Blog

My Take on The 2014 Grammys Show

I'm a Grammys member & am supposed to be thrilled & engaged. The opening is perfectly predictable like every Grammy show. But for once I don't think we'll get an EDUCATIONAL lecture about the evils of downloading & that downloaders, Pandora and the ANTICHRIST herself aka GOOGLE who have stopped the performance & creation of music. I wish the teleprompter readers the very best of luck tonight. And I am pro-my clients, friends and the old people (Beatles rhythm section guys and any other 60+ ancient folk). Time for Twitter where there is peace.

Read More

2013 Future of Music Coalition - My Tweets, Rants & Reactions (Part 1 of 2)

I thought before too much time passes, I should collect my tweets and comments about The 2013 Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit held in Washington DC October 28-29, 2013. The 2013 World Series was happening at the same time, so FMC was not my top priority. Taking notes and tweeting about an event is also not my favorite activity but one that I occasionally delve into. (Grammar Girl believes we should be able to end sentences with prepositions, in case you were wondering abut that last sentence.)

Read More

Loathing, Litigating & Legislating; Adventures in Piracy & Final Thoughts about 2013 New Music Seminar

Trends in digital music were examined from these three (3) perspectives: Social networks, BitTorrent trends and What Drives Sales. Fortunately at this event in New York City, accounts of BitTorrent usage were dispassionate and objective unlike in the past, in cities that were not named, "New York," when speaker after speaker merely railed about the evils of the Internet, technology and BitTorrents. Surprisingly, railing against the Internet, technology and BitTorrents is still expected and favored in some circles.

Read More

Managing Music Artists - My Tweets from 2013 NMS

I have found the study of technology, social media, mobile devices, and communication, as well as the business and legal issues surrounding these nouns, much more helpful in understanding the present state of the music and entertainment industry. I've always believed that outsiders bring more objectivity, creativity and original thinking and actions to a field. Famously, it took an outsider, Steve Jobs, to show how a digital music market should work.

Read More

State of the Music Industry - My Tweets from 2013 NMS

On Monday, June 10, 2013, I attended the first full day of the 2013 New Music Seminar. I brought my iPhone 5 and my iPad. I had not planned on tweeting the event or even one panel but things changed and I started to tweet...I have a strong bias toward the non-music companies and how they use and promote music as well as how they better engage with their customers via music, video and mobile. Music conferences need to have a strong non-music component. In fact, the non-music companies shouldn't really be called "non-music," should they?

Read More

Harvard Law School Lecture - December 5, 2012

I will be speaking at The Harvard University Law School today between noon and 1:15 PM in Wasserstein Hall 3036. The subject will be my work in, and take on, music copyright, intellectual property, tech and entertainment issues. This is a great honor and I am very happy to have been invited.This blog post will also double as my notes or at least a guide to the order of subjects. I'll be able to see this post on a monitor or my iPhone while my iPad plays the music. I'll also bring a DVD or two, unless I choose to access the same material on the Very Wide World Spider Web.

Read More

Being Thankful on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 22, 2012, from Louis Armstrong to Hank Williams

I thought to celebrate this wonderful day of Thanksgiving, I'd compile music with lyrics that express thanks in various ways.I would like to have included at least one more - Bach - Now Thank We All Our God. Even though I have great recordings of Now Thank We All Our God, I couldn't find one I liked as much on YouTube.Here is my Thanksgiving wish:

Read More

Copyright From A - Z, Crime Before Thanksgiving, my 19th Annual Berklee Lecture, Inna & The Farlanders

At some points today, I'll select some topics for my two-hour presentation. I'll choose from these questions and issues and more:Can One Copy A Bass Line?Can One Copy A Chord Progression?Can One Copy A Guitar Solo?How To Break The Law/How To Get Away With Crime (Crime? "Fair Use" or The Perfect Crime ?)What Is Fair Use?Fair Use Done Right/WrongWhat Is Satire?What Is Parody?What Is Right of Publicity?Can One Sample?What Is A Mashup And When Are Mashups Legal/Illegal?

Read More