bmusic - Newsletter No. 203

bmusic
Newsletter No.203
January 23rd - January 29th 2006

Something that occurred during the Christmas break I didn't get around to discussing last week was the crackdown on illegal tablature sites and the distribution of illegal tablature. In this context, tablature is a form of notation for guitarists and bassists, amongst others, but the primary offending transcriptions are guitar tablature (tab for short). There have been many, many discussions on this decision by publishers and owners of copyright since the crackdown and many of them are very, very strongly against the decision. One of the predominant comments I hear is that people justify the practice because they are unable to buy any official sheet music for the artist's they wish to learn material from. But these people fail to consider just why they can't buy a book of notation for their favourite artists. It's quite simple, there's no money in it for the publishers and, ultimately the artist's concerned, if the same material is distributed widely and freely, and illegally, online. I'm no big publishing company supporter, but they represent artists, people I am interested in seeing they get what they deserve. Of course there would be many instances in which a publisher would not see any benefit in releasing a book of transcriptions for a lot of artists as their popularity may not warrant it. But who's to know just who may or may not be able to secure themselves a reasonable sheet music deal whilst the rampant trade in copyright breaching material is in existence. And if it comes to the point where an artist didn't get a deal after this crackdown then let them decide whether they want to share their transcriptions freely themselves and let them host them on their own official sites and potentially drive more valuable traffic their way.

Illegal tablature is still going strong in some places. This site is one, www.ultimate-guitar.com, and it's said to have many of the now restricted sites' material uploaded to theirs. Powertab's site has stripped all but the contributor's original compositions from it's site and it's said that all the material subject to copyright from their site is now on UG. Take a look at the Ultimate Guitar site. It's original attraction was the availability of free tabs, and has likely garnered them many, many new visitors since the closing down of countless other sites. Now, Powertab was a pretty laid back sort of a site for many years with no real revenue raising going on, merely a personal project that just kept growing and expanding. Ultimate Guitar is thick with revenue raising. The easiest to see is their banner advertising, you can even visit a page for rates of rotating banner ads HERE. Consider how many different advertisers they can serve in a day of rotating banners across tens of thousands of page hits, don't just consider one advertiser per month, it would be far more lucrative than that. Now, I understand they have a staff who are contributing to the maintenance and content of the site, and they have to pay for hosting and so forth, but the articles and columns and so forth are embellishments on what has been built around illegal tablatures. How much money of the site's advertising do you think goes to the artist responsible for writing the song? I'd suggest ZERO. So why should this site be able to profit (and likely very handsomely) from something that is not their property? It can be argued that if it's a non-profit site it's OK, and that would be a more interesting argument to have. But for sites like UG it's a different story. If you're of the opinion that UG and for profit sites like it should be allowed to continue making money off someone else's work without contributing royalties then consider if someone should be allowed a part of your weekly working wage for doing absolutely nothing to contribute to you. The analogy, in my opinion, is quite relevant.

Should the above site be allowed to generate masses of traffic that bands could be using for their own official sites should they choose to publish their own transcriptions and make them freely available online? Living End offer their own transcriptions on their official site and it's a popular page to visit. This should be the only way someone should be able to access this material. It's the band's goodwill that they're available in the first place. No one but the band should be able to profit, either monetarily or via internet traffic. Another comment I hear is, "the record companies are making enough money as it is". It's not the bloody record company that's losing out here in most cases, it's the artist. An artist's sheet music deal may have absolutely nothing to do with their record company. A further comment to that, "how much more money do the artists want? They're making enough from everything else already". News flash to those people who think like that: almost all those bands and artists you think are squillionares are very, very far from it. In many cases they'd be losing money. If you think that's bunkum then, FYI, a couple of articles welll worth your perusal:

Steve Albini - The Problem With Music
Courtney Love's Address to Congress

I welcome any discussion on the above subject, it's one I feel very passionately about in case that didn't come across! If you believe my opinion on the subject is wrong I'm more than willing to debate it with anyone. I'll leave it at that for now, it's a very involved subject and I could go on about it forever but I hope my points have been illustrated.

