AIKEN NEWS NETWORK DEC. 17

[clayharmony]

Every day with Clay...here's news...and 're-news' (recycled Clay articles worthy of another read...) for today's reading pleasure:

From CV:

Clay was just the "Question" on Jeopardy. The answer, under the category, "Reality Show Runner Ups", was
"With hit records and success on Broadway, this AI season 2 runner-up is hardly "hurtin."

The woman got it right. Who is Clay Aiken?

   

[clayharmony]

Who Sang It Best...this blog has these polls on a regular basis...fun!...this recent one has the singers already named...however, I think you'll still be entertained listening to each and comparing the performances...scroll down on the page to about the middle...

http://mjsbigidolblog.com/

By Request. Who sang it best: Christmas songs. Let's start with O Holy Night. There will be other songs between now and Christmas. Please rate them from best to last and give reasons. Listen all the way through each one. You don't want to miss the embellishments! Update: Adding the names of the performers. Sorry ...

[clayharmony]

A music industry article of interest...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703499404574561734246276554.html

The Best-Selling Record of All
'White Christmas' and the reasons it endures
 

By ROY J. HARRIS JR.

It was a peaceful song that became a wartime classic. Its unorthodox, melancholy melody—and mere 54 words, expressing the simple yearning for a return to happier times—sounded instantly familiar when sung by America's favorite crooner. But 67 years after its introduction, some still are surprised to learn that Bing Crosby's recording of the Irving Berlin ballad "White Christmas" became not only the runaway smash-hit for the World War II holidays, but the best-selling record of all time. ...

[clayharmony]

A listing of Clay Aiken quotes...for your reference and enjoyment:

http://www.jittery.com/quotes/clay-aiken-quotes-2880.html

In my ideal world, no child would suffer. Charitable instincts would prevail. There would be global acceptance of all different types of people.

[clayharmony]

The future of the recording music industry?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/technology/internet/16tune.html

Music Business Heads Into Virtual World

By BRAD STONE and CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
Published: December 15, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — With its deal this month to buy the Web music service Lala, Apple may be pointing the way to the future of music.

In this future, the digital music files on people’s computers could join vinyl records, cassette tapes and CDs in the dusty vault of fading music formats.

Instead, music fans will use their always-online computers and smartphones to visit a vast Internet jukebox, where Gregorian chants, Lady Gaga tracks and the several centuries of music in between are instantly available.

For a small but growing cadre of music lovers, the vision is not that outlandish. Josh Newman, a 30-year-old technology consultant from Toronto who travels widely, pays $16 a month for Spotify, a subscription music service that, for now, is officially available only in Europe. Spotify allows unlimited listening to its online music library.

Since Spotify introduced an application for the iPhone over the summer, Mr. Newman has begun listening to the service almost exclusively, even though he has 35,000 songs on hard drives at home.

“The irony is, I don’t even go back to that music,” Mr. Newman said. “I’m almost too lazy. If there’s an artist I want to check out, I’d rather listen to it on Spotify than have to dig through my collection.”

The idea of a limitless jukebox in the sky — or in tech-speak, “in the cloud” — has been around for some time, but it is consuming music executives who now associate the word “funk” with more than just a musical genre. The recording industry, which had $40 billion in annual sales a decade ago, is now bringing in half that. More ominously, the growth of revenue from digital downloads, still only a fifth of the total sales pie, is slowing. ...

[clayharmony]

Trouble in David Foster's homeland...

http://www.examiner.com/x-23513-Baltimore-Computers-Examiner~y2009m12d7-Canadian-Music-Industry-faces-class-action-suit-for-6-billion

Canadian Music Industry faces class action suit for $6 billion
December 7, 8:51 PM  Bruce Emmerling   

Some artists are not being paid for their music

The Canadian Recording Industry is being sued for over $6 billion from music artists.  The suit has grown with new infringements found recently and now numbers of 300,000 songs used without prior permission or payment from music artists. 

According to Jared on Zeropaid, the CMI is facing a suit that is seeking damages for unapproved song usage on compilation albums.  The astronomical $6 billion suit seems almost unbelievable but apparently close to 300,000 song infringements have been documented so far.  Each song infringement can bring up to $20,000 in damages.  There has also been reports of documentation issues with song usage by CMI.

Michael Geist wrote that many of the infringements are document back to the 1980s and includes many artists.  According to Geist, the suit began in October 2008 with artists seeking damages from unapproved music usage.  He also writes that Canadian law changed back in the late 1980s when recording companies needed to seek approval for each instance of using a song or album.  Apparently many companies did not do so and the suit is the final result of years of unpaid song usage.

The irony is of course that different recording industry groups have been suing people for downloading songs without payment for several years.  The defendant companies involved in the suit include Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, Universal Music Canda, and Warner Music Canada.  The evidence appears to be rather strong against the defendants and they have already reportedly admitted to owing at least $50 million in damages.  While the suit is ongoing, there is no victor nor a complete accounting of all of the infringments found yet.  ...

[clayharmony]

The White House convenes music execs...

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/top-hollywood-and-music-execs-coming-to-white-house-meeting-on-piracy.php

Top Hollywood And Music Execs Coming To White House Meeting On Piracy

Christina Bellantoni | December 14, 2009, 5:40PM

Top music and Hollywood executives will meet with Vice President Joe Biden and administration Cabinet members Tuesday for a roundtable discussion about piracy of intellectual property.

TPMDC has obtained an early look at the attendees, a host of big-wigs from the Motion Picture Association, the Recording Industry Association of America and top companies such as Viacom, among others. ...