ASCAP Daily Briefing

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

We are pleased to offer you the ASCAP Daily Brief powered by The Dean's List This daily email, compiled by ASCAP Board member, music publisher and songwriter Dean Kay, cuts through the media clutter to bring you links to the most relevant news and commentary on the rapidly evolving music industry and how it affects your future livelihood. Now the ASCAP Daily Brief can be accessed on the Headlines page ofASCAP.com and in the ASCAP RSS Feed. Tech companies have made billions supporting the illegal exploitation of our cultural past while ruthlessly pursuing the dismantling of incentives creators need to fashion our cultural future. ASCAP Launches New PLAY MUSIC Licensing Campaign By ASCAP -- Simple, low-cost, no reporting license for websites and mobile apps. The Copyright Policy Reality Gap By The Trichordist -- Now is the time to have a serious and meaningful conversation about the future of a fair and ethical internet that does not punish the innovative artists and creators who enrich our lives. Hotfile, Megaupload, and the Future of Copyright on the Internet: What can Cyberlockers Tell Us About DMCA Reform? By Ross Drath -- How would a body of copyright law built to regulate tangible objects apply in the digital realm? The safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, intended as a compromise between the interests of copyright owners and webhosts, have instead introduced legal uncertainty and allocated the costs of online enforcement both inefficiently and disproportionately. [Thanks to Terry Hart for the link.] Facebook: Want to Message Ceo Mark Zuckerberg? That Will Be $100 By Jessica Guynn -- Facebook is testing a new feature that would let average Joes and Janes pay cash to get their messages into the inboxes of Facebook users they don't know. (Pay nothing and your message ends up in the dreaded "other folder.") Tumblr More Popular than Facebook Among Young People, Survey Says By Salvador Rodriguez [Yeah. but...Where's the cash, Flash?] Pandora's Tim Westergren Offers Artists Tour Support By Jon Healey -- Speaking to a room full of technology executives and policymakers, Pandora founder Tim Westergren pitched his online radio service as a ladder into the middle class for working musicians. How Money-Losing Pandora Could Become Profitable...If It Wanted To By Jim Edwards Looking For Radio's Future? Check The Car By John Paul Titlow -- You'd think terrestrial radio would be at death's door by now...But FM radio is going strong and Internet services comprise only a tiny percentage of total listening time. Now, though, more and better in-car integrations are about to give Internet radio a huge shove into the future. Music Site This Is My Jam Could Spin Out From Echo Nest By Bobbie Johnson -- A year after it launched as a skunkworks project inside music data company The Echo Nest, trendy social music site This Is My Jam is "looking at options" for going independent - as well as getting ready to launch some fun new site exploration features. Rock & Pop Still Dominate U.S. Digital Music Sales By Bruce Houghton Pay TV Will Shrink for First Time in History, Study Says Cable Watching Peaked in 2011 By Jeff John Roberts -- For the first time ever, the number of U.S. households paying for TV service will go down. The news comes as a tipping point in consumers' struggles to break away from a TV industry that forces them to buy bundles of channels. Five Best Desktop Media Servers By Alan Henry -- Getting your music and movies from one computer to another computer across the house or across the world has never been easier. There are tons of apps designed to make the process simple and painless so you can watch movies on your smartphone when you're out, or just listen to the music on your desktop downstairs in your upstairs bedroom. Dithering - Adding "Good Noise" to Improve Your Home Recordings By Izotope -- What is dithering? In your English class, to "dither" means to act nervously or indecisively. When we're talking about digital audio and home studio recording, dithering is the process of adding noise to the audio signal. Your Friends Are Liars: What People REALLY Think of Your Music! By Chris Robley -- Look, your parents and your partner and your neighbors are not going to tell you that your music sucks. Neither will your co-workers, your church friends, or the people you play rugby with on Wednesdays. Your cousins, your counselor, your drinking-buddies, your favorite barista - nope, can't trust them either...Your friends are not true fans! Winner! The Worst Product At CES 2013 By Jon Mitchell