackson took up residence in the Middle Eastern country of Bahrain. Jackson's reported cash-flow problems--his myriad legal battles and extravagant ways have apparently drained his bank account--might have also factored in to his lack of pursuing the Vaccaro case. Reps for Jackson and Vaccaro did not respond to calls for comment on the dismissal. Jackson, meanwhile, told the BBC last week that he was still at work on his long-gestating all-star Hurricane Katrina benefit single, supposedly featuring contributions by Mariah Carey, James Brown and Snoop Dogg, among others. The project has languished since Jackson first announced it back in September.
FILM - Annual SAG & Directors Guild Awards by David Germain, Canadian Press Jan 05, 2006 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 12th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented Jan. 29 in a ceremony televised on TNT and TBS. The Directors Guild of America will present its awards Jan. 28.
MUSIC - Five new inductees into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame by cbc.ca 04 Jan 2006 -- A gala ceremony featuring these and other top performers will be held Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Singer and poet Leonard Cohen, Quebec singer-songwriter Gilles Vigneault, big band composer Carmen Lombardo, ragtime composer William Eckstein and classical composer and lyricist Lionel Daunais are being inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Three others, singer Anne Murray, record industry pioneer Herbert Berliner and Quebec singer and radio host Lucille Dumont will receive Legacy Awards for their contributions to songwriting in Canada. CBC Radio One will broadcast highlights of the ceremony on Feb. 6 and CBC Radio Two plans a longer broadcast later the same day. The gala will appear on CBC Television in a one-hour special presentation on March 6. CBC Radio's Andrew Craig and Radio-Canada's Sophie Durocher will host the gala. Rufus Wainwright, Louise Pitre, Sarah Slean, Claire Pelletier, Jarvis Church, and Jimmy Rankin are also scheduled to perform. A full lineup of which of the inducted songs will be performed and who will perform them will be released later this month. Nelson has requested to sing a Cohen song. The gala will include musical tributes to Cohen, Murray and Dumont by a new generation of artists. Five of Cohen's songs, including Hallelujah, Suzanne and Bird on a Wire, are on a list of 26 songs that will be added to the commemorative lists in the Hall of Fame. Among the songs to be inducted is Sugar Sugar, which will be performed at the gala by original writer Andy Kim with reggae-rock group Bedouin Soundclash. The Stampeders will sing their inducted song, Sweet City Woman, with country group Doc Walker. Gilles Vigneault's timeless classic Mon Pays will be performed by his daughter Jessica Vigneault and Martin Léon. Hot young artist Marie-Mai and Fred St-Gelais will sing his Pendant Que. Founded in 1998 by music publisher Frank Davies, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of popular music songwriters in Canadian history.
MUSIC - Headphones deafen you, "Who" star tells iPod fans by Adam Sherwin, Media Reporter January 04, 2006 -- THE WHO’S guitarist Pete Townshend has warned the iPod generation to turn the volume down, after revealing that increasing deafness may force him into retirement. Townshend, 60, famed for his guitar-smashing escapades, said that he had been unable to complete recording sessions for a new Who album because of the irreparable hearing loss he has suffered. “I have terrible hearing trouble,” he said. “I have unwittingly helped to invent and refine a type of music that makes its principal proponents deaf.” Writing on his website, Townshend said that excessive volume at the group’s explosive 1960s concerts was not the cause. He blamed the earsplitting sounds emitted through studio headphones during years of recording. He warned the users of iPod headphones: “My intuition tells me there is terrible trouble ahead. The downside [to downloading] . . . may be that we use earphones at almost every stage of interaction with sound.” Noise-induced hearing loss is caused when the delicate hair nerves of the ear suffer continuing trauma from loud sound vibrations. Users of portable music players are advised to limit listening to one hour a day and keep the volume down, but research found that four out of ten young adults listened for longer. Apple iPods sold in Britain comply with EU volume standards and can play only at up to 104 decibels. Musicians are particularly vulnerable to hearing loss. Phil Collins, 54, has suffered a 60 per cent hearing loss and the American rapper Foxy Brown, 26, is to undergo an operation to restore her hearing after going almost totally deaf. Townshend said that work with Roger Daltrey on the first studio album from The Who for 25 years and plans for a world tour this year had been delayed because “my ears are ringing, loudly”. Although he can still hear speech, he has to take a 36-hour break between bouts of recording to allow his ears to recover. Beethoven continued composing despite losing his hearing but Townshend finds recording impossible at times. Describing an attempt over Christmas, he wrote: “With my hearing rolling off severely now at around three or four kilohertz, I don’t have much luck with high harmonics or piano overtones. Needless to say, I didn’t finish what I started. “Hearing loss is a terrible thing because it cannot be repaired. Music is a calling for life. You can write it when you’re deaf, but you can’t hear it or perform it.” About 4.7 million Britons, one in ten adults, are estimated to suffer from tinnitus. Good quality earplugs can reduce the noise level by up to 20 decibels at a rock concert. Townshend blamed the “often accidental buzzes, shrieks and poor connections that cause temporary high-level sounds” in recording studio headphones for his plight. Barbra Streisand also suffers from tinnitus and Peter Stringfellow has to wear a hearing aid as a result of years spent in noisy nightclubs. Townshend also disclosed that the late John Entwistle, The Who’s bassist, played out of time at concerts because he too couldn’t hear properly. For information on protecting your hearing access http://www.dontlosethemusic.com/ or http://www.markvinet.com/
BOOKS - Britain's prestigious Whitbread Book Awards by London Guardian 03jan05 -- The Whitbread prizes are awarded in five categories - novel, first novel, poetry, biography and children's book. Each category winner receives $8,700. One of the five finalists will receive the $43,000 Whitbread Book of the Year Award. British retail and leisure group Whitbread Group PLC announced last year that it would no longer sponsor the prizes, which were founded in 1971 and are open to residents of Britain and the Republic of Ireland. A search is underway for a new backer.
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