Ares Connect

Authorities in India are stepping up the fight against music piracy in a bid to reduce the number of songs illegally downloaded onto cell phones. With 200 million cell phone subscribers in India, the market for illegal music downloads is vast.

Music is copied from a computer or USB drive to a mobile device. For the first time, the Indian Music Industry (IMI) is trying to eradicate the trend to eliminate the huge losses the industry has been suffering recently.

With most modern phones doubling as music players, the potential for downloading tracks with filesharing services like Ares or Limewire is vast. IMI is a consortium of companies, including record labels such as Universal and BMG.

IMI has been carrying out a number of police raids across India to try and tackle the problem and stop phone dealers from supplying devices with music, but whether or not this initiative will have a lasting impact remains to be seen.

The next move will be for more companies to step up and offer legal, paid music downloads to cell phones.

A report in Britain has suggested that companies like Apple and Tesco are responsible for the demise of the music industry, instead of popular filesharing services such as Ares.

The study was conducted by Capgemini for the Value Recognition Strategy to evaluate the difference in revenue generated by the British music industry now compared to 2004.

The gap in revenue was blamed on the number of superstores selling discounted CDs, and not on the increased number of music fans turning to downloads. Also suggested in the report was that P2P filesharing actually incites people to purchase CDs, or else it has no effect on the matter at all.

What it looks like now is that targeting people downloading music illegally will not rescue the British, or world, global industry.

Another major problem, as the report suggests, is that thanks to iTunes, users are now able to buy CDs unbundled, meaning that individual songs can be bought without having to buy the whole album, thus reducing revenue as users can pick and choose what they want.

In Canada, a bold move to tackle music piracy could see a tax imposed on all music downloads. The tax would be at least 2.1 cents per track, or at least 1.5 cents per track for a complete album.

The tiny surcharge, already sanctioned by the Copyright Board of Canada, would be implemented with the aim of compensating musicians for piracy. The move is similar to the 21-cent fee already applied to blank CDs bought in Canada.

Digital-download stores such as iTunes would have to factor the new tax into the cost of music. Apple is said to be none to happy with the proposed tax, so it looks unlikely that the move will be implemented any time soon.

Apple is angry because it would mean tracks cost more, which would further turn people to P2P filesharing sites like Ares where music can be acquired for free.

If and when the tax is imposed, expect it to be a gradual process.

It looks like everybody loves Beyonce. The former Desnity’s Child frontwoman performed to 5,000 screaming fans in Ethiopia. The concert was noteworthy because Ethiopians aren’t known for being fans of Western music, let alone RNB.

Even teenagers who usually turn their noses up to this sort of music were impressed with Beyonce. It was amazing that Beyonce could perform in all of her outrageous costumes in a country where women normally wear plain, white clothes.

The Beyonce concert was part of Ethiopia’s celebration of 2,000 years of existence, according to its ancient calendar.

Last year, the Black Eyed Peas failed to woo a crowd in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. We’re not surprised, because the Black Eyed Peas suck. It’s great that Beyonce could win them over though.

“Rap music doesn’t suit Ethiopia. Ethiopians need a melody,” said a local music promoter.

It wasn’t all fun and games though, as Ludacris opened for Beyonce to a luke-warm reaction. There must be something about Beyonce that charms people.

Reasons for the success of the concert varied from Beyonce being “hot” to how much she loves Ethiopia. Whatever, Beyonce is a phenomenon.

In yet another challenge to Apple’s crown, mobile giant Nokia is staking its claim in the race to Christmas sales with the launch of two new music cellphones. The Apple iPhone will launch in the UK on November 9, and both Apple and Nokia are already engaged in a war of advertising and product placement.

This battle for the British market has got to the point where Nokia is now opening a store on Regent Street in London, just a few steps away from Apple’s flagship store. These guys are serious.

It’s Nokia Vs Apple and the gloves are off. Nokia’s new phones will give users the chance to search for music online. The interface will be similar to that of an iPod. While the N95 and the N81 may not be Nokia’s most interestingly-named products, the two phones will be hot on the streets of London this festive season.

The main difference between the Nokia phones and the iPhone is that iPhone users can’t browse through music stores on their phones using their service provider – they have to be in a WiFi area. This difference isn’t too significant, however.

The iPhone will launch in the UK for the equivalent of $550. Nokia is yet to reveal the cost of its new handsets, but as usual, they will probably be given away free with certain phone plans.

Both the iPhone and the Nokia models will feature 8MB of memory and decent-resolution cameras.

It’s game on.

Not only are the aging rock legends getting back together, but Led Zeppelin could be about to record their first new material in 30 years. It’s every rock fans dream. Led Zeppelin are due to perform live on stage next month with their original lineup minus drummer John Bonham (who will be replaced by his son, Jason).

Jimmy Page has been telling people that the band recording new music is almost inevitable, although he admits to being cautious about what to do with regards to live shows and new music. After all, a bad run could seriously tarnish the career and reputation of one of the most-respected bands in the world.

