Kitty Empire talks to Stephen Witt about his eagerly awaited book charting the rise of the MP3 file, the online pirates who exploited it and the record industry that ignored its cultural impact until it was far too lateExtract: Going for a song: the hidden history of music piracy How Music Got Free is in essence the gripping tale of three men: Karlheinz Brandenburg, the German scientist whose lab cobbled together the MP3; Doug Morris, the old-school record company executive who presided over the rap boom and began the fight-back against piracy; and Bennie Lydell “Dell” Glover, the North Carolina CD pressing plant worker, whose light fingers and computer skills singlehandedly led to a haemorrhage of A-list rock and hip-hop releases – Eminem, Kanye West, Queens of the Stone Age, Björk – being freely available on the internet two weeks before release.The three men never met, but Witt reveals how their lives overlapped and irrevocably changed those of anyone who listens to music. Brandenburg’s genius lay in shrinking sound files down so that they could easily be sent over the internet, back when most files were huge and modems still dialled up. Owing to the bitter internecine rivalries within acoustic engineering, no one recognised the scope of Brandenburg’s technology; the inferior MP2 kept winning industry accolades and commercial applications. Universal executive Morris presided over an industry rich from the obscene profits generated by CD sales, until the secretive... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2015-06-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
Association of American Publishers A Pennsylvania District Court judge seems to be fed up with copyright holders wasting the courts’ time and resources, ordering an adult movie studio and five anonymous alleged copyright infringers to present their respective cases to court in a bellwether... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber and Faber has added to their growing music list by acquiring the rights for the memoirs of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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If you’re a Slovenian fan of J.K. Rowling, and you’re eager to get your hands on the first available copy of her forthcoming novel, The Casual Vacancy, you’re probably going to have to read the book in English. This will also be the case in Italy, Finland, and several other countries. And the... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2012-07-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The satirical TV host's faux children's book, inspired by Maurice Sendak, inspires and turns out be remarkably patriotic."I Am a Pole (And So Can You!)" (Grand Central: $15.99), Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert's bestselling satirical jab at the... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2012-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A new novel by Stephen King, Joyland, is to be published by Titan Books imprint Hard Case Crime... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-05-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Stephen Colbert's latest release – a picture book aimed at young adults and up – follows a pole as it searches for the perfect job. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-05-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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John Wiley has filed papers in New York demanding a trial by jury of four defendants accused of... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Apple responded to DOJ antitrust accusations claiming it simply leveled the playing field against Amazon's virtual monopoly of the ebook industry. I disagree. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2012-04-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Steve Jobs left behind a legal mess for Apple chief executive Tim Cook. Decisions the former CEO made when brokering ebook distribution deals haunt Apple, as a civil price-fixing case moves forward and the specter of a federal antitrust investigation approaches. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2012-03-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV host Stephen Colbert has written a children's book about a flag pole trying to find out who it really is. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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and Matthew Flamm - Comedy Central host Stephen Colbert, who has more time on his hands now that he's no longer running for president, will publish his first children's book in May, his publisher, Grand Central Publishing, announced on Tuesday. Viewers of The Colbert Report got the word early... Continue reading at Crains New York
[ Crains New York | 2012-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder & Stoughton will publish an original audio digital short story by bestselling author... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An international alliance of publishers, including Cambridge University Press, Elsevier and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-02-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is talking nonsense, according to Google. Murdoch, a Twitter user for only the past several weeks, used the service to fire a barrage of accusations Saturday night against President Obama and Google. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2012-01-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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TV presenter Stephen Fry is to judge an international competition, launched by literature and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2012-01-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google Inc.'s YouTube said it acquired RightsFlow Inc., a small company that tracks and processes royalty payments to songwriters and music publishers. Continue reading at AllThingsD
[ AllThingsD | 2011-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Simon & Schuster has bought a book dubbed "The Tiger Mother meets The Last Lecture... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-11-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 17/06/2011 - 10:55 Hodder & Stoughton has acquired an eighth title in the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, which has Roland Deschain of Gilead as its lead character. The Wind Through the Keyhole will be published worldwide in spring... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-06-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Thu, 12/05/2011 - 09:31 Publishers should not overspend in the fight against piracy, and should use their authors to present a "human face" in the battle for hearts and minds, a panel discussion at the World e-Reading Congress declared. The industry... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Thu, 21/04/2011 - 07:40 Hodder is rolling out a new backlist look for one of its supernatural and thriller stars, Stephen King. The publisher will be re-issuing his backlist, including titles written by his alter-ego, Richard Bachman. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-04-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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