The Music Blog

It was bound to happen at some point. The music industry thought they had come up with a fool-proof method of protecting their digital property from being shared on P2P networks: watermark the CD's to identify the owner. Of course, this only works when the person who receives the CD can be identified, as in the case of an advance review copy. It seemed like watermarking could prevent those advance copies from reaching the internet, but there was one big hole.

The music industry forgot to consider what happens to those advance review CDs after they are reviewed: they are discarded in some manner. Most reviewers do not have the space for the thousands of CD's that they review, so they either throw them away or give them away to charities or thrift shops. From there they can be bought by anyone and put on the internet -- with the reviewers identity as the watermark.

One such music critic recently went through this situation. The CD issued to him ended up on the internet after he had given away to a thrift shop. The music label tried to contact him about this "breach," but the critic was busy acting like a toddler on a sugar trip at Burning Man. By the time he got back, the entire music industry had been notified of his little infraction, even though he owns the review copies of CDs he receives and has every right to give them away.

It looks like the music industry will have to return to the drawing board once again in their pointless fight against copyright infringement.
techgnosis : JOURNAL

Iggy Pop may have turned 60 this week, but that hasn't stopped him from doing stage dives into the arms of his fans. The Stooges have reunited, and they were as lively as ever at a concert in San Francisco this past week. The band and fans sang along to "Happy Birthday", surprising Iggy Pop, who humbly muttered his thanks before getting back to rocking out. I wonder if they paid the copyright holders of "Happy Birthday" to use that song. Nothing puts a wet towel on a birthday like getting sued for copyright infringement.
Sky News - Godfather Of Punk Still Rocking At 60

Critical Metrics uses data from various online music stores, websites, and retail magazines to build lists of music that has been received positive reviews from the public and critics.

The site can build playlists based on user preferences, which makes finding new music that you'll actually like a snap. I think this service will be great for smaller bands who could use the exposure of being compared to bigger bands with a similar sound. The service is free, supported only by commissions from sign-ups to various music download services.
CRITICAL METRICS

Lou Pearlman, the fat oaf who gave us such horrid musical acts as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake, has vanished into thick air somewhere in Europe. Pearlman is wanted in the state of Florida for scamming 1,400 investors out of $317 million.

You've got to be really corrupt to be running away from Florida to escape fraud charges. Most corrupted individuals consider Florida to be the only semi-safe haven in the country.

The United States should pull its troops out of Iraq and put them in Europe. I want a massive manhunt for the man who destroyed music. It might take a few months, which gives Congress enough time to pass a federal law allowing them to charge Lou Pearlman with ruining music.
FOXNews.com - Louis J. Pearlman: Mentor of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake On the Lam - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Arts And Entertainment

Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Patti Smith will release a new album of cover songs. The former Scandals frontwoman does covers of songs by Nirvana, Neil Young, Tears for Fears, and Stevie Wonder, among others.

The album, titled "Twelve", will be released on April 17.
- : Rock My Monkey-P.O. Box 828 Olympia, WA 98507 (360)789-0703

I just found a great site for streaming music from about a dozen different genres. They are not internet radio stations, they are actual lists of music that you can skip through. Pick a category and a song will start playing. The site will show you what's up next, and you can skip right to that song if you want.

The site is slacker.com, and I've heard that they also have an mp3 player coming out with a load of features that will blow Microsoft Zune out of the water. I know I sound a little enthusiastic about this site, but I swear I am not getting paid to say this stuff, I've just been listening in all day. This site would rock for a house party. Now I just need to find some friends.
Slacker.com Music Website

You've heard this drum break thousands of times and probably never even realized it. This 18-minute audio documentary is the story behind a 6-second drum solo on the B-side of a hit record that changed music history.