Jump to content

Claude

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,779

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Donations

    0.00 USD 

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Claude

  1. RIAA offers amnesty to downloaders, but you must

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted

    Sorry to all those who don't understand german, but here is this great satirical text on the future of the music industry that has been circulating on german message boards in the recent weeks:

    *2002:

    Als beste Künstler werden Madonna, Herbert Grönemeyer, Tom Jones, Cher, und Santana ausgezeichnet. Zu den Top-Hits gehören Westlife mit "Uptown Girl", die No Angels mit "All Cried Out", Kelly Osbourne mit "Papa Don't Preach", Madonna mit "American Pie". Die Musikindustrie erfährt zum ersten Mal nach einer langen Boomzeit einen Umsatzrückgang. Als Hauptursachen macht sie das in Mode gekommene Kopieren von CDs und das Tauschen von Musikdateien im Internet verantwortlich. Um den Kids klar zu machen, daß das Kopieren von Musik letzendlich die Künstler schädigt, startet die Industrie die Kampagne "Copying Music is Killing Music".

    *2003:

    Die Musikindustrie zeichnet Herbert Grönemeyer, Nena, Kim Wilde, Ozzy Osbourne und Metallica als beste Künstler aus. Das Album Nr. 1 ist Nena mit Remixen ihrer größten Hits. In den Hitparaden finden sich neben Alexander, Juliette und Daniel K. auch Jeanette Biedermann mit "Rock my Life", das stark nach Roxette klingt. Weiterhin gehören Lichtenfels mit "Sounds like a Melody", Outlandish mit "Aicha", Kraftwerk mit "Tour de France 2003", KCPK mit "We will Rock You" und Murphy Brown mit "Axel F 2003" und Culture Beat mit "Mr. Vain Recall" zu den Tophits. Die meisten CDs haben Kopierschutz.

    Seit August ist das Kopieren kopiergeschützter CDs verboten, ebenso das herunterladen von Musik aus dem Internet. Der Umsatz der Musikindustrie geht um weitere 15% zurück, besonders betroffen Hit-Kompilationen mit 47%.

    *2004:

    Die Musikindustrie zeichnet Herbert Grönemeyer, Marius Müller-Westernhagen, DJ Bobo, Marianne Faithfull und Pur aus. In den Charts stehen das Hollywood Dance Project mit "Relax Reloaded", Kajagoogoo mit "Too Shy 2004", Nena mit "Haus der 2004 Sonnen" und Nico W aus "GZSZ" mit "Ich vermiß Dich wie die Hölle" lange Zeit ganz oben. Mit Hilfe einer automatisierten Sauger-Suche kann die Musikindustrie alle Nutzer von Tauschbörsen ausfindig machen. Fünf Millionen Haushalte in Deutschland erhalten daraufhin Post des Münchner Anwalts G., der ultimativ die Unterzeichnung einer Unterlassungserklärung einfordert und die Erstattung von Auslagen über 583,74 Euro. Die Tauschbörsen brechen zusammen. Die Hälfte aller T-DSL-Anschlüsse wird gekündigt. Der Umsatz der Musikindustrie geht um weitere 10% zurück.

    *2005:

    Es werden Herbert Grönemeyer, Tom Jones, die Supremes, Suzi Quatro und Elvis Presley als Künstler des Jahres ausgezeichnet, dazu Status Quo mit dem Innovationspreis des Musiker-Managements. Die Charts führen an Peter Maffay mit "So bist Du 2005", Roberto Blanco mit "Ein bißchen Spaß muß wieder mal sein" und Zarah Leander mit "Ich weiß, auch 2005 wird ein Wunder gescheh'n."

    Der Umsatz der Musikindustrie schrumpft erneut um 50%. Die Trend-Scouts entdecken, daß unter den Jugendlichen 60er- 70er- 80er und 90er-Revivals in sind. Sie treffen sich zu FlowerPower-, Disco-, New Wave- und Rave-Parties und hören die CDs ihrer Eltern. Original-CDs und LPs der vergangenen vier Jahrzehnte werden verstärkt bei Ebay gehandelt. Es wird vermutet, daß die Kids die CD erwerben, kopieren und dann weiterverkaufen. Das ist legal, da die alten CDs keinen Kopierschutz haben und nur Originale angeboten werden.

