HITS has the scoop: In a move being hailed by artist representatives as a significant step in the right direction, Universal Music Group has made a proactive move to change the economic relationship between artists and its record labels vis-a-vis paid music downloads. Market leader UMG has initiated a new …

Aaron Swartz has a transcript of Eldred vs Ashcroft, argued before the Supreme Court October 9, 2002: Thanks to some friends, I’ve been able to get a copy of the Eldred case transcript. I’ve cleaned it up, added the names of the justices where possible (searching my memory, the responses …

What is the highest compliment payable to a stout, 800-page collocation of investigative articles, cultural and literary essays, think pieces, and random philosophical noodling? That I was sad when it was over – aggrieved that my boon companion of a full month would no longer startle, amaze, entertain or edify …

Every biographer of a musical figure, indeed every writer about music, must deal with the issue of conveying the essence of one medium through the use of another: the “writing about music is like dancing about architecture” conundrum. While we seem to have no trouble feeling the abstracted meaning of …

First off, don’t be fooled by the title: A Plague of Frogs: The Horrifying True Story would be more aptly, but less apocalyptically, entitled A Plague on Frogs: The Disconcerting True Story. I eagerly dove into William Souder’s real-life scientific adventure/mystery with neo-Biblical visions of amphibians raining upon good Lutherans …

Wallace and Grommit are back with Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions — a series of ten new films featuring Aardman’s Oscar-winning pals and their dubious inventions, available from AtomFilms. The first of the series, “The Soccamatic,” is available for free viewing now. Creator Nick Park won Oscars for two Wallace …

This is not my area of expertise, but the conclusion Krueger makes appears to take for granted that decreased record sales are due to downloading, which strikes me as a rather large assumption – an assumption that I don’t believe has been substantiated as of yet: If you have gone …

Vacationing MSNBC arts and entertainment blogger Jan Herman has been following the issue of foreign aritsts being denied visas into the US of late. He lamented the exclusion of Chucho Valdes from the Latin Grammys back in September: Can refusing him a visa be anything other than the Bush Administration’s …

John Mallon discusses the Byrds and their progeny in NRO: I am in the land of giants!” Chris Hillman exclaimed as he stepped onstage at the Double Stop Music Hall in Guthrie, Okla. Hillman should know something about giants – despite his unassuming presence, he is a giant in the …

This sounds most edifying: Title: Paying Artists, Protecting Innovation: New Alternatives For Resolving the Digital Copyright Debate Description:This is a one-day workshop to discuss the rights of writers, composers, musicians and moviemakers to obtain copyright licensing for use of their work online. Anyone interested in law, entertainment and technology should …