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Instant Live to Sell Post-Concert CDs from Yo-Yo Ma Tour

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on February 24, 2006 - 10:54am.
Los Angeles - Instant Live, a unit of concert promoter Live Nation, said on Friday that it will distribute live concert recordings for several dates on The Silk Road Project featuring Yo-Yo Ma Your. The company partnered with Sony Classical on the endeavor, which will offer concertgoers CDs of the performance for sale at the venue immediately after the show. Los Angeles-based Instant Live has also distributed live recordings from the Pixies, Bauhaus and the Black Crowes.
tags: CDs | Yo-Yo Ma | Post-Concert | Instant Live | Sell |

Apple Denies EMI Copy-Protected CDs Will Play on iPod

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2005 - 3:29am.
San Francisco - Major label EMI said that it soon plans to release copy-protected CDs whose tracks may for the first time be transferred to Apple's iPod digital music players, although Apple has denied this claim, CNET News.com reported. To this point, major developers of CD copy-protection software -- including SunnComm, First 4 Internet and Macrovision -- have utilized Microsoft's media format to encode protected tracks that can be transferred to portable players. Microsoft media files cannot be played on the iPod. "Apple is nearly finished with the technical work necessary to enable consumers to transfer music from content-protected discs to their iPods," EMI said in a statement. "This is an important step for EMI and Apple, but even more so for music consumers who will soon be able to legitimately port music from protected discs they own to the iPod." EMI is using Macrovision's copy-protection technology on its CDs. Apple, however, denied the label's claim. "The information EMI provided regarding iTunes and iPod compatibility with Macrovision's technology is not true and we have no idea why EMI made this statement," Apple said in a statement.
tags: iPod | Apple | EMI | CDs |

Report: SonyBMG Copy-Protection Reports CDs Played, Hampers All CD Ripping

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2005 - 9:34am.
San Francisco - CNET News.com reported on Wednesday that antivirus firms are preparing to offer tools designed to identify and remove CD copy-protection software installed on PCs when users play certain SonyBMG music CDs. Several antivirus firms have deemed the "rootkit," a tool often used by virus writers to cloak their malicious software deep within a computer's operating system, to be a threat because virus writers can use SonyBMG's antipiracy tool to hide their own malicious software on users' PCs. Antivirus firm Computer Associates told News.com it found further cause for concern with the controversial SonyBMG "rootkit." In addition to making it more difficult to rip SonyBMG CD tracks into unprotected digital files, the software makes itself a default media player, reports back a user's Internet address -- and which CDs are played on the computer -- and also inhibits the ripping of non-copy-protected CDs. "It will effectively insert pseudo-random noise into a file so that it becomes less listenable," Computer Associates vice president Sam Curry told News.com. "What's disturbing about this is the lack of notice, the lack of consent, and the lack of an easy removal tool." Both SonyBMG and the creator of the antipiracy tool, First 4 Internet, have posted patches that identify the software, but uninstalling the software currently requires a user to contact the label's customer service department for instructions.
tags: Reports | CDs | SonyBMG | Hampers |

Report: Illegal Music Swappers Also Spend More on CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 27, 2005 - 7:43am.
London -- According to a report by digital music research firm The Leading Question, people who illegally swap files on the Internet typically spend about four and a half times as much on legal music as those who do not. "There's a myth that all illegal downloaders are mercenaries hell-bent on breaking the law in pursuit of free music," Leading Question director Paul Brindley told the BBC. "In reality, they are often hardcore fans who are extremely enthusiastic about adopting paid-for services, as long as they are suitably compelling." The report echoes similar findings by the U.K. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which last month claimed that there was no real link between illegal file-sharing and lost CD sales. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), however, remains unconvinced. "The consensus among independent research is that a third of illegal file-sharers may buy more music and around two thirds buy less," said BPI spokesman Matt Philips. "That two-thirds tends to include people who were the heaviest buyers, which is why we need to continue our carrot and stick approach to the problem of illegal file-sharing."
tags: Reports | CDs | Illegal Music Swappers | Spend More |

