Category: Stories
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Major labels ‘face DoJ antitrust probe’
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Andrew Orlowski
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Two major labels have been served notice of a fresh antitrust investigation, a music business newsletter reports today. MusicAlly’s daily Bulletin suggests that the as-yet-unlaunched TotalMusic service, currently backed by Universal and Somy BMG, has prompted notices from the US Department of Justice. The report suggests all four major labels have been contacted.… Read More
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An interview with Martin Mills
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Andrew Orlowski
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It’s the conventional wisdom amongst some Reg readers that “the evil record labels” are dying, and deservedly so. But such a simplified view of the world overlooks the contribution of the independent sector – which operates very differently to the Big Four. Independents have a different business model, and have embraced digital networks as an…
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An interview with John Kennedy
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Andrew Orlowski
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In an interview from the music business annual Midem, we speak to John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the IPFI, the international trade group representing record labels. Here he talks about the new ISP strategy, and the future of the big label. [Full interview at The Register here]… Read More
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The Big Switch by Nick Carr
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Andrew Orlowski
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Nick Carr’s weblog is one of the rarest things on the web: intelligent technology criticism that you’d actually want to read for pleasure. He’s an elegant writer with a waspish wit, and I’ve a special reason for seeing him prosper. Back in 2002 I was living in San Francisco, a city that was in the…
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Rebranding the RIAA
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Andrew Orlowski
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Last week, we reported the possibility that the lobby group that represents America’s sound recording owners (RIAA) might merge with the global sound recording owners lobby group (IFPI). This raised the awful possibility that the Recording Industry Ass. of America would disappear – making all those “Boycott the RIAA”-type domains useless. Zut alors! The new…
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Sadville bans usury
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Andrew Orlowski
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The global financial crisis has encroached on that escapist Garden of the Id, Second Life. Linden Labs is to ban virtual banks from the virtual playground, the operator said in a statement yesterday. The problem is that the virtual money-lenders operate rather too much like their real world counterparts. wrote Ken D., yesterday “Since the…