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UK Realigns IP Laws

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Summary: UK approves expanded fair use definitions which might include digital lockers plus bans all attempts to block copyright infringing (filesharing) websites…

Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills


The UK has announced sweeping changes to its intellectual property laws in response to a comprehensive analysis delivered last May titled, “Digital Opportunity: an Independent Review of IP and Growth.” An official UK government communication characterizes the report, authored by Professor Ian Hargreaves, saying it “sets out a powerful vision for the UK’s future success through better uses of IP. The Government is grateful to him and his team for their hard work and particularly commends their resolution to ground their report in reliable evidence. This response to that report … also indicates the way we will be tackling online copyright infringement, both through the Digital Economy Act and through voluntary action by responsible businesses. This is not the limit of the Government’s ambitions for IP. We are publishing alongside this document the UK’s IP Crime Strategy and International strategy for IP, which expand on our plans to defend brands and creative content from illegal copying and to encourage other countries to share our vision for a future where more value is created from IP not just in the UK but across the world.” Business Secretary Vince Cable said the move will bring copyright law into line with the “real world” and with “consumers reasonable expectations.” (Download the complete government response here.)
Below are some key points of the new strategy as outlined on the UK Business Innovations & Skills website (BIS). Most notable are a softening of the “fair use” concepts with respect to individuals copying legally purchased digital files which may change the UK rules for digital cloud based lockers. A parody can be created without permission from the copyright holder and the report calls for the creation of a digital license clearinghouse. A key component of bringing the copyright laws into the “modern era” is that plans to block copyright infringing websites are to be dropped.

  1. That the UK should have a Digital Copyright Exchange; a digital market place where licenses in copyright content can be readily bought and sold. This could add up as much as £2 billion a year to the UK economy by 2020. The Government will announce arrangements for how this work will be driven forward later in the year.
  2. Copyright exceptions covering limited private copying should be introduced to realize growth opportunities. Thousands of people copy legitimately purchased content, such as a CD to a computer or portable device such as an IPod, assuming it is legal. This move will bring copyright law into line with the real world, and with consumers’ reasonable expectations.
  3. Copyright exceptions to allow parody should also be introduced to benefit UK production companies and make it legal for performing artists, such as comedians, to parody someone else’s work without seeking permission from the copyright holder. It would enable UK production companies to create programmes that could play to their creative strengths, and create a range of content for broadcasters.
  4. The introduction of an exception to copyright for search and analysis techniques known as ‘text and data mining’, allowing research scientists such as medical researchers greater access to data.
  5. Establishing licensing and clearance procedures for orphan works (material with unknown copyright owners). This would open up a range of works that are currently locked away in libraries and museums and unavailable for consumer or research purposes.
  6. That evidence should drive future policy – The Government has strengthened the Intellectual Property Office’s economics team and has begun a program of research to highlight growth opportunities.

 

In the above video Vince Cable says, “We’ve updated the law and made it much more friendly for individual consumers and business while protecting the very real rights of creative artists, filmmakers and protecting them from criminal piracy, getting the balance between those things correct.

Hot Times At Jake On The Lake

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Sony salutes the Gold digital certifications of two Jake Owen hits. Pictured (L-R): Sony SVP Promotion Skip Bishop, SVP Marketing Paul Barnabee, Jake Owen, Assoc. Director Sales Caryl Healey, and VP Promotion RCA Keith Gale.


