Jerry's Blog
*This trend is speeding up: If vinyl keeps growing, so will variant formats. Now, 78s and 45s are getting released, with the latest coming from Tompkins Square. Limited-edition 10″ 78rpm pressings from Ralph Stanley and Luther Dickinson will debut at Record Store Day on April 21st. “A lot of new turntables play 78′s, and many 78 collectors listen to their records on modern equipment,” Tompkins founder Josh Rosenthal said. “Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe have all recently released 78s. So I thought it would be fun to start a line of them.”
*Julien’s Auctions is now coordinating a large sale Les Paul equipment, memorabilia, and instruments. If you’ve got some cash to throw, the list includes vintage guitars dating back to the 20s. More at JuliensLive.com.
*A federal judge has now ruled that Live Nation and Clear Channel did not exert unfair monopolization in the concert industry, specifically during the pre-spinoff period of 2001-2005. Live Nation aims to apply the summary judgment to a raft of similar suits. “We refused to be held hostage by frivolous class action lawsuits, and now we’ve been vindicated,” Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino stated.
*There aren’t Read More
Jerry's Blog
The music business has undergone drastic changes during the Internet era, but until recently, one thing that hadn’t changed was the role of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, known to the industry as ASCAP. This performance rights organization has helped songwriters and music publishers get paid when their songs are played in radio broadcasts, on elevators and in clubs for nearly 100 years. But as broadcasting moves online, ASCAP’s future may be uncertain.
Take its relationship with the major record label EMI as an example. Like many labels, EMI has a publishing arm that controls several different catalogs of songs. April Music, one of those, holds the rights to some 200,000 songs, including works written and performed by Jay-Z, Mos Def and Beyonce. Holding those rights means that when any of those 200,000 songs are played in public spaces or in front of an audience, April Music — along with the song’s writer — is paid a fee by the broadcaster.
How do they know which songs were played in which place? That’s where ASCAP comes in. ASCAP is a performing rights organization, or PRO, founded in 1914 by songwriters. They created the group, which negotiates Read More
