The News Room

Brighternow

I thought that there might be basis for a thread like this

ETA: Oh yes, I put it in the Fight Club because AFAIC, it could be news of any kind (music or anything, basically)

Starting:

- "Artist Janek Schafer is building an online portal of found sounds, which he wants to build into a large archive that will play a live collage of found sounds. So far contributions have been made by Chris Watson, Brian Eno, Phil Niblock, William Basinski, British Library Sound Archive and many others.

Schafer says the site was inspired by “the original digital radio station that simply played bird song, which has now gone. My desire is to present a live stream of calm, fabulous and curious ambient field recordings, which are randomly layered in pairs. Underscoring this will be a suite of subtle sonorities spun by me, sourced from stray space radio signals.”

Schafer has an open call out for audio, and is trying to collect a full 24 hours worth of material before the site's full launch in March. Anyone wishing to contribute can email Schafer via the site, which is under construction at:
http://foundsoundscape.com/

Brighternow

This is from a newsletter from The Free Music Archive:

We want you! We are looking for volunteers! If you are interested in helping us out, send Cheyenne a message! We are always looking for people who want to scour the web for new Creative Commons music, review music submissions from original artists, write blog entries, tag songs to help others find stuff, and more. . . .

Brighternow

From a newsletter from the Eta Label

New EU law not good for us...

New VAT regulations make us stop Digital Sales on BandCamp

From 1 January 2015, a new regulation will come into place where VAT on digital products sold in the EU will be chargeable in the place of purchase rather than the place of supply.

To tell you the truth I don't know how to handle this problem and most of the small labels which use BandCamp don't know it, too. I read tons of different articles, I also take part in many discussion about that problem, but so far nobody knows how to handle it correctly.

Therefore our decision is to STOP all DIGITAL SALES on BandCamp on 1.01.2015. If you want to support us, and get some digital release please do it before that date! You still have 3 days! All the money will go to physical releases which do not fall under that law! And I promise you - some good stuff is coming!
https://etalabel.bandcamp.com/

- I wonder if or how this will effect €music Europe ?

PaulR

This change has been know about for some time, and was kind of inevitable given the TAX avoidance some of larger players have been performing.

It looks, in the UK at least, as if there has been the usual burying heads in the sand and hoping it will go away - for any small business just discovering this it is far too late.

Also worth noting that Bandcamp will be changing now money is collected, so they will handle VAT for those selling through them, see https://bandcamp.com/help/selling#eu-vat-digital

Germanprof

From what I am seeing in multiple label emails, I am not sure the problem is so much knowing about it as having the resources to respond to it. A lot of these labels are some person in their spare time. From an email from Low Point:

These regulations mean that any digital download sold via the Low Point Bandcamp store will require VAT adding for customers within the EU customers and traders will then be required by law to pay the added VAT back to the country of source. This would mean registering for VAT via the MOSS (Mini One Stop Shop) which will involve a great deal of paperwork.

These regulations would also mean that for every digital download sold, Low Point would be required to keep the billing address of the customer, the IP address of the device used, the location of the bank, the country code of SIM used by the customer and the location of the customer’s fixed land line through which the service is supplied to them and keep the data for 10 years. As this is a huge undertaking for a record label which is run by one person, Low Point will be unable to conform to these regulations.

With this in mind, from 1st January 2015 Low Point will no longer be selling digital downloads direct via the Low Point Bandcamp store.

Had several similar emails today. Talvihorros has put everything to NYOP until the end of December before suspending sales; the emails I've seen seem to be saying the Bandcamp offer of dealing with it is not very concrete yet.

kargatron

This note helps clarify the VAT situation (imo).

PaulR

The reason I said "the usual burying heads in the sand and hoping it will go away" is that these changes were approved, in principle, back in 2008, with the implementation details agreed a year ago.

It is all very sad, I know in the UK we have an amount below which you are VAT exempt - this really should be EU wide. Both to have a level playing field, but also help those either starting out or only with low figures.

Yet another example of politicians/bureaucrats saying they want to help small businesses, while completely ignoring the problems they are creating for them.

Doofy

Bono bike accident: 'I may never play guitar again'

"Recovery has been more difficult than I thought. As I write this, it is not clear that I will ever play guitar again. The band have reminded me that neither they nor western civilization are depending on this."

Brighternow

Vinyl Sales Up 38 Percent In 2014…

4.0 million LPs have been sold this year in the US alone, according to stats shared this morning by Nielsen Soundscan. That’s a 40.4 percent increase over the same period last year, when sales reached 2.9 million units. In 2013, LP sales grew 30.4 percent.

- Interesting, I think . . .

cafreema

The Pono store is live.

Feel like paying $17.99 for an electronic version of The Doors? How about $24.99 for Jack White's Lazaretto?

Now you can!

Craig

amclark2

Interestingl local story turned national: Broken lute prompts new rules for airlines.

Brighternow

It's the end of the road for NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA and
WOOD AND WIRE - Final FREE releases now available

After five years of making noise about Australian noise (and many other subterranean genres), New Weird Australia and its offshoot label Wood And Wire are taking their final bow.

Since its inception in 2009, we've kickstarted a heap of projects in support of Australian experimental music, clocking up over 400,000 downloads of our 23-volume compilation series and artist releases, as well as helming a long-running radio show on Sydney’s FBi Radio and staging a nationwide series of live shows.

To celebrate the end of the road, we're releasing a three-volume set titled ‘Passages’. Each volume is curated by one of New Weird Australia’s three directors and features 51 tracks from the project archive, including music from Holy Balm, Guerre, Ku?ka, No Zu, Kirin J Callinan, Oscar Key Sung, Matthew Brown, Chrome Dome, Mere Women and many more.