Jake Owen treated music tastemakers to an afternoon retreat on Tuesday (8/2) at Jake On The Lake. The Nashville press corps and industry execs braved the heat and gathered on Music Row to board buses bound for Old Hickory Lake in Hendersonville, Tenn.
At Anchor High Marina, Owen performed songs from his upcoming release Barefoot Blue Jean Night and shared details about the project which has tracks produced by Joey Moi, Rodney Clawson, and Tony Brown. Against a backdrop of sweltering summer heat and squawking ducks on the lake, Owen candidly told about his background and journey to Nashville.
Particularly he spoke about his search for outside songs for his third studio set. For example, the lead single and title track from the pens of Eric Paslay, Dylan Altman and Terry Sawchuk, has turned out to be the fastest rising single of Owen’s career. It lands at No. 7 this week on MusicRow’s CountryBreakout chart.
“I’m from Florida and I ran around barefoot my whole life,” says Owen of the song. “I think all music fans crave authenticity and this song is as realistic as it gets.”
After his performance, Sony execs surprised him with gold digital single plaques for 500,000 downloads of “Barefoot Blue Jean Night” and “Eight Second Ride,” from his previous album Easy Does It.
Guests at the Sony-fest enjoyed a southern smorgasbord of fried chicken, catfish, hushpuppies and coleslaw. Cool drinks were from Island ROX, a new frozen cocktail mixer from the brains behind Dippin’ Dots.
Owen will perform Saturday night (8/6) in Nashville as the special guest on the U.S. leg of Keith Urban’s Get Closer 2011 World Tour.

Rascal Flatts Feted For No. 1 Single, Platinum Album

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MusicRow Pres./Owner Sherod Robertson (R) presents a plaque to Jason Sellers (L) for the song reaching No. 1 on MusicRow's CountryBreakout chart. Photo: Christie King


Music executives gathered last night (8/3) to celebrate the recent chart-topping success of the Rascal Flatts hit “I Won’t Let Go,” from the pens of songwriters Jason Sellers and Steve Robson. It was the band’s 13th career No. 1 single.
ASCAP and the Flatts’ label home Big Machine Records hosted the evening at Nashville’s downtown Hard Rock Cafe. Big Machine boss Scott Borchetta upped the ante when he shared news that Rascal Flatts’s Nothing Like This album has been certified platinum.
“As we all know, the one-million sales mark of any album by any artist in the current environment is a big, big deal and I’m proud as can be that our first album with Rascal Flatts has hit this milestone,” said Borchetta. “Working with Gary, Joe Don and Jay over the last year has been an absolute blast and I look forward to making a lot more great Rascal Flatts music with them. They are consummate professionals, are ridiculously talented and it seems that they are having more fun than ever being in Rascal Flatts. I’m honored to have them with us at Big Machine.” Since 2000, the band has sold more than 20 million albums.
Publishers were on hand to salute the songwriters behind the “I Won’t Let Go.” Sony/ATV’s Troy Tomlinson toasted Sellers, and BMG Chrysalis’s Darrell Franklin read a letter from Robson, who was in London with his family and unable to attend.
Jay DeMarcus spoke for the band, “With God’s help we have been able to bring together a wonderful group of people to surround and reinvigorate our career. We are living a dream come true.”

Jay DeMarcus, Jason Sellers, Joe Don Rooney, Gary LeVox and Scott Borchetta. Photo: Ed Rode


 

American Idols Talk Recording, Touring

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Lauren Alaina and Scotty McCreery


The 2011 American Idols Tour made its Nashville stop on Saturday (7/30), thanks to Music City resident and Top 10 finalist Paul McDonald. Show winner Scotty McCreery and runner up Lauren Alaina are, of course, also pursuing musical careers through Nashville. The trio of performers all sat down with local press to share some thoughts on life, post-Idol.
Life for all three, particularly teenagers McCreery and Alaina, has changed forever. One year ago when they first auditioned, the latter two were average high schoolers on summer break. Now they’re playing to audiences of thousands on a massive arena tour and hearing their songs being spun on country radio. While they may be young, the differences between the Idol show process and the difficult task of becoming a major label star are not lost on them.
“For the album, I look for songs that I can relate to so that I can feel it and sing my heart out,” says McCreery, whose upcoming Mercury release is due sometime this fall. “The audience that listens will feel that and appreciate it. For the [American Idol] show, you can pick songs that you can sing but if the audience doesn’t like it you’re done for and you’re going home next week.”
“I feel like my album has a lot of different types of songs,” adds Alaina, who is recording with Byron Gallimore. “Sweet ballads with good stories, and some really fast songs people can dance to. We still have to listen to all the songs and decide which ones will make the album.”

