Morning Coffee with David Farrell, December 14

Updated @ 10am

Instead of providing protections for both copyright owners and qualifying service providers, the District Court has perversely turned the DMCA into a roadmap to build a business based on massive use of copyrighted works without paying for them. As a result, copyright owners – both large and small – lose control of their creations and are limited significantly in their ability to license their works, while their property is disseminated virally over the internet worldwide to anonymous users, without consent or compensation. BMI court filing in support of Viacom’s $1-billion copyright case against Google/ YouTube.

Top DMDS Downloads for week ending Dec. 12:

1.  Coldplay – Christmas Lights (EMI)
2.  Sean McCann - Merry Christmas Everyone (Warner)
3.  Cee Lo Green – Bright Lights Bigger City (Warner)
4.  Paul Simon – Getting Ready For Christmas Day (Universal)
5.  Danny Fernandes – Take Me Away (Benny Benassi Remix) (CP/EMI/DMD)
6.  Jack Black and Jason Segel – Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy 2010 (Sony)
7.  Kings Of Leon - The End (Sony)
8.  Steel Magnolia - It’s Christmas Time (Open Road)
9.  Buckcherry – Christmas Is Here (Universal)
10.  San Sebastian – Young Youth (Universal)

Most Active Indies:

1.  Danny Fernandes – Take Me Away

(Benny Benassi Remix) (CP/EMI/DMD)
2.  Steel Magnolia - It’s Christmas Time (Open Road)
3.  Ridley Bent -  All The Heat Is In The Whiskey (Open Road)
4.  Tall Brothers – Smokin’ What We Want For Christmas (420Tunes)
5.  High Valley – Away In A Manger (Open Road)
6.  DY feat. D. Woods – That’s My Spot (CP/EMI/DMD)
7.  Crystal Castles – Not In Love feat. Robert Smith (Frontside)
8.  James LaBrie – Euphoric (Inside Out/EMI)
9.  Pauline Kyllonen - If It Felt Like Christmas (Indie)
10.  Jeremy Fisher – Snowflakes (Indie/With A Bullet)

– FORT LAUDERDALE, FL: Twenty years after topping the American hit parade with the Christopher Ward, David Tyson co-write Black Velvet, Alannah Myles is back in the saddle, landing 1st place in the annual USA Songwriting Competition. Give Me Love, co-written with Canadian songwriter Nancy Simmonds, took top honour in the competition and won in the Rock/Alternative category. In announcing the winners yesterday, organizers noted that  this is only the 2nd time in the event’s 15 year history that the top prize has been awarded to a non-resident.  The Toronto-based singer, Myles scored a #1 hit in the US with Black Velvet in 1990 and earned a Grammy the following year in the Female Rock Vocal category.  In 1992, she released Rockinghorse, her 2nd album, which included the hit Song Instead Of A Kiss,   co-written with Simmonds and Canadian poet/author Robert Priest. Yesterday’s winning song Give Me Love is included on her  most recent album, Black Velvet, released by Linus Entertainment in 2008. The album marked  return after a self-imposed eight-year hiatus from the spotlight. No up-coming performances or TV appearances are noted on her website.

– LONDON: Investors are understood to have told Guy Hands they are unwilling to put more money into EMI, bringing a takeover by investment bank Citigroup one step closer to reality. The Sunday Times suggests the shift could happen before Christmas. Terra Firma may keep a small stake in EMI, while losing operational control to Citigroup, the newspaper reports.

– NEW YORK: Investor Carl Icahn’s costly and bloody battle to take over Vancouver-based Lionsgate studio promises to end with a thud of defeat today. On the heels of a New York court decision that denied his move to strip voting shares from a rival stakeholder, Icahn is thwarted in his bid to install a slate of supportive nominees on Lionsgate’s board. – The Wrap

– EDMONTON: Promoter and musician Brent Oliver who runs Foundation Concerts, is relocating to Winnipeg to take a job as an agent with Paquin Entertainment. The company books tours for such artists as hip-hop star K’Naan, rock duo Bachman & Turner, and Edmonton’s Wool on Wolves.

– TORONTO: Ron Harwood, recently named CCMA record company person of the year, leaves his posting in Edmonton where he has volunteered for Alberta Music and the provincial country music association, and heads to Toronto where he will continue to work in promotions and media relations at EMI’s head-office in the city.

– TORONTO: Tonight at the Cameron House, between 6 and 8, there’ll be a gentle remembrance of Cristina Taborda - who was Jadea Kelly’s special guest last Tuesday, just before she passed away in her sleep. Jadea Kelly, David Baxter, Steve Gleason and Jack Marks will all take part in an acoustic song circle after Kelly’s band and her special guest David Newland have performed.

