Category: music

“Sony BMG made history Thursday by becoming the fourth and final major label to allow its music to be sold without digital rights management, issuing a announcement that Amazon.com’s MP3 store would start carrying music from the label by the end of this month.”

Why are music critics so hung up on what country conductors come from, asks Norman Lebrecht? “Music is an international language and the first priority of any band is to find a boss who speaks it in way that elevates the players and inspires the audience.”

“In a twist for the music industry’s digital revolution, “In Rainbows,” the new Radiohead album that attracted wide attention when it was made available three months ago as a digital download for whatever price fans chose to pay, ranked as the top-selling album in the country this week after the CD version hit record shops and other retailers.”

Less than a month after it announced that it was unable to meet its biweekly payroll for musicians and staff, the Honolulu Symphony has raked in more than $450,000 in donations. The emergency fundraising campaign, which has raised four times what HSO officials had hoped for, has allowed the orchestra to repay half of the money it owes to its employees.

“The Web has proven to be the most fertile ground to sow the seeds of hype. And that rings true particularly for music, which is easily streamed and downloaded — not to mention inspires great passion in fans eager to share a new discovery.”

Last fall the band released their new album pay-what-you-want. Now it’s been released on CD, and sales are brisk…

“The reality is that the musical journey for listeners does not follow a one-directional arrow into the future; it shifts backwards, forwards and sideways. You might discover an established artist, reach into their back catalogue, perhaps explore their influences, context, contemporaries, rivals, successors, as well as anticipating their new work.”

The music service was forced to stop streaming music to British users of the service because of a dispute over royalty rates.

One of the hottest club nights on the Berlin scene these days is an unadvertised monthly performance by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra known as Yellow Lounge. The show “rotates between Berlin’s coolest venues on the first Monday of each month,” and it is as hot a ticket as the best local DJ or dance band.