The Virtual Pub
Come Inside... => Saloon Bar => Topic started by: Grumpmeister on July 14, 2007, 10:40:11 AM
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After hearing about this on the news earlier I'm intrigued, an internationally famous musician gives away his new album stuck to the front of the Mail on Sunday. Cynical publicity stunt or the result of realising that the public is less likely to pay through the nose for music now
The music industry has reacted angrily at a decision to give away the new album by US musician Prince with a tabloid newspaper.
Planet Earth will be given free with a future edition of the Mail on Sunday.
The 10-track CD from Prince - whose hits include Purple Rain, Sign O' The Times and Cream - is not due to be released until 24 July.
Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said the decision "beggars belief".
"The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," said Mr Quirk, referring to a period in the 1990s when Prince famously stopped using his name in favour of a symbol.
No one has done this before... this is just setting a new level
Stephen Miron, Mail on Sunday MD
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
The practice of "covermounts" - where newspapers attempt to lure readers with DVDs and CDs - is used widely in the industry.
The Mail on Sunday's recent CD giveaways include Peter Gabriel, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, UB40 and Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
Stephen Miron, the newspaper's managing director, said: "No one has done this before. We have always given away CDs and DVDs, but this is just setting a new level."
Out of business
Mr Miron declined to say how much the newspaper had paid to secure the deal.
He added that the newspaper was not out to put music retailers out of business.
"They are living in the old days and haven't developed their businesses sufficiently. We can enhance their business. They are being incredibly insular and need to move their business on," he said.
But HMV chief executive Simon Fox has said it would be "absolutely nuts" to give the album away for free.
The company revealed on Thursday that its profits had more than halved in the face of cut-price competition from supermarkets and online retailers.
The deal has also led to the UK arm of Sony BMG pulling out of the distribution agreement.
"Given the sheer number of copies we are talking about here it seemed the right thing to do for retailers to become exempt from the deal in the UK," said a spokesman for Sony BMG, the world's second-biggest music company.
Prince is due to play 21 concert dates in London later this year.
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After hearing about this on the news earlier I'm intrigued, an internationally famous musician gives away his new album stuck to the front of the Mail on Sunday. Cynical publicity stunt or the result of realising that the public is less likely to pay through the nose for music now
The music industry has reacted angrily at a decision to give away the new album by US musician Prince with a tabloid newspaper.
Planet Earth will be given free with a future edition of the Mail on Sunday.
The 10-track CD from Prince - whose hits include Purple Rain, Sign O' The Times and Cream - is not due to be released until 24 July.
Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, said the decision "beggars belief".
"The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," said Mr Quirk, referring to a period in the 1990s when Prince famously stopped using his name in favour of a symbol.
No one has done this before... this is just setting a new level
Stephen Miron, Mail on Sunday MD
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
The practice of "covermounts" - where newspapers attempt to lure readers with DVDs and CDs - is used widely in the industry.
The Mail on Sunday's recent CD giveaways include Peter Gabriel, Dolly Parton, Duran Duran, UB40 and Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.
Stephen Miron, the newspaper's managing director, said: "No one has done this before. We have always given away CDs and DVDs, but this is just setting a new level."
Out of business
Mr Miron declined to say how much the newspaper had paid to secure the deal.
He added that the newspaper was not out to put music retailers out of business.
"They are living in the old days and haven't developed their businesses sufficiently. We can enhance their business. They are being incredibly insular and need to move their business on," he said.
But HMV chief executive Simon Fox has said it would be "absolutely nuts" to give the album away for free.
The company revealed on Thursday that its profits had more than halved in the face of cut-price competition from supermarkets and online retailers.
The deal has also led to the UK arm of Sony BMG pulling out of the distribution agreement.
"Given the sheer number of copies we are talking about here it seemed the right thing to do for retailers to become exempt from the deal in the UK," said a spokesman for Sony BMG, the world's second-biggest music company.
Prince is due to play 21 concert dates in London later this year.
