The Beatles are going down the rock revival road by re-releasing "Let It Be" the way it was always intended to be... with crap production with that "live" in the studio sound. Apparently "Let It Be" is made up of tracks that were originally going to be on an album "Get Back" which was an attempt to get The Beatles back to their four piece rock band feel and away from crazy production tricks. It'll be interesting as a try-hard demo producer to compare the two.
JB HiFi isn't floating on the stockmarket to raise cash, it's doing it to pay out Macquarie Direct Investment, who is selling their share in the company. [via RockNerd]
Proceeds will go to two funds run by Macquarie Direct Investment Ltd (which owns 59.4 per cent) and the US investment groups Delaware-registered Australian Ventures LLC (4.6 per cent) and BancBoston Investments Inc (19.6 per cent).
As a side note, a music industry person I spoke to two years ago hates JB, apparently because of their habit of purchasing in bulk imported CDs from Asian countries to sell locally at similar prices to local CDs. If JB bought from a local distributor the artist would get a bigger cut as they're getting a percentage of a higher wholesale price. If JB buys from overseas, the artist has already got their percentage from a lower wholesale (and in some cases, they get a different, worse, deal in distribution to Asian countries).
Which is why you often see local Australian release CDs with extra tracks, or a bonus DVD or a bonus CD of extra crud, to bribe you to buy the Australian release. The band gets more cash, the record company gets more cash, you get more music. Everyone wins. Except your pocket.
Now if we just kill off those artificial market sectors and sell globally... hmmm
"Does my use of the word "thus" make you uncomfortable?"
Homes and Gardens publishes in the 1930s an article that is a glowing review of Hitler's garden, and of the man himself. Someone finds this article and publishes it on the web on their blog, not to show that the current Homes and Gardens publication is a secret Nazi document, but to show how some in upperclass British society really saw the man. Homes and Gardens uses copyright law to ask to have the article removed from the web.
Publishing a whole article on the web isn't "fair use", but then I think using copyright law as an excuse to hide you past is exactly why copyright law needs fixing. Same goes for cutting out images of white people with black saves from Disney movies. We do have a right to know what the world was like 60 years ago. 60 years is long enough.
Are Homes and Garden so worried about any profit they make from a 50 year old article that republishing it will send them broke? Of course not, they want to hide it, never to be seen again.
Copyright shouldn't be used to suppress.
Of course, one day someone is going to post old Walken demos on the web and I guess I'd be tempted to ask them to take it down, not because of any money I think I'd make of them, but because they're embarasing and I wouldn't want them heard. I really should suppress that urge. I love hearing old crap from bands I like.
A friend of mine seems to think that Regurgitator dropping Warner as their label and going independant is the worse thing they could have done at the worse time. I'm of the opinion that it will be zero difference as I'm 90% sure Consume (their management) did everything for them that Warner would have done. I also know all Regurgitator's music is recorded at Quan's studio at home, on their own equipment with their own money. So it's distributed on Shock instead of Warner. Big deal. Apart from the first EPs and the first album I'm not sure Warner has done anything for 'Gurge except advertising. My friend says if they'd have gone indie at Unit it would have been OK, but now people are like "oh Regurgitator, they're that Polyester Girl band", the last two albums are nothing. But of course they couldn't get out of it at Unit, they still had three albums to deliver under their contract. He wonders why they would dump Warner. I say its bloody obvious, Warner would have been taking X% of the profits. Now they can keep it all.
Am I missing something? What possible difference would it make for an established band with their own money to spend and their own studio with good non-label management. They've done their time, thanks for building us up, thanks for the first EPs and albums, but we can look after ourselves now.
oop, I just got the feedback I need on the recent round of demos. Words are never enough. We (band) all wish we could just climb in each other's heads and listen to what we hear. It's VERY difficult to discuss music. The rant below is less violent now. It's all about comunication...
Usual frustrations with demos. I'd go on about it all day but I won't. You kind of want them to just be done, like magic somehow. I don't like effort. It's supposed to be fun. Effort is for the EP.
It reminds me so much of school. Where you'd do an essay and your teacher's frustratingly small amount of feedback would say it's rubbish but not really say why and you'd get pissed off and go and make a few minor changes, maybe add or take out the tiniest bit, then they'd say "that is SOOOOO much better" and you'd sit and fume and think how studid your teacher was because it's basically the same essay with two words changed.
Am I the only one that felt that? I really want to know...
I guess it could just be my absolute hate of doing anything twice.
ergh. Anyway. Usually the teacher was right, and I was much happier with the changes, but I still hated them.
Damn, I went on about it all day. Sorry.
Went to the Royal Melbourne Show yesterday. Wasn't as bad as I remember. But it wasn't as good either. God do I hate big crowds. Surprisingly the children (so many children *shudder*) were all pretty well behaved, it was the parents that were hell. The parents that didn't want to be there but the kids wouldn't have shut up unless they brought them. I even went on a ride. Damn that was weird. Like getting your legs reattached after years of leglessness.
I bought a showbag, not sure why, it's just the thing you do. I have so many Nerds(TM) now I don't know what to do with them (put them to work on building a perpetual motion machine? haha). mmmm Nerds(TM). And Bertie Beatle. Does that little chocolate guy even exist outside showbags?
First big amount of any exercise I've had for months (not counting gigs). My legs hurt a lot but feel pretty good today. Made me stop thinking about my RSI. Maybe I should get around to getting my bike off Ainsley tomorrow ;p
Collingwood vs. Brisbane. Boring. Sydney vs. Adelaide. THAT would have been good.