Wired.com has an interesting story listing some of the most elaborate and infamous attempts by the major labels at preventing music piracy over the years.  Some of the tactics are quite inventive but ultimately pretty laughable.  If I had to do some of that shit for a CD to review, I’d probably pirate it just out of spite.  Although, I feel bad that some poor intern probably had to sit there and superglue a dozen or more Discmans closed after putting a copy in and then ship them out.  

Tags: DRM, News, RIAA, column, downloading, essay, industry news, legality by Costa
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A recent article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper reveals that up to 95% of people in that “golden age group” that the record industry craves (hell, that EVERY consumerist industry craves), the 18 to 24-year old’s, actively copy and swap music.

It’s interesting to note that The Guardian is also mentioning the continued presence of offline music sharing. Remember making mix tapes and mix CD’s for that girl in your class who couldn’t give two shits as to whether or not you existed but you were sure that one Pixies song would sway her when she found the tape stuffed into her backpack by your dumb stalker ass?

It’s always interesting to see the mainstream industry react to news like this with either some sort of “groundbreaking” deal a mainstream band who can afford it makes or by deciding to “bow to popular demand” and disable what amount to booby traps in legally-released mp3’s that will melt your computer if you try to put them on an iPod.

Tags: News, downloading, geeks, industry news, mp3 by Costa
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Well, well, it must be an online sampler kind of day! Suburban Home has released a downloadable sampler, presenting the label’s diverse roster of bands. The 14-song mix features two unreleashed songs from Drag The River, Tim Barry, and a song from LaGrecia, the new project from Jason Svechek of Kid Dynamite/None More Black fame, and a whole lot more.

Label guru Virgil Dickerson had some interesting things to say about the move. You can check out his thoughts, along with the tracklist, after the jump.

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Tags: News, Suburban Home Records, Virgil Dickerson, downloading, sampler by Matthew
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A recent editorial from our friends at the RIAA. Basically, the gist here is that their recent actions and aggressive stands against music downloading stems from a genuine concern to maintain jobs and artistic rights, as well as a moral obligation to teach a generation of college students (the primary target of the article) to steal for everything.

First off, where’d the focus on the elderly, the crippled, and the recently deceased go? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go look up some of the recent news regarding people targeted with legal actions by the RIAA.

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Tags: RIAA, downloading, essay, legality by Costa
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