The Digital Music Weblog

• Mixtape DJs raided by RIAA jacketed agents in Atlanta
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA

  Two well known mixtape producers have been raided in Atlanta by police accompanied by RIAA jacketed quasi-agents. The agents confiscated boxes of CDs, production equipment and cars from the location, and scored a lead story on local news for themselves where they were quick to remind the public that raids on pirate mixtape producers often yield drug and gun arrests in addition to stopping piracy, just not this raid.
  
  DJ produced mixtapes are a strange animal. Record companies often welcome and...
  



• Your ISP is the IFPI's next target
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI

  According to the IFPI's "Digital Music Report 2007", your residential ISP is the their next front in the war on piracy.
  
  The report spells out in pretty stark language exactly what the IFPI expects from the ISP who's services you pay for, "We should not be doing this job alone. With cooperation from ISPs we could make huge strides in tackling internet piracy globally. It is very unfortunate that it seems to need pressure from governments or...
  



• AP looks at our favorite major label bully
  

  Filed under: News, Apple, Microsoft, RIAA

  Ah Doug Morris, unibrow baby to the digital music revolution. His hard-ball approach with Microsoft, fighting hard for a $1 cut of each Zune sold in exchange for allowing Microsoft to license Universal Music's stable of artists, won him a place on the enemies list of every music blogger from Anaheim to Zurich.
  
  The AP takes a softer look at the man who's mission is to change music licensing forever, and not for...
  



• RIAA as 17th Century French button maker
  

  Filed under: News, DRM, RIAA

  Ever think that there's never been an industry group in the history of man with the sort of bulldog spirited anti-competitive mindset of the RIAA? Think again. Techdirt draws an interesting parallel between the RIAA of today, and French button makers of the 1700's. It seems tailors began making buttons out of dense cloth, which outraged the established button making industry, leading to the government imposition of strict fines on the cloth button makers, and some rather-paranoid tactics to...
  



• Atlantic Monthly : Mp3 = VHS / DRM = Betamax
  

  Filed under: General, DRM, Apple, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, iTunes

  Michael Hirchshorn of The Atlantic Monthly takes a look at Web 2.0 music services and while drawing lines though a connect the dots progression comes up with several gems of inference. The highlight of which is a comparison of Mp3 to DRM "protected" media that contrasts VHS and Betamax, "One next step could be a move by the labels to make more pay-per-download music available without...
  



• Digital sales healthy, holiday sales figures may hang around
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI

  I'm always enlightened when Glenn Coolfer grabs his calculator and starts making sense of the sales figures Billboard and Nielsen throw around. Often you find that when Coolfer works over the numbers he gleans insight that no one else is spouting.
  
  This week is no different. While the nay-sayers are forecasting the demise of the music business (once again), Coolfer shows us that optimisim may be the better track, "Last week, digital track...
  



• Default judgment entered in Santangelo part deux
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA

  Its a long and winding story; The RIAA sued Patricia Santangelo, a mother of two minors accused of filesharing on the internet. Santangelo refused to settle and fought the lawsuit, which the RIAA eventually dropped and replaced with a lawsuit against Santangelo's children (both of which were minors at the time of the alleged copyright infringement, the eldest of which has since turned 18).
  
  Failing to properly answer the suit against her, Michelle Santangelo, who was a minor at the time...
  



• Online consumers re-energizing music business?
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Music

  A new survey by The Digital Media Association says online consumers are driving music in new ways, and causing a renaissance among music fans.
  
  According to the survey, "The vast majority of online music service users report that enjoying music over the Internet has expanded their musical tastes, allowing them to discover new artists and explore new music genres. About 25 percent reported having discovered a lot of new artists, while...
  



• US Album sales slow during 07's first week
  

  Filed under: News, RIAA

  Soundscan data for last week shows a major slowdown in US album sales, prompting a new slew of sky is falling prophecy from the music press.
  
  Overall sales including both physical and digital album sales, reached 9.41 million units. That's a drop of 17.6% over the same week in 2006. Maybe more insulting, the soundtrack for Dreamgirls was the number one selling album, with only 66,000 units moved.
  
  I don't know that everyone should start panicking. Any week...
  



• Hypebot asks indie labels about DRM
  

  Filed under: General, DRM, RIAA

  Bruce at Hypebot has been an an anti-DRM rampage in the new year. He's started contacting industry figures and asking them a few questions each about how they view the Mp3, and on the flipside of the coin, DRM.
  
  His most recent victim target is Director of New Media for Beggar's/Matador Adam Farrell. Wanna know what Beggar's position is on Mp3 downloads? "At the end of the day, we support any steps that a DMS or device...