Universal - Idolator

Posts Tagged “Universal”

from plastic guitars to world domination

"Guitar Hero" Creators: "Sure, Let's Go Head To Head With iTunes"

As probably could have been predicted, the folks behind Guitar Hero are looking for ways to make a bit more cash off their massive success catering to frustrated music fans. If people will buy a game dedicated to Aerosmith, surely they're willing to buy anything with the Guitar Hero brand slapped on. So why not take on the most powerful music retailer in the country? More »

11:30 AM on Fri Jul 11 2008
By Dan Gibson
633 views, 2 comments

Vivendi, the parent company of Universal Music Group, calls Apple's 30% share of iTunes Store downloads "indecent." Apple shrugs, says, "Hey, at least we're selling the Feist record to people who aren't music bloggers." [Ars Technica]

4 comments

Universal Music Group, which recently purchased the Sanctuary Music Group, will close its new charge's UK label and stop putting out new music over there; artists whose latest albums came out on the label include the Happy Mondays and the Charlatans. The label's extensive catalog operations will be rolled into Universal's catalog department. As of now, the US division of Sanctuary will continue to put out albums, although it probably isn't a good sign for the label's future health that its biggest name—Morrissey—is no longer affiliated with the label. [Reuters]

4 comments

lawsuits

Don't Be Surprised If This Kid's First Words Are "Fair Use"

Note to any parents in the audience: If you're going to post a clip of your baby adorably dancing on YouTube, don't use music with publishing rights owned by Universal Music Publishing Group. Even if you use less than 30 seconds of said song—as the mom who shot the above video of her baby bopping around while Prince's Super Bowl performance played in the background did—a copyright claim will be filed by the company, and YouTube will cave: More »

12:30 PM on Thu Jul 26 2007
By mjohnston
859 views, 3 comments

Latest by davidm: That is almost unidentifiable as Prince. It could be just me, but for most of the video it sounds like the baby is dancing to the sound of rain. more »

"One is a form of loan-sharking: they put up money to make records, then force recording artists to pay the money back with exorbitant interest. The other business is distribution. They've got big warehouses and they control the shipment of little plastic boxes that happen to have music in them." [The Secret Diary Of Steve Jobs]

2 comments

the biz

Universal Ditches Its iTunes Contract

Universal Music Group is ready to rain on Apple's iPhone parade—the company has refused to renew its iTunes contract: More »

9:10 AM on Mon Jul 2 2007
By mjohnston
537 views, 3 comments

drm

Universal Sticking Its Toe Into The DRM-Free Water

While Warner Music Group has sort-of decided that it doesn't want to sell MP3s, the Universal Music Group is planning on entering the digital-rights-management-free space with some of its classical offerings. From
Reuters: More »

3:32 PM on Mon Apr 16 2007
By mjohnston
184 views, 1 comment

universal

Universal's "Pay Up" Demands Prove To Be Successful

Universal Music Group, which sued video-sharing site Bolt.com for unauthorized use of its music, has successfully ~~extorted Bolt~~ settled the lawsuit out of court: More »

2:05 PM on Fri Mar 9 2007
By mjohnston
162 views, 4 comments

apple

Music-Industry Honcho Wants To Make More Bread

It's been a few weeks since we heard from Doug "The Thug" Morris, the Universal Music Group CEO responsible for cracking down on MySpace, YouTube and Zune (and who's indirectly responsible for the Bloodhound Gang being foisted upon the general public). Now he's setting his sights on Apple, whose licensing deal with Universal is up for renewal in May; the speculation is that Morris will want a percentage of iPod sales, a scenario that could send the music industry into full-fledged state of higgedly-piggeldy. An AP story paints Morris as a regular Joe, one who wants to make sure his industry isn't run into the ground by piracy: More »

10:29 AM on Tue Jan 16 2007
By Brian Raftery
176 views, 2 comments

Latest by Jupiter8: It's this kind of forward thinking that's helped to make the music industry what it is today... more »

video

Music Videos On The Internet: It Was Fun While It Lasted

As they say on The Wire: "Sheeeeeeiiiiittt." Late yesterday, Universal Music Group filed lawsuits against video-sharing websites Grouper and Bolt (the latter of which, judging by accompanying photo, is staffed by the doorman at Delta Phi):

[The suits] mark the first time a major media company has tried to use the courts to narrowly interpret "safe harbor" protections provided by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 so it would exclude video-sharing sites. The DMCA provides protection from liability for copyright infringement to Internet companies if they meet certain criteria and follow so-called takedown procedures. Under the procedures outlined in the DMCA, sites have to remove any infringing copyright when notified specifically by the copyright holder.

9:45 AM on Wed Oct 18 2006
By Brian Raftery
63 views, 4 comments

Latest by cerulgalactus: "Imagine what would have happened if they had put even half of this kind of effort behind that last Hoobastank album." It would have still sucked, just on a grander scale. more »

doug morris

Fuddy-Duddy Record-Label Mogul Hates You

Sometimes, we allow ourselves the teensiest little flutter of sympathy for the few remaining modern-day major-label execs. After all, recent times have been hard on them. They've been besieged by pirates, hijacked by overpriced stars, and abandoned by music fans, who long ago wised up to their price-gouging, consumer-abusing ways. So we looked upon these sad, Levitra-popping old men with the sort of sympathy you'd reserve for the Rock Star: Supernova runner-up. More »

7:23 PM on Thu Sep 14 2006
By Brian Raftery
188 views, 13 comments

"American Idol" Is Playing Ringer Toss Again

Posts Tagged “Universal”