Bookmarks: Napster, iTunes and beyond

In the Wisconsin Law Review, Mike Masnick explains why the war on Napster didn't only fail to stop piracy, but also put the brakes on innovative new companies working in online music. In short: Had the RIAA been less keen to kill Napster, perhaps Apple wouldn't have ended up stealing their business:

This should have been obvious from the fact that people would flock to these new services, yet failed to show up to the record labels’ own attempts to innovate or provide something new. However, as soon as any service showed any kind of promise, even if “licensed,” the labels would seek to kill the golden goose by claiming that the rates were unfair, and the innovators were making money unfairly off the backs of the copyright holders (by which they meant the labels, not the musicians, of course).

Take, for example, the brief heyday of music video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. For a year or two, the recording industry fell head over heels in love with these games, because people were playing them quite a bit, and they were (briefly) willing to pay a slight premium to get access to music from well-known bands and musicians. Rather than build on that, the industry did two things: it focused all of its attention on those kinds of games, absolutely flooding the market and making people get sick of the game genre, and demanded much higher royalties.

The viewpoint seemed to be that there could be almost no benefits for the innovators. Nearly all of the benefits had to accrue to the labels, or it would be seen as a problem. In fact, the one exception that got through was iTunes, and that was quickly seen as a “problem” by the labels, even as it was dragging them, kicking and screaming, into the marketplace for digital music. The view is one of an extreme zero-sum world, where if someone else is benefiting, it must mean that the labels were losing out. They didn’t even hide this view of the world. Doug Morris, then head of Universal Music (now head of Sony Music) explained to a Wired reporter that investing in new innovations that weren’t paying money upfront meant that “someone, somewhere is taking advantage of you.” As laid out in the article, Morris was uninterested in technology, and didn’t even know how to hire a competent technology person, so his focus was on making sure everyone paid up immediately. Anyone making money in the music world without first paying a massive cut were dubbed “thieves.”

Guitar Hero franchise cashed in

You'd have hoped that Activision would have been a bit more creative with the way it killed off the Guitar Hero game - rather than just mumbling out an announcement at an earnings call, couldn't they have said that the franchise had been found floating in a swimming pool after a heavy party? Isn't that how guitar heroes are supposed to go?

Following on from the news that MTV had decided Rock Band was a declining proposition a few weeks back, it's looking a lot like those music business executives who thought that selling music to be hit small plastic guitars to was a long-term safe bet were about as with-it as Lunar Jet Man.

It's what Kurt really would have wanted; or at least what Jon Bon Jovi would have wanted

No, really, there was a line in the suicide note which said "my only regret is that I die before I get the chance to take part in a tribute to Bon Jovi; if only there was still a way". Genuine fact:



Everett True responds to this delightful desecration:

Um. Grohl and Love sanctioned this one for the new Guitar Hero. So respect due to Grohl and Love then. Fucking corporate cock-sucking memory-destroying fret-wanking MTV-supporting fame-chasing money-grabbing grave-turning publicity-loving vacuous spoiled jaded cunting rock whores.

Apart from the question of whether it should have been attempted at all, there's a wider question of if the people who made this confused Kurt Cobain with Fred Durst.

That noise? That's Yoko ringing up the Rock Band people with a great idea for next year...

Pretending your games machine in an instrument: Game Over?

Worrying news from the world of computer games. No, this isn't about that advert for Wii with Louise WhatusedtobeinEternal in it, where she's using her Wiimote to vacuum up virtual dirt, although the idea of a piece of electrical equipment which you can use in your living room to, erm, hoover up the dirt on the floor does sound a little like they're running out of ideas of things to simulate - presumably 2009 is going to see a Wii game where the remote can be used like a remote control, turning over TV programmes which will be shown on your TV screen.

No, the news that will be worrying people in Gamesland is that the Guitar Hero / Rock Band boom is over:

Electronic Arts, publishers of Rock Band, has issued another profit warning, and reports "disappointing sales figures," while Guitar Hero is expected to see a 50% drop in unit sales.

If you need any evidence that a mildly-diverting idea has now been throttled, Metallica have just turned up at the party with their own version of Guitar Hero.

The soundtrack album which feature the noises of joysticks being waggled

The history of computer games turned into movies is not, it has to be said, a glorious one. Bob Hoskins as a Super Mario Brother, anyone? That one with Kylie in? Admittedly, when Lunar JetMan was filmed as 2001 A Space Oddity [note to self - check on Wikipedia before posting this] it was a success, but generally, it's a genre which seems to exist solely to ensure that the 99p DVD box on my local newsagent's counter is always well-stocked.

Still, at least you can understand how a movie might be made from a computer game with a plot. What's less clear is how you'd adapt a game that's not story driven, and turn it into a movie. That, it seems, is the challenge Brett Ratner is setting himself, as he plans - yes, really - to turn Guitar Hero into a movie:

“I love ‘Guitar Hero’ and I think it’s a part of pop culture. I would love to do a ‘Guitar Hero’ movie, if Activision would ever let me. I’m trying to convince them, but why would you have a movie screw up such a huge franchise? Not that I would make a bad movie. So that would be cool, to do a ‘Guitar Hero’ movie. ”

But, listen, he's telling us the plot:

“It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the ‘Guitar Hero’ competition. One of these dreams-[come-true] kind of concepts.”

You can see why this story would need to be about Guitar Hero - because otherwise it would be every TV movie ever made about teenagers competing in competitions, and how would you persuade a video game franchise to fund that, eh?

Who owns Guitar Hero?

Activision's Guitar Hero, a game where you can pretend like you're playing guitar in the same way that a karaoke machine can make you pretend you're actually a singer, has just been hit by a lawsuit from Gibson. Apparently, Gibson filed a patent back in 1999 claiming to have invented a way of playing guitar that wasn't actually playing guitars, but would be enough like the experience to persuade people to hand over large sums of cash:

A copy of Gibson's patent included in the court filing showed a method for simulating a live performance using a musical instrument, a 3D headset with stereo speakers, and a pre-recorded concert.

"Based on our preliminary analysis, the 'Guitar Hero' software (including any expansion packs) and the guitar controller provided by Activision being used as a musical instrument (packaged with the software or sold standalone) are covered by the ... patent," Gibson's law firm said in its January 7 letter. "Gibson requests that Activision obtain a license under Gibson's ... patent or halt sales of any version of the 'Guitar Hero' game software."

We're not sure Gibson should have been allowed the patent anyway - didn't Fisher Price have a plastic guitar-shaped toy with buttons you could press to make noise on the market about two decades ago?

Anyone can play guitar (Games console not included)

The bewildering success of GuitarHero - an electronic game which manages to be less satisfying than listening to an expert playing music, and than playing an actual instrument for yourself, simultaneously is continuing to spawn monsters. Next up is versions of the game themed round specific brands - sorry, bands, kicking off with Aerosmith:

"The premise is that it's going to cover the 30-plus years of the band, from high school all the way through the rock superstardom of today," Kai Huang, head of Activision's RedOctane unit, which guides development of the franchise, told Reuters in an interview.

Rock superstardom of yesterday, surely?

The prospect now lays ahead of us of every band - or at least those which have converted themselves into some sort of business - churning out variations on this theme. We're looking forward to a Paul Weller variant where players suddenly have to convert to playing an accordion halfway through.

One hit-wonders sue due to derivative sound

The Romantics - if you're American, you'll know them from What I Like About You, apparently - are suing Activision, makers of that Guitar Hero game, because the cover version of their hit sounds quite a lot like them.

This could be the first time anyone has ever sued because they're clodhoppingly workmanlike.