    *2006:

    Die Musikindustrie bringt ein neues Tonträgerformat heraus: Die "Smart CD". Sie benötigt spezielle Abspielgeräte mit Internet-Anschluß. Die Smart-CDs lassen sich nur abspielen, nachdem vorher eine Lizenz über das Internet gekauft wurde. Lizenzen gibt es nur noch temporär, es ist nicht mehr möglich, ein Musikstück "für immer" zu erwerben. Dafür werden die "Smart-CD"-Spieler im Bundle mit einem Musik-Abo für einen Euro angeboten.

    Als erfolgreichste Künstler werden Herbert Grönemeyer, die Scorpions, Mark Oh, Oli P. und Peter Kraus ausgezeichnet. Die Charts werden beherrscht durch Songs wie "Flugzeuge im Bauch Ultimate Edition" mit Herbert Grönemeyer, Oli P. und Xavier Naidoo, "You Keep Me Hanging On" mit den Supremes, Kim Wilde und Sinema sowie "Anyplace, anywhere, whatever" von Nena, Kim Wilde und Jan Delay. Aus Anlaß der Fußball-WM wird mit großem Marketing-Aufwand eine neue Latino-Salsa-Welle propagiert, mit Carlos Santana und Richie Valens ("La Bamba World Cup 2006 Mousse T! . Remix") als Galionsfiguren. Obwohl Brasilien zum sechsten Mal Weltmeister wird, hat die Welle nur mäßigen Erfolg. Der Absatz der Musikindustrie sinkt weiter.

    *2007:

    Mit Hinweis auf die vielen bedrohten Arbeitsplätze setzt die Musik-Lobby ein Gesetz durch, nachdem der Rückruf einmal erteilter Lizenzen möglich ist. Prompt widerruft die Industrie alle bisher erteilten Lizenzen auf nicht kopiergeschützte Tonträger. Damit werden alle älteren CDs und alle LPs illegal, ebenso Plattenspieler und CD-Spieler, die nicht dem "SmartCD" Standard entsprechen. Im Austausch für ihre Original-CDs bietet die Industrie CD-Besitzern eine Einjahreslizenz für die auf der CD vorhandene Musik an. Nach einer erneuten Abmahnwelle der Kanzlei G. aus M. bricht der Tonträgerhandel über eBay zusammen. Auf die Veröffentlichung von Charts und die Auszeichnung von Künstlern wird verzichtet. Zunächst einmal müssen die Lagerbestände an CDs abverkauft werden.

    *2008:

    Musik wird in Deutschland nur noch im Radio oder bei Konzerten gehört. Das Radio verliert aber an Popularität, seit die Industrie die Sender zwingt, nur noch neueste Produktionen zu spielen und über diese drüberzusprechen, damit das Aufnehmen mit Tapedecks verhindert wird. Konzerte sind fast unbezahlbar geworden, da das gesamte Management von den Eintrittspreisen mitbezahlt werden muß. Dagegen häufen sich die sogenannten "Open Jams", spontane Zusammenschlüsse von Hobby-Musikern, die auf öffentlichen Plätzen mit Gitarre, kleinem Schagzeug, Keyboard, Saxophon etc. Musik spielen und von begeisterten Zuhörern gefeiert werden.

    *2009:

    Die Musiklobby setzt beim Gesetzgeber das Verbot öffentlicher und privater Performance urheberrechtlich geschützen Materials durch. Musikinstrumente werden mit einer Urheber-Abgabe belegt, da man ja eine Gitarre etwa zum Raub-Abspielen von Stones-Songs mißbrauchen kann. "Making music is killing music" lautet die begleitende Kampagne, die den Leuten Unrechtsbewußtsein beibringen soll.

    *2010:

    Um Arbeitsplätze bei Musikern zu schützen, wird Musikunterricht rationiert: Es dürfen nur noch so viele Nachwuchsmusiker ausgebildet werden, wie der Markt braucht. Da dieser schneller schrumpft als die Musiker wegsterben, bedeutet das faktisch ein Verbot des Musikunterrichts. Hunderte Musikschulen werden geschlossen.

    *2011:

    Sarah Connor versucht mit "Terminate Me" einen neuen, nicht gecoverten Song herauszubringen, wird aber dafür von den Anwälten der Musikrechteinhaber verklagt, die es nicht erlauben, daß neue Urheber am kleiner werdenden Kuchen mitverdienen wollen. "Composing music is killing music" heißt das Schlagwort der Inhaber alter Rechte. Sarah Connor gewinnt den Rechtsstreit, wird aber kurz darauf unter mysteriösen Umständen ermordet aufgefunden. Von nun an traut sich niemand mehr, neue Songs zu schreiben.

