Podcasting has introduced people around the world not only to new music, but to a wealth of international news as well. Here’s a look at some of my favorite podcasts from some of the best regarded news organizations.
BBC News: The granddaddy of Western news organizations offers more than 20 podcasts, but there are two I enjoy the most. Newspod offers a one-hour program each weekday that features about five segments in each program that take a deeper look at the day’s leading world news stories, from the U.K. and around the world. From Our Own Correspondent is a twice-a-week podcast featuring four or five segments from foreign correspondents stationed around the globe. These vignettes give a reporter’s-eye view of a topic in the world news; it could be a fresh glance at a major new event or a curious or amusing look at local traditions.
ABC’s All in the Mind: This approximately hourlong look at one issue related to psychology and the mind comes not from the American ABC, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Some of the topics are specific to the land Down Under, such as the mental health problems of homeless aboriginal residents; others are universal, such as a look at advances in brain surgery.
Deutsche Welle: Germany’s state broadcaster offers many world news programs, but two of its podcasts are of particular interest to the listener seeking news of Europe and the world. Inside Europe examines several stories regarding events in the European continent, while Newslink provides insight on events around the world.
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Ahmet Ertegun, the Man Who Signed Aretha, Ray Charles, the Stones
Ahmet Ertegun, one of the true pioneers in popular music and the founder of Atlantic Records, died Thursday, Dec. 14. Perhaps fitting for a man whose life was synonomous with music, he died of injuries he suffered in a fall when he was attending a Rolling Stones concert in New York City in late October. He was 83.
Ertegun made a huge mark on American music, first signing R&B acts such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Big Joe Turner, as well as Joe Tex and Otis Redding. The label later signed what turned out to be some of the biggest rock and pop acts of all time, including the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Bette Midler, ABBA, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. And Sonny & Cher!
When I was a kid, Atlantic was probably the first record label I became aware of. This was the 1960s, and my older sister had a whole collection of 45s with the distinctive red and black Atlantic logo on them. She also had a hits compilation of Atlantic soul and R&B singles, which was one of my favorite albums to listen to.
A few years ago I bought the Atlantic R&B box set, which contained many of the tunes from that old vinyl LP of 40 years ago. And you know the songs sound as good now as they did when I was a kid. Thanks for all the music, Mr. Ertegun. We'll miss you.
Ertegun made a huge mark on American music, first signing R&B acts such as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Big Joe Turner, as well as Joe Tex and Otis Redding. The label later signed what turned out to be some of the biggest rock and pop acts of all time, including the Rolling Stones, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Bette Midler, ABBA, and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. And Sonny & Cher!
When I was a kid, Atlantic was probably the first record label I became aware of. This was the 1960s, and my older sister had a whole collection of 45s with the distinctive red and black Atlantic logo on them. She also had a hits compilation of Atlantic soul and R&B singles, which was one of my favorite albums to listen to.
A few years ago I bought the Atlantic R&B box set, which contained many of the tunes from that old vinyl LP of 40 years ago. And you know the songs sound as good now as they did when I was a kid. Thanks for all the music, Mr. Ertegun. We'll miss you.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Record Companies Turn the Tables on Downloaders
Facing slumping sales and increased online piracy, record companies have decided to turn lemons into lemonade. Companies have started planting advertiser-sponsored video clips of their artists on video sharing sites–the exact same kind of sites they've been battling for years.
The Wall Street Journal noted in October, for example, that rapper Jay-Z authorized a video clip from one of his summer concerts in New York to be placed on a variety of illegal music-sharing cites. The action occurred at the request of Coca-Cola, the Journal said, and the clip included promotions for Coke.
While record companies have usually battled file-sharing sites by planting fake "decoy" files to thwart and frustrate downloaders, this new tack by Jay-Z recognizes that the people who download files are also some of the biggest music fans and buyers, and that it may be more in their interest to market to them rather than sue them. So the decoy files being planted on leading file-sharing sites contain promotional materials, which are then seen by eager fans. So when fans turn to the file networks for purposes of piracy, they're getting a marketing message instead.
The article notes that other artists including Audioslave and Ice Cube have also benefited from decoy files, putting bits of a song into the files and promising that the user and this companions will be able to stream the entire song once the file is forwarded to a certain number of people.
