----------------------------Original message----------------------------
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For those of us whose responsibilities include music collections, the =
following
message is forwarded from the NINCH list.
NINCH-ANNOUNCE =3Cdavid=40ninch.org=3E 07/18/00 11:09AM
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
News on Networking Cultural Heritage Resources
from across the Community
July 18, 2000
MUSICIANS, EXECS TESTIFY TO CONGRESS ABOUT INTERNET MUSIC TECHNOLOGIES
http://www.artswire.org/current.html=23news2
I thought this was a good account of the recent Congressional
testimony on the impact of new technologies on the delivery of music, with =
good
references at the foot.
David Green
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3EDate: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 18:20:16 -0700
=3ETo: current=40artswire.org
=3EFrom: Arts Wire Current =3Cawcurr=40artswire.org=3E
=3ESubject: Current, July 18, 2000
=3E
=3EFrom:
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F=5F
=3EArts Wire CURRENT July 18, 2000
=3EArts Wire CURRENT Volume 9, No. 29
=3EArts Wire CURRENT
=3EArts Wire CURRENT Judy Malloy, Editor
=3EArts Wire CURRENT jmalloy=40artswire.org
=3E=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F=5F==
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F=5F
=3E
=3EArts Wire CURRENT is a project of Arts Wire, a national
=3Ecomputer-based network serving the arts community. Arts Wire
=3ECURRENT features news updates on social, economic, philosophical,and =
political
issues affecting the arts and culture. Your
=3Econtributions are invited. Contact Judy Malloy, editor, at
=3Ejmalloy=40artswire.org
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=3E
=3EMUSICIANS, EXECS TESTIFY TO CONGRESS ABOUT INTERNET MUSIC TECHNOLOGIES
=3E
=3EWASHINGTON, DC -- Last week a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee
=3Ehearing examined how music-swapping software -- as used by Napster and =
other
MP3 companies -- impacts on musicians and record labels.
=3E
=3EMusicians and music industry executives -- including Metallica
=3Edrummer Lars Ulrich=3B Roger McGuinn, co-founder of The Byrds=3B
=3ENapster's new Chief Executive Hank Barry=3B Michael Robertson, the
=3Efounder of MP3.com=3B and Gene Hoffman, Jr., founder and
=3Echief executive officer of Emusic.com, Inc. -- testified to
=3ESenators Orrin Hatch, Diane Feinstein, Patrick Leahy, Charles
=3ESchumer, and others.
=3E
=3E=22I love the innovation that is coming in the digital world,=22 ZDNET
=3EINTER=40CTIVE WEEK quotes Sen. Leahy (D-VT) as saying. =22But we're not =
going to
have photographers, artists and others contributing unless there is some =
gain to
them. And so we're going to have to figure out how to do that.=22
=3E
=3EOnline uses of MP3 (a file format for storing digital audio with
=3Eaudio quality rivaling that of CDs but requiring a tenth the size
=3Eof normal audio files) have engendered several court cases
=3Erecently -- notably a suit by the Recording Industry Association
=3Eof America (RIAA) against Napster (which facilitates locating and
=3Edownloading music in MP3 format) and a recent court decision in
=3Ewhich a federal judge found in favor of a recording industry
=3Egroup, ruling that MP3.com's My.MP3.com service was violating
=3Etheir copyrights by allowing users to access about 80,000 CDs in
=3Eits database.
=3E
=3E=22I don't have a problem with any artist voluntarily distributing
=3Ehis or her songs through any means the artist elects-- at no cost
=3Eto the consumer, if that's what the artist wants,=22 Lars Ulrich
=3Etold the Committee. =22But just like a carpenter who crafts a table
=3Egets to decide whether to keep it, sell it or give it away ,
=3Eshouldn't we have the same options? My band authored the music
=3Ewhich is Napster's lifeblood. We should decide what happens to
=3Eit, not Napster -- a company with no rights in our recordings,
=3Ewhich never invested a penny in Metallica's music or had anything
=3Eto do with its creation. The choice has been taken away from us.=22
=3E
=3EUlrich, who was born in Denmark, came to America with his parents
=3Ein 1980 when he was a teenager. In 1981, he started the band
=3Enamed Metallica with his best friend James Hetfield. Metallica was
=3Ethe first band to sue Napster.
=3E
=3E=22Remember too, that my band, Metallica, is fortunate enough to
=3Emake a great living from what it does,=22 Ulrich said. =22Most artists
=3Eare barely earning a decent wage and need every source of revenue
=3Eavailable to scrape by. Also keep in mind that the primary source
=3Eof income for most songwriters is from the sale of records. Every
=3Etime a Napster enthusiast downloads a song, it takes money from
=3Ethe pockets of all these members of the creative community.=22
=3E
=3EIn response, Napster CEO Hank Barry stated, according to
=3EInter=40ctive Week, that the estimated 20 million Netizens who use
=3Ethe Napster service are simply =22sharing=22 their music collections
=3Ewith one another, and that what Napster promotes isn't wholesale
=3Etheft of works of art as much as =22sampling=22 of the music by
=3Edevotees and music fans in general. People listen to songs on
=3ENapster,=22 Inter=40ctive Week quotes him as saying, =22and then they
=3Eare going out and buying the CD's. We are generating interest
=3Ein music.=22
=3E
=3EBut in his testimony, Ulrich likened the use of Napster to walking
=3Einto a record store, grabbing what you want and walking out. =22The
=3Edifference is that the familiar phrase a computer user hears,
=3E'File's done,' is replaced by another familiar phrase:'You're
=3Eunder arrest,'=22 he stated.