Seems Kelly Clarkson doesn't mind biting the hand that feeds/fed. She's reportedly not allowing any of her songs to be performed by contestants on American Idol. I assume these are songs that she has penned or co-penned later on in her brief but lucrative career and not ones owned or as a direct result of the show when she appeared on it and won. Apparently she has a number of issues with the show's producers, one can only guess at why, and I bet there's some pretty juicy stuff there. She's even taken a swipe at what she calls terrible songwriters who provided the material for some of her present back catalogue, presumably again, songs provided her for the release directly following the competition. (A release, incidentally, that went something like 5 times platinum in the US and Australia and 3 times in the UK).

I can understand there would likely be some real disillusionment on Kelly's part after having dealt with the masters of the management and exploitation game in the American Idol juggernaut but, seriously love, without that show you'd amount to jack right now. And that's coming from the last person on Earth to ever support Simon Cowell and co.!

The music world lost another legend this week when Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wilson Pickett passed away, aged 64, after suffering a heart attack. Perhaps Pickett's most famous of hits were "In The Midnight Hour" and "Mustang Sally, songs which brought Wilson Pickett to the attention of a whole new generation of fans after they featured heavily in the movie "The Commitments". A good obituary for Wilson can be found at the Chicago Tribute site HERE.

Sydneysider guitarists may be interested in something long time subscriber John is putting together. He has a great guitar workshop for technique and theory he's hosting in March of this year and it's our pleasure to be able to let all our subscribers over that way know about it. Here's the skinny on the workshops from John:

Location: Sydney

1 day guitar workshops will be held in the city centre in March. The workshops will focus on Theory & Technique and are open to all levels.

Bookings are essential as places are limited.

Please contact John via e-mail by clicking HERE.
Now, I promised last week that new Where Are They Now? features would commence from this issue, and I had every intention of keeping that promise, even almost completing the feature slated for this issue. But this past week is one of the most overwhelming for an influx of information and news on new products as it's the week of the annual Winter NAMM trade show in the United States, and the place a great many companies use for the announcement and showcasing of their major releases and line-ups for 2006. As such, there has been so much information and so many new images to digest this week I've simply ran out of time. Where Are They Now? WILL be back, next week, I promise!
Regulars including Feature Article, The Week Ahead in Music History, Featured Artist and more are all inside Issue 203 of the bmusic Newsletter.
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Thanks to everyone for reading, we'll see you next week!

TABLE OF CONTENTS (You will need to be online to use the Table of Contents to jump through sections)

Featured Products - 2006 NAMM Trade Show

This week's Music Quote

This week's Specials

This week's Feature Article - Making Money: Reselling Indie

This week's Feature Artist - 20 Grams

Musicians Wanted

Gear Wanted

Band Links

The Week Ahead In Music History
           Events
           Births
           Deaths

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Births In 1953, Elvis Presley recorded his hit "Teddy Bear".

In 1956, Buddy Holly made his first recordings for the Decca label in Nashville. Holly and his backup band of the time, The Three Tunes, were a purely country group, no hint of the rock 'n' roll which was to follow a year later. The several records released from the session were not successful, and Holly returned to his home town of Lubbock, Texas.

In 1957, while on tour in Australia Bill Haley & The Comets attended the world premiere of the film "Don't Knock The Rock" in which the group made cameo appearances.

In 1958, Buddy Holly and the Crickets appeared on the "Ed Sullivan Show." Their single "Oh Boy" was on the charts at the time.

In 1962, the Beatles signed a management contract with Brian Epstein. He had caught the group's act at the Cavern club in Liverpool, England the previous month. Epstein cleaned up the Beatles' image, replacing their black leather jackets, tight jeans and Presley style haircuts with collarless grey Pierre Cardin suits and the now-familiar shaggy Beatle hairstyle.

In 1969, Creedence Clearwater Revival released "Proud Mary".

In 1971, New York music business financier Allen Klein was found guilty of ten counts of evading US income taxes. His conviction was upheld on appeal. Klein once controlled the finances of both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. The Beatles, apparently over Paul McCartney's objections, hired Klein in 1969 to try to rescue their ailing Apple Corps Limited, which was losing thousands of pounds a week. The tangled business affairs of Apple, and Klein's failure to solve them, are cited as one reason for the Beatles' breakup.