The Wall Street Journal noted in October, for example, that rapper Jay-Z authorized a video clip from one of his summer concerts in New York to be placed on a variety of illegal music-sharing cites. The action occurred at the request of Coca-Cola, the Journal said, and the clip included promotions for Coke.
While record companies have usually battled file-sharing sites by planting fake "decoy" files to thwart and frustrate downloaders, this new tack by Jay-Z recognizes that the people who download files are also some of the biggest music fans and buyers, and that it may be more in their interest to market to them rather than sue them. So the decoy files being planted on leading file-sharing sites contain promotional materials, which are then seen by eager fans. So when fans turn to the file networks for purposes of piracy, they're getting a marketing message instead.
The article notes that other artists including Audioslave and Ice Cube have also benefited from decoy files, putting bits of a song into the files and promising that the user and this companions will be able to stream the entire song once the file is forwarded to a certain number of people.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
News Corp. Steals Band's MySpace Site; Outcry Ensues; Band Gets Site Back
I ran across this story the other day and couldn't believe it. Here goes: An indie-rock band called Bones recently logged in to its MySpace page and found that its content had been replaced by promotional content for the Fox TV Series "Bones."
Who snatched the band's site, why, and how? Well, the band's URL - myspace.com/bones - was apparently coveted by the Fox network and its owner News Corp., which happened to buy MySpace within the last year.
Since the Louisiana-based band relied on its MySpace page as a means to promote itself and stay in touch with fans - and the MySpace URL is on all their posters and other literature - this was a pretty disturbing turn of events. The good news is that once the hububb became public, News Corp. did an about-face and restored the band's original content.
A posting from the band on their MySpace page says they received a message from Tom of MySpace saying:
"I heard about what happened with your URL. I gave it back to ya...Sorry about that! As we grow in size, sometimes people make decisions I don't know about. This was obviously the wrong decision. The Bones URL is yours once again. :-) "
The story has a further happy ending for the non-corporate Bones. The band has received much publicity from the incident, and has been encouraged by the outpouring of support and good wishes from other indie bands and music fans in general.
Score this one: Rock 'n Rollers- 1, Corporate Cretins- 0.
Who snatched the band's site, why, and how? Well, the band's URL - myspace.com/bones - was apparently coveted by the Fox network and its owner News Corp., which happened to buy MySpace within the last year.
Since the Louisiana-based band relied on its MySpace page as a means to promote itself and stay in touch with fans - and the MySpace URL is on all their posters and other literature - this was a pretty disturbing turn of events. The good news is that once the hububb became public, News Corp. did an about-face and restored the band's original content.
A posting from the band on their MySpace page says they received a message from Tom of MySpace saying:
"I heard about what happened with your URL. I gave it back to ya...Sorry about that! As we grow in size, sometimes people make decisions I don't know about. This was obviously the wrong decision. The Bones URL is yours once again. :-) "
The story has a further happy ending for the non-corporate Bones. The band has received much publicity from the incident, and has been encouraged by the outpouring of support and good wishes from other indie bands and music fans in general.
Score this one: Rock 'n Rollers- 1, Corporate Cretins- 0.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Russian Download Site– Great Deal or Pirated Music?
Russian Web site All of MP3 has been pleasing customers but irritating the recording industry by selling low-priced MP3 music downloads. The site charges as much for an entire album as other sites charge for a single song, and also lets users download music in a variety of formats and quality levels, but it has been accused of violating copyright laws.
Mediaservices, the Moscow firm that owns All of MP3, recently held an online news conference with reporters to counteract the criticism and to insist that it is running a legal business, not a pirated music site. All of MP3 addresses the issue head-on at its Web site, insisting that its business is authorized by the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and by the Russian copyright agency.
The company also claims to pay 15% of each sale to ROMS for royalties, which it says is responsible for paying the copyright owners. Mediaservices says that it has offered to pay royalties to the record companies but has been rebuffed. But Mediaservices has never had a license from the major recording companies to sell their music to begin with, which experts have said is a requirement under U.S. law.
The major record companies have copyright infringement lawsuits pending in Britain against the operators of All of MP3.
