Earotica: The Life and Times of Rosa Lee-The Library Review

One of my absolutely favorite bands from the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill, NC, area during grad school was The Mayflies USA. Catchy songwriting and shiny guitar sounds of the Brit-pop variety with a smidgen of Big Star overflowed within this four-some, and it was a sad day for all of us when their operations ceased.

Mayflies guitarist/co-vocalist Matt Long moved to Brooklyn to help co-found Sound Foundation, a "music resource for advertising, an industry-guide for multi-level creative searches, and a sound studio for the moving picture," and started up a new band, The Library. The group, consisting of Jason Caperton (The Comas), Blake Courlang (Seamonsters), and lap pedal steel player Jeremy Burnworth, just released their debut EP, The Life & Times of Rosa Lee, on iTunes/Amazon.

While the Mayflies sound had the heavy drum/cymbal beat and fuzzy ringing Liverpudlian-guitars that spoke to their two-fold love of mid-60s Mersey Beat bands and Alex Chilton, The Library tangents off from the softer aspects of those two with keyboards and quiet guitars guiding the way. Long takes on lead singer duties with The Library, and his higher vocal range pairs nicely with the ethereal dream-state sound that runs throughout Rosa Lee's seven tracks; a deeper voice would have bruised their delicate skin. Along with the mournful melancholy of Burnworth's pedal steel and guest musician Carla Capretto's [Jesse Malin, Travis Pickle] piano and keyboards, these tracks are turned into what could almost be indie hymns for a Sunday morning.

Give a Listen: Nothing to Lose-The Library

(The Library is playing NYC's Bowery Electric on 10/20 and The Living Room on 11/19.)

News: Universal Music and Virgin Reach a Download Deal

From yesterday's New York Times. First Sony gets more with the new world order, now Universal Music....A few years behind the time, sure, but the music industry has to start somewhere. While I'm sure music industry execs bristle mightily when having to concede to stuff like this, it's good to know that they're at starting to change their mindsets about digital music and all that it entails, if only a little. Maybe next they'll get with the program in terms of larger festivals like All Points West, Download Festival, and Lollapolooza, and view online music sites in the same "press" light as they do dailies. Because honestly, where do you go to learn more about the bands playing these larger festivals, the Philadelphia Inquirer and USA Today, or sites like mine (hopefully)? Exactly....

PARIS — The Universal Music Group and Virgin Media said on Monday that they had reached a deal that would offer consumers unlimited downloads as part of a partnership that steps up antipiracy enforcement.

Universal, the largest recording company in the world, said it would offer its entire catalog — which contains works by artists like Amy Winehouse and U2 — to customers of Virgin Media for a monthly subscription.

The music will be free from copy protection, a feature that distinguishes the service from most existing subscription offerings. The cost of the service, which will probably start by the end of the year, was not disclosed.

In return, Virgin Media, the British cable television and broadband provider, agreed to take steps to reduce piracy on its network, something that other broadband providers have resisted.

The measures could include temporary suspensions of offenders’ Internet connections, the company said.

For the recording industry, developing new digital business models is essential because pirated tracks account for 95 percent of online music, according to industry estimates.

The announcement pre-empts by a day the expected publication of the British government’s plan for the digital economy, including antipiracy proposals.

Britain wants copyright owners and Internet service providers to cooperate in the fight against piracy, and it welcomed the agreement between Virgin and Universal.

“Government has a role in creating the right legal and regulatory framework for rights and copyright,” said Stephen Carter, the British communications, technology and broadcast minister, in a statement. “However, the market will flourish through innovative commercial agreements between companies, and agreements such as this will help significantly in reducing any demand for piracy.”

Analysts said Virgin, which has more than seven million broadband customers, might have been willing to yield on copyright enforcement because it also produces and sells content via its cable television system, unlike many broadband providers, which simply serve as a conduit for content.

“This is a really high-stakes game,” said Mark Mulligan, an analyst at Forrester Research. “Universal and Virgin have come to the table with all they can offer.”

The entrepreneur Richard Branson owns a 6.5 percent stake in Virgin, whose shares are traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

Virgin said it was talking to the other three major music companies — Sony Music Entertainment, EMI and Warner Music Group — in an effort to include them in the new service.

News: Sony Agrees to Provide Its Older Songs to eMusic

Sorry for the radio silence kids. Was prepping, then conducting, a video interview this weekend with The Wrens and it took some time. I promise it will be worth the wait. The formula for hilarity is definitely multiple Guinness + (Charles Bissel + Kevin Whelan).

From Sunday's New York Times, it seems Sony is going to partner with a BL&L favorite, Emusic. Yay for opening up a whole new bunch of things and getting to dig into Sony's back catalog (more than two years old), sure, and it's great Sony specifically is getting with the new world order finally. But raising prices to do it and lowering one's monthly number of downloads to do it, that's kinda lame. Doesn't Billy Joel have enough money, yeesh...

In another example of struggling major music labels and Internet services finding common ground, Sony Music Entertainment has agreed to make its back catalog of songs available on eMusic, one of the largest music retailers on the Web.

EMusic, a company based in New York City, has some 400,000 subscribers who pay a monthly fee to download a certain number of songs. Its service is primarily aimed at adults who are fans of music from independent labels.

The company plans to announce on Monday that it will add all Sony Music tracks that are more than two years old, including material from artists like Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel.

The major labels had long been skeptical of the economics behind eMusic’s proposition to consumers. Subscribers to eMusic’s “basic” plan, for example, pay $11.99 a month to download 30 songs — or about 40 cents a song, far below the prices on Apple’s iTunes. Songs are in the MP3 format and do not have restrictions against copying.

As part of the deal, eMusic says it will slightly raise prices and reduce the number of downloads for some of its monthly plans.

Danny Stein, eMusic’s chief executive, said he had been talking to the major labels about adding their music for several years. Talks continue with Warner Music, the Universal Music Group and EMI, he said. He added that many of the independent labels had been asking the company to raise its prices.

“We have been looking for a catalyzing event to do it, and we think introducing this vast, quality catalog from Sony is that event,” Mr. Stein said.

The deal highlights several shifts in the online music landscape. The major labels gave up their objections to selling songs in the unprotected MP3 format in 2007. They also prevailed upon Apple this year to move to variable pricing in its iTunes store. Apple now sells older songs for 79 cents and new tracks for $1.29.
The major labels have also been more willing lately to strike more flexible and less expensive deals with start-ups like Imeem that are trying new approaches to online music.

Sony Music and eMusic would not disclose the particulars of their deal. An executive at Sony Music, a subsidiary of the Sony Corporation, said the company was interested in seeing multiple models for digital music coexist on the Web.

“We think the model of buying a set amount of music each month under an MP3 allowance is an attractive subscription option for consumers,” said Thomas Hesse, president of Sony’s Global Digital Business unit. “We are supportive of offerings that encourage fans to dig deep into the repertoire of our artists and discover the richness of our catalog.”