Paul McDonald


Paul McDonald, on the other hand, is nearly 10 years older than McCreery and Alaina and had already been making a go at a musical career prior to Idol. But the show has definitely afforded him considerable visibility and a big springboard for whatever his next step will be.
“Last year I was touring with my band across the country,” he recalls. “Doing all my original music, in a 15 passenger band, trying to make it the old-fashioned way. It’s a different scene these days. I was loading my gear in the venues, opening for bigger acts, and now we’re playing arenas.”
The 2011 Idol tour has been on the road for long enough now that even the less seasoned contestants have started to get a good feel for the life of a touring artist. Prior to the Nashville stop, the tour hit McCreery’s homeland in Raleigh, NC.
“Raleigh was incredible! They were seated all the way to the rafters,” he says. “All the Idols had a great time there, saying how energetic and crazy it was. It was also nice to get back and see friends and family in the crowd.”
“I’m always looking in the crowd and judging if they’re on their feet or I’m gonna have to work,” he continues. “Mainly I’m just thinking it’s great to be here. It’s amazing I get paid to do it.”
Nashville, being an industry town and the home of their label, is a slightly different animal. The artists all expressed a need to perform well in front of their industry peers, but have now gained enough stage and screen experience to not let it rattle them.
“There’s definitely a lot of people I’m looking to impress,” says McCreery, “but I don’t look at it as pressure. I just look at it as incentive to have more fun. That’s when you put on a good show, when you have fun and people see that.”
“When I get on a stage it’s like my body flips a switch and I’m in stage mode,” explains Alaina. “I’m more comfortable on the stage than anywhere. I’m a little nervous about tonight because this is where my label is and all the really important people that are part of my career are here. My whole family is also here. I perform better in front of people I don’t know than people I do.”
During the Idol show, the contestants had weekly mentoring sessions with Interscope head Jimmy Iovine and an assortment of popular artists and producers. The prevailing sentiment that they’ve taken away is that it’s important to know who you are artistically, and to hold fast to that as creatively as possible.
“Just be yourself,” says McDonald. “I wanted to sing Ray LaMontagne and Jimmy [Iovine] said ‘No one knows that, you should sing James Blunt ‘You’re Beautiful.’’ I said, ‘I don’t know man, do you want me to go shirtless too?’ Stick to your guns, no matter what. You can get intimidated really easily by the mentors. I’ve been doing it for so long, I kinda knew who I was. [Producer] Don Was said ‘Dude you’re record’s a whole lot cooler than what you’re doing on the show. Why don’t you do this stuff? I was like, ‘I’m trying!’”
“Stay in your lane and be you,” concurs McCreery. “Don’t change it up. I could have been country one week, and been Frank Sinatra another, but I didn’t want to do that. I wanted to sing country and stay true to my roots and what I grew up with.”
McCreery’s determination to stay true to himself already seems to be paying off. His debut single “I Love You This Big” has hit Top 20 on all charts, and the video is on the way. The jury might still be out on how successful he will be, but the 17-year-old has a pragmatic outlook on the crazy jigsaw puzzle of building an artistic career.
“I have plenty more to learn,” notes McCreery. “I’m young and it’s early to get in this business. You have to pick the songs, relate to the audience, and do a lot behind the scenes to make the process smooth. We had a team meeting two days ago to lay down the groundwork. We set goals up and said ‘This is what we want to do, and this is how we’ll get there.’ Hopefully it works out.”
Hey man, we’re rooting for you.