All of MP3's Web site says that the license fees for all downloaded materials are paid in accordance with Russian copyright law, but notes that the buyer is solely repsonsible for the use and distribution of materials from the site. "This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence," the site notes. It continues, "The Administration of AllOFMP3.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users."
So basically they're putting the onus of legality on the user. I know a number of people who have bought entire music libraries from the site; at pennies per track, it's very affordable to do so. Will the recording industry go after people who buy music from All of MP3?
Not likely; the site is still a relatively little-known player in the music download market. Sounds like the record companies will instead institute more lawsuits like the one in England, seeking to shut down All of MP3's operators in individual countries. For now the company seems to be operating in a legal gray area. We'll need to stay tuned to see what happens next.
Mediaservices, the Moscow firm that owns All of MP3, recently held an online news conference with reporters to counteract the criticism and to insist that it is running a legal business, not a pirated music site. All of MP3 addresses the issue head-on at its Web site, insisting that its business is authorized by the Russian Multimedia and Internet Society (ROMS) and by the Russian copyright agency.
The company also claims to pay 15% of each sale to ROMS for royalties, which it says is responsible for paying the copyright owners. Mediaservices says that it has offered to pay royalties to the record companies but has been rebuffed. But Mediaservices has never had a license from the major recording companies to sell their music to begin with, which experts have said is a requirement under U.S. law.
The major record companies have copyright infringement lawsuits pending in Britain against the operators of All of MP3.
All of MP3's Web site says that the license fees for all downloaded materials are paid in accordance with Russian copyright law, but notes that the buyer is solely repsonsible for the use and distribution of materials from the site. "This responsibility is dependent on the national legislation in each user's country of residence," the site notes. It continues, "The Administration of AllOFMP3.com does not possess information on the laws of each particular country and is not responsible for the actions of foreign users."
So basically they're putting the onus of legality on the user. I know a number of people who have bought entire music libraries from the site; at pennies per track, it's very affordable to do so. Will the recording industry go after people who buy music from All of MP3?
Not likely; the site is still a relatively little-known player in the music download market. Sounds like the record companies will instead institute more lawsuits like the one in England, seeking to shut down All of MP3's operators in individual countries. For now the company seems to be operating in a legal gray area. We'll need to stay tuned to see what happens next.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion
The speculation is over: Google announced October 9th that it has bought video sharing Web site YouTube for more than one and a half billion dollars in stock. According to Google's official announcement, YouTube will operate independently, its offices will stay at their current location in San Bruno, California, and all 67 YouTube employees will remain.
Acquisitions are nothing new in the fast-growing, quickly consolidating Internet business. And Google has purchased a number of companies in its efforts to move from search engine to software and service provider, content supplier, and advertising giant.
But the YouTube purchase is breathtaking in a number of ways:
* It is supposedly the first Internet start-up company to be bought for more than $1 billion
* YouTube has only about four dozen employees total, as noted above
* Although YouTube provides more than 100 million video views a day, the company has only been in existence for a little over a year and a half.
In the past YouTube has been criticized (and threatened with legal action) for posting copyrighted videos without permission. But both Google and YouTube have in recent days signed deals with major music and TV companies to license content. CBS is said to be creating its own YouTube channel for TV shows like Survivor.
Hmmm, $1.65 billion for 67 employees... I'd say YouTube's small staff of hardworking employees is about to get a nice bonus!
Acquisitions are nothing new in the fast-growing, quickly consolidating Internet business. And Google has purchased a number of companies in its efforts to move from search engine to software and service provider, content supplier, and advertising giant.
But the YouTube purchase is breathtaking in a number of ways:
* It is supposedly the first Internet start-up company to be bought for more than $1 billion
* YouTube has only about four dozen employees total, as noted above
* Although YouTube provides more than 100 million video views a day, the company has only been in existence for a little over a year and a half.
In the past YouTube has been criticized (and threatened with legal action) for posting copyrighted videos without permission. But both Google and YouTube have in recent days signed deals with major music and TV companies to license content. CBS is said to be creating its own YouTube channel for TV shows like Survivor.
Hmmm, $1.65 billion for 67 employees... I'd say YouTube's small staff of hardworking employees is about to get a nice bonus!
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