Tuesday August 31, 2010
According to an article by Wired.com, the free streaming music service, Playlist, could be on the verge of collapse after it filed for bankruptcy protection recently. The company's financial problems, which mostly stem from outstanding music licensing fees, currently stand at around $25 million. In connection with the bankruptcy filing, the company reported that it only had $2.2 million left in assets and very little in actual cash.
Playlist's music licensing troubles first began in 2008 when the company faced a lawsuit involving Universal Music Group (UMG) over alleged copyright infringement. UMG eventually dropped its litigation (May this year) after Playlist agreed to a blanket lien (a security interest covering all types of assets owned by a debtor) and to pay UMG $15.7 million. However, UMG has now ceased its licensing agreement and won a $16.5 million legal judgment due to Playlist allegedly defaulting on the deal.
Playlist is now hoping that its last-ditch attempt at bankruptcy protection, will enable the company to pay off its outstanding music licensing fees to UMG and other record labels, and give it the 'breathing space' to seek out new investors.
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Friday August 27, 2010
The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are:
Genre: Electro / Disco House / French pop
Free Music Download: 1 Hour DJ Mix (1:02:44)
Music Video: Can't Shake This Feeling
Album: Grum's debut album, Heartbeats, featuring the Can't Shake This Feeling song, is now available digitally from leading digital music services.
Genre: Indie / French Pop / Folk
Free Music Download: Altar Song (3:01)
Music Video:White Walls
Album: The above track is the second offering from the indie band, Archeology. Previously we blogged about the band when they released the teaser track, White Walls, to coincide with the launch of their new album, Memorial -- this free promo track is still available to download via our blog article. Memorial can be purchased from iTunes, Amazon MP3, and other online music download stores.
Genre: Experimental / Punk / Indie
Free Music Download: Everywhere at Once, and Nowhere to go (5:56)
Album: The above free song is a taster of the band's new album, Trans(Migratory) Birds, which is slated for release, Sept. 2010.
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Tuesday August 24, 2010
According to a news story by Reuters, John Mellencamp, has said that the invention of the Internet and digital music has been like an atomic bomb for the music industry. The 58 year-old rock singer launched his scathing attack during a public seminar at the Grammy Museum saying, "I think the Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb. It's destroyed the music business. It's going to destroy the movie business." As an added encore, the singer also warned that, "some smart people, the China-Russians or something", could have already hacked into the power grid and financial system of the United States to conquer it.
Coinciding with the release of his new studio album, No Better Than This, John Mellencamp also aired his dislike of digital music by saying that it had ruined the audio quality of music. According to the Reuters article, a Beatles song was compared on a remastered CD versus an iPod. Commenting about the audio difference between the two, Mellencamp said, "you could barely even recognize it as the same song. You could tell it was those guys singing, but the warmth and quality of what the artist intended for us to hear was so vastly different."
Incidentally, John Mellencamp's new album is now available to purchase digitally from top digital music stores -- on the very dangerous Internet!
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Friday August 20, 2010
The free music downloads in our spotlight this week are:
Genre: Country
Free Music Download: All About Tonight (Original Performance Series) (3:32) (free download available until August 24.)
Music Video: All About Tonight via Walmart Soundcheck
Album: The above track is an exclusive download taken from his new album, All About Tonight SIX PAK EP, (Reprise Records), that can now be downloaded from Amazon MP3 and other top online music stores.
Genre: R&B / Experimental
Free Music Download: Only Here For The Fight (4:55)
Music Video: Like a Fading Rainbow via YouTube.
Album: The song, 'Only Here For The Fight' and 'Like a Fading Rainbow' both feature on Jenny Wilson's second album, Hardships, (Gold Medal Recordings) which is now available as a digital download.
Genre: Soul / Funk / Rock
Free Music Download: Short Change Hero (5:22) (free download available until August 31.)
Music Video: Short Change Hero via YouTube
Album: Their second album, The House That Dirt Built, which the above track is from is now available to purchase from iTunes and other digital music services.
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