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 ]
We used to love these books, but he told me he doesn't want me to support J.K. Rowling now in any way. Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2020-12-22 11:00:00 UTC ]
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Deal covers 600 songs including Blowin’ in the Wind and Knockin’ on Heaven’s DoorUniversal Music has struck a deal to buy the rights to Bob Dylan’s entire catalogue of 600 songs, from Blowin’ in the Wind to Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, in the biggest music publishing deal in decades.Dylan, whose... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-12-07 12:40:36 UTC ]
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For me, the book of the year was David Graeber’s Debt: The First 5,000 Years. The post A Year in Reading: Stephen Dodson appeared first on The Millions. Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2020-12-01 12:00:24 UTC ]
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Centred around a Blues Party in London, the second film from the Small Axe anthology captured the excitement of setting up a party but missed things about sound system culture in the UK. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-11-30 15:04:41 UTC ]
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Amazon is bringing over a popular feature from Kindle and Prime Video to its Music service. The company announced today the Music X-Ray experience is now available for tens of millions of songs in its catalog. According to the company, this will “off... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-11-20 16:45:39 UTC ]
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The BBC Radiophonic Workshop made the famous science fiction theme tune and worked with the Beatles. Now it is preparing to make historyThe Radiophonic Workshop has always broken new sonic ground, from the Doctor Who theme to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Now they’re at it again – this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2020-11-15 10:00:31 UTC ]
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The Lit Hub Author Questionnaire is a monthly interview featuring seven questions for five authors with new books. This month we talk to: * Danielle Evans (The Office of Historical Corrections) Éireann Lorsung (The Century) Christa Parravani (Loved and Wanted: A Memoir of Choice, Children, and... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 09:48:28 UTC ]
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Picador has bagged a “shocking, enlightening and engaging” social and political history of dance music in the UK by journalist and film-maker Ed Gillett. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-09 10:32:37 UTC ]
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Yesterday morning, the New York Times asked, in a headline, “Can Biden still win?” The story made clear that he could, but as FiveThirtyEight’s Nate Silver pointed out, the question seemed backward, since President Trump seemed to be facing the thinner path to victory. That the Times framed the... Continue reading at Columbia Journalism Review
[ Columbia Journalism Review | 2020-11-05 13:00:02 UTC ]
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As her work broke new ground, the composer faced ridicule and threats, writes Amanda Sewell. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-23 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The NBA star has joined the ranks of Oprah and Reese with a club that highlights underrated writers. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-19 13:00:00 UTC ]
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When Yusef Salaam was 15, he and four other teenage boys were falsely accused of raping a woman in New York's Central Park. Salaam was imprisoned for nearly seven years before he was exonerated. His life story has inspired a new book called... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-10-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Scott Anderson argues that politicians and bureaucrats corrupted an idealistic agency. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-09 11:00:00 UTC ]
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A jingle helped them transform a two-partner practice in Buffalo into a 50-lawyer personal injury behemoth in New York State and California. Mr. Barnes died in a plane crash. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-10-08 17:06:03 UTC ]
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To mark the 24th anniversary of the Fox News Channel’s debut, HarperCollins and Fox News Media have announced the creation of a new imprint that will publish a stream of books I’m sure you’ll read by Fox News personalities. If the pairing seems unexpected, it’s anything but. Rupert Murdoch, who... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-07 16:16:12 UTC ]
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“The Meaning of Mariah Carey” gets to the essence of one of the most successful singers of our time. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-02 14:00:00 UTC ]
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The book takes a “Sliding Doors” approach, as a woman, on the heels of a near-death experience, contemplates her next move. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-22 14:35:11 UTC ]
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The c.e.o. of Faber has released a statement supporting Booker Prize shortlisted author Tsitsi Dangarembga, ahead of her trial in Harare today (Friday 18th September). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 14:45:34 UTC ]
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Jonathan Cape has acquired Swedish musician Neneh Cherry’s memoir, A Thousand Threads, in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 11:56:22 UTC ]
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A federal judge in Washington has issued a preliminary injunction against a major e-book piracy operation known as the KISS Library, after the operators of the site failed to show up at a hearing or to file any response to a lawsuit filed in July by the Authors Guild, Amazon Publishing, Penguin... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-01 04:00:00 UTC ]
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