International

– NYC: With the defection of RCA/Jive chair/CEO Barry Weiss to Universal’s ranks, the spotlight is firmly focussed on the goings on at Sony where it has been reported the wolves are dancing with the prospect of entertainment supremo Sir Howard Stringer being fed to the same. One report has the Welsh-born chairman and CEO of Sony Corp.  having been offered a gig as chair of the Beeb, another bizarrely suggests outgoing Universal chair Doug Morris incoming to replace Sony Music CEO Schmidt Holtz  who’s five-year contract comes due at the end of March .  All of the above be true or not, Bloomberg cites a spokesperson for the Japanese electronics maker as saying there is “no plan for Sir Howard to step down from his current position” at Sony. Separately, MusicVoid offers an unflattering crtitique of Columbia co-president Ric Rubin’s tenure at the label, offering  evidence that 84% of all Rubin’s records were sold by labels other than Sony Music.

The unflattering report by MV’s Wayne Rosso in part states that “Rick doesn’t like to fly and consequently doesn’t have any presence at the New York headquarters. He doesn’t keep an office at the new Sony digs in Beverly Hills and although he does have a Sony Music email address, he only responds to emails sent to his private address, privy to just few select staff members.” Continuing, “If anyone needs to meet with him they have to fly to LA and trek up to his house in Hollywood, which one insider refers to as ‘the Addams Family mansion’. And since Rick keeps ‘record producer’ hours, the idea of reaching him during the normal business day is almost impossible. A&R meetings at first slowed down and eventually stopped altogether…”

– NEW YORK: MTV has launched Music Meter, an artist ranking service based on velocity rather than popularity using crunched data from social websites and the blogosphere. The daily updated chart includes snapshots of the acts making the list, incorporating bios, videos and audio streams. Ostensibly, the alt chart offers a forecast of tomorrow’s headliners today. No word on whether a partitioned version tracking Canadian websites is to be made available.

– NYC: Nielsen has pulled the plug on its radio ratings service in the US. A dominant player in the TV ranking business, Nielsen took on Arbitron two years ago with Cumulus as its biggest customer, but RBR-TVBR reports the tracker is now conceding Arbitron has the lock on the market.

– NYC: According to a new survey of users at website wmamp3player.com, the majority of people when asked “Have you ever illegally downloaded Mp3 files?” declined to answer. In fact, an amazing 96% of people refused to answer the question. Not only were site users cagey about fessing up to uncomfortable truths, the poll created an avalanche of emails to the webmaster claiming that asking the question constituted an invasion of privacy. – Open PR

– NYC: Direct licenses have become such a high barrier to entry and such an aversion for venture capitalists that many of tomorrow’s would-be stars can’t get funding today, delegates to a music conference were told recently. Any service that delivers download or streams is at a disadvantage over services that either use statutory licenses or do not deal with licensed music whatsoever. One  way to solving the impasse is for record companies to directly fund start-ups in this category, but it’s a solution that isn’t likely to happen. – Glenn Peoples, Billboard

– GRAND RIVER, ON: A Six Nations reserve that includes a recording studio is promoting itself as an HST-free zone for non-residents who want to use the facility. Of course there’s the added bonus, tax-free cigarettes. Billboard Canada scribbler Karen Bliss quotes long-time entertainment tax specialist Jay Gold chatting up Jukasa Studios , which is described as “a $4-million resort facility” about an hour’s drive north of Toronto.

Talent & Music

– LONDON: For the 2008 album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay hired producer Brian Eno for the sessions. Now the group is teaming up with Eno again for their next record — and it’s a concept album, to boot, frontman Chris Martin tells the BBC

– TORONTO: Out-of-print for more than 40 years, Linus Entertainment has re-issued Luke Gibson’s 1970 album, Another Perfect Day. The reissue CD includes bonus tracks from Gibson’s Yorkville days with The Apostles: You Make Me High and b-side, Not Far Off, previously available as single tracks. The Basement Rug blog offers four streams from the album here.

– NYC: Michael, the first posthumous album of new material by Michael Jackson, is all filler, no Thriller, headlines The Wrap in its critique of the controversial album.

– LONDON: After 40 years of screaming for vengeance, aging metal god Judas Priest takes on the world with one final tour. With typical elegance and restraint, Judas Priest has announced their farewell tour which, so far, is limited to Europe and a UK summer fest. The Guardian newspaper cheekily adds that for those who are unable to catch Judas Priest live, there is some consolation: farewell tours are often followed by comeback gigs.

