Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Remember where you heard it first ...

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  • Simon Grigg,

    The browse function is now working and i'm finding a interesting things, but so many, even music that I know is licensed for NZ, is "unavailable" for NZ

    Faze Action is there which is very cool

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    I keep trying to buy the Amy Winehouse album "Back in Black", but iTunes says no, no, no.

    Or more specifically, it gives me this strange error message:

    Purchase of this item is not currently available
    This item is being modified. Please try again later.

    When will this mysterious modification end? Oh, the anticipation!

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Compie,

    Wow they really have vamped up itunes store, althought they don't have any Carter USM or Neds Atomic Dustbin, what's with that?

    Don't laugh, first purchase Big Audio Dynamite.

    Dunedin/Vancouver • Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • peter mclennan,

    Seen the latest addition to the cheesy Local Sounds page? - a new album from Dimmer, called It All Looks The Same At Night, on Rogue Recordings. Oh, hang on, that's a compilation of Dimmer's previous albums, released only in Australia. Umm...

    AK Central • Since Nov 2006 • 159 posts Report Reply

  • Tomorrowpeople,

    ummmmm - lol

    I saw that and thought WTF?

    The Craps tables at the B… • Since Nov 2006 • 188 posts Report Reply

  • jon_knox,

    Hooked into a bit of itunes last night for the first time. The amount of stuff that is not available was surprisingly large....not even obscure stuff. I did manage to get Nick Cave's soundtrack to "the Proposition" for $10 tho.
    Got a big glitch in the middle of one of the tracks so I am exploring the support avenue.
    I would have thought that itunes would have a wicked back catalogue so I could get things that I've been keen to lay my hands on over the years but been put off by the import process/prices. I guess it was unrealistic to think that itunes NZ would have access to the catalogue from all the other itunes stores!...so much for effect of "the Long Tail", global purchasing power and all that...
    Was also surprised to see that one of the Neil Young singles is $17.99 for a single track (..OK it's a 34 min track).

    Belgium • Since Nov 2006 • 464 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    This post: iTunes sales collapsing...has caused massive industry talk over the past couple of days. Some sites suggest that because it excludes dec 06 sales (ie. Xmas when people get their iPods and tend to buy a tune or two) it is skewered. But there is little doubt that legit downloads have plateaued. CD sales fell another 5% year or year in the US this week though (and more globally), whilst pirated MP3 downloads are still rocketing. The per track payment model is clearly not working (DRM is a disaster as many predicted..it was always going to be) and the move to a blanket performance fee that will cover P2P sites too is,in my opinion, inevitable. It was always the way through the morass. Which a) takes the major record companies even more out of the mix and b) gives new meaning to the long tail. iTunes was alays an interim step on the road to the future.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    This post: iTunes sales collapsing...has caused massive industry talk over the past couple of days. Some sites suggest that because it excludes dec 06 sales (ie. Xmas when people get their iPods and tend to buy a tune or two) it is skewered.

    Forrester, the company that actually did the research, is rubbishing the "iTunes is collapsing" angle, but also ticking off Apple for being so stingy with data.

    It does seem fair to say that sales have plateaued, though, and you're right about DRM. Apple's DRM seems innocuous until you buy some tracks and actually start to think about the annoying obstacles it's going to present. And Windows Media DRM is just horrid.

    One of the problems that's come up with the blanket performance fee across all media types is that it would mean the porn industry getting most of the money ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    One of the problems that's come up with the blanket performance fee across all media types is that it would mean the porn industry getting most of the money

    Ha, ha, I guess so. But that said, it is, in some form the only way forward. The collection and distribution agencies are already there, and the move from the treatment of the song as a firm sale to a performance is in some ways inevitable.

    Peter Jenner, one of the wisest men in the music industry for decades, is absolutely right in this. The mindest that RIAA and the likes of RIANZ have, that this is all about sales, and sales lost, has to change, its outdated and doesn't work anymore...and it won't in the future. This is about performance of a recorded work which has always been covered by levies and fees.

    Its ironic that the digital revolution has in some ways turned the clock back 70 or 80 years to the era when the performance royalty ruled.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Its ironic that the digital revolution has in some ways turned the clock back 70 or 80 years to the era when the performance royalty ruled.

    Do I have to pay you a royalty if I use that in a column?

    ;-)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    no...its all yours Russell...it will cost you a link to my blog on your site :)

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    no...its all yours Russell...it will cost you a link to my blog on your site :)

    I'm shamed!

