TYDmusic.com: Musicscene 86

Downloads blamed for downward CD sales

According to a new survey from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), there has been a 7 percent drop in CD sales for the first six months of 2002, compared to the sales made last year. The survey findings came from a poll of 860 music consumers aged 12 - 54 using the internet for downloads.

"Among people who said their downloading from file-sharing services had increased over the past six months, 41 percent reported purchasing less music now than six months ago, compared to only 19 percent who said they were purchasing more music," the association says in a statement. Among those downloading the same amount as the previous six months, 25 percent said they purchased less music, compared with 13 percent who bought more.

The study says younger listeners are more inclined to download for free--with 35 percent of 12- to 18-year-olds saying they go that route when they hear a song by an unfamiliar artist. Overall, 20 percent of those polled said they would download such a song for free, compared to 14 percent who would buy. While the record industry may have rid itself of Napster, other online services, such as KaZaA.com and Morpheus.com, are still out there offering music to "share."

On the other hand, the six major labels--Sony, Warner, Vivendi Universal, EMI and BMG--have countered with subscription-based online services themselves but have met with limited success. "What the labels need to do to make a successful subscription service, is make it better than KaZaa, Gnutella, WinMX, giFT, and Opennap in terms of catalog, audio quality and usability," Netizen Stephen Hinkle wrote today in a post on Boycott-Riaa.com.

A lobbying group, representing music sites trying to promote and sell music over the Internet, similarly scoffed at how the record industry has moved into the cyber age.

"The way to defeat illegal music distribution services is to offer comprehensive, innovative, fairly priced legal services," Jonathan Potter, executive director of Digital Media Association, tells Reuters. "Until the record companies offer their content ubiquitously in a consumer-friendly way, studies like this are useless. The drop in sales accounted for a reported industry wide $284 million loss in sales.

Source - soulnotes.cc

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Controversy brews over Ashanti's Lady of Soul award

Last week a petition was placed against newcomer Ashanti (given name: Ashanti Douglas) for her receiving the Lady of Soul's 'Entertainer of the year' award. A 15-year-old music fan's, is questioning whether she is worthy of an award that many refers to as "the Aretha Franklin," provoked a harshly worded statement on Soul Train's Web site last week in which the petitioner was called an "idiot" and a "loser."

The young man in question Rommel Zamora who is a sophomore at Woodbridge High School in Irvine, California, said he started the anti-Ashanti petition, because he didn't think she had been out long enough to warrant an award designated for a one-year period. Additionally, he said, "she lacks stage presence in the majority of her performances."

His petition, signed by 25,000 respondents as of Thursday (August 22), says that picking Ashanti is "an insult to other entertainers who are more deserving," such as the suggested alternates Faith Evans, Alicia Keys, India.Arie and the late Aaliyah.

Last week Soul Train's Web site posted what appeared to be a statement from awards ceremony organizers. Though a spokesperson for Don Cornelius Productions said the statement was not authorized, it was also e-mailed to Zamora from the webmaster@soultrain.com e-mail address.

The letter, which he described as "unprofessional and vulgar," attacked Zamora and BET.com (which had linked to his petition), accusing them of racism. The letter also made a point of referring to BET, which is geared toward a black audience, as being "white-owned." (MTV's parent company, Viacom, also owns BET.)

"As for the grossly uninformed moron who came up with the totally crude and clumsy idea to initiate his own hate campaign and internet rock-throwing attack against a perfectly honest, time-tested and time-honored process," the letter read, "we urge you to cease and desist from your malignant abuse ... and to take steps ... to open your own Internet Web site, which should appropriately be entitled, 'I'm a f---ing loser, I'm not talented or successful, I don't know sh-- about the music industry and I need to get a motherf---ing life!!"

Source - soulnotes.cc

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Don Blackman's latest a pleasure to 'listen' to

Don Blackman (and the Family Tradition) self titled album issued on Arista in 1982 is regarded as one of the all time greats masterpieces of the rare groove movement featuring such tasteful delights as 'Heart's Desire', 'Since you've been away so long' and 'Holding you, Loving you' but he was never to be heard of since until now that is some.

Some twenty years later Don and the family returns with a new album called 'Listen' (on Expansion Records) and it's as if he'd never left but only on a long vacation with another fundamental slice of music making offered. Dedicated to jazz great the late Weldon Irvine Jr (who tragically took his own life earlier this year), the 15 song set has all the trademarks we've come to love about Don's music. Delightful piano solos on 'Can you see the son' and 'Coming to you, coming to me' and a great jazz mood is the tone on the title track. This is an album not to be missed (especially for fans of Don's music) a great set indeed. Look out for it in stores (in the UK at least) now.

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Carleen Anderson's new album on the horizon

Carleen Anderson is back with a brand new album called 'Alberta's Grandmother' (on Giant Step) that is due out Sept. 30th. The former lead singer of 'The Young Disciples' and 'The Brand New Heavies' had been on hiatus for a while with her own music but has been busy doing other projects appearing with Omar, Bryan Ferry, Guru and Paul Weller to name a few.
The new album promises to deliver Carleen's voice at it's very best with tracks that blends jazz, soul, funk, blues and gospel. Recorded and produced by Ben Castle (son of the legendary British trumpeter Roy Castle). The lead off single will be 'Famous Patience' a track that sees Carleen at the top of her game - look out for it coming to a radio station playlist near you.