    *2012:

    Die Eltern des 6-jährigen Wolfgang Amadeus Moherb, des "Jugend-musiziert"-Siegers, werden zu 150.000 Euro Schadenersatz an die Musikindustrie verurteilt, weil sich herausgestellt hat, daß ihr Kind erst seit eineinhalb Jahren musiziert, also nach dem Inkrafttreten der Unterrichts-Rationierung. Seine Lehrerin, die Violinistin Anne-Sophie Mutter, entzieht sich einer Gefängnisstrafe durch Flucht in den Irak, dem einzigen Land, das nicht unter Kontrolle der westlichen Wertegemeinschaft und damit der Musikindustrie ist.

    *2020:

    Nahezu jede tonliche Äußerung, darunter Motorgeräusche, Trittschall, Türschließgeräusche und gesprochenes Wort, sind unter urheberrechtlichen Schutz gefallen. Eine Tür zumachen darf quasi nur noch, wer nachweisen kann, daß der dabei erzeugte Schall nicht dem von Porsche patentierten ähnelt. Die einzigen lizenzfreien Worte sind "der", "die", "das", "und" und "hallo". Die Gespräche von Menschen, die sich das "Deutsche Sprache Abo" nicht leisten können, sind daher fast unverständlich geworden. Überhaupt ist es sehr still geworden, da fast jede Schallerzeugung das Risiko einer Abmahnung durch den Münchner Justizkonzern G. und Söhne mit sich birgt. Die Anwälte der Ton und Schall Industrie-Gemeinschaft machen Jagd auf Park- und Waldbesitzer, die in ihren Anwesen das illegale Singen von Vögeln dulden.

    *2050:

    Europa und die USA sind in einem Handstreich vom Irak eingenommen worden. Die Iraker brauchten nur einen einzigen Muezzin, um die halbe Streitmacht der Westmächte auszuschalten, die sich, an Schall nicht mehr gewöhnt, mit zugehaltenen Ohren am Boden wälzte. Die andere Hälfte und die zivile Bevölkerung wurden dadurch gewonnen, daß man ihnen Kinderlieder vorsang. Die Menschen fingen an zu weinen und den Invasoren auf Knien zu danken, für diese neue und wunderbare Gabe, die sie so lange vermißt hatten. Seither ist der Islam die größte Weltreligion und das Reich Allahs unter der weisen Herrschaft des Kalifen von Washington schwingt sich auf zu neuer Blüte.

  4. Menagerie of worms& viruses secretly infects PC's

    in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    I work in the public administration of my country, where hundreds of computers had recently been infected by the Welchia worm (similar to Blaster). Most internal networks were unusable for a day. All workstations run Windows 2000 and Norton Antivirus, and the internet communication is filtered by a firewall, but somebody connecting his infected notebook to the network could have been responsible for spreading the virus amongst thousands of computers.

    Contrary to previous worms which could only be activated by opening an email containing the virus or browsing a malicious website (both infections can be prevented by firewalls and Antivirus software), the Blaster and Welchia worms infect every Windows 2000 or XP PC logged into the internal network. I started my PC in the morning of that day and saw the Antivirus software reporting the infection, but it was too late. It could only be repaired with a special removal software and further infections prevented with the Microsoft patch.

    The Windows bug that made those worm attacks possible had been known for a month and a patch was available, but the administration had not thought about installing it systematically. I usually care myself about my workstation, but I did not think a worm like this could spread as easily. Two of my friends also had their home PCs infected.

    Fortunately, neither of these two worms had a function to destroy data, their objective was only to show Windows vulnerability. This would have been a disaster.

  5. Sell your Ultimate Blue Train, it's obsolete

    in Re-issues

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    Had this been issued as DVD audio it would have made sense because it is a completely different format. - Thom Jurek

    Obviously, Jurek hasn't noticed that it has been released on SACD too.

    The decision to release the new Blue Train remaster simultanously on CD and hybrid SACD (compatible with CD players) seems to be only a pricing issue, since the RVG CD is sold at mid price and the SACD at full price.

    Other labels have recently decided to reissue albums as hybrid SACDs only (Rolling Stones ABKO, The Police, Peter Gabriel), sold at attractive prices. But some people say this was a SACD promotion financed with help by Sony, because the same albums are now released again on CD only, at least in Europe. Hybrid SACDs are much more costly to produce.

