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Music Notes Blog

Music Notes
Perspective, pings and other things relevant to our world
  • »AFL-CIO: IP Theft Kills Jobs
    In the world of movies and music, what can often go overlooked are the hard-working Americans who labor behind the scenes.
    March 11, 2010
  • »Nobody Stole The Pie
    Industry analysts, executives, critics, and academics have been debating the impact of digital piracy for a decade. During that period, the U.S. music industry fell from nearly $15 billion annually to $8.5 billion...
    March 03, 2010
  • »Illegally Downloading A Charity Album?
    On the heels of the encouraging news high that the "Hope for Haiti Now" charity album became the first all-digital record to top Billboard''s 200 music sales chart, we''ve also learned that there is a group of p2p users who are uploading and...
    March 02, 2010
  • »Public Knowledge, Publicly Wrong
    Sometimes copyright critics so reflexively fall over themselves to criticize that they laughably leave the facts behind...
    February 23, 2010
  • »Google's OMG Moment on IP
    Our Chairman and CEO Mitch Bainwol explains why "Google has reason to rethink IP" as posted on The Daily Caller...
    February 23, 2010
  • »Ben Bernanke and "To RIAA or Not"
    It''s not often that we can invoke the Federal Reserve Chairman to help make a point about music and copyrights, but a recent New York Times op-ed...
    February 12, 2010
  • »Jammie Thomas-Rasset Forces Third Trial
    We recently filed our response to the court''s remittitur in the Jammie Thomas-Rasset case in Minnesota. Here are some thoughts about the case and why we are at this juncture, along with some highlights from the brief...
    February 09, 2010
  • »I Gotta Feeling
    In sign of a memorable year to come in music, this week''s annual Grammy awards broadcast saw its highest TV audience ratings in six years...
    February 03, 2010
  • »Not Knowing What You're Missing
    We recently came across this insightful op-ed in the Huffington Post entitled "The Generation That Killed Rock ''n Roll" by author/singer-songwriter Nathan Harden...
    February 02, 2010
  • » Labeling the Next Decade
    Welcome to 2010! The promise of the New Year brings the eager anticipation of the next big you-name-it...
    January 19, 2010
  • »Rock Around the Xmas Tree with the Gift of Music
    We recently came across an interesting stat from a NYT article that jumped out at us (and of course, as dedicated bloggers do, we had to share
    December 11, 2009
  • »Vintage Vinyl
    Looking to re-energize your music collection? Give it a vintage touch...
    November 05, 2009
  • »OPEN MIC: HEOA Provisions a Collaborative Success
    As part of the congressionally-passed Higher Education Opportunities Act, federal provisions requiring schools to take proactive steps to reduce instances of illegal file-trafficking on their networks were recently issued as final regulations...
    October 29, 2009
  • »The FCC and Internet Service Providers
    The public conversation about the role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in addressing illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted works online is getting louder...
    October 23, 2009
  • »A Free Lesson
    A column worth reading (If the futures worth having, it wont be free) appeared recently in The U.K. Times Online...
    October 22, 2009
  • »Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself
    Sometimes something is said so perfectly that its not worth summarizing or paraphrasing.
    October 08, 2009
  • »5 Reasons For Optimism
    Our very own Mitch Bainwol explains "Five Reasons for Optimism in the Music Industry" as posted today on TheWrap.com.
    September 21, 2009
  • »Back To School
    While I havent been "back to school" in years I still
    September 10, 2009
  • »Thats My Name
    Summer in Britain means music festivals and although the weather is always terrible, this middle-aged geek dragged himself to Glastonbury for the biggest festival of them all.
    September 08, 2009
  • »Les Paul - A Creative Life - (1915-2009)
    On Thursday, August 13, 2009, Les Paul died from complications of pneumonia at a hospital in White Plains, NY...
    August 20, 2009
  • »Musings On Tenenbaum Case
    Some facts on the Joel Tenenbaum case, for those interested...
    August 05, 2009
  • »Cronkite, DRMs Death and Lessons Learned
    We recently saw the passing of one of the giants of the journalism world, Walter Cronkite...
    August 04, 2009
  • »So What Exactly Is A Shipment?
    Like many other trade associations, the RIAA strives to provide accurate and comprehensive data about the state of the industry it represents...
    July 23, 2009
  • »Michael and the Power of Music
    OK, admittedly, talking about the musical contributions of Michael Jackson is a challenge, when so much has already been so brilliantly articulated and expressed.
    July 23, 2009
  • »Its Licensing, Stupid
    The news that the music industry has sealed agreements with leading Internet radio sites is a great development for fans, webcasters and labels and artists...
    July 08, 2009
  • »Legal musings on the Usenet.com verdict
    The record companies achieved a significant victory on Tuesday when a federal judge in N.Y. soundly ruled in our favor in the lawsuit against Usenet.com...
    July 01, 2009
  • »Sample Sizes (and Minnesota Juries)
    In all the quantitative research the RIAA does, we always endeavor to have a large enough sample to make sure that...
    June 23, 2009
  • »1700 songs later: The Thomas-Rasset II Verdict
    As I sit here in seat 25A on a Northwest flight headed back to Washington, I am struck by some of the decisions people make...
    June 18, 2009
  • »Techdirt On Performance Rights Act
    For the "wrong again" file...
    June 17, 2009
  • »JT-S Part Deux Day Deux
    It is day two and one not short on technical testimony, Geek Squad, Lacuna Coil and ultimately inconsequential hiccups...
    June 17, 2009
  • »Here We Are
    Jammie Thomas-Rasset Part Deux, Day 1. An encouraging first day...
    June 15, 2009
  • »Jammie Thomas-Rasset PART DEUX
    We are headed northwest next week for the re-trial of Jammie Thomas-Rasset (or as we like to call it, Part Deux). What we know heading into this case...
    June 10, 2009
  • »World Copyright Summit
    What we gleaned from the World Copyright Summit this week (aside from the fact that protecting IP is vital to our future economic health and strengthening our competitiveness in the global economy...
    June 09, 2009