Stephen Witt: ‘Music piracy is illegal – but morally, is it wrong?’

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 ]

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Film Rights: London’s BKS Agency Has an Option for Stephen McGinty’s ‘The Dive’

Mark Gordon's new production company's London wing has picked up the forthcoming HarperCollins UK release. The post Film Rights: London’s BKS Agency Has an Option for Stephen McGinty’s ‘The Dive’ appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-05-21 18:13:27 UTC ]
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Cassava Republic acquires Mukoma Wa Ngugi's 'love letter to music'

Cassava Republic is to publish Unbury Our Dead, a literary novel by Mukoma Wa Ngugi, described as "a love letter to beauty, music and the imagination". Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-05-14 07:38:11 UTC ]
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Wrestling with the complexities of music, art and reparations

“What do people owe each other when debts accrued can never be repaid?” asks Jesse McCarthy. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-30 12:00:00 UTC ]
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London, the New Capital of Middle Eastern and North African Arts, Culture, Music, and Literature, by Malu Halasa

Culture Street mural for Grenfell Tower, with poem by Ben Okri, North Kensington, London, image courtesy of IranWire and #PaintTheChange. London-based writer Malu Halasa canvasses the Middle Eastern and North African culture scene in London,... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-04-19 19:22:28 UTC ]
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A Continuous Musical Delight

Vijay Seshadri, our poetry editor, introduces the latest book from Paris Review Editions: ‘Poets at Work.’ Continue reading at The Paris Review

[ The Paris Review | 2021-04-02 13:00:16 UTC ]
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You know what else you’re doing wrong? Laundry. Don’t worry, a new book offers hope.

In “Laundry Love,” cleaning guru Patric Richardson shares his passion — and tips — for cleaning clothes properly. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-26 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookseller survey finds fatigue and low morale after year of lockdown

A survey conducted by The Bookseller reveals that 12 months after lockdown began, many feel low and isolated, with views on a return to ‘normal’ life decidedly split. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-19 15:22:20 UTC ]
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How can we better raise boys? A new book looks at where we’ve gone wrong — and how to fix it

In “To Raise a Boy,” Emma Brown explores the many influences that shape boys and why we need to rethink them. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-16 07:00:04 UTC ]
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Melissa Bond joins Bonnier's new music list

Bonnier Books UK has appointed Melissa Bond as senior editor of its soon-to-be-unveiled music imprint led by publishing director Pete Selby.   Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-15 21:08:51 UTC ]
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Bookstat: music to Moyes' ears as Jojo soars

Jojo Moyes’ Night Music (Hodder & Stoughton) has orchestrated a rise into the Bookstat e-book number one spot, for the week ending 27th February. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-05 00:55:29 UTC ]
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Android morality tale ‘Klara and the Sun’ is not the usual dystopian saga

Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro explores the effects of technology on humans through the eyes of an ever-sunny, ever-likable cyborg. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2021-03-01 14:06:50 UTC ]
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In ‘Later,’ Stephen King reminds us that he’s the master of the kids-with-strange-powers genre

Another of King’s special powers? Slipping into the persona of a teenager with total authenticity. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-28 07:14:30 UTC ]
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Netflix is turning Lupita Nyong’o’s children’s book into an animated musical.

Some welcome news for those of you with little ones running and/or crawling around your ankles right now: Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o’s bestselling 2019 children’s book Sulwe is getting a small screen musical adaptation. Netflix announced earlier today that Sulwe will join a roster of upcoming... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-02-18 18:28:11 UTC ]
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The tale of a bass player, sonic epiphanies and a quest to save ‘real music’

Jazz-bluegrass musician Victor L. Wooten offers insights in an action-adventure fable. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-12 13:00:00 UTC ]
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New novel Billy Summers from Stephen King for summer 2021

Stephen King is publishing a new thriller with Hodder in August 2021, Billy Summers. The book–about a unique hitman, "a good guy in a bad job”–has been billed as “part war story, part love letter to small town America and the people who live there”. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-31 23:25:01 UTC ]
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The Roar of the Wronged: Aravind Adiga’s White Tiger, by Yahia Lababidi

Culture A still image from the film White Tiger (Netflix, 2021). After watching White Tiger, a writer contemplates the film alongside revolution in Egypt, Black Lives Matter protests, the film Parasite, and literary “complicated works of... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-01-27 20:33:27 UTC ]
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What could possibly go wrong?

Opening a bookshop during Covid restrictions might seem crazy. But then the perfect premises came on the market, the one we had been looking for years. This was our opportunity. Covid was happening of course, we were just coming out of full lockdown, but we've both worked in book retail in one... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-17 21:49:08 UTC ]
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Kevin Barry’s ‘That Old Country Music’ examines the brutal bliss of romantic love

The story collection arrives on the heels of Barry’s superb 2019 novel, “Night Boat to Tangier.” Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-01-17 06:54:27 UTC ]
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Clutter, says who? College essays, letters from Stephen King and Tucker Carlson: I’m keeping (almost) all of it.

At the end of 2020, sorting through my papers was a welcome reminder of the joys of a literary life Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-12-30 13:00:00 UTC ]
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Epicurious is righting cultural wrongs one recipe at a time

With a new Black editor in chief and ambitious promises to do better, a little corner of the Conde Nast universe is taking racial and cultural injustice one recipe at a time Continue reading at ABC News

[ ABC News | 2020-12-24 18:32:00 UTC ]
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