they’ve already made the rounds, but i’m going to catalogue the recent spate of mp3/artist stories anyway.
first, the offspring decide, if you can’t beat ’em – join ’em [with a twist]:
“Just as technology has made leaps and bounds over those last two years, plans
for the download and release of Conspiracy Of One are significantly more
sophisticated. Anyone who purchases the actual CD will have the opportunity
to use proprietary new technology, located directly on the physical compact
disc, to launch into a coded part of the band web site and become a member of
The Offspring Nation. The Offspring Nation is a digital fan club offering
incentives and benefits including subsequent exclusive downloads, animated
films, gated chats with the artist, advance ticket sales and more. Dexter
Holland says, “We decided that we would create a super fan club for those of
our fans who actually buy our CD. The CD has a key in the CD-Extra section
that registers members to The Offspring Nation, our fan club. We figure
since we make our music available to everyone for free this will act as a
special acknowledgement to our fans who go to the trouble to buy our CD.“”
and courtney love decides she wants some of the bounty the recording industry has been extracting from mp3.com”
“In the nine months since it filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against MP3.com
(MPPP), Universal Music Group has said over and over again that it is battling the
online music portal to protect the financial interests of its legendary stable of
performers. After it said as much in court papers, a federal judge ordered MP3.com
to pay Universal between $120 million and $250 million in damages on Sept. 6.But Universal recording artists will never see a dime of that cash, one of the label’s
most prominent musicians, Courtney Love, now says. And so, the Grammy
Award-winning singer says she will turn the tables on Universal and ask a court to fine
the company for stealing her music. ”