Cynically I point out that the MoS have paid mightily for this giveaway which is money in the bank for Prince which he would not have got if he's put it out via the net. Prince has a history of doing strange things in retaliation against record companies with whom he has fallen out. His original record company allegedly refused to distribute this album. Dolly Parton among others has done this recently to promote an upcoming tour and Prince has a UK tour starting in Sept I believe. Many of the large record stores are open tomorrow and have, according to "informed sources" quoted by the BBC, placed large orders for the MoS.
Good Marketing all round I'd say.
Personally I cannot stand the shortarsed little warbler and would rather eat soap than listen to him but I expect my kids will want the CD. Fortunately they all have headphones!
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I notice the Mail on Sunday nopw wants to change the album chart rules so that the covermout can be entered in the charts. I'm not sure how thats going to work though, how can you tell who buys the paper for the CD and who buys it because they are raving lunatics.
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I notice the Mail on Sunday nopw wants to change the album chart rules so that the covermout can be entered in the charts. I'm not sure how thats going to work though, how can you tell who buys the paper for the CD and who buys it because they are raving lunatics.
As the MoS is the favoured reading of a certain DP Dance I wonder what he'll do with his copy of the CD ~ put it on eBay I 'spect.
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Nah, probably complain that the free shaving mirror that came with his paper has a hole in the middle drumroll:
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I?m confused with all this name changing thing and you can call me this and you can?t call me that and the artist formally known as whatever?. Can we call him dippy or not? whistle:
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I?m confused with all this name changing thing and you can call me this and you can?t call me that and the artist formally known as whatever?. Can we call him dippy or not? whistle:
If the cap fits etc ............... tunble:
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I?m confused with all this name changing thing and you can call me this and you can?t call me that and the artist formally known as whatever?. Can we call him dippy or not? whistle:
If the cap fits etc ............... tunble:
lol:
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Aside from all the hype from this I did love this bit.
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
In English that reads: "The bastard is cutting us out of the profit chain." Boo Hoo.
We all know the value of music, it's the unacceptable profits that are attached to it that has always been the problem.
They are all too rich and fat and have been for far too long, they are greedy and self serving, suddenly we all realise the possibility of Artist direct to public distribution is possible and they are crapping themselves. Their 'gravy train' is under threat, DRM is increasingly likely to fail soon and now Artists can go direct, next issue movies and books... ? ;)
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Aside from all the hype from this I did love this bit.
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
In English that reads: "The bastard is cutting us out of the profit chain." Boo Hoo.
We all know the value of music, it's the unacceptable profits that are attached to it that has always been the problem.
They are all too rich and fat and have been for far too long, they are greedy and self serving, suddenly we all realise the possibility of Artist direct to public distribution is possible and they are crapping themselves. Their 'gravy train' is under threat, DRM is increasingly likely to fail soon and now Artists can go direct, next issue movies and books... ? ;)
On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
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Aside from all the hype from this I did love this bit.
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
In English that reads: "The bastard is cutting us out of the profit chain." Boo Hoo.
We all know the value of music, it's the unacceptable profits that are attached to it that has always been the problem.
They are all too rich and fat and have been for far too long, they are greedy and self serving, suddenly we all realise the possibility of Artist direct to public distribution is possible and they are crapping themselves. Their 'gravy train' is under threat, DRM is increasingly likely to fail soon and now Artists can go direct, next issue movies and books... ? ;)
On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
Added to my 'Bookmarks'. Thank you
I use http://audiobooksforfree.com
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Aside from all the hype from this I did love this bit.
"It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career.
"It is yet another example of the damaging covermount culture which is destroying any perception of value around recorded music."
In English that reads: "The bastard is cutting us out of the profit chain." Boo Hoo.
We all know the value of music, it's the unacceptable profits that are attached to it that has always been the problem.
They are all too rich and fat and have been for far too long, they are greedy and self serving, suddenly we all realise the possibility of Artist direct to public distribution is possible and they are crapping themselves. Their 'gravy train' is under threat, DRM is increasingly likely to fail soon and now Artists can go direct, next issue movies and books... ? ;)
On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
Added to my 'Bookmarks'. Thank you
I use http://audiobooksforfree.com
That's cool ~ I too have pushed the Bookmark button.
