Karaoke, Live Bands and Music at Bars and Restaurants...is it Legal?
Danny Spinks: Rockstar A fun little video; warning some profanity Bars and Restaurants always play music for their patrons, some even participating in Karaoke or live bands. With the music industry hurting, and fighting tooth and nail for anyone infringing on copyrights, bars and restaurants better make sure they have obtained the rights to play this music at their venues. Over the past year record labels and Copyright protectors, BMI or ASCAP, have filed many lawsuits against bars/restaurants and Karaoke providers for not properly obtaining the copyrights for their music. In just the last 2 weeks, there have been two lawsuits. The first occurred in San Fransisco at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles where a representative of the ASCAP recorded every song played on a single night. With his tally, they are claiming they are owed about $198,728.22. The claim is that artists should be receiving royalties whenever their music is played and that Roscoe’s has profited off the music without obtaining a proper license to do so. The second incident occurred with Karaoke Disc Distributor KTS and Sony/ATV. Sony is claiming that KTS has violated over 6,700 copyrights with totals amounting to $1.28 billion. They say KTS failed to obtain all of the licenses required to distribute and reproduce their music. The reason the bill is so high, there are many people involved. “The use of the original music as the background score requires a license over the master recording. The use of the song composition requires a mechanical license too. When songs are performed in public, that requires payment to a PRO like ASCAP or BMI. When the music is matched to video images, it requires a synchronisation license. And if the lyrics are being republished, that might require an additional fee too.” These lawsuits are a prime example of how the Music Industry is doing everything in its power to protect it artists, producers and income, but are they going too far, and what’s next? -Shara Hannah Roscoe's Sony vs. KTS
Ratings After Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards rating this year sky rocketed and proved to be the largest since 1984. Whitney Houston and Adele’s record sales soared this past week. Whitney Houston’s death boosted her sales astronomically; she sold 101,000 albums in the United States during the week after her death; whereas the week before, her sales were 1,700. Also, Houston gained 887,000 individual downloads during that same week while having 15,000 the week before. Jennifer Hudson performed Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” as a tribute to her along with more homage throughout the night.
Adele was also another spotlight in the Grammy’s ceremony. Along with her performance in the Grammy’s, she won many six Grammy awards. According to dailyhitsdouble.com, her record sales were up 102%. Her infamous album, “21”, sold 237,000 records this last week. This album was released 51 weeks ago and has been in the number one spot for the last twenty weeks.
Would the Grammy’s ratings been as high without these two artists? Probably not. Whitney Houston, without a doubt, is a remarkable artist. Her death sky rocketed her sales, similarly to Michael Jackson’s ratings after his death. With the publicity Adele received from the awards show her sales boosted astronomically. I found this topic to be important as it displays the mutual beneficial relationship between the ratings of the Grammys and the ratings of the artists. The artists gained more sales/publicity because the Grammys, however, the Grammys had the highest rating in years because it featured these artists.
This past week, the music industry lost one of their most valued talents, Whitney Houston. While the industry may be in mourning, it is difficult to avoid what is happening on the business side of things. Similar to the 2009 death of Michael Jackson, Houston’s death has inspired thousands upon thousands to purchase her music. The numbers are outstanding, with close to 1 million individual tracks sold within 24 hours. We are able to track sales through the Nielsen SoundScan, which has reported that, “91,000 digital albums and another 10,000 physical albums along with 887,000 digital tracks were sold by the close of the reporting period that ended Sunday night”
The abnormal exposure to her music does not stop at record sales. Nielsen BDS show that her 1992 hit song, “I Will Always Love You”, was played just over 2,000 times on American radio over the weekend. Before her death, this song was receiving about 134 plays. It is interesting to use technology in realizing just what death does for a music icon. We cannot ignore that business goes up, and unfortunately, it creates a bittersweet time for many involved in the industry.
Music Industry Threatens to Sue Google due to "Pirate" Search Results
google bay
Google's organic search results are listed by relevance to the consumer. The music industry is demanding that Google de-list search results that direct consumers to sites giving access to illegal music downloading. They instead want Google to prioritize legal sites, effectively skewing results in the music industry's favor. In late 2011, Google provided the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry with a "special online search interface that allows for mass queries to be marked as infringing". This led to numerous blogger sites being shut down and almost half a million Google search results being reported, presumably results that lead to illegal file sharing. The IFPI is still not satisfied with Google's efforts to aid them in anti-piracy and is accusing them of antitrust practices. Such a case would be unprecedented, and if it goes to court could have a significant affect on piracy laws as well as the ability of the music industry to use censorship.
It is understandable for peoples (and businesses) to want to protect their property, but I think piracy is a symptom a larger problem and that would be the rising costs of music compared side by side to rising inflation and stagnant wages over the last few decades. I also think that allowing music industries to force Google into censoring results could give leeway for censorship to happen in other situations where it might be more harm than good. -Jocelyn Lambert http://torrentfreak.com/music-industry-mulls-suing-google-over-pirate-search-results-120216/
COPY RIGHT ISSUES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
This article portrays the struggle between artists, record labels, and online music sources. Michael Robertson, CEO of MP3Tunes, is going to court for potential copyright infringement. He is trying to pull artists together who have signed with EMI to help him in his battle. MP3Tunes is an online music source/ locker that allows users to store music, as well as link to websites and stream music. The controversy about MP3Tunes is that most of the websites linked contain music from unauthorized sources. Robertson argues that his website is protected under the Safe Harbor Provision under DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act). EMI states that this website should not be protected because Robertson failed to remove the unauthorized content when asked to. Robertson is trying to get artists together who he believes and has stated are “screwed”, however, he’s most likely just trying to get out of the law suit. Artists are able to regain control over their work after a certain amount of years, however, online streaming is altering this concept. Copyright and other legal issues have become a huge facet in the economic lives of artists. The music industry is not the same as it once was because the internet has made music and other types of media more available than before. This makes it harder for artists to gain the profit they deserve.