    The Opinionated Diner is now well up my blogroll and I'll link to you tomorrow.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • stephen walker,

    Peter Jenner, one of the wisest men in the music industry for decades, is absolutely right in this.

    For those who haven't seen it, TheReg has an extended interview with the old man...
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/11/03/peter_jenner/

    nagano • Since Nov 2006 • 646 posts Report Reply

  • Compie,

    Macrumours again.

    looks like the iPhone is going to be really expensive but announced a lot earlier than expected.

    iPhone Announcement on Monday?
    Today, 03:49 PM
    Gizmodo claims that the iPhone will be announced on Monday.
    Gizmodo Knows: iPhone Will Be Announced On Monday
    I guarantee it. It isn't what I expected at all. And I've already said too much. –Brian Lam

    $599 for 4GB
    - $649 for 8GB
    - Wider than the iPod nano
    - Thinner than the iPod Video
    - Made of Metal
    - Multiple colors, but at least including black, white, and silver
    - Cingular Wireless is likely carrier in the U.S.
    - Update: Clarification: Runkle actually claimed: "full screen LCD; 3.5 inch (28x21)" and approximately 4/10ths of an inch thick. Also incorporates a Virtual Click wheel.

    Dunedin/Vancouver • Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • Compie,

    USD $$$ holly heck!

    Dunedin/Vancouver • Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    Better be a smartphone for that kind of dosh!! For less than a grand in kiwi money I can find myself an Imate Jamin, which does GSM phone, camera, and everything a pocket PC will do. Including replacing any Black(crack)berry you might be toting.

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report Reply

  • yossarian,

    Oh dear!

    From the Herald today in a section on last minute gift ideas:

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/6/story.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10416637

    "For the music lover

    If you've got iTunes on your computer, then it's easy to make a compilation of music you think they will enjoy and burn it on to a CD. Then, using old magazine pictures or photographs, make a CD cover with a personal message. On the inside of the cover, write your Christmas greetings."

    Akl • Since Nov 2006 • 5 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    "For the music lover

    If you've got iTunes on your computer, then it's easy to make a compilation of music you think they will enjoy and burn it on to a CD. Then, using old magazine pictures or photographs, make a CD cover with a personal message. On the inside of the cover, write your Christmas greetings."

    Ha ha!

    Guess that makes it okay for us to tell our friends how to get "premium content" for free then ...

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Simon Grigg,

    See, thats what happens when The Herald tries to get hip...you can put a fancy new front end on there but underneath its still the Granny we've known for years.

    Just another klong... • Since Nov 2006 • 3284 posts Report Reply

  • Compie,

    http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/01/is_apple_the_ne.html

    Happy new year all, but not it seems for Apple.

    What's with America and lawsuits, I just don't get it? Surely a brand has the right to protect its place. I might be way off the mark here, but if this works against Apple, microsoft and zune, vodafone and all others must be very nervous too?

    As one of the comments on the wired site says just say no if it does'nt work on your device. Most windowze software doesn't work on my mac, do I sue their arses?

    Sorry to be a tad gruumpy to start the year off, but this is bollocks, can apple counter sue for to quote Mr Foreman "being a dumb ass"?

    Dunedin/Vancouver • Since Nov 2006 • 114 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    The iPhone is announced.

    The iPhone, which starts at $499 [US, I guess], is controlled by touch, plays music, surfs the Internet and runs the Macintosh computer operating system. Jobs said it will "reinvent" the telecommunications sector and "leapfrog" past the current generation of hard-to-use smart phones.

    Also, Apple Computers will now be Apple Inc.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • Lyndon Hood,

    http://www.apple.com/iphone/

    4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm, most of which is a touchscreen. Runs on the cingular network. Doesn't say if it will try to assimilate you, but seems to do most everything else.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1115 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan,

    More talk on the iPhone and Apple TV in this thread on Vista DRM.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

  • Tomorrowpeople,

    The phone looks pretty cool.

    I like the mini OSX, Google maps, iPod etc etc.

    Killer.

    Now we have to wait til 2008 to get one in NZ.
    Mind you they'll have most of the bugs out by then.... :/

    The Craps tables at the B… • Since Nov 2006 • 188 posts Report Reply

  • matthewbuchanan,

    Mind you they'll have most of the bugs out by then.... :/

    Well said.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 163 posts Report Reply

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