IFPI: One in Three CDs Sold Worldwide is Pirated

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 23, 2005 - 8:23am.
London -- One in three CDs sold worldwide is a pirated copy, part of a $4.6 billion global market for pirated music, according to a report from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). A total of 1.2 billion pirated discs were sold in 2004, or 34% of all discs sold worldwide. However, IFPI added that the growth of disc piracy has slowed to its lowest level in five years, and sales of all pirate recordings actually fell slightly, to 1.5 billion units, while the value of the pirate music market was flat overall, compared with 2003. Sales of pirated music were found to exceed legitimate music sales in a record 31 countries in 2004, including Greece, India and the Czech Republic. The IFPI identified ten "priority" countries where piracy is at unacceptable levels and urgent government action is needed: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Spain and Ukraine. It also drew attention to Canada, Korea, Taiwan and Bulgaria as countries whose online and physical piracy is of concern to the industry. "The music industry fights piracy because if it did not the music industry would quite simply not exist," said IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy. "Billions of dollars of investment go into releasing and marketing over 100,000 albums in a single year, and this is only possible when there is good, effective enforcement of copyright."
tags: IFPI | CDs | Worldwide |

Imation Develops "ForceField" Protective Coating for CDs, DVDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 5, 2005 - 2:53am.
Oakdale, Minn. -- Imation Corp., a manufacturer of CDs, DVDs and other storage media, on Wednesday introduced its new proprietary "ForceField" scratch resistant coating for optical discs, designed to resist scratches, dust, smudges and everyday wear. Imation said the coating repels up to 100 times more dust than a standard disc, and allows fingerprints and surface smudges to be more easily wiped away -- similar to how car wax causes liquids to bead up rather than bleed and smear. "Say goodbye to excessive skips and playback interruptions, worrying about scratches, handling CDs and DVDs by their edges, or searching for lint-free cleansing cloths," said Tom Lally, Imation executive director of sales and marketing. "This means no more worries about disc scratches or smudges that can result from slipping CDs in file folders, sliding DVDs across countertops or handling discs with your fingers." Minnesota-based Imation will begin shipping ForceField discs to retailers nationwide in February.
tags: CDs | DVDs | Imation | ForceField | Protective Coating |

Report: CDs to Still Dominate in 2009; Digital Music Will Be 8% of Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 28, 2004 - 9:26am.
London -- Compact discs will continue to dominate the recorded music market for at least the next five years, while digital music downloads will slowly increase their market share, according to a report from New York-based market research firm Jupiter Research. The firm predicted that Europeans will spend about $1 billion on digital music in 2009, including downloads and subscription services, but this will make up only 8% of the overall $12.6 billion music market there. By contrast, rival research firm Forrester predicted recently that digital music would make up 30% of the overall European market by 2009. "Digital music distribution will be an important alternative revenue channel for the music industry, but it is not about to replace the CD," said Jupiter Research analyst Mark Mulligan. "Although Europe's digital music market has finally begun to take off after a sluggish start, it will remain a relatively niche market."
tags: Reports | CDs | Market | Digital Music | Dominate |

French Consumer Group Sues EMI, Retailer Over Copy-Protected CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 25, 2004 - 1:53am.
Paris -- A French consumer advocacy group has sued major record label EMI and record store chain Fnac over copy-protected CDs sold in the country, accusing them of "deception over the material qualities of a product," the Associated Press reported. A French judge has launched an investigation based on a complaint from French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir, which says the CDs aren't playable in many CD players and computers, and further that they violate a 1985 law ensuring French consumers can make personal copies of CDs. The lawsuit could impose a maximum fine of $227,000 on EMI and Fnac, aside from unspecified damages that UFC-Que Choisir is seeking in the case. The group said it is also considering a lawsuit against Warner Music Group over that label's copy-protected CDs.
tags: EMI | CDs | Retailer | French | Consumer Group | Copy-Protectes |

Report: Digital Music Sales Will Hit $1.7 Billion in 2009, Won't Replace CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on July 26, 2004 - 4:37am.
New York -- Digital music sales will double in 2004, to $270 million, and grow to account for 12% of total consumer music spending in 2009, when they hit $1.7 billion, according to projections from Connecticut-based market research firm Jupitermedia. Revenues from subscription services are predicted to outpace individual download sales, which in the near-term will cater more to consumers looking to sample music before buying a CD. Jupiter projects that digital music will help the U.S. music industry to rebound after four years of sluggish sales, but will not replace CDs or bring the industry back to its 1999 sales peak. "The so-called celestial jukebox is in sight," said Jupiter Research senior analyst David Card. "But for now, it will appeal to music aficionados. The U.S. music industry must manage digital music as one of a series of incremental revenue streams, one that is in the same scale as licensing (e.g., ring tones, games and advertising)." Jupiter also predicts that U.S. shipments of MP3 players will grow over 50% in 2004 to well over 5 million, and will continue to grow almost 50% per year for the next several years.
tags: Reports | Sales | CDs | Digital Music |