“Look, I’d be really surprised if there wasn’t [new music] – you know, I mean I just know the way we are. We’re musicians…as we’re playing we’ll probably be coming up with all manner of things. And that will be fun. I mean that’s what it’s all about. Let’s do the O2 show, shall we? And then we’ll speak to you afterward,” aid Page to Jam! Music.

Although Page and Plant are taking it one step at a time, it’s an exciting time for music reunions. If they can produce music anywhere near as good as they did 30 years ago, we will be in for some real treats. Let’s just hope it doesn’t all go pear shaped.

2007 will forever be recognized as the year digital music took over the industry. Sales are set to grow 50% over the next 12 months, and with the digital music business becoming increasingly competitive, this can only increase.

At the moment, iTunes from Apple holds about 80% of the market, but this is all about to change. Amazon MP3 is looking to take a chunk out of Apple’s monopoly, while UK companies like Woolworths and HMV are also looking to get in on the action.

Then there’s Nokia, who will also be putting up their challenge. As more and more companies branch out into the digital music industry, the way we buy our songs and albums is going to change

Bands like Radiohead, Oasis, The Charlatans, Jamiroquai, Nine Inch Nails, and so on, are also joining in the fun and embracing digital downloads. The public is fed up of overpriced CDs and record labels are going to have to take note.

With CD sales plummeting, the digital music revolution is gaining strength.

One point of concern is how this will affect smaller bands. Radiohead can give away their music because they have enough fans to be able to do so, but newer bands don’t have this power. With fans now able to pick and choose songs at will, some analysts are speculating that people are actually spending less, despite the digital industry growing.

Only time will tell how this will shape the music business for us all.

The UK-based Performing Rights Society are jumping on the suing bandwagon driven by the RIAA and are attempting to sue people who use radios in public places. As unbelievable as it is stupid, the group are suing car repair chain Kwik-Fit of copyright violation because their mechanics listened to music in their garages: this music, it claims, can be overheard by others.This ‘making hearable’ argument is a twist on the RIAA’s tried and tested making available argument, says ArsTechnica.

The Performing Rights Society – along with its eagle eared representatives – have noted over 250 ‘incidents’ in which Kwik-Fit infringed copyrights. This infringement was, PRS claims, known about or encouraged by management.

Making a public performance of music requires a license; this, the PRS claims, is where Kwik-Fit fell down. A license would be required in order to ‘perform’ the music in their workshops. This retrospective cost of these licenses, PRS calculates, comes to some £200,000 (~$400,000), and this is the figure claimed by the group.

The RIAA must be salivating over this incident – and no doubt conjuring up more ways in which to eke out relatively small sums of money from children, old people and single mothers. But US residents needn’t worry: the transmission of music from the radio in the manner in which those naughty mechanics did is completely legal under US law.

It’s finally here, and what an album it is. Radiohead’s In Rainbows is everything we hoped it would be. It’s powerful, stirring, emotional, unsettling – it’s just so typically Radiohead. It has hints of all of their previous albums, amalgamated into one flowing entity.

The opening track is strange and leads into another odd track, “Bodysnatchers”, that throws back to The Bends. Thom Yorke and the boys really come into their own on tracks like “Nude”. You can tell that this is an album into which they have poured everything.

Feedback from the music press has been largely positive, but the real test will be what we think of this album in one month, six months, one year. You can’t judge a Radiohead album on a few listens. It requires time, but after 24 hours with In Rainbows, we’re certain it has the makings of Radoihead’s finest work.

We can’t get over just how moving the track “Videotape” is. In Rainbows is an emotional rollercoaster. It isn’t easy to listen to because it takes you to the very depths of feeling, but what else would you expect from Radiohead?

They’re the biggest band in the world, they have no record label, no executives to oblige, and they’ve come up with what is surely the album of the year.

Order now from InRainbows.com

Since Apple’s decision to ‘brick’ (render completely inoperable) any iPhones that have been tampered with, cracked or hacked, a Californian resident has filed a class-action lawsuit.

The class-action – filed by Damian R Fernandez on behalf of Timothy P. Smith was filed on Friday. The suit claims that Apple has violated anti-trust laws by preventing the phone’s use with carriers other than AT&T. Many ‘hacks’ to the iPhone were carried out in order to stop AT&T being the only available carrier.

The monopoly by AT&T, enforced by Apple, means that customers have to pay inflated prices for the service. This, Smith says, is against Californian law and against the provision of a 2006 exception in the DCMA which allows users to unlock their iPhones for personal use. However, Apple has no legal obligation to facilitate or support any unlock attempt.

While some carriers who provide handsets as part of a contract agreement have been sending out unlock codes – the code that allows the handset to be used with another carrier – essentially facilitating the change of carrier, AT&T have said that they positively will not be following suit. This, cries Smith, is monopolistic behaviour and should be illegal.

Apple’s decision to deactivate the hacked iPhones is on shaky ground, since presumably it could be argued that the DCMA provisions are not being followed: it’s simply not possible to unlock the iPhone, even for personal use, because of Apple’s actions.

Smith wants an injunction to prevent further sales of the iPhone with software restrictions, and wants Apple to promise to honour warranty agreements with those customers who have cracked the software.