snapshot 6/7/07

As music labels struggle, bands thrive in games
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070607/tc_nm/videogames_column_dc_2;_ylt=Arm_bdvVpoNMkNj2Npj_o3xkM3wV
It is a dark time for record labels and mainstream radio, but the people who pick music for video games say there has never been a better time to be an aspiring rock star.

The worldwide executive of music at Electronic Arts Inc., which is the biggest video game publisher, put a once unknown Southern California band called Avenged Sevenfold in multiple games including EA's "Need for Speed: Most Wanted" racing game and its perennially popular "Madden" football game, which is considered prime real estate. The band, also known as A7X, has since gotten a Warner Bros Records contract and its songs are now familiar to millions of gamers.


LaLa Update Part 2: "Future Proof" Your Purchase For $2.99 But Don't Try To Trade It
http://hypebot.typepad.com/hypebot/2007/06/lala_update_par.html
One promised feature we heard about from LaLa that has gotten almost no play in the media is the ability to "future-proof their digital music purchases with the assurance that they can get the physical CD for a small convenience fee starting at $2.99."


iTunes and Identity-Based Digital Rights Management
http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2007/06/itunes_and_iden.html
Interesting article on the media hype over the last week - it has been become clear that Apple is embedding some identifying information in songs purchased from iTunes, including the name of the customer and his or her e-mail address. This has raised the ire of consumer advocates, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation which addressed this again yesterday.


Podcast interview of David Pakman, CEO of eMusic
http://insidedigitalmedia.com/doubling-recorded-music-sales-every-year
Here's a podcast (download MP3 here, go to post to stream the file) of an interview with eMusic's David Pakman. Pakman talks about how he thinks the other majors will follows EMI's lead, and how EMI's prices are too high. He hints that eMusic will have portions of major label back catalogs in the future, but they "haven't announced anything." (


How Mainstream Is Your Music?
http://mainstream.vincentahrend.com/user/
The Mainstream-O-Meter calculates your mainstreamness by comparing the listener count of your favorite bands to the average listener count of the five bands who have the most listeners among Last.fm-users.


Audiophile-Approved Guides to the Digital Underground
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/15-06/pl_music
Used to be you showed the world your killer taste in music with a Clash T-shirt and a Ramones pin. Then came blasting your iPod playlist at parties and boasting that some obscure artist was your "friend." But now that MySpace is overrun with posers, you'll have to go elsewhere to impress audiophiles with your musical savvy.