Report: Decline in Average Price for CDs is Accelerating

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 3, 2004 - 3:20pm.
Port Washington, N.Y. -- A recent decline in the average price consumers pay for CD albums appears to be accelerating, reaching a new low of $13.29 in the first quarter of 2004, according to data from New York-based market research firm NPD Group. The price point dropped nearly 4% from the average CD price in the first quarter of 2003, while in the previous year the average price dropped only 2.5%. In 2002, the average price was $13.90. The report noted that titles 18-months old or older now cost on average $12.99, and also that prices at mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart and Target fell by 5% over the past year. "The recording industry has had to deal with a changing market over the past few years, which was fueled in part by file-sharing," said NPD Music president Russ Crupnick. "Everyone also recognizes the increasing competition for entertainment dollars, as DVDs and video games are growing at double digit rates. Record labels are diligently trying to respond to consumer feedback about high CD prices, and to the relative value of music."
tags: Reports | CDs | Decline | Price | Accelerating |

Clear Channel Acquires Patent for Selling Instant Live Concert CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 25, 2004 - 7:22am.
New York -- Clear Channel Entertainment has purchased a patent it says gives it the exclusive right to record and sell live concert CDs direct from venues, Rolling Stone reported. New York-based DiscLive, which was recently acquired by Immediatek, estimated it would gross $500,000 this spring from selling live concert CDs from bands like The Pixies, Billy Idol and the Allman Brothers. The service includes a mobile recording and CD burning studio that can churn out finished discs for fans to pre-order online and pick up at the venue after the concert. Clear Channel, which operates a similar service called Instant Live, purchased the patent for DiscLive's technology from its inventors, and believes that it covers not only Clear Channel's 130 owned venues, but all U.S. venues as well. The company has granted one-dollar licenses of the patent to some smaller bands that want to record and sell CDs of their shows, but told The Pixies that they may no longer sell their concert CDs direct from venues. "We want to be artist-friendly," Steve Simon, Clear Channel's director of Instant Live, told Rolling Stone. "But it is a business, and it's not going to be 'we have the patent, now everybody can use it for free.'"
tags: Clear Channel | CDs | Patent |

IFPI, Greek Police Jail Man for Three Months for Buying Two Pirate CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 21, 2004 - 7:44am.
London -- A new crackdown on tourists who buy pirated CDs from street vendors in Greece was recently launched by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), with a man being arrested and jailed for three months after buying two CDs from a vendor in Athens last week, the BBC reported. The new focus on buyers of pirate CDs in Greece, which has the worst piracy rate in western Europe, comes as the country prepares for an influx of tourists during the Olympics this summer. "This is not a symbolic measure. We are determined to prosecute the buyers and we have the support of the authorities," IFPI spokesman Ion Stamboulis told the BBC. "Until now, we were focusing on the sellers, but Greek courts generally hand them light suspended sentences and they resume their trade as soon as they are released."
tags: IFPI | CDs | Pirate | Greek Police | ail Man |

Calif. State Bill Would Enable Return of Unsolicited Bulk Mail CDs, DVDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 19, 2004 - 4:31am.
Berkeley, Calif. -- A Calif. state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would make companies that send out unsolicited CDs or DVDs -- such as AOL's mass mailings of free signup discs -- provide self-addressed, stamped envelopes so that recipients may either mail the disc back to its sender or to a recycling partner. The California State Assembly is scheduled to hear arguments on Assemblywoman Loni Hancock's (D-Berkeley) proposal today. "This bill will take care of a growing problem of hundreds of millions of CDs mailed out unsolicited," Hancock told CNET News.com. The manufacturers "use increasingly scarce and expensive petroleum. The CDs then last up to 400 years in a landfill and, in fact, they can be reused."
tags: CDs | Calif | DVDs | Bulk Mail |

Labels Sue Website for "Parallel Importing" of CDs, Undercutting Retailers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 13, 2004 - 3:36am.
Los Angeles -- The Financial Times reports that the British High Court next month will hear a case brought by the recording industry against an online company importing cheap CDs from Asia and selling them for profit in Britain and other European markets. The British Phonographic Industry is alleging that Hong Kong-based CD Wow is engaged in "parallel importing" -- where goods are illegally imported into a region without the copyright owner's consent. The site sells CDs for an average of $7 less than is charged for the same albums in U.K. record stores, and was estimated to have sales of $184 million in 2003. CD Wow CEO Philip Robinson told the Financial Times the company will vigorously defend the lawsuit. "I would not have set the business up if there was something intrinsically wrong with it."
tags: Labels | Website | CDs | Parallel Importing | Undercutting |

