The news this week that Napster had finally disappeared into the digital ether was a prolonged and inevitable outcome. The file sharing program changed the world of digital music forever when it began to be widely used around the world in 1999. When it shut down just two years later, the service operated in limbo. It was bought out by software company Roxio and then American electronics retailer Best Buy. Both companies attempted to piggy back on the brand name but the users had long since moved on. Last week, Napster was merged into Rhapsody, a U.S. based service which offers streaming music subscriptions.
The digital music conundrum still lives on too but conflicting opinion is as strong as ever. There is often compelling evidence published that suggests those who download music regularly buy more music. The Swiss government are in agreement. They commissioned a study which found that most illegal downloading was complementary and that personal budget for entertainment has remained constant. So Switzerland concluded that no change to current law is required because unauthorised music and movie downloading has not had a negative impact on the production of entertainment in the country.
The report also examined the actions of other countries in the same situation, from the Hadopi law in France to the three-strikes rule that has been touted in Ireland and currently in effect on Eircom’s network. That particular anti-file sharing tactic is now in jeopardy. In a decision that has been hailed as a victory for internet freedom, The European Court of Justice last month ruled that the monitoring and logging of an Internet Service Provider’s (ISP) customers would breach privacy and violate the rights of both the ISPs and its subscribers. The ruling came from the outcome of a seven year court battle between Belgian music rights group SABAM and an ISP called Scarlet. The cost of putting filtering and monitoring system was deemed to be too much of an infringement on Scarlet’s business operations.
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The Photoshop detector: finally now you can know exactly which photographs have been digitally altered.
An interactive musical map of Colombia.
The 25 least influential people alive…
Emusic have debuted an iPad app that focuses on music scenes.
Cold Specks
Canadian born folk via Alan Lomax field recordings from the young Al Spx, whose voice has a rich blues, soul and folk heritage.
soundcloud.com/coldspecks
The Beatles 8-Bit
After tackling the music of Kraftwerk in chiptune form, the Gameboy-obsessed 8-Bit Operators are back with a collection of Beatles covers called Wanna Hld Yr Handheld, Vol. 1 which focuses on the avant-garde and electronic side of the Fab Four.
Nujabes
Jun Seba, a Japanese producer who sadly died in a car crash last year has posthumously released his final album Spiritual State of uplifting instrumental music to much acclaim.
hypem.com/artist/Nujabes
WZRD
Rapper Kid Cudi has been immersing himself in punk rock of late and his WZRD project and collaboration with Dot Da Genius and Brake is the first taster of that absorption with its stoner rock histrionics.
Listen at Earmilk
The best sites we discovered on the web this week…
Texts From Bennett
One guy’s text message conversations with his dim 17 year old cousin Bennett, a white wannabe gang member with a girlfriend called Mercedes.
http://textsfrombennett.tumblr.com
Weird Dude Energy
A collection of weird dudes doing weird things.
http://weirdudenergy.blogspot.com
Don’t Dad
That thing you don’t ever want your dad to do? Done.
http://seanorr.tumblr.com
