Hallelujah! The music industry’s finally lost control

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

If you wanted any further proof that the music industry has lost control of the charts, look no further than this year’s Christmas Top 40. 

Yes, I’m well aware that the number one is the product of a talent show that’s produced and part-judged by a record company executive.

But sitting at number two is a record that wasn’t even officially re-released, that’s sung by a man who died 11 years ago. And the reason it’s sitting pretty during the busiest chart week of the year is that a Facebook Group was so worried that the X-Factor winner was going to murder Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, that they urged everyone to download the peerless Jeff Buckley version instead. Even Cohen’s own version of the song is sitting at number 36.  

Meanwhile, a further glance down the chart reveals The Pogues and Kirsty Maccoll’s Fairytale of New York at number 12, Mariah Carey’s pitiful All I want For Christmas at 17, Wham’s Last Christmas at 27,  and Wizzard at 33.  

I’m going home and digging out the luminous socks – it’s like 1985 again! 

How to steal music without even trying

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

Amazon’s new MP3 store has finally been launched without DRM, with decent 256kbps tracks and some initial prices that certainly catch the eye (although not Tim’s). All good stuff, if a bit late to the party – but one mischievously timed little add-on could have a much greater impact on the industry.

It’s a Firefox plug-in that’s freely available if you know where to look (I won’t be telling you), that essentially turns the official Amazon.com retail site into a candy shop for freeloaders. (more…)

The Inevitable Rise of the Torrent?

Monday, May 19th, 2008

News reached us at PC Pro today that popular torrent website The Pirate Bay has cracked the Alexa top 100 – a list of the most-visited sites on the internet – and there doesn’t seem to be much that anybody can do about it.

It’s not the only torrent portal on the list, either, with Mininova sitting pretty at number 52. That’s higher than whole host of hugely popular and well-respected sites – about.com, for instance, languishes at number 78, and popular bohemian hangout DeviantArt lurks at 77. Blogging behemoth LiveJournal is just behind, too, at 56.

(more…)