In 1976, George Harrison announced that he would participate in a planned Beatles reunion concert. The other three members had already agreed but the concert still never eventuated.

In 1977, Peter Green, former guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, was committed to a British mental hospital after firing a pistol in the direction of a delivery boy. Green became a recluse after leaving the band in 1970 because of his religious beliefs.

In 1980, Paul McCartney was released from prison in Tokyo after being imprisoned for ten days after trying to carry a half pound of marijuana through customs at the Tokyo airport.

In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered burns to his scalp when a special effects explosion during the filming of a Pepsi commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles accidentally set his hair on fire.

In 1985, "We Are the World," the Michael Jackson-Lionel Ritchie song for African famine relief, was recorded at the A&M Records studio in Hollywood by 45 rock, pop and country stars.

In 1993, Warner Brothers announced it was releasing Ice-T from his recording contract. The company cited "creative differences" for the decision, which followed the previous year's controversy over Ice-T's "Cop Killer."

In 1994, Bobby Farrell, lead singer of the German pop group Boney M, was convicted by a Dutch court of threatening to set his wife on fire. Farrell was given a suspended sentence. Court was told the threat was made during an argument over the rights to the Boney M name.

In 1994, foremr New Kids On The Block member Marky Mark (Mark Wahlberg) was sued by a U.S. fan after she was trampled at one of his concerts. She alleged Mark invited concertgoers to rush the stage by stripping to his underwear.

In 1995, Richey James Edwards, a founding member of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers, disappeared from London's Embassy Hotel. His disappearance came just as the group was preparing for a US tour to promote its third album, "The Holy Bible." Police later found Edwards' car underneath a bridge near the Wales-England border, but no trace of the guitarist and songwriter has ever been found. His disappearance has become a legendary mystery and rumour and speculation continues amongst "Manic Street Preachers" fans and the press to this day.

In 1996, Johnson City, Tennessee City Council withdrew permission for White Zombie to hold a show there after many of the town's residents had complained that the band advocated Satan worship.

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Births In 1756, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose works mark one of the great peaks in music history, was born in Salzburg, Austria. He was a child prodigy, whose father taught him to play the harpsichord, violin and organ. And Mozart is said to have begun composing before he was five years old. By the age of 13, he had written concertos, sonatas, symphonies and an operetta.
Mozart became the court composer to the Austrian emperor in 1787, but the pay was poor and he struggled financially for the rest of his life. In 1791, he was commissioned by wealthy nobleman to compose a requiem mass. But Mozart was unable to complete the work before he died at the age of 35.

In 1887, Arthur Rubinstein, the most popular classical pianist of the 20th century, was born in Lodz, Poland. He made his debut with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra in 1898, at the age of 11, and first performed in the US in 1906, but didn't gain widespread popularity in the country until 30 years later.
Rubinstein died in 1982 at the age of 95.

In 1929, British clarinetist and bandleader Acker Bilk.

In 1937, country steel guitarist Buddy Emmons.

In 1943, Marty Balin, vocalist with both the Jefferson Airplane and its successor, Jefferson Starship, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

In 1944, blues harmonica player Charlie Musselwhite.

In 1945, drummer Nick Mason, a founding member of Pink Floyd.

In 1947, rock singer and songwriter Warren Zevon.

In 1947, David Byron, lead singer of Uriah Heep.

In 1951, Seth Justman of the J. Geils Band.

In 1951, Brian Downey of Thin Lizzy.

In 1951, Phil Manzanera, guitarist with Roxy Music, was born in London.

In 1951, Harry Wayne Casey, lead vocalist with KC and the Sunshine Band.

In 1952, Tommy Ramone, of the New York punk band, the Ramones, was born in Budapest. His real name is Tom Erdelyi.

In 1953, Robin Zander, lead vocalist of Cheap Trick, was born in Loves Park, Illinois.

In 1957, legendary rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

In 1963, guitarist and singer Andrew Ridgely, formerly of Wham!

In 1964, Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera.

In 1968, Mike Patton, vocalist and creative force behind such groups as Faith No More, Fantomas, Mr. Bungle and Tomahawk.

In 1968, singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan.