In addition Wood & Wire is releasing its final album 'Wood And Wire: Ears Have Ears Soundtracks' featuring exclusive soundtracks recorded for FBi’s ‘Ears Have Ears’ experimental music program, with extended material from Fatti Frances, Rites Wild, Hollow Press and Cycle~ 440.

Thanks to all of the artists and volunteers involved with our projects over the years, for their amazing music and tireless commitment. Our full project archive will remain online indefinitely, acting as a record of a unique and vibrant period in the outer limits of Australian music.

And so it goes...
Love & thanks from all at NWA xx

Brighternow

Man, everyone's attention span has shortened to almost nil. That's why we're launching a microSong contest this month - gotta stay current. Our blog will have more info, but here's the gist: make a song that lasts 15 seconds or less. Enter it into our contest from late January til mid February and you could win a 3-D printer or swag basket from WFMU or Creative Commons! Achieve greatness with minimal effort!

Brighternow

From Stereogum:

Hear A Ton Of Previously Unreleased Aphex Twin Tracks

Aphex Twin — or at least someone with extensive access to Richard D. James’ back library — has been uploading a bunch of tracks to a mysterious Soundcloud over the past few days purporting to be old Aphex tracks that were never released. Pitchfork lays out all of the details as to why these tracks are probably legit. A quick summary: some of these songs have appeared in Aphex-related ventures, and a few were even confirmed to be real by Planet Mu label founder Mike Paradinas. But the most important takeaway is that there are 40+ new Aphex Twin tracks sitting on Soundcloud waiting for you to listen to them. And after such a long drought followed by Syro, Caustic Window, and Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments pt2 in quick succession, it’s been an embarrassment of Aphex riches. You can check them all out on user48736353001’s Soundcloud.

ETA https://twitter.com/AphexTwin
Richard D James SoundCloud Dump - A Gift To The Fans

Brighternow

Hegarty & Ono

Doofy

Tom Petty on Sam Smith Settlement: 'No Hard Feelings. These Things Happen'

Less than a week after it was revealed that Sam Smith had agreed to give co-writing credit of his Grammy-nominated single "Stay With Me" to Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne (whose "I Won't Back Down" shared a similar chorus with the Smith track), Petty has released an amicable statement on his official site clarifying the situation.

You see this, and you think, 'Wow, that was really cool of Tom Petty, not to sue the guy for what was probably an honest coincidence.' Then you hear the sappy, sloppy Sam Smith song, and you think, 'Damn. Should have sued him out of existence, Tom.'

rostasi

seems rather petty to me.

amclark2

It is all still up! here's a page with 101 track download. And on this page there's a link to only 59 track download. It's Christmas in February! It makes me happy that musicians I loved in my 20's are still relevant in my 40's.

Brighternow

seems rather petty to me.

- Pretty petty. . . :-)

109 tracks (485 mb.) here (rightclick on the red sqare).
It seems like a Kim Dotcom thing, works remarkably well.

Brighternow

From Cantaloupe Music:

"Amidst all the hubbub during Sunday night's Grammy broadcast, we were thrilled to learn that John Luther Adams got the nod for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for his Pulitzer-winning Become Ocean. Congratulations to JLA, and to all the Grammy winners!

“Become Ocean has been one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life,” Adams wrote after hearing the news. “Yet it doesn’t feel as though it belongs to me. The music essentially composed itself, over the course of just a few months. Now it has a life of its own, independent of the composer. This never would’ve happened without the combined efforts of so many other people. And ultimately, of course, it wouldn't have happened without the Pacific Ocean, and this beautiful, beleaguered planet that is our one and only home.”

Doofy

Kenny G wants in on traditional jazz radio, Hollywood
Oh my gosh, it's so sad.

"This is traditional jazz. It's played very authentic and I did my homework. If they listen and go 'ugh' then they're not listening to it. They're just looking at my face and going 'ugh.'"

amclark2

The biggest-selling instrumental artist of the modern era is recognized worldwide — particularly in China —

I had no idea he was big in China...

amclark2

Kenny G in China.

cafreema

Huge in China. Actually got into some trouble for a tweet he made from the protests in Hong Kong last year that the Chinese government interpreted as pro protester.

He also helped invent the Starbucks Frappachino. Seriously, Starbucks has confirmed it.

Craig

Plong42

I have to admit I doubted the Frappachino story, but according to People Magazine, it is true. They would not print it in People if be wasn't true, right?

amclark2

Boston Magazine (and Wikipedia) say frappucinos were invented in Boston. And don't mention Kenny G. Wikipedia's always right, right?

Doofy

I like to think if I was making good money in today's music industry and had, perhaps literally, a billion people who loved my music, I would be pretty happy in my home recording studio in Malibu, rather than worrying about whether I was being played on whatever jazz radio stations still exist.

Anyway, I read somewhere that Jazz is dead

Brighternow

Jazz is not dead, it just smells funny

-Frank Zappa.

Brighternow

Tonight Denmark is gathered in memory of the victims from the terror attacks saturday and sunday.
It's a very powerful moment in Denmark right now.

ETA: Streaming behind the image - Benjamin Koppel and Maria Carmen Koppel has just entered the stage.

40.000 people gathered.

ETA 2: finished

cafreema

My thoughts are with you and your neighbors, BN.

Craig

greg

I saw that on TV last night BN. Equivalent to the march in Paris a few weeks ago. my thoughts and wishes are with all those involved.