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On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
tunble:Thank you pup - I may even get around to forgiving you for not liking us cute widdle kitties - I have not read White Fang since I was in School. I am going to enjoy this.
redface: I three have pushed the bookmark button. whistle:
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Me too! Anywhere that has L M Montgomery's back catalogue for perusing whilst at work is a good thing.
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On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
tunble:Thank you pup - I may even get around to forgiving you for not liking us cute widdle kitties - I have not read White Fang since I was in School. I am going to enjoy this.
redface: I three have pushed the bookmark button. whistle:
I have taken the liberty of pointing out what it is that I dislike about cats
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On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
tunble:Thank you pup - I may even get around to forgiving you for not liking us cute widdle kitties - I have not read White Fang since I was in School. I am going to enjoy this.
redface: I three have pushed the bookmark button. whistle:
I have taken the liberty of pointing out what it is that I dislike about cats
I'm sorry if this comes as a bit of a shock to you as a sheltered pup - But DOGS do it too! evil: AND they eat their own crap too. sick2:
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On the subject of books available for free have you tried this?
Older books only at the moment but the list grows all the time.
http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/
tunble:Thank you pup - I may even get around to forgiving you for not liking us cute widdle kitties - I have not read White Fang since I was in School. I am going to enjoy this.
redface: I three have pushed the bookmark button. whistle:
I have taken the liberty of pointing out what it is that I dislike about cats
I'm sorry if this comes as a bit of a shock to you as a sheltered pup - But DOGS do it too! evil: AND they eat their own crap too. sick2:
True enough but against lamp posts, trees and stuff ~ not on Nick's duvet noooo:
Also we have laws that make Humans pick up our sh*t which is more than smelly old cats do. whistle:
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fence: Trouble is some mutts can't tell the difference between a lamp post and MY LEG! cussing:
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Dont be too hard on him Bouncer, we all know that when you reach Snoopy's advanced age that eyesight is one of the things to go... point:
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This was obviously going to happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6900792.stm
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Dont be too hard on him Bouncer, we all know that when you reach Snoopy's advanced age that eyesight is one of the things to go... point:
And then it's ..................... y'know ............. thingy..........errrr that wotsit you remember with rubschin:
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This was obviously going to happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6900792.stm
happy001
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I like the way its 'escaped' Did it dig a tunnel and hijack someone's web access perchance point:
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I'm not really sure why it has suprised them. Surely pirated music is an accepted fact by now. If they didn't charge such ridiculous prices then there wouldn't be such a market for it. I know that in my circle of friends we hardly ever buy a cd that doesn't get copied round.
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To be fair to prince he has actually explained that the reason he released the album for free in the UK is that he makes most of his money from doing concerts......
Seems a little odd then that the album is going to be released commercially in the states point:
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To be fair to prince he has actually explained that the reason he released the album for free in the UK is that he makes most of his money from doing concerts......
Seems a little odd then that the album is going to be released commercially in the states point:
I don't think they have quite grasped the implications of it yet.
Music really is a hobby for most of us. It's very nice to have, but not at any cost.
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To be fair to prince he has actually explained that the reason he released the album for free in the UK is that he makes most of his money from doing concerts......
Seems a little odd then that the album is going to be released commercially in the states point:
I don't think they have quite grasped the implications of it yet.
Music really is a hobby for most of us. It's very nice to have, but not at any cost.
Agreed (with Wenchy too),
I?m sick of being bombarded with ?piracy? propaganda every time I watch a move or having CD?s copy protected so I can?t use them how I want and listen to them when I want (okay, I?ve managed to circumvent those issues but its not the point).
If they charged a reasonable price for the product people wouldn?t want to risk buying a potentially dodgy pirate and quite frankly would mostly prefer to have the ?real? thing in their collection ? even if they do play it from a hard drive?
I don?t think the majority are actually criminal or greedy but when faced with the profligate lifestyles of so called ?stars? that we see every day thumbing their (albeit seriously damaged) noses at authority they realise that they are simply paying too much.
