News and other tidbits that Chad Cloman finds interesting enough to share
This article is several years old, but it has a breakdown of where the money paid for a $15.99 music CD goes (at the very end of the article). The actual manufacturing cost is less than a dollar.
Link: http://www.rollingstone.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Amazon has added the Sony BMG catalog to its library of DRM-free music downloads. This is significant because Amazon now has all four of the major US music labels on board and is a serious competitor to Apple’s iTunes store. Note that, with the exception of EMI, Apple is required to sell the same music with copyright protection.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
In a bid to compete with the iTunes music store, Amazon is now offering music downloads in MP3 format with no copy protection. The full catalog contains about 2 million songs, which is a far cry from iTunes’ 6 million, but I think it would be worth checking out the songs on Amazon before purchasing them on iTunes. It will be interesting to see where this leads.
Link #1: http://arstechnica.com/…
Link #2: http://tech.blorge.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Apple has now sold over 3 billion songs from its iTunes store (which has only been in business since 2003). That’s pretty impressive.
Link: http://arstechnica.com/…
This system reads vinyl records with a laser instead of a needle. It can handle fragile and even broken records. Developed for the Library of Congress to help preserve old recordings, I can see a modified version becoming popular with audiophiles.
Link: http://www.npr.org/…
(via Slashdot)
Digital Rights Management (DRM) is the bane of all music-lovers and has caused its share of problems with Sony. But two recent news items indicate that DRM may soon be a thing of the past. First, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has publicly stated that he is willing to consider an iTunes price increase, but only if the labels agree to drop copy protection. Second, Amazon.com has signed a deal with EMI (one of the major labels) to sell their music online without DRM. These are good signs and may mark the beginning of the end of music copy protection.
From the article: “In Florida, Utah, and soon in Rhode Island and Wisconsin, selling your used CDs to the local record joint will be more scrutinized than then getting a driver’s license in those states.” For example, in Florida, the CD store is required to copy your identification and take your fingerprint. Just to sell a used CD?!? I think the author of the linked article hit it on the head when he suspects the music industry of being a force behind these laws.
The linked article discusses how heavy metal music can help comfort gifted children. For me, metal disrupts the overactive mental activity in my head and, as weird as it may sound, has a calming effect.
Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…
(via slashdot)
Satellite radio giants XM and Sirius have decided to merge. They still face regulatory approval, however, before the merger can go forward. Even though it smacks of a monopoly, I believe this will be a good thing for the listeners.
Link: http://news.yahoo.com/…
(via Slashdot)
Link #2: http://investor.sirius.com/…
If you bought one of the CDs associated with the Sony rootkit fiasco, there is a second settlement for which you qualify (first one here).
This settlement is between the Federal Trade Commission and Sony. It allows you to (1) exchange any affected CDs and (2) receive up to $150 in reimbursement for your efforts to remove the DRM software.
Everybody and their brother has been reporting on this, but nobody gave instructions on how to file a claim. So keep an eye on Chad’s News, and another one on the settlement page—the current info is for the previous settlement.
Link: http://www.ftc.gov/…
Music producers are outdoing each other to see who can provide the loudest music CDs (at the expense of dynamic range), and anyone with an mp3 library knows the annoyance of having one song at a good volume while the next blasts you out of your seat. The linked article gives information on how to normalize your entire library with MP3Gain, a free utility. An advantage of MP3Gain is that it uses statistical analysis rather than peak normalization.
Link: http://lifehacker.com/…
“Weird Al” Yankovic’s latest CD, “Straight Outta Lynwood,” has made it into Billboard’s top 10—a first for him. Much of the reason for this was the wide (and illegal) internet distribution of the video for “White and Nerdy”. You can listen to the song legally at Weird Al’s MySpace page, where you can also download the the highly amusing and satirical song, “Don’t Download This Song.” Most interesting of all, an AOL premiere of his video was cancelled because the video was prematurely leaked to the internet. But what at first seemed like a bad thing has turned out to be a very good thing.
UPDATE: Here’s an interesting interview of Weird Al by the Star Wars folks. Anyone who knows about the Star Wars Holiday Special and the Star Wars kid is definitely my kind of nerd.
UPDATE #2: And for anyone who wants a copy of the low-quality, poorly acted, and poorly written Star Wars Holiday Special, I have it on DVD and am willing to provide copies for $1.00—but you have to pay the cost of packaging and shipping, if any. If interested, just drop me a line.