In 1968, DJ Muggs, real name Lawrence Muggerud, of rap trio Cypress Hill.

In 2000, Heart's Nancy Wilson and her husband Cameron Crowe became the parents of twin boys.

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Deaths In 1970, James (Shep) Sheppard, lead singer of the Heartbeats and Shep and the Limelights, was found beaten to death in his car on the Long Island Expressway in New York.

In 1970, blues singer and songwriter Slim Harpo died of a heart attack in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was 46. Harpo is best known for his 1961 hit "Rainin' In My Heart." He also composed "I'm a King Bee," a tune favored by the Rolling Stones early in their career.

In 1976, bluesman Mance Lipscomb died in his hometown of Navasota, Texas. He was 80. A compatriot of the wider-known Lightnin' Hopkins, Lipscomb didn't record until he was 65 years old, but his influence can be heard in some of the songs of Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead.

In 1978, Terry Kath, vocalist and guitarist with Chicago, accidentally killed himself while playing with a loaded gun. He was 31 years old.

In 1980, rhythm-and-blues pioneer Professor Longhair, whose real name was Henry Roeland Byrd, died in New Orleans. He was the originator of the classic New Orleans piano style made popular by Fats Domino, but a combination of poor health and mismanagement kept him from the recognition he deserved.

In 1986, British music publisher Dick James, who handled the music of such stars as the Beatles and the team of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, died in London of a heart attack. He was 65. In 1985, John had sued one of James's companies for royalties and copyrights the singer claimed were taken unlawfully from him and Taupin. They won their battle for up to US$7-million in unpaid royalties, but lost their main claim to copyrights on their early songs.

In 1990, Allen Collins, former guitarist with the southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died in Jacksonville, Florida of pneumonia at age 37. He had been paralyzed from the waist down since a 1986 auto accident in which his girlfriend was killed. Collins was injured in the 1977 plane crash that killed Lynyrd Skynyrd lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and three others. Collins later formed the Rossington-Collins Band with another Skynyrd survivor, Gary Rossington.

In 1992, Willie Dixon, probably the most important figure in Chicago blues, died in Burbank, California at age 76. Dixon was a songwriter, producer and bass player for Chess Records in the 1950's, backing, writing and arranging for the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry. Dixon was also an important link between blues and rock, with both the Rolling Stones and the Doors covering his "Little Red Rooster," Elvis Presley and the Everly Brothers recording "My Babe" and Led Zeppelin waxing "I Can't Quit You Baby."
Dixon's other blues classics included "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man" and "Wang Dang Doodle." Dixon released both an album and an autobiography titled "I Am the Blues." It was not an overstatement.

In 1994, the 14-year-old son of former Supreme Mary Wilson died when the Jeep she was driving hit a freeway median and overturned in Barstow, California. Wilson was only slightly hurt. Wilson was the only member of the Supremes to stay with the group from its beginning in 1959 to its breakup in 1977.

In 1997, Richard Berry, who wrote the rock 'n' roll anthem "Louie Louie," died in his sleep in Los Angeles at age 61.

In 1997, Gerald Marks, best known for composing the well-covered standard "All of Me," died in New York at age 96.

In 1999, rapper MC Ant who had a minor hit with "On The Dance Floor" was fatally shot.

In 2000, at age 89 Ross Russell, former manager and biographer of jazz legend Charlie Parker, passed away. Russell also owned famous jazz record store Tempo Music.

In 2001, expert vocal coach to Barbra Streisand and Frank Sinatra, among others, Judy Davis died of heart failure at the age of 80.

In 2002, guitar maker and country session guitarist, who also had his own minor hits with Room Full Of Old Gold Records" and "An Old Hillbilly From Way Back", Mick Finn.

In 2002, co-writer of the Nena hit "99 Luftballons", Carlo Karges, died of liver failure.

In 2002, inventor Henry Kloss died of a subdural haemotoma. He designed audio equipment that delivered a broad, smooth, clean sound that came to be known as the "Boston Sound". Kloss co-founded companies KLH, Cambridge Soundworks and Advent and worked for Acoustic Research and Tivoli Audio. He invented the AR-1 bookshelf speakers and the Model 8 FM radio.

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