=3E
=3EThe argument he hears a lot, Ulrich continued -- =22music should be
=3Efree=22 -- means that musicians should work for free. =22Nobody else
=3Eworks for free. Why should musicians?=22
=3E
=3EA solution which could work for both artists and consumers was
=3Eoffered by Gene Hoffman, whose Emusic.com, makes downloadable MP3 music =
files
available for purchase, at =24.99 for single songs and
=3E=248.99 for albums. Inter=40ctive Week reports that Hoffman told the
=3ECommittee that his company has direct relationships with artists
=3Eand exclusive licensing agreements with over 650 independent
=3Erecord labels. We play by the rules, and are =22on the forefront of
=3Ehow new music will be discovered, delivered and enjoyed in the
=3Enext decade,=22 Inter=40ctive week quotes him as saying.
=3E
=3EMetallica's Lars Ulrich also affirmed the technological advances
=3Eand cost savings which the Internet can engender. =22Mr. Chairman,
=3ESenator Leahy and Members of the Committee, the title of today's
=3Ehearing asks the question, 'The Future of the Internet: Is there
=3Ean Upside to Downloading?' My answer is yes. However, as I hope
=3Emy remarks have made clear, this can only occur when artists'
=3Echoices are respected and their creative efforts protected.=22
=3E
=3EByrd's Co-founder Roger McGuinn, who testified after the Ulrich,
=3Estrongly supported music distribution technology as an alternative
=3Efor artists -- saying, according to MSNBC, that he turned to
=3EMP3.com because the 50-50 royalties from record companies had not been =
enough
to support his family.
=3E
=3EFred Ehrlich, President of New Technology and Business Development for =
Sony
Music Entertainment Inc., also stressed the positive aspects of new
technologies. Among the promising new models listed in his testimony are
streaming transmissions in which the sound recording is transmitted to the
consumer but not in a downloadable format=3B webcasting, in which consumers =
enjoy
a new form of on-line radio with music more directly targeted to their
preferences=3B and live streams, such as the live Internet broadcasts of our
artists' concerts.
=3E
=3EAdditionally, Ehrlich described new subscription models, which
=3Eallow record labels to offer tiered services (for instance a
=3Echoice of albums or singles) to more closely match consumer
=3Epreferences, in both the streaming and downloadable format=3B
=3E(delivered through a variety of playback media, including digital
=3ETVs and wireless and other portable devices) and kiosks, in places
=3Eranging from records stores to fast-food restaurants, which will
=3Eallow consumers to access a large reserve of available works,
=3Eincluding artists' back catalogues.
=3E
=3E=22The music industry is ready, willing and able to use digital
=3Etechnology to bring music to consumers in ever more creative
=3Eways,=22 Ehlich stated. =22...All we ask -- and it seems fairly basic
=3E-- is the continued application of copyright laws to ensure a
=3Esystem that respects and protects music rights in cyberspace. We
=3Ebelieve -- in fact, this belief is at the core of our business --
=3Ethat a legitimate system of the protection of rights sets off a
=3Edomino effect for true e-commerce, where creators of technology,
=3Ecreators of music, and the consumer all benefit. ....=22
=3E
=3ECommittee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said the purpose of the =
hearing
was not to interfere with technological standards
=3Esetting or with pending litigation, according MSNBC, But MSNBC
=3Ealso quotes him as saying at the close of the inquiry: =22What we're
=3Ehearing is that fair and reasonable licensing needs to take
=3Eplace.=22
=3E
=3EThe RIAA vs Napster trial is scheduled to begin at the end of this
=3Emonth. =22Many watching the case believe it is possible that that
=3Ewill be the day Napster could be forced to shut down, unleashing
=3Ewhat will invariably be a flurry of dissent,=22 MSNBC states.
=3E
=3ESources/resources:
=3E
=3EDoug Brown
=3E=22Music Hearings Rock Senate=22
=3EZDNET INTER=40CTIVE WEEK --
=3Ehttp://www.zdnet.com/intweek/stories/news/0,4164,2601839,00.html=3E
=3EJuly 11, 2000
=3E
=3ELisa Napoli
=3E=22Congress debates Napster, MP3=3B
=3EMetallica drummer and Napster CEO testify on digital music=22
=3EMSNBC -- http://www.msnbc.com/news/431202.asp
=3EJuly 11, 2000
=3E
=3ETHE RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA (RIAA)
=3EWEBSITE -- http://www.riaa.com
=3Econtains key testimony from the hearing as well as
=3Ea series of articles on =22The Upside of Music on the Web=22
=3Eby Thomas Dolby Robertson
=3E
=3EMETALLICA WEBSITE -- http://www.metallica.com
=3E
=3ENAPSTER WEB SITE -- http://www.napster.com
=3E
=3EMP3 WEB SITE -- http://www.mp3.com
=3E
=3EELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION (EFF) CAMPAIGN FOR AUDIOVISUAL FREE
=3EEXPRESSION (CAFE) -- http://www.eff.org/cafe/
=3E
=3E=22House to Look at Effect of MP3 Companies on Small Music
=3EBusinesses=22
=3EArts Wire CURRENT --
=3Ehttp://www.artswire.org/current/2000/cur051600.html
=3EMay 16, 2000
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F=5F=3EArts Wire CURRENT is
available at
=3Ehttp://www.artswire.org/current.html and an archive of past issues
=3Ecan be found at http://www.artswire.org/current/archive.html
=3E
=3EFor a free subscription to CURRENT, visit
=3Ehttp://www.artswire.org/current/current-email.html
=3E
=3EArts Wire is a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts.
=3EMajor support provided by the Masters of Arts Management Program of =
Carnegie
Mellon University.
=3EArts Wire (TM) is a service mark of the New York Foundation for
=3Ethe Arts.
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