  6. Latest RVGs are COPY CONTROLLED

    in Re-issues

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    The Compact Disc logo was used during the years when CD technology was protected by patents and had to be licensed from Philips/Sony. It was part of the licensing deal. The patents have now expired, but the logo is still protected by trademark rights.

    Philips indeed refuses that copyprotected CDs carry the CD logo. But this does not mean that every CD that has no Compact Disc logo is copyprotected.

  7. Latest RVGs are COPY CONTROLLED

    in Re-issues

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    I wouldn't call that a victory. It should be an absolute minimum requirement that protected (limited) CDs are marked as such on the jewel case and that CDs can be returned if there are compatibility problems with regular CD/DVD-Players that the buyer uses.

    Amazon Germany has a strange policy in this respect: Copyprotected CD can be returned, but only if they are unopened. That's ok for someone who notices the Copycontrol logo only after receiving the CD (it can be checked on their website too). But it does not help those buyers who find that they cannot play the CD on a device that it is supposed to play in.

    The condition that copyable media must be returned unopened seems reasonable, but those CDs are supposed to be uncopyable (at least digitally)!

    So Amazon can refuse to take back problematic copyprotected CD if they are opened, saying "You have been warned by the logo that they may be unplayable on your CD/DVD player". Because thats what the logo says (from my memory): "Playable on CD/DVD/SACD players and Windows and Apple computers. There may be problems with some devices"

    http://www.amazon.de/exec/obidos/tg/browse...4169412-3466450

  9. Universal Music to Cut CD Prices to Under $13

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    Source: Yahoo News

    Universal Music to Cut CD Prices to Under $13

    By Derek Caney

    NEW YORK (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, on Wednesday said it will cut list prices on compact discs by as much as 30 percent in an effort to boost sales that have been stymied by free online music-sharing services such as Kazaa.

    Starting in October, Universal, the home to such artists as Mary J. Blige, U2 and Elton John, will trim its prices on most of its CDs to $12.98 from its current $16.98-$18.98 range of prices.

    "Our research shows that the sweet spot is to sell our records below $12.98,' said Universal Music president Zach Horowitz. "We're confident that when we implement this we will get a dramatic and sustained increase."

    Historically, large retailers have sold new CDs at considerably less than the so-called "manufacturer suggested retail price."

    "We expect this will invigorate the music market in North America," said Doug Morris, the label's chief executive. "This will allow retailers (to sell) for $10 or less if they so choose."

    The price cut comes as the company has endured the enormous popularity of free music sharing services, which the labels blame for music piracy.

    Universal, which is owned by Vivendi Universal, sees the price cuts as part of a larger strategy to discourage people from downloading music from the free services.

    The record industry has already begun suing individual users of these services for copyright infringement. The labels have also begun offering their music to online music services that charge for each song downloaded, one of the most popular of which is Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes.

    "As people will begin to migrate from illegitimate services, they're going to be exploring a host of options -- some online and some through retail," Horowitz said. "We felt that the most important thing we can do to encourage people to go back into stores is to reduce our prices dramatically."

    Wholesale prices for CDs would decline to $9.09 from $12.02. For a handful of bigger name artists, wholesale prices would be $10.10 for a short period of time.

    Universal also said it would stop "cooperative" advertising, in which the label subsidized advertising by retailers in local markets and instead advertise directly to consumers. It will also withdraw other discounts to retailers.

    "(Our buyers) haven't had a chance to talk with Universal at this point to get details on how it might affect the business," said a spokesman from Circuit City Stores Inc. . A spokeswoman from Best Buy Co. Inc. declined to comment.

    Amazon.com Inc., Tower Records and Trans World Entertainment Corp. did not immediately return phone calls requesting comment.

    The other major labels -- AOL Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Music, Bertelsmann AG's BMG, EMI Group Plc and Sony Music Group -- declined to comment.

    Some music executives questioned how much impact the price cuts will have.

    "This doesn't have as much impact as it looks," one record executive said. "The labels were offering some discount programs to the retailers that would now end. So it's not entirely clear how much of a change there is for retailers' margins."

    Another executive noted that larger retailers like Wal-Mart Stores Inc, Best Buy and Circuit City already sell CDs at around $13 anyway to get people into the stores to buy bigger ticket items.

    "It remains to be seen what this means for the specialized retailer of CDs," he said.