Church Enjoys Heavenly Sales

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Capitol Chieftain Mike Dungan and his flock of the Capitol faithful have created a revival of sorts. First and foremost they receive a righteous shout out for launching Eric Church into the No. 1 spot on both the Top 200 and Country album charts with sales of almost 145,000 units. Secondly, their efforts have had the devout effect of raising country’s YTD album sales increase into heavenly territory above that of overall sales. According to Nielsen SoundScan, country album sales YTD are now up 2.9% while overall album sales are only up 1.8%.
And let’s not “pew pew” Church’s digital sales. The Chief album was downloaded over 51,000 times or 35% of total album sales. This is a lofty number which shows that country fans are rapidly jumping over the country chasm, aka—digital divide.
The congregation is still out on how this might have happened. Typically album sales are radio driven. Yet Church’s current single “Homeboy” is outside the Top 10 on mainstream radio charts and the single shows up this week at a lackluster No. 17 on the country tracks chart, hardly divine positions. (“Homeboy” has gone Gold however, in less than 21 weeks.)  And yet Chief is the second highest country debut of the year (behind Brad Paisley), outselling others this year that hit debut weeks with “perfect” textbook setups. So what has made the difference?  Could it be the artist’s strong touring schedule? Social networking?
“Is Eric the new Hank Jr.?” asks sales veteran Neal Spielberg. “There’s hits and then there are polarizing records that touch people and create rabid fans. Church has done a great job of converting people into solid fans.”
Church’s manager John Peets from Q Prime South has a pretty strong theory. “Yes it feels like a sea change of sorts for the country music industry,” he says. “The story here is that Eric didn’t get the traditional exposure that you would expect to be necessary to reach these levels. It wasn’t there for him, although we’re grateful for everything we did get. But what it tells me is that the new power is in the hands of the people. That is to say, the magic is created by great records with a point of view. And that’s what Eric has done with three great albums. It’s like we’ve reached a tipping point of sorts. We are just blown away and encouraged by this. It’s like Eric’s music represents something even bigger than him.”
“We have always put everything we have into making the best records possible,” explains Church. “Complete, individual pieces of work that strive to be as different and innovative as they are creative and artistic. It is a journey that at times has led us down the road less traveled. It is very humbling and rewarding to learn that a lot of people decided to follow us down this path. I can’t thank my fans enough and look forward to where this trip takes us next.”
Are we writing a new page in the country music sales handbook? Is social networking and digital word of mouth gaining critical mass? That would be great, since the existing book hasn’t delivered stellar results over the past few years. Please comment below…

DISClaimer Single Reviews (8/3/11)

