Top 6 Albums of 2010: Brooke
1)Gregg Allman- Low Country Blues (Rounder)
2) Abigail Washburn- City if Refuge ( Foreign Children)
3)Linkin Park – A Thousand Suns (Warner Bros. Records Inc.)
4)Sufjan Steven- The Age of Adz ( Asthmatic Kitty)
5) Mumford and Sons- Sigh No More (Glassnote)
6) Hildur Guðnadóttir- Without Sinking (Touch)
Top 5 Albums of 2010: Maryam
1) Caribou- Swim ( Merge)
2) Four Tet- There Is Love In You ( Domino)
3) Beach House- Teen Dream ( Sub Pop)
4) Arcade Fire – The Suburbs ( Merge)
5) Diddy- Dirty Money- Last Train To Paris ( Bad Boy/Interscope Records)
70% Of Cloud-Based Music Users No Longer Use P2P Music Services
In a survey recently conducted by Thumbplay, 70% of respondents reported that they have stopped using Peer-to-Peer P2P services since engaging Thumbplay Music. Thumbplay Music, which works on numerous devices across all major smartphone platforms in the U.S., is one of the most widely-available cloud-based streaming music services in the U.S. More than 500,000 people have downloaded Thumbplay Music to date; nearly 70% are male and the largest user group for the service is 25 – 34-years-old, followed closely by 35 – 44-year-olds. Thumbplays popular, feature-rich app with more than 10 million songs has been publicly available on Android, Apple and BlackBerry smartphone platforms since June 2010. It is also available for PCs/Macs.
- 70% Of Cloud-Based Music Users No Longer Use P2P Music Services
Brace Yourself: The Best-of Lists For 2010 Are Coming
Pasta Magazine just released its list of the 50 best albums of 2010, which is probably the first best-of list to come out yet. While we probably need a few more weeks to put together out list, we can definitely tell you which picks from the Paste Mag list we agree with.
Deerhunter – Halcyon Digest
Local Natives: Gorilla Manor
Free Energy – Stuck On Nothing
Jónsi: Go
Kanye West – My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Mumford & Sons: Sigh No More
Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid
Google Public Policy Blog: Making Copyright Work Better Online
The Google Public Policy blog recently announced that the company would be taking new measures to ensure copyright protection online:
- We’ll act on reliable copyright takedown requests within 24 hours.
- We will prevent terms that are closely associated with piracy from appearing in Autocomplete
- We will improve our AdSense anti-piracy review.
- We will experiment to make authorised preview content more readily accessible in search result
- Google Public Policy Blog: Making Copyright Work Better Online
Film Festival Season: Five Last-Minute Music Clearance Tips
To a distributor, a great film with rights and permissions cleared in advance is like a beautifully-wrapped Christmas present, complete with bow on top. It’s a good idea to get the music cleared before your film screens at high-profile events because it locks in more favorable rates and gives you an opportunity to present your film as an attractive, hassle-free investment.
If you haven’t cleared the music in your film yet, it’s not too late to secure the rights. Here are some tips for getting the rights you need.
Follow The Rules
Record labels and music publishers follow a specific protocol when it comes to negotiating music rights. We could write (and have written!) an entire book about the subject, since it’s what we do for a living. If you must clear a song, you should put together a simple, clear music clearance form and submit it for review to the appropriate contact at Warner, EMI, Universal, etc. No one has time to review that PDF of your script; no one wants to actually read your discursive, piquant letter of advocacy requesting use of the song. Just keep it short and easy and make sure it ends up in the right inbox because these companies are enormous. And if you need some guidance, just hit us up and we’ll be happy to help you out.
Stay Humble, Manage Your Expectations
Many filmmakers are elated to be accepted to a brand name festival and are surprised to discover that labels and publishers are not as elated. In fact, announcing that you’re exhibiting can sometimes even add a thousand dollars or more to the quote. You don’t need to present your film as the best, most critically-lauded movie ever made to get an answer to the question of how much the song costs. You do need to provide the appropriate information when it is requested, like total production budget.
Consider The World Of Sound-Alike Recordings
Does that Frank Sinatra song cost half your film budget? If you must include well-known songs but find budget to be a challenge, you may consider the world of sound-alike master recordings, which can effectively cut your licensing fees in half. Just make sure that you clear the song itself and that you have obtained permission to use a non-Sinatra recording.
Think About Budget-Friendly Alternatives
Is there an easier-to-clear song that could take the place of the song you haven’t cleared yet? Could you replace the song for the festival and license the original later? And if you decide to use the song at the festival, are you prepared with a replacement in the event that you can’t afford or obtain the rights later? These are things that are worth considering if you are walking into a festival with music that has not been cleared.
Retain Your Dignity
Desperation doesn’t win you any points in the dating game, and it certainly isn’t going to win you any points in the music clearance arena. That said, there is a distinction between desperation and urgency. Instead of written pleas or outright groveling, consider deadline dates, large-point font and a formally-worded sternness that conveys priority. Colors are good too; we personally like red.
Stay Calm
If you don’t get the rights before the screening, it is entirely possible that no one will notice. The difficulty comes when you are trying to secure a distribution deal or when you are trying to license the rights after you’ve secured the deal and after you’ve screened at the festival. To at least benefit from the consideration that you are proceeding in good faith, start the clearance before the festival. And don’t forget to call us if you need help.
Axl Rose Sues Activision for $20M for Including Slash in ‘Guitar Hero’
Axl Rose really doesn’t want to be associated with ex-bandmate Slash. The Guns N’ Roses frontman has just filed a $20 million lawsuit against Guitar Hero maker Activision claiming its use of the GNR song “Welcome to the Jungle” violated a deal not to include any imagery of ex-guitarist Saul Hudson (aka Slash) in the popular game. In an amusing lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Rose and his Black Frog Music claim that Activision Blizzard fraudulently induced Rose into authorizing “Jungle” for use in Guitar Hero III by telling him during negotiations that it wouldn’t feature any reference to the former GNR member or his subsequent band, Velvet Revolver.
- Axl Rose Sues Activision for $20M for Including Slash in ‘Guitar Hero’
Sony Apologizes to Bradford Cox for Deleting His Online Recordings
The key part to note here: Deerhunter is not actually signed to a Sony-affiliated label. Oops! It appears that this was a case of the misdirected takedown notice. We love Deerhunter’s newest album Halycon Digest by the way, especially the songs “Coronado” and “Helicopter.”
Label giant Sony Music took the liberty of deleting four of Bradford Cox’s MP3 albums he posted on Deerhunter’s blog last week inexplicably. Now, they’ve apologized.“Apparently Sony Music Owns my bedroom,” Cox said at the news of the initial interruption. The label removed the Atlas Sound home recording files, Bedroom Databank Vol. 1-4, without consulting Cox. Not to mention that neither Cox, Atlas Sound or Deerhunter is on a Sony-affiliated label. “Feel free to call or email and let them know what you think,” Cox advised fans.
- Sony Apologizes to Bradford Cox for Deleting His Online Recordings