    (Additional reporting by Jackie Sindrich)

  15. importing CDs

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    Yes Hans. $13 for a RVG is not interesting. I just edited my previous post (adding the last sentence) while you were posting. I thought True Blue was having a RVG sale, but in fact it is Blue Note.

  16. importing CDs

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    One way round this is to order from True Blue who declare the value at $5 per CD (or did so recently). SO you could order five, plus shipping of $12, but have no duty at this end. Last I looked there was a sale at Blue Note (handled by True Blue) so you could try that route.

    Thanks for the tip. I noticed that too on my only order I have made at True Blue, but thought it was an error.

    Unfortunately, True Blue's RVG prices are not very competitive ($13).

  17. importing CDs

    in Miscellaneous Music

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    I usually shop at CDuniverse.com, towerrecords.com (during sales) and deepdiscountcd.com . They all charge around $10 for shipping 3 CDs ($50 worth).

    The customs rules and tariffs in the EU are regulated by the same EU rules, so they must be quite similar in all countries.

    In Luxembourg I have to pay 19% tax (= 3.5% customs tax + VAT (15%) rounded up) on imports above 22 Euro and below 350 Euro. But on my past 20 overseas orders I only had to pay taxes on 1/5 of them, because the customs administration usually doesn't bother. That of course varies in every country.

    You should avoid to have something sent by private companies (UPS, FedEx), because they do the customs formalities systematically and charge 7-10 Euro for this "service".

    Shopping on the Internet (UK Customs)

  18. Latest RVGs are COPY CONTROLLED

    in Re-issues

    Posted

    So, great idea! Everybody satisfied! You can play it on your computer (who will notice the difference on pair of plasic desktop speakers, right), play it on your audio, and you can not digital copy it.

    Yes, that's how it is supposed to be.

    But don't forget that there are serious compatibility issues with "exotic" devices such as DVD players and car CD players. Many people now use hometheater systems to play music, and those sets usually have a DVD player for CD playback. As the protected CDs are not to be copied, you are supposed to use the original CD in your car, which may not work depending on the player.

    There are also potential issues with sound quality of copyprotected CDs. I don't have information if the "Cactus Datashield 200" scheme present on the european RVGs affects the sound, but it is not a reassuring thought. Some tests have shown that the protected discs become more easily unplayable with scratches, because they already have more data errors in their original state.

    I assume that Blue Note did not have anything to say in EMI's decision to protect their releases, but in my view it is especially counterproductive on the reissue market. Collectors are supposed to upgrade their old 80's CDs with the better sounding RVGs, but who wants to replace their CDs with discs that may have playback or durability problems and may sound worse because of the copy protection scheme?

  23. Headphone Jazz

    in Recommendations

    Posted

    Albums that do not sound very good through headphones are those jazz recordings where instruments are hardpanned to one channel. Headroom uses special circuits in their headphone amplifiers that (optionally) compensate this:

    Fixing headphones using electronics

    "So here?s the problem with headphone listening in a nutshell: the sound in the right channel is only heard in the right ear and the sound in the left channel is only heard in the left ear. What?s missing in headphones is the sound going from each channel to the opposite ear, arriving a short time later for the extra distance traveled, and with a bit of high frequency roll-off for the shadowing effect of the head. "

    There are also some studio recordings, mostly from the 70's or 80's, that sound very dry, without any natural reverb. They tend to sound even boxier when listened through headphones.

  24. Rudy's supposed hearing loss

    in Re-issues

    Posted · Edited by Claude

    Steve Hoffman could probably tell us exactly what is going on with  these BN remasters being bright. He has a bulletin board, but I can't find it at the moment.  I have quite a few of his jazz remasters(Prestige, etc.) that are great.

    Here's what Steve Hoffman said of RVG's recordings :

    "The Rudy Van Gelder sound recipe? That's easy. Take three or four expensive German mics with a blistering top end boost, put them real close to the instruments, add some extra distortion from a cheap overloading mic preamp through an Army surplus radio console, put some crappy plate reverb on it, and record. Then, immediately (and for no good reason), redub the master onto a Magnatone tape deck at +6, compressing the crap out of it while adding 5 db at 5000 cycles to everything. That's the Van Gelder Sound to me".

    The Rudy Van Gelder "Sound". Steve, did you really describe it like this

    Here are some discussions on Blue Note remasterings, with comments from Steve (but he seems to be quite prejudiced on new remasterings generally):

    Steve: What you can't remaster...

    Which Blue Train: SACD or DAD?

    Blue Note SACDs Are Here!

×
×
  • Create New...