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It’s nice to know that country hasn’t forgotten its sense of humor.
Reckless Kelly’s “Good Luck & True Love” made me smile because of its cleverness. Sam Roark found me grinning from ear to ear with her merry “Check Out Girl.” Buddy Jewell had me openly chuckling from his performance of “Jesus, Elvis & Me.” And, trust me, you have GOT to listen to “No Beer Here” by Amy Ames. It is a complete hoot.
There was no contest for the DisCovery Award. Our winner is clearly Casey James. He might come from American Idol, but this Texan is more than a karaoke singer. He can actually play the guitar.
Meghan Linsey and Joshua Scott Jones of the duo Steel Magnolia recently became engaged to be married. Let me be the first with a congratulations gift, a Disc of the Day prize.
BILL GENTRY/This Letter
Writer: Arlos Smith/Rick Giles/Walker Hayes; Producer: Chad Carlson; Publisher: Jeff, Jack and the Mule/Plaid Cactus/1808/Purple Cape/Breaking New Ground/On a Walk/Sony-ATV Tree, SESAC/BMI; Tenacity (www.billgentrynatioin.com)
—The track is gorgeous, full of echoey bass, sighing steel, deftly twanged guitar and swooping fiddle. The producer seems to have fallen in love with it, too, for it sometimes threatens to overwhelm the clearly enunciated tenor vocal. The song’s too-predictable lyric is a case of romantic mistaken identity. The track fades with the same lovely instrumental work that introduces it. Worth some spins.
STEEL MAGNOLIA/Bulletproof
Writer: Lori McKenna/Chris Tompkins; Producer: Dann Huff; Publisher: Melanie Howard/Big Loud Songs, ASCAP; Big Machine (track)
—These newly engaged kids sing their faces off on this snarky rocker about surviving a bitter breakup. Meghan, in particular, is white-hot vocally here. Splendidly listenable.
MICHAEL MANDELLA/Simple Things
Writer: Eddie Cunningham/Jeffrey Steele; Producer: Michael Mandella; Publisher: none listed; MMM (track) (www.michaelmandellamusic.com)
—This slab of California beefcake (he’s posing shirtless on the CD cover) has titled his album American Outlaw. But its debut single is an attempt at down-the-center country balladry. I say, “attempt” because all the echo chamber in the world can’t hide those vocal pitch disasters. We’re talking painful, people.
CASEY JAMES/Let’s Don’t Call It A Night
Writer: Casey James/Brice Long/Terry McBride; Producer: Chris Lindsey; Publisher: EMI Foray/Songs of Send Me the Checks/Orbison/Turn Me On/BMG Chrysalis, SESAC/BMI; 19/BNA
—Another day, another American Idol alumnus. This one finished third on the show in 2010. His single is a nicely bluesy outing with a slow-burn, come-on lyric. Promising.
RECKLESS KELLY/Good Luck & True Love
Writer: Willy Braun; Producer: David Abeyta, Cody Braun & Willie Braun; Publisher: C&P Fah-Q, BMI; No Big Deal (track) (www.recklesskelly.com)
—I’ve always liked these guys. Their latest Austin outing is the album title tune that bops along with a personable vocal drawl, jingle-jangle guitars and cool “answering” harmony voices. In addition to great music, this project has spectacular graphics. Buy it.
BUDDY JEWELL/Jesus, Elvis & Me
Writer: Chris Stapleton/Tim James; Producer: Michael Bush & Buddy Jewell; Publisher: EMI April/Harry Fox/New Sea Gayle/Play Fairchild, ASCAP; Diamond Dust (CDX)
—Highly entertaining. The neo-rockabilly track gallops along while the lyric rattles off witty Elvis and holy-roller one liners. One favorite: “She loves to hear the preachin’ at a Southern revival/She takes a custom-made, blue-suede King James Bible.” Another: “She was singing ‘Rock of Ages’ first line third verse/It was all that I could do to keep from fallin’ in love/When she followed ‘Hallelujah’ with ‘thankyouverymuch.’”
AMY AMES/No Beer Here
Writer: Amy Ames/Eddie Hedges; Producer: Eddie Hedges; Publisher: Amy Ames/Eddie Hedges, BMI; Grand Channel (CDX) (www.amyames.com)
—This toe tapper has zippy fiddling, dandy banjo plunking and hilarious backup men practically burping their lines. The whole thing is so goofy and zany that it doesn’t even matter that she can just barely sing. Must be heard to be believed.
JOANNA MOSCA & RICHIE McDONALD/Where Does Good Love Go
Writer: Tania Hancheroff/Jimmy Ritchey/Billy Lawson; Producer: Bryan White; Publisher: Universal/Z Tunes/Fox Ridge/Artone, BMI/ASCAP; Dolce Diva (CDX) (917-701-5914)
—Richie leads things off with his hearty tenor. Her pert delivery takes over for a couple of lines before he begins harmonizing expertly. The mid-tempo tune is quite nicely penned. Another plus: it’s as country as grits.
NICK VERZOSA/She Only Loves Me When I’m Leavin’
Writer: Nick Verzosa/Matt Harlan; Producer: Walt Wilkins; Publisher: Tiyaga/Ghost Moon, BMI; Indie Extreme (www.nickverzosa.com)
—Send this to remedial melody camp. Uptempo dullsville.
SAM ROARK/Check Out Girl
Writer: Ron Davies/Ron Kimbro/Michael Witty; Producer: Joe Sun; Publisher: Meeshides/Cheap Cigar/Sleepover Boy, ASCAP; KAT (www.samroark.com)
—Samantha sings the sprightly, smiling tale of the grocery check-out gal who steals the cash from the register, hits the road with a touring band and then ditches the guys by taking off in their bus. I like the little breaks in her voice, the dobro-laced production and the rollicking tempo. Delightfully different.

Behind The Music Reveals Lambert's Journey to Stardom

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Miranda Lambert Behind The Music premiered on VH1 last month, tracing the singer’s story from humble Texas roots to Country music stardom. The episode includes numerous exclusive interviews with the artist, her family, peers, and the industry execs that helped drive her success.
Blake Shelton talks openly about his wife and their love story. Fellow stars Sheryl Crow, Hillary Scott, and Loretta Lynn discuss Lambert’s talent. Music Row figures on the show include Joe Galante weighing in from the label perspective, and Tracy Gershon on discovering Lambert on Nashville Star.
Lambert discusses writing her album Revolution, which propelled her career forward and went on to win a Grammy and rack up at the CMA Awards.
Select footage also includes Lambert’s Pistol Annies cohort Angeleena Presley, and songwriter Marshall Chapman.
See the full episode or bonus clips. A sneak peek is embedded below.

