"Struggling music group EMI faces being taken over by its bankers after failing to clinch a deal to sell the North American distribution rights for its artists to Universal Music Group or Sony Music... The collapse of talks leaves EMI battling to raise 120 million pounds by mid-June to meet its commitments on loans from U.S. bank Citigroup... Adding to the company's woes, Pink Floyd successfully sued the company for selling individual tracks digitally and Chief Executive Elio Leoni-Sceti quit the group last month after just 18 months in the job." [AP]

Continue reading "EMI not doing so well (& can't sell individual Pink Floyd songs)"

The Washington Post reports, that "MySpace will acquire most of the assets of iMeem for a purchase price of around $1 million in cash."

Meanwhile, as the NY Times points out, "Hulu, the joint online venture between NBC, Fox and ABC that mostly offers free TV shows and movies, is about to start singing a different tune: music videos. On Wednesday the company plans to announce a somewhat limited deal with EMI, the smallest of the four major music labels, to give a 'channel' on Hulu to the crooner Norah Jones."

EMI is also in the news for another reason today, and that's because of their sucess in getting rid of rogue Beatles music sellers (or something like that)...

Two Web sites that sold songs by The Beatles for 25 cents apiece should remain shut down indefinitely, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter issued a preliminary injunction against BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com at the request of music company EMI Group. The injunction prohibits the sites and their owner, Hank Risan, from streaming or selling songs by the Fab Four and other popular artists, including Lily Allen and Coldplay. [AP]

Which brings me to those cool green apple things pictured above. THOSE are "exquisitely crafted, apple-shaped USB drives loaded with the critically acclaimed re-mastered audio for The Beatles' 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs' visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK album art, rare photos and expanded liner notes." I want.

Continue reading "MySpace buys Imeem, Hulu makes a deal w/ EMI, Beatles (now on an Apple USB) song sellers to remain shut down"

"We fought hard for the right to be in control of how our music is used, to avoid situations like this kind of crass commercialism and exploitation. Labels like EMI are no longer running the show, and we won't be bullied by those in the 'old' music business who consider every artist to be easily expendable. Those days are over." --Billy Corgan

Continue reading "the Smashing Pumpkins are suing Virgin Records "

a wall in NYC, Feb 6, 2008 (CRED)

"They're planning to do a Greatest Hits for April, May to coincide with our tour. That's an interesting one. We won't be doing any promotion for that, obviously. -Ed O'Brien " [EMI to release Radiohead's Greatest Hits]

(CRED)

I am watching Hillary Clinton in her victory speech in new Hampshire....they just threw a bunch of college kids behind her, and had her talk about student loans, and had her daughter come out for a long awkward hug...done anyone actually buy it? Surely young people are too media savvy to be fooled by this kind of shit.
do we live in a democracy so we can just keep electing the same families?
Barack is the first candidate in my lifetime to strip some of this bullshit away, and I just hope we don't blow this chance.
man if we miss this opportunity we don't deserve it....how bad does it have to get?

fuck!!!!!!!! [Win Butler of Arcade Fire]

* EMI Confirms Up To 2,000 Job Cuts
* Free Blood at Death By Audio
* Kimya Dawson is playing Sound Fix
* Happy birthday Smurfs!

What else?

Radiohead played every song on In Rainbows for a special New Years webcast. You can watch the whole thing below....

Continue reading "Scotch Mist - A Film With Radiohead In It (the whole New Years video) ++ Thom vs EMI"

Paul McCartney Nutcracker, Seattle, 2007 (cred)

....I feel like I made the right decision, because right after I left, EMI got sold, so obviously something was wrong. They are now in new hands and are applying themselves and they're going to bring themselves into the modern world. This is the point. They were floundering. Like a lot of these record companies, they were in the old world and they needed to enter the new world. It's not just me. Look at Radiohead's new outing. Artists are taking it into their own hands again, and it's really showing the record companies that it's time they get their act together. It's not the end of the world for EMI, they are like family to me. But the funny thing was, they understood. I'd told people I'd known for years at the label, "Hey, guys, I've gotta make this move." And some of them said quietly, off the record, "I really don't blame you, man."....... [Paul McCartney to Chicago Tribune]

Help! is finally out on DVD...

Continue reading "Paul McCartney on Radiohead & labels, Help! on DVD"