The second trial confirmed the first for the 32 year old mother in Minnesota who illegally downloaded 24 songs. $80,000 per song - ouch. Lots of reasons she was found guilty and the RIAA continues to find, sue and settle with illegal downloaders and reasons that the fine was so high - read more on Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tec_music_downloading).

Three main points to make:
more »

Looks like the Recording Industry Association of America is changing it’s strategy of suing individuals who are caught downloading pirated music. In a recent statement, they stated that no new lawsuits will be filed against individual - I guess all of the bad press, high cost and ineffectiveness of the campaign has come to roost. The new strategy involves working directly with Internet Service Providers to “warn” people of illegal activity.

The truth is that the downloading networks have gotten progressively worse over the years and to both find and download a significant amount of clean music is more difficult than ever. File sharing has never gone mainstream and you can’t stop people from swapping CDs and ripping them onto their computers.
more »

I just read a nice article from Portfolio.com that talks about Apple’s dominance in the music distribution business and how it won’t last. I’ve read a lot of these types of analysis and personally believe that services like Rhapsody, Napster and Zune pass are the way of the future. No per song fees, access any music anywhere, single monthly fee is the model that will allow MORE music discovery, MORE enjoyment of music, a WIDER spectrum of listening and a sound music industry that is MORE fair to the artists.

The main point of the article is that it will take Apple to convert to this model in order for it to really take off. It may not be Apple, but someone big or something really discontinuous needs to happen in order for the broader public (ie - everyone with an iPod) to try the services. Here is the link to the article - enjoy.

I’ve just posted a feature by feature comparison of Rhapsody vs Napster. I selected the elements that are the most important and quantifiable and left out things like look and feel, stability, etc. as those are hard to get hard facts around. Click here to compare Rhapsody vs Napster.

Check it out - Rhapsody has Kid Rock’s entire catalog as an exclusive - no one else has the Kid including iTunes. Here’s a list of the albums you can listen to for free and buy in DRM free MP3 format. You can listen to Explicit or Edited versions of each - Sweet!
- Rock n Roll Jesus
- ‘Live’ Trucker
more »

I love Rick Rubin. I think he is one of the great music producers of our time and one of the most versatile guys in the business. The fact that he resurrected Johnny Cash’s career in his twilight with some extremely powerful music puts him high on my personal list. I was reading an article in the New York Times about his role at Columbia Music and a section caught my attention as he was describing the future of music. This is Rhapsody’s model and why I continue to believe that as the internet becomes more pervasive, the subscription model will be important.

“Rubin has a bigger idea. To combat the devastating impact of file sharing, he, like others in the music business (Doug Morris and Jimmy Iovine at Universal, for instance), says that the future of the industry is a subscription model, much like paid cable on a television set. “You would subscribe to music,” Rubin explained, as he settled on the velvet couch in his library. “You’d pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you’d like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home. You’ll say, ‘Today I want to listen to … Simon and Garfunkel,’ and there they are. The service can have demos, bootlegs, concerts, whatever context the artist wants to put out. And once that model is put into place, the industry will grow 10 times the size it is now.”
more »

I just read an article on CNN Money about Napster (read it here) and it got me thinking about the future of Napster and the impact on the subscription music industry. I’ve been a fan of Rhapsody for a long time (obvious if you read this site) and have always thought that the music subscription model is superior to the iTunes/MP3 store model. With the introduction of DRM free MP3s in Rhapsody, I’m even more convinced of it - especially for someone who is online all of the time like I am. Rhapsody makes listening to whatever I want, whenever I want, as much as I want really easy.

Napster is the same subscription model and with their new player version, looks A LOT like Rhapsody (go figure). However, according to this article, their subscription numbers are flat, they are losing money hand over fist and don’t have a strong marketing partnership like the MTV Networks with Rhapsody. In addition, Rhapsody has taken over the Urge service AND Yahoo Music Service. Rhapsody is growing while Napster is not. So, what happens to Napster? They have cash in the back and a really low stock price - great acquisition candidate by someone - Apple? Amazon? RealNetworks? Are we better off with two major subscription services or is the market not big enough?
more »

The British Alt band Radiohead has finally released their catalog to Rhapsody for streaming and downloading. This is great news for Radiohead fans and Rhapsody subscribers as now you can explore their entire catalog and listen to any complete song as much as you want if you are a Rhapsody subscriber. I’ve heard a few Radiohead songs on the radio, but never been a true devotee’. I just listened to their greatest hits “The Best Of” and found quite a few that I really enjoy such as “Just”, “High and Dry” and “Lucky”.

Here is a complete list of albums from Radiohead on Rhapsody. Each Radiohead album has a review from a Rhapsody Editor. Try finding THAT on Napster or iTunes.
more »

I’m listening to the new Mudcrutch album featuring Tom Petty and digging it big-time. Not all of the songs are gems, but it has a great Tom Petty feel - more on the fun, rhythmic side vs the weird drug induced side (Don’t Come Around Here No More - anyone?). Lots of blue grass feel, guitars and pure Americana. This will definitely be in my play list this summer.

The other album that I am digging is the new Jason Mraz “We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things”. Although I was disappointed with Jason’s sophmore effort (Mr. A-Z), I love this disc. It is fun, sharp and touching. Jason has regained his form with a really polished effort that is end to end a great listen.
more »

I must admit, I was a little late to the Coldplay party only discovering them with Clocks off of A Rush of Blood to the Head, but I’ve grown to really appreciate their music and was excited to hear the new single - Violet Hill and was psyched to see it on Rhapsody on Day One of release. I looked in both Napster and Rhapsody to see what info was available and sure enough, an editor took the time to comment on the song in Rhapsody, but not editorial at all in Napster. Rhapsody so kicks Napster’s ass on the editorial side.

I love this song. It has the trademark build-up, strong melodies, a guitar based under riff, motivating beat and Chris Martin harmony. This will go into my running/riding playlist for sure.
more »