Saturday, November 7, 2009

Brit Music Scene

Brit Music Scene


The Beatles Back Catalog Removed From BlueBeat

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 05:48 PM PST

An American-based Web site caused controversy when it started selling the whole of The Beatles back catalog last week. BlueBeat allowed free streaming of all the tracks and albums and sold all the tracks and albums for a pittance of what they’d actually be worth through iTunes or a similar service.

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The real kicker of course is that The Beatles through Apple Corps, and EMI, which owns the recordings, have never agreed to sell any of the band’s tracks online. The nearest they’ve come is licensing the tracks for use in The Beatles: Rock Band.

EMI became aware the site was selling the songs earlier this week and issued legal action to put a stop to it. BBC News is now reporting that a Los Angeles judge has issued an injunction against the site, with arguments from both sides to be heard in court on Nov. 20.

Bizarrely, Bluebeat’s owner Hank Risan claims he doesn’t need a license to sell the tracks as they aren’t actually the original recordings. Instead, they are re-recorded versions of the songs using “psycho-acoustic simulation.” Whatever that may be.

While it’s true that tribute bands recording songs by other artists would be fine, these tracks sound like the originals, so I’m slightly confused where Risan is coming from. I’m guessing this will run for a while but hopefully it’ll focus everyone’s attentions and mean the actual original recordings get licensed for sale online.

[Photo Source: Newscom]

Post from: Brit Music Scene


MTV Europe Music Awards – U2, Pixie Lott, Placebo Win

Posted: 06 Nov 2009 11:52 AM PST

The MTV Europe Music Awards were held last night in Berlin. There were a dearth of British winners, with Beyoncé walking away with three awards and the most successful night of all. She won ‘Best Song’, ‘Best Video’, and ‘Best Female’.

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Pixie Lott won the ‘Push Artist’ award which focuses on artists brought to the fore by MTV, while Placebo won the ‘Best Alternative’ prize. U2 represented Ireland by winning ‘Best Live Act’.

The full list of winners and losing nominees is after the cut. Winners highlighted in bold.

Best Song

Beyoncé – ‘Halo’
Black Eyed Peas – ‘I Got A Feeling’
David Guetta featuring Kelly Rowland – ‘When Love Takes Over’
Kings Of Leon – ‘Use Somebody’
Lady Gaga – ‘Poker Face’

Best Live Act

Beyoncé
Green Day
Kings of Leon
Lady GaGa
U2

Best Group

Black Eyed Peas
Green Day
Jonas Brothers
Kings of Leon
Tokio Hotel

Best New Act

Daniel Merriweather
La Roux
Lady GaGa
Pixie Lott
Taylor Swift

Best Female

Beyoncé
Katy Perry
Lady GaGa
Leona Lewis
Shakira

Best European Act

Deep Insight
Lost
Doda
Dima Bilan
maNga

Best Push Artist

Daniel Merriweather
Hockey
La Roux
Little Boots
Metro Station
Pixie Lott
The Veronicas
White Lies

Best Male

Eminem
Jay-Z
Kanye West
Mika
Robbie Williams

Best Urban

Ciara
Eminem
Jay-Z
Kanye West
T.I

Best Rock

Foo Fighters
Green Day
Kings of Leon
Linkin Park
U2

Best Alternative

Muse
Paramore
Placebo
The Killers
The Prodigy

Best Video

Beyoncé – ‘Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)’
Britney Spears – ‘Circus’
Eminem – ‘We Made You’
Katy Perry – ‘Waking Up In Vegas’
Shakira – ‘She Wolf’

Best World Stage Performance

Coldplay
Kid Rock
Kings of Leon
Lady GaGa
Linkin Park

[Photo Source: Newscom]

Post from: Brit Music Scene