Behind The Music Reveals Lambert’s Journey to Stardom

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Miranda Lambert Behind The Music premiered on VH1 last month, tracing the singer’s story from humble Texas roots to Country music stardom. The episode includes numerous exclusive interviews with the artist, her family, peers, and the industry execs that helped drive her success.

Blake Shelton talks openly about his wife and their love story. Fellow stars Sheryl Crow, Hillary Scott, and Loretta Lynn discuss Lambert’s talent. Music Row figures on the show include Joe Galante weighing in from the label perspective, and Tracy Gershon on discovering Lambert on Nashville Star.

Lambert discusses writing her album Revolution, which propelled her career forward and went on to win a Grammy and rack up at the CMA Awards.

Select footage also includes Lambert’s Pistol Annies cohort Angeleena Presley, and songwriter Marshall Chapman.

See the full episode or bonus clips. A sneak peek is embedded below.

Crowdsourcing Engages Fans, Fuels Traffic

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Crowdsourcing has been growing in popularity among marketers in recent years and offers numerous ways to engage music fans. The buzzword is derived from the concept of outsourcing a service to a crowd, instead of seeking answers internally. Essentially, it taps the consumer masses for collaboration and feedback.
Today crowdsourcing continues to evolve, with a variety of industries using it for product development, research, and marketing. In return for participation—usually done online—consumers receive prizes ranging from cash to gift cards to artist merch.
Crowdsourcing fuels peer-to-peer marketing, where fans encourage their friends to participate, and share videos, exclusive content, and coupons.
The music biz has been using it for fan engagement, such as recent initiatives by Paul McCartney and Florence and the Machine. The industry brains behind the famed Beatle created a contest where fine artists designed a work inspired by his music. A similar competition was held to design a dress for Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welsh, which solicited 60 million votes according to a press release from Talenthouse, the social crowdsourcing company that was tapped by Universal Music Group for both projects. From a marketing perspective, it is a way to drive traffic to the artists’ websites and social networks, as well as engage consumers who entered the contests or voted for the winners.
Social media is a key component of most crowdsourcing websites, because the companies require a Facebook or Twitter account to log in. Some, like Talenthouse, run user voting through the social media sites. Connecting through Facebook allows marketers to gather the user’s FB info, including gender, list of friends, “likes,” email address, and access to post to the wall, with user permission.
Numerous crowdsourcing websites have popped up in recent years such as Krush.com, Crowdtap.com, and Prizes.org. Each site works a little differently, but they mostly have users answer polls, solve problems, or give feedback on products. Among the big-name brands on board are Old Navy, American Express, and Adidas.

Next Big Nashville's Soundland Shares Line-up

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Next Big Nashville Soundland is drawing top nationwide talent as well as some of the brightest up-and-comers from the Nashville scene. The recently revealed line-up includes Foster the People, Caitlin Rose, Ghostland Observatory, M Ward, Justin Townes Earle, JEFF The Brotherhood, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Those Darlins, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Robert Ellis, PUJOL, and Madi Diaz.
Now in its sixth year, the music event will take place in Nashville Sept. 21–24.
“I’m very proud of what we have accomplished over the last several years with Next BIG Nashville but, looking forward, we saw an opportunity to push the idea of the festival even further. And that new vision deserved a new name,” said NBN co-founder Jason Moon Wilkins of the new moniker Soundland. “This new event now gives us an opportunity to embrace the entire creative community – from arts to film to food and more.”
Beyond the music lineup, SoundLand will be adding outdoor stages, arts, local food trucks and more interactive fun, culminating in an all-day party at Public Square Park in downtown on Sat., Sept. 24.
“Alongside the music festival, we’ve completely reinvented the industry component; moving away from a traditional conference with panels into what we’re calling Field Trips,” said Kevin Brown, Partner in Next BIG Nashville. “Sponsors have really gravitated toward what we’re doing in 2011, and fans have too. We’re off to a screaming start.”