Let?s face it, cinema attendance (yes I know this is a CD thread) is booming and we?re constantly being told how many millions each new movie has netted on its first weekend. Yet when we are ?allowed? by the movie companies to buy the disc (after a second or third-hand copy of the film has been played in the local Cineplex) it costs a fortune? We all know the raw materials cost just a few quid so why are we expected to pay ?15 for it?
angry037
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To be fair to prince he has actually explained that the reason he released the album for free in the UK is that he makes most of his money from doing concerts......
Seems a little odd then that the album is going to be released commercially in the states point:
I don't think they have quite grasped the implications of it yet.
Music really is a hobby for most of us. It's very nice to have, but not at any cost.
Whilst I agree with the sentiment ~ I cannot concede that anything performed by that prancing, preening, shortarsed artiste formerly known as etc...... has any resemblance to music whatsoever.
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AFAIAC he lost all legitimacy as a musician when he started his bizarre name changing routine.
Same goes for all ?artists? (George Michael et al) who decide that when the money starts rolling in the contract they signed with their record company is in some way ?unfair?.
Shows a complete disregard for their fans that ultimately put them where they are and pay their wages IMHO.
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To be perfectly honest I copy every DVD and music disk that I own. Seeing as I own it anyway, you may ask Why?
I am completely fed up of having to watch all the drivel that they put in front of a film and disable the fast forward and skip controls to force you to watch all of the "You may have bought it but it still belongs to us" rubbish and ever increasing masses of advertising and trailers which go on for so long that you forget what film you were going to watch in the first place.
A copy destroys all those restrictions and I can happily skip straight to the film. Job done!
And, it keeps the original in perfect condition so that if anything happens to the recording, I can do it again.
In the US where all this restrictive condition comes from, it is actually legal things to copy for back-up purposes so why do they get so snotty about us doing it?
When we were burgled we lost every music disk and DVD we possessed, but the Insurance would not cover intellectual rights losses, so it cost us a fortune to replace it all - which we are still doing - had we have made copies we would have been OK instead of us having to pay twice for the same thing.
I know it's is illegal, but so was stealing my stuff in the first place and nobody cares about that, so I am not repentant - Me first now! so like everyone else, I have taken steps to protect my investment. So sue me!
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Err just a thought, given that I'm half way through converting my entire DVD collection. Where do I stand in that regard for converting my DVD's for watching on a PDA as they arent available in this format? whistle:
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To be perfectly honest I copy every DVD and music disk that I own. Seeing as I own it anyway, you may ask Why?
I am completely fed up of having to watch all the drivel that they put in front of a film and disable the fast forward and skip controls to force you to watch all of the "You may have bought it but it still belongs to us" rubbish and ever increasing masses of advertising and trailers which go on for so long that you forget what film you were going to watch in the first place.
A copy destroys all those restrictions and I can happily skip straight to the film. Job done!
And, it keeps the original in perfect condition so that if anything happens to the recording, I can do it again.
In the US where all this restrictive condition comes from, it is actually legal things to copy for back-up purposes so why do they get so snotty about us doing it?
When we were burgled we lost every music disk and DVD we possessed, but the Insurance would not cover intellectual rights losses, so it cost us a fortune to replace it all - which we are still doing - had we have made copies we would have been OK instead of us having to pay twice for the same thing.
I know it's is illegal, but so was stealing my stuff in the first place and nobody cares about that, so I am not repentant - Me first now! so like everyone else, I have taken steps to protect my investment. So sue me!
Agreed.
I went to a new customer yesterday that had just bout a one terabyte hard drive for ?300 ? makes an on-line medial library with all my DVD?s a realistic and cost effective option. cloud9:
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Err just a thought, given that I'm half way through converting my entire DVD collection. Where do I stand in that regard for converting my DVD's for watching on a PDA as they arent available in this format? whistle:
Strictly speaking it is still illegal. Copying copyright material is prohibited for whatever reason you do it in the UK.
But... Realistically speaking, if you are copying for your own use and not spreading them around, then there is no one to care and no one knows anything in order to shop you.
There is a massive body of opinion in the EU court system to legalise personal use copying for different media carriers and backup purposes as it is a victimless 'crime'.