FASTER LOUDER:
* The Freeloading Generation: Are we loving our music to death?

“I saw that freeloading was no victimless act, nor was it simply a matter of beating up on bloated corporate media entities.

It is a potent combination of laziness and selfishness, concealed under a thin superficial haze of digital idealism and anti-corporate bitterness.”

NPR / ON THE MEDIA :
* Meet the New Boss, Worse Than the Old Boss

David Lowery of bands Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven thought the internet would become a vibrant new marketplace for creators. Instead, he says, the internet era is worse for artists than the infamously unfair record company system. Brooke talks to Lowery about what’s wrong and how to fix it.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL:
* As Pirates Run Rampant, TV Studios Dial Up Pursuit
* Movie Sales Increased With Shutdown of Piracy Sites

THE ILLUSION OF MORE:
* New Reports on Piracy
* Another Must Read
* Why is it either/or?

we are blessed to have a society that produces both the Amanda Palmers and the John Irvings; and I don’t understand why anyone thinks we need to choose a system that would favor one over the other. Believe it or not, the one unifying principle that supports these two artists, as well as all others, is copyright.

FOX NEWS:
* Washington must get serious about protecting intellectual property

The desire to see the Internet remain free and open does not mean, however, that we should countenance lawlessness. A balance must be struck between the needs of content creators and the advocates of a free and open Internet. The “rules of the road” are still to be written and, when they are, the need to protect U.S. generated intellectual property should be foremost in the minds of legislators.

The Internet and the world of e-commerce will not continue to grow and thrive either in an environment of overbearing regulation or in one which turns a blind eye to theft and other forms of lawlessness. Freedom and safety are complementary; the American people deserve both. The Internet must not become a haven for hackers and foreign criminals.

TRUST ME I’M A SCIENTIST:
* Input\Output Podcast: David Lowery and the Future of Artists’ Rights

MUSIC TECH POLICY:
* Joe Kennedy Departs Pandora
* The Google Whistle Speaks Its Mind–and it’s worse than you thought

FOX BUSINESS:
* Microsoft Establishes Cybercrime Center to Combat Piracy, Malware

The new center will consolidate Microsoft’s digital crimes and Internet piracy units into one advanced operations center on its Redmond, Wash., campus. It will give the company one center to coordinate investigations with governments and law enforcement agencies. A staff of 30 there will work with 70 other Microsoft investigators world-wide to focus on malicious software crime, technology-facilitated child exploitation and piracy.

THE VERGE:
* Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails, and other digital pioneers sour on ‘pay what you want’ music

Not long ago, many hoped the Internet would emerge as a music fan’s Shangri-la, a utopian world where any track, no matter how obscure, was available for free, record labels were extinct and artists made a good living because their fans chose to reward them. Acts like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails championed this brave new world.

But that dream has turned into a nightmare…

COPYHYPE:
* Shutting Down Megaupload Did Impact Digital Movie Sales

This week, Brett Danaher and Michael Smith, working at the Initiative for Digital Entertainment Analytics (IDEA) at Carnegie-Mellon University, have released another study looking at this question. The study, Gone in 60 Seconds: The Impact of the Megaupload Shutdown on Movie Sales, found that digital movie revenues from online sales and rentals increased by 6-10% following the January 2012 shutdown of the popular cyberlocker site (Megaupload execs, including Kim Dotcom, are of course currently facing criminal charges in the U.S. for copyright infringement).

ALL THINGS D:
* YouTube’s Show-Me-the-Money Problem

The bigger question is whether YouTube will be able to generate enough ad money for content makers to support the “premium” programming it has been trying to attract so it can compete with traditional TV.

“It’s hard, given YouTube’s low [revenue-sharing] numbers and lack of marketing infrastructure to make the unit economics for premium programming work,” says Steve Raymond, who runs Big Frame, a YouTube network/programmer that says it has generated 3.2 billion views.

VANITY FAIR:
* You Say You Want a Devolution?

For most of the last century, America’s cultural landscape—its fashion, art, music, design, entertainment—changed dramatically every 20 years or so. But these days, even as technological and scientific leaps have continued to revolutionize life, popular style has been stuck on repeat, consuming the past instead of creating the new.

THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER:
* Internet piracy getting worse

Artists deserve to be compensated for their efforts, and so should the companies that take risks to promote and distribute their work. Stealing songs and movies to pass among friends or to sell in a black market robs the originators of their incomes.

THE NEW YORKER:
* Aaron Swartz was brilliant and beloved. But the people who knew him best saw a darker side.

BILLBOARD:
* Pandora Opens Up Audience Data to Media Buyers
* Facebook Announces Dedicated Music Tab in News Feed Redesign

THE ORION:
* Punk legend shares insight on file-sharing

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC SOFTWARE TRADE ASSOCIATION:
* What do the numbers say?

THE REASON:
* A Free-Market Fix for Music Copyrights

DIGITAL MUSIC NEWS:
* American Tax Dollars Are Now Assisting Pirate Sites…
* I Teach Guitar to Students Aged 10-24. And This Is How They Consume Music…
* iTunes is ‘Exclusively Streaming David Bowie’s The Next Day,’ Yet It’s Already On Grooveshark…

VOX INDIE:
* Takedown of Megaupload had Positive Result on Movie Sales
* 12 Stepping Through Piracy’s Takedown Maze of Madness
* Spinning Straw Movies Into Gold on YouTube

MUSIC ALLY:
* Can YouTube’s ad revenues support premium video content?

TORRENT FREAK:
* Megaupload Shutdown Boosted Digital Movie Revenues
* French Govt Reports Large Increase in Three Strikes Piracy Warnings

THE REGISTER UK:
* Congratulations, freetards: You are THE FIVE PER CENT

Conspiratorial thinking – such as imagining media barons in secret meetings, perhaps involving the “MAFIAA” – abounds. In America, activists have created a Batman-inspired cat signal, to be beamed to other paranoiacs in distress, whenever The Man is suspected of spoiling their fun. Persecution fantasies abound.

ARS TECHNICA:
* Blues Highway Blues: You can’t separate murder from music

The soundtrack for Blues Highway Blues isn’t meant to be played as you read; there are no in-text notes about tracks fading in or out. Instead, the soundtrack corresponds to events that unfold throughout an entire chapter, making listening a parallel experience, not a simultaneous one.

But this is only the first installment in the Crossroads series, with more on the way. The next installment, Rock Island Rock, will be out in June of this year. That novel will not have its own soundtrack but instead will include lyrics sheets in the appendix (how very Beck Song Reader of him, right?). For now Blues Highway Blues is available—for your eyes and ears.

MUSIC WEEK:
* Warner signs licensing deal for Google subscription streaming services – report
* Hadopi report turns anti-piracy attention to streaming

THE COPYRIGHT ALLIANCE:
* The Curious Case of Cell Phone Unblocking and Copyright
* Innovation and Piracy

I am sure the Wall Street Journal article will generate the predictable commentary about how the solution to online theft lies in developing new business models.  Wolfe Video did just that, and the results do not bear out the claims that piracy is all about failure of imagination.  Moreover, I have yet to hear anyone explain what is innovative or new about stealing the creative work of another and monetizing it through ad sales.

CNN:
* Apple and Google’s huge streaming music gamble

YAHOO:
* Warner Music owner, Bass, Packer finance Beats’ music service

BUSINESS INSIDER:
* Apple Just Met With A Spotify Rival That Has Raised $60 Million