Philosophy
Pink Floyd won in court last week. They were suing their record label EMI who was trying to sell downloads of songs from Dark Side of the Moon on iTunes. The band argued that their contract required that it be sold in album form only -- these were the days when it would be possible to sell two individual songs on 45s, although no one at the time was buying 45s (for those of the younger generation, find "45 rpm recordings" on wikipedia). EMI contended that the contract, negotiated before the digital era did not cover downloads because neither of the parties considered such a thing. The judge disagreed and contended that a new method of dissemination did not change the agreement that was reached.
It certainly seems like the proper legal decision, but one claim made by the members of the band seems odd to me. They argue that Dark Side of the Moon is not a collection of songs that can be sliced and diced, but, as a concept album, is a single coherent piece of art that cannot be unbundled.
- The Feast Of Saint Tom
My Fellow Comedists,I am humbled to share a birthday this week with a true Comedist saint, Tom Lehrer. An undergraduate and masters students at Harvard in mathematics in the late 40s and early 50s, he began to play novelty songs in the Cambridge area....
- The Feast Of Saint Tom
Friends, I am humbled to share a birthday this week with a true Comedist saint, Tom Lehrer. An undergraduate and masters students at Harvard in mathematics in the late 40s and early 50s, he began to play novelty songs in the Cambridge area. Eventually,...
- The Dark Side Of The Moon [1959] And Luna 3
Luna 3 io9... The right three-quarters of the disk are the far side. The dark spot at upper right is Mare Moscoviense, the dark area at lower left is Mare Smythii. The small dark circle at lower right with the white dot in the center is the crater Tsiolkovskiy...
- R. Crumb Retrospective
"The vibrant joy of Robert Crumb's album covers" The cult cartoonist's artwork for various artists has a vividness and oomph that is almost like music in itself by Laura Barton November 20th, 2011 guardian.co.uk "Yeah I'll do your album...
- Tom Lehrer And "the Elements"
Tom Lehrer turns 82. Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter... Tom Lehrer, American mathematician turned song-writer, was born Apr. 9, 1928. Lehrer studied at Harvard, but in the 1950s he began performing satirical songs that he had written,...
Philosophy
Are There Songs on Dark Side of the Moon?
Pink Floyd won in court last week. They were suing their record label EMI who was trying to sell downloads of songs from Dark Side of the Moon on iTunes. The band argued that their contract required that it be sold in album form only -- these were the days when it would be possible to sell two individual songs on 45s, although no one at the time was buying 45s (for those of the younger generation, find "45 rpm recordings" on wikipedia). EMI contended that the contract, negotiated before the digital era did not cover downloads because neither of the parties considered such a thing. The judge disagreed and contended that a new method of dissemination did not change the agreement that was reached.
It certainly seems like the proper legal decision, but one claim made by the members of the band seems odd to me. They argue that Dark Side of the Moon is not a collection of songs that can be sliced and diced, but, as a concept album, is a single coherent piece of art that cannot be unbundled.
The band's lawyer, Robert Howe, said the band was known for producing "seamless" pieces of music on albums like "The Dark Side of the Moon" and "The Wall," and wanted to retain artistic control.Is this seemlessness claim true? The band seemed to have no problems collecting the royalties and getting the publicity when radio stations played parts of the album. The album does have song names and breaks where one could put down the needle that correspond to those names. The album does have at least two sides which cannot be musically contiguous, but can we draw distinctions that they seem to make in saying that there are discrete songs on Dark Side of the Moon?
- The Feast Of Saint Tom
My Fellow Comedists,I am humbled to share a birthday this week with a true Comedist saint, Tom Lehrer. An undergraduate and masters students at Harvard in mathematics in the late 40s and early 50s, he began to play novelty songs in the Cambridge area....
- The Feast Of Saint Tom
Friends, I am humbled to share a birthday this week with a true Comedist saint, Tom Lehrer. An undergraduate and masters students at Harvard in mathematics in the late 40s and early 50s, he began to play novelty songs in the Cambridge area. Eventually,...
- The Dark Side Of The Moon [1959] And Luna 3
Luna 3 io9... The right three-quarters of the disk are the far side. The dark spot at upper right is Mare Moscoviense, the dark area at lower left is Mare Smythii. The small dark circle at lower right with the white dot in the center is the crater Tsiolkovskiy...
- R. Crumb Retrospective
"The vibrant joy of Robert Crumb's album covers" The cult cartoonist's artwork for various artists has a vividness and oomph that is almost like music in itself by Laura Barton November 20th, 2011 guardian.co.uk "Yeah I'll do your album...
- Tom Lehrer And "the Elements"
Tom Lehrer turns 82. Bill Ashworth in the Linda Hall Library Newsletter... Tom Lehrer, American mathematician turned song-writer, was born Apr. 9, 1928. Lehrer studied at Harvard, but in the 1950s he began performing satirical songs that he had written,...