Music News Bulletin - 21/08/08

What does the future hold for songwriters' royalties? August 21 2008
"In the Guardian's In Praise of ... songwriters blog on Monday , I read that "Songwriters are being feted by the European commission which wants to extend musicians' royalty rights from 50 years to a very generous 95 years."

This is a misunderstanding that I've come across quite often, especially when the European directive was applauded (or, more often, criticised) in the recent media coverage. The misunderstanding arises from people confusing musicians with songwriters." [Guardian]

Back to the Future? (LP) August 21st, 2008
"All this new music at our fingertips and all these new ways of buying and selling it. Aren’t we all so lucky. I recently reported how Madonna’s album was available for mobile phone downloads prior to the physical CD release (We’ve also had Bryan Adams selling his album exclusively through Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the US (not quite as Rock n Roll, but you gotta take what you’re offered, right Bry?)).

Yet, amongst the digital revolution and traditional record shop mass-exodus, us dance music fans still like to buy physical products. It sure is hard for the retailers to keep on making money, times have changed, and a few vinyl junkies aren’t enough to keep a business afloat, but it was a very pleasant surprise to read about the recent RISE in sales of vinyl (RIAA 2007 Year-End Shipment Statistics - PDF). I’m not saying it’s saved, or making a comeback (especially after one year’s rise compared to nine years decline), but i realised that my own buying habits have changed over the years. I still go hunting for the odd 2nd hand bargain, or an old release with a killer B-side that everyone looked over at the time. But, i’m afraid i feel it hard to pay more than 8 quid for a piece of wax. Unless…. it’s an LP." [UKMusicJobs]