Karaoke, Live Bands and Music at Bars and Restaurants...is it Legal?
Danny Spinks: Rockstar A fun little video; warning some profanity
Bars and Restaurants always play music for their patrons, some even participating in Karaoke or live bands. With the music industry hurting, and fighting tooth and nail for anyone infringing on copyrights, bars and restaurants better make sure they have obtained the rights to play this music at their venues. Over the past year record labels and Copyright protectors, BMI or ASCAP, have filed many lawsuits against bars/restaurants and Karaoke providers for not properly obtaining the copyrights for their music.
In just the last 2 weeks, there have been two lawsuits. The first occurred in San Fransisco at Roscoe’s House of Chicken and Waffles where a representative of the ASCAP recorded every song played on a single night. With his tally, they are claiming they are owed about $198,728.22. The claim is that artists should be receiving royalties whenever their music is played and that Roscoe’s has profited off the music without obtaining a proper license to do so.
The second incident occurred with Karaoke Disc Distributor KTS and Sony/ATV. Sony is claiming that KTS has violated over 6,700 copyrights with totals amounting to $1.28 billion. They say KTS failed to obtain all of the licenses required to distribute and reproduce their music. The reason the bill is so high, there are many people involved. “The use of the original music as the background score requires a license over the master recording. The use of the song composition requires a mechanical license too. When songs are performed in public, that requires payment to a PRO like ASCAP or BMI. When the music is matched to video images, it requires a synchronisation license. And if the lyrics are being republished, that might require an additional fee too.”
These lawsuits are a prime example of how the Music Industry is doing everything in its power to protect it artists, producers and income, but are they going too far, and what’s next?
-Shara Hannah
Roscoe's
Sony vs. KTS
Ratings After Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards rating this year sky rocketed and proved to be the largest since 1984. Whitney Houston and Adele’s record sales soared this past week. Whitney Houston’s death boosted her sales astronomically; she sold 101,000 albums in the United States during the week after her death; whereas the week before, her sales were 1,700. Also, Houston gained 887,000 individual downloads during that same week while having 15,000 the week before. Jennifer Hudson performed Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” as a tribute to her along with more homage throughout the night.
Adele was also another spotlight in the Grammy’s ceremony. Along with her performance in the Grammy’s, she won many six Grammy awards.
Would the Grammy’s ratings been as high without these two artists? Probably not. Whitney Houston, without a doubt, is a remarkable artist. Her death sky rocketed her sales, similarly to Michael Jackson’s ratings after his death. With the publicity Adele received from the awards show her sales boosted astronomically. I found this topic to be important as it displays the mutual beneficial relationship between the ratings of the Grammys and the ratings of the artists. The artists gained more sales/publicity because the Grammys, however, the Grammys had the highest rating in years because it featured these artists.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogerfriedman/2012/02/15/grammy-spikes-music-sales-adele-up-102-whitney-sells-60k-downloads-on-death-night/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/arts/music/whitney-houstons-death-leads-to-surging-music-sales.html
-Lisa Gabbard
Death in the Music Industry Brings Huge Numbers
This past week, the music industry lost one of their most valued talents, Whitney Houston. While the industry may be in mourning, it is difficult to avoid what is happening on the business side of things. Similar to the 2009 death of Michael Jackson, Houston’s death has inspired thousands upon thousands to purchase her music. The numbers are outstanding, with close to 1 million individual tracks sold within 24 hours. We are able to track sales through the Nielsen SoundScan, which has reported that, “91,000 digital albums and another 10,000 physical albums along with 887,000 digital tracks were sold by the close of the reporting period that ended Sunday night”
The abnormal exposure to her music does not stop at record sales. Nielsen BDS show that her 1992 hit song, “I Will Always Love You”, was played just over 2,000 times on American radio over the weekend. Before her death, this song was receiving about 134 plays. It is interesting to use technology in realizing just what death does for a music icon. We cannot ignore that business goes up, and unfortunately, it creates a bittersweet time for many involved in the industry.
- Elaina Smith
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/idUS378724797120120215
Music Industry Threatens to Sue Google due to "Pirate" Search Results
In late 2011, Google provided the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry with a "special online search interface that allows for mass queries to be marked as infringing". This led to numerous blogger sites being shut down and almost half a million Google search results being reported, presumably results that lead to illegal file sharing. The IFPI is still not satisfied with Google's efforts to aid them in anti-piracy and is accusing them of antitrust practices. Such a case would be unprecedented, and if it goes to court could have a significant affect on piracy laws as well as the ability of the music industry to use censorship.
It is understandable for peoples (and businesses) to want to protect their property, but I think piracy is a symptom a larger problem and that would be the rising costs of music compared side by side to rising inflation and stagnant wages over the last few decades. I also think that allowing music industries to force Google into censoring results could give leeway for censorship to happen in other situations where it might be more harm than good.
-Jocelyn Lambert
http://torrentfreak.com/music-industry-mulls-suing-google-over-pirate-search-results-120216/
COPY RIGHT ISSUES IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
Lisa Gabbard
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/mar/02/artists-mp3-site-legal-fight