Biophilia: UPDATE

Björk’s new album, Biophilia, is a new innovative way to listen to music. She has taken the music experience and made it interactive and, at times, educational. For the iPad/iPhone, the album is interactive. You play games and some of the things you do in the game can alter the music. The prices are the same as if you were buying a song or album on iTunes. This is a great way to get people interested in an album and a good way to follow current trends.

Björk’s most recent application is for her song “Moon”. “Moon” is a music sequencer that was initially inspired by the similarities between the cycles of the moon and cycles in music. It has an “instrument-mode” where you can change the pitch of audio in the song.

Björk continues to push the boundaries of the music industry. This could help create an entire new trend and could eventually be the new big advancement in music. Not only has Björk created an application and studio album but her website is interactive and the album features custom-made instruments, and she has incorporated education into her music now.

We are certainly in a time where the best way to grow is to be as innovative as possible.

Controversy in the Music Industry

Pirating Music

The piracy of digital music has had a major effect on the music industry. The RIAA (Recording Arts industry of America) says the term piracy is “benign” and that it does not proper describe the effect music theft has on all of the people working behind the scene to help create and produce that music. These key people that get wronged by piracy include audio engineers, producers, publishers, audio engineers, recording artists, songwriters, etc.

The RIAA reminds us even though illegally downloading one song does not feel wrong or seem like it would have much of an impact; however, the millions of people illegally downloading, without the appropriate people getting their cut, is absolutely devastating to the industry.

Many bands right now are giving free streaming through their websites, Soundcloud, Internet radio and other forms of music networking. Although piracy is becoming less and less of a problem, it still continues to have an impact on the industry.

Sources:

http://www.riaa.com/faq.php

http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy_details_online

Sampling

Sampling may seem like a fun and unique art form. However, this bends that line between creative licensing and copyright laws and could become problematic. Part of the problem with Sampling is that sometimes the artist that is sampled does not see any kind of royalties, for example: Kanye West & Justice. When sampling becomes a copyright issue, the common defense is that the sample was not used substantially and is unrecognizable to the standard consumer.

Sources:

http://musicindustryreport.org/?p=7551

http://mjlawfirm.com/entertainment-law/sampling-and-copyright-infringement/

Copyright Infringement

            On January 15, 1971, George Harrison released “My Sweet Lord”. It was in the number one stop for five weeks and again in 2002 for one week. Unfortunately, things began to go sour when the song “He’s so Fine” by the Chiffons (1962) was moved to the Bright Tunes Music Corporation in ‘71. On February 10, 1971, Bright Tunes decided to sue George Harrison. They managed to reach of settlement of $148,000 but it never reached execution. The case continued. The attorneys of Bright Tunes wanted 75% of royalties and the copyrights to “My Sweet Lord”. The judge did not believe that Harrison purposefully plagiarized the song (they were essentially the same with minor differences). He was found guilty of “subconscious plagiarism” and he had to pay $587,000, which was paid in 1981.

Sources:

http://www.fairwagelawyers.com/most-famous-music-copyright-infringment.html