— NYC: Two of the longest-running music icons from the last century had their first date last night. Paul McCartney made his late-in-life debut at the Apollo Theater, an improbable encounter that came about largely through the quirks of corporate synergy and PR.  The show — a special event and live broadcast for subscribers to Sirius XM radio in recognition of its 20 millionth subscription — ran like a machine that doesn’t change arrangements from year to year.  Macca, joined by guitarists Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, keyboardist Paul Wickens, and drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. walked down a memory lane of hits in a show that ran just over two hours. – NY Times review here.

– NYC: Music blog Large Hearted Boy offers a daily update of the 2010 Online “Best Of” Music Lists and invites readers to add to the collection by e-mailing a link with comments. Here’s the most recent update.

20,000 Leagues Under the Radar (best albums)
30 Days Out (favorite albums)
Art Hates You (top metal albums)
BBC 6 Music (top songs)
Beached Miami (top South Florida songs)
Billboard (most viral music artists)
Binge Cringe Whinge (top albums)
Brain Pickings (best albums)
The British Metal Scene (top albums)
Brokenbranches (best albums)
Consequence of Sound (top songs)
Each Note Secure – Dave Tobias (best albums)
The Echoes Blog (best albums)
Emily Louise (favourite albums)
Fistful of Words (songs)
Flavorwire (underrated albums)
Georgia’s Blog (best songs)
The Hanging Tree (best albums)
HearYa (top EPs)
Hi-Tech Soul (top albums)
INDIeREKTE (top albums)
JohnThrasher.net (top albums)
The Lesser Column (best albums)
The Levi denBok Band (top songs & albums)
Liner Notes – J Freitag (best albums)
Liner Notes – Owen Milbury (best albums)
Mediaeater (best albums & EPs)
Melophobe (best albums)
Mishka NYC (top EPs)
The Movie Manifesto (best songs)
MTV (top mixtapes)
Neon Musical Insight (finest albums)
Noise Annoys (most disappointing music videos)
Obscure or Otherwise Music (top albums)
Off the Radar (best albums)
The Oklahoma Daily (best albums)
Pasta Primavera (top albums)
Peenko (albums)
Pitchfork (top songs)
Planned Obsolescence (top albums)
The Pop Cop (best songs)
PopMatters (best albums)
Pure Funk Dance (top albums)
Quick Before It Melts (albums)
The Quietus (best comps, reissues, and mixes)
RA (top labels)
Rant-a-bit by Scott Hudson (top albums)
Rawkblog (best EPs/singles)
The Ruckus (songs)
Said the Gramophone (best songs)
Sardless (best albums)
Shampoo Solo (best albums)
Side One Track One (top Austin albums)
Swampland (top songs)
There Goes the Fear (top albums)
Thoughts and Acquisitions (top albums)
Triple J (DJ’s top albums)
Tuomaslotte’s Music Journal (bands)
Vague Space (top songs)
WBEZ – Jim DeRogatis (best albums)
Whale in a Cubicle (top albums)
Where the Girls Go (best albums)
The Wild Hunt (top albums)
With This I Think I Am Officially a Yuppie (albums)

– TORONTO:  And here’s another list, this time a list of top-selling Canadian Indie albums. Check out Zunior.com, the online music store led by Dave Ullrich, ex manager of The Inbreds independent label, PF Records for further reading. The Top five this week, in descending order,are:

1.    Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans, The Falcon Lake Incident
2.    Olkenka & The Autumn Lovers, And now We Sing
3.    Hooded Fang, Hooded Fang
4.    The Gertrudes, Dawn Time Riot
5.    Owen Pallett, A Swedish Love Story EP

– OTTAWA: Yet another list, this one includes free downloads, courtesy of  PostMedia websites across the country. The Ottawa Citizen link here provides access to a set of seasonal songs by Canadian acts. So far the playlist includes:

• Mark Masri: O Holy Night
• Adrienne Pierce: Making Angels
• Ben Sigston: The Snow Fell On You and Me
• Debbie Bergeron: It’s Christmas Time Again
• Kenny Byrka: Frosty the Snowman
• The Ravers: Santa Claus’ Dream
• Chris Henderson: It Isn’t Christmas Without Snow
• Mister Blake: Christmas in a Changing World
• Parkland Brothers: Christmas Day
• Shawn Hlookoff: All I Want is You

Broadcast & Media

– BC: The three Astral media radio stations continue to rule the airwaves in Kelowna’s radio wars. SUN-FM, SILK-FM AND AM 1150 placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the fall radio ratings. Mark Burley, BC Interior Brand Director for the broadcaster says the keys to success are being  “very active in the community” and interactivity with listeners “on-line, on-sight and on-air”.

Obit

– Guelph, ON born world music practitioner, composer and ethnomusicologist, Catherine Potter, aged 52.