Belgian Consumer Group Sues Labels Over Copy-Protected CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 5, 2004 - 4:24am.
Brussels -- Belgium's consumer watchdog Test-Achats (Test Aankoop) announced on Monday that it is taking major record labels EMI, Sony, BMG and Universal Music to court over the copy-protection technology they are beginning to embed on their audio CDs. The regulator says that it has received numerous consumer complaints that the anti-piracy systems have prevented the CDs from being played on PCs and car stereos, and that the technology strips consumers of their usual ability to make a back-up copy of a CD. With the news, Test-Achats becomes the first European watchdog to challenge the global music industry over its anti-piracy measures.
tags: Labels | CDs | Belgian | Copy-Protected |

Report: Consumers Expect to Pay $5 Less for Downloaded Albums vs. CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 5, 2003 - 6:28am.
New York -- Consumers expect to pay significantly less for a downloaded full-length album than the same album sells for on CD, according to a new survey from New York-based research firm Ipsos-Insight. The survey of 488 U.S. Internet users aged 12 and older found that consumers stated an "acceptable price range" of between $5 and $10 for a downloaded album, compared with a range of between $10 and $15 for the same album on CD. The research also found that consumers would be most likely to buy a CD from a well-known, established artist if the album were sold at the $11.99 price-point. "A roughly $5.00 decrease in the range of acceptable prices for a new, full length album distributed digitally versus in a physical format represents a significant decrease in perceived value for this product based solely on format or distribution method," said Ipsos-Insight research director Matt Kleinschmit.
tags: Downloads | Reports | Consumers | CDs | Albums |

New Paper-Thin, 1GB Storage Media Could Replace CDs in 5 Years

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 13, 2003 - 7:39am.
Leeds, England -- Researchers at Princeton University and Hewlett-Packard believe they have created new recordable media technology that is paper-thin, can hold up to 1GB of data and has the potential to make the compact disc obsolete within five years, Ananova.com reported. The research centers on "the discovery of a previously unknown property of a commonly used conductive plastic coating," called PEDOT. The device would be similar to a recordable CD crossed with a memory card, which can "plug directly into an electronic circuit and have no moving parts."
tags: CDs | 1GB | New Paper | Thin | Storage Media |

Brooklyn Resident Gets Six Months for Selling Pirate CDs Online

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 10, 2003 - 4:38am.
Washington -- A New York man has been sentenced to six months in prison and fined more than $3,000 for selling unauthorized compilation CDs from his website. U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton convicted 42-year-old Brooklyn resident Alvin A. Davis of felony copyright infringement, for offering over 100 CDs containing tracks from various artists for sale on his EmpireRecords.com site. As part of his sentence, Judge Walton also prohibited Davis from using the Internet for one year. "Mr. Davis sought to profit off the hard work of others. Today's sentence sends a strong message to anyone involved in piracy that there is a significant price to pay for this kind of illegal behavior," said U.S. Attorney Roscoe C. Howard, Jr.
tags: Internet | CDs | Brooklyn | Resident |

Macrovision, Microsoft to Provide Record Labels With Copy-Protected CDs

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 24, 2003 - 10:09am.
Santa Clara, Calif. -- Macrovision, a provider of copy-protection technologies for digital media, announced on Thursday a partnership with Microsoft that will enable record labels to release copy-protected CDs that function in normal CD players, and prevent unauthorized copying while still allowing consumers to make "personal use" copies of songs they contain. The "dual session" CDs will feature both the Red Book audio data that is recognized by traditional CD players, as well as a "second session" that contains audio files playable on PCs and transferable to portable devices. In addition to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Macrovision's copy-protection, the discs will utilize Microsoft's Windows Media Data Session Toolkit.
tags: Microsoft | Macrovision | CDs | Copy-Protect |

Arista Records to Release SunnComm Copy-Protected CDs in U.S. Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 28, 2003 - 3:53am.
San Francisco -- A number of outlets reported on Friday that, according to a research note published by a J.P. Morgan analyst, major label BMG's Arista Records label plans to release copy-protected CDs into the consumer market as early as May. According to the note, Arista will use Phoenix-based SunnComm's CD copy-protection technology. "We expect volume shipments of protected CDs to ship commercially in the U.S. as early as the May-June time frame using the SunnComm solution," wrote J.P. Morgan analyst Sterling Auty, in the note. "This will be the first major step in the growth of the CD audio protection market." SunnComm currently provides copy-protection on Arista's promotional and other CDs released in advance of an album's street date.
tags: U.S | CDs | SunnComm | Arista |
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