p2p news / p2pnet:- “The idea that free music would gut the big record companies seems a distant memory, even though it was still the conventional wisdom just a year ago,” states Newsweek, which also has EMI boss has Eric Nicoli saying, “We’re finally seeing a raft of new initiatives from really big players. This stuff is happening all day, every day now.”

‘Stuff’ is correct.

EMI is one of the Big Four record label cartel owners and Nicoli is, in turn, one of the two cartel bosses who’s running the dodgy entertainment and software industry BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy), with Vivendi Universal’s Jean-René Fourtou right behind him, and Microsoft ceo Steve Ballmer lurking in the shadows.

Free music may not have gutted the Big Four, EMI, Universal, Sony BMG and Warner Music, but they’re still behaving as though it’s about to, victimizing young girls, as well as other innocent people, as they try to sue them into buying ‘product’.

“Nicoli has the buoyant air of a man who has just survived a close scrape with death,: says Newsweek. “In a recent series of interviews, he and other top execs at EMI offered a detailed glimpse at the recent tumult, and where EMI - and their industry - is likely to go from here”.

EMI, “moved earlier than most peers to grapple with the digital threat by, for example, shrinking its labor force and culling its roster of artists,” and five digital business models emerging, says Levy:

• Downloads to PCs
• Downloads to mobiles
• Subscriptions
• Ring tones
• P2p

Levy expects a “two- to three-year period of turmoil before the winners emerge”.

Ted Cohen, head of digital development and distribution and someone to whom “Levy will always listen,” is one of Levy’s “secret weapons”. But Cohen had to change his pitch from “this is really cool” to explaining how the new technology can make money.

“One such discovery is WideRay, a Bluetooth technology that can ‘ping’ (message) people as they go past and offer a product,” says the story.

“EMI tried it in London, beaming a Coldplay screensaver to passersby. The company is now testing a prototype in the United States that would allow a customer entering a store the option of opening his or her cell phone to ‘pings’ including click-on songs, ring tunes or artist biographies, all catering to the tastes of repeat customers. Cohen is also working with Microsoft on a service for airports that allows passengers to upload five hours of music to rent, with an option to mark certain songs to buy.”

Newsweek says Cohen, who turned down a job at the “old” Napster in favour of EMI, is also EMI’s “link to the free-music world who’s, “talking to any file sharer willing to go legit, as well as licensing to those who already have, such as Snocap, run by Napster founder Shawn Fanning”.

In other words, all you file sharers are non-legit crooks and criminals, unless you’re willing to ‘consume’ in exactly the way EMI wants you to consume.

“One of the most difficult transitions will be finding a way to embrace former Grokster users,” Newsweek adds, saying a recent music industry report found, “those who steal also buy the most, and argues that companies should distinguish between pirates, who just steal, and promoters, who share what they steal and serve as tastemakers”.

That’s YOU, you thief. Because behind all of this is one, dominant fact:

Levy and his oppos running the other labels want - Absolutely must have! - you and your money. They can’t survive without either and they’ve turned the word ‘share’ into ‘steal’ so they can literally use the international courts to try to sue you into buying their over-priced, formulaic junk.

And Oh Yeh - the pic at top right? “EMI is experimenting with new models for digital music,” including the Gorillaz, the animated UK hip-hop band, says Newsweek.

The ‘band’ is #4 with Feel Good Inc in p2pnet’s current file share top ten.

Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win
- Mohandas Gandhi

See:-
Newsweek - EMI: A Different Tune, October 17, 2005, issue
BASCAP - New Big Music ‘trade’ group, October 7, 2005
victimizing young girls - 100,000 for Britanny Chan!, October 7, 2005

Tired of being treated like a criminal? Don’t just boycott them. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls. Tell your local political representative how you feel. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 9th, 2005 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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