by Kira Grunenberg

Recession troubles still run amok. Industries across the world struggle to sustain employees, profits and morale. However, as has been confirmed in the past, the video game industry takes a lickin’ and keeps on kickin’.

Creativity and interactivity combine especially well on occasion, producing works that radiate much brighter than the average game. Interactive, serial titles like Dance Dance Revolution easily come to mind, followed closely by the “(Guitar) Hero” series and then the cunningly competing “Rock Band” series. These conceptual gems flourished in the seemingly invulnerable video game bubble, fusing two pop culture pastimes of music and gaming.

Two other interactive softwares following Guitar Hero and Rock Band’s suits are Guitar Apprentice and Rocksmith–products designed to deliver the same core result of people playing music on a real guitar, even if no prior experience exists. What’s interesting, is while the latter differentiates itself as a game rooted in reality (meaning the real guitar instead of a plastic controller) with the objectives of “learn[ing] while you play,” and “develop[ing] real skills,” the former utilizes real guitars but does the opposite; adamant on its website that “this is not a video game.”

Yet, if Guitar Apprentice had at least marketed itself as a game, albeit with an educational purpose, like Rocksmith, perhaps it would not be in the position of filing a lawsuit against Rocksmith’s developer, Ubisoft, effective as of this past Thursday. The lawsuit’s main claim, laid out by video game IP law site Patent Arcade, outlines alleged patent infringement on the part of Ubisoft, with the patent being for a “media system and method of progressive musical instruction.” 

Guitar Apprentice and Rocksmith were released in August 2011 and September 2011 respectively, yet when one performs a common Google news search, Rocksmith yields far more coverage and press, dating long before, during and after their release than Apprentice. (Even when comparing the amount of social media approval via Facebook, Rocksmith exceeds Apprentice in page awareness by a whopping 215,690 user “Likes.”)

Rocksmith began availability on the PlayStation 3 and XBox 360 game consoles and is scheduled to migrate to computers at the end of next month, whereas Apprentice initially released for Windows and Mac OS’s and then DVDs but has not indicated any intention of moving to gaming consoles.

The validity of the suit aside for a moment, the reason I proposed that Apprentice choosing to market as a game would have eliminated the need for a suit, is because of the drastically different popularity levels I’ve just mentioned. If Apprentice had been at the forefront, with Rocksmith left in the dust, the ‘infringement’ may have still occurred, but the copying would have presumably had negligible backlash. Any ulterior motives not blatantly stated remain unknown but it will be interesting what legal ammunition each company brings to the judicial table.

Below are the promotional trailers for both games. In objective mechanics, they do seem alike… though I would argue just from the patent claim, that the “Method(s) of progressive musical instruction” between the two are hardly identical, as one advocates starting with playing single notes while the other shuns this idea.

What do you think?

Kira is an old school music nerd with a love for all things creative; always searching for music’s common ground. She graduated with an M.A. in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Drop her a tweet @shadowmelody1

by Jon Bonner

Jim Marshall, the founder of Marshall Amplification and designer of one of the world’s most popular line of amplifiers, passed away on Thursday, April 5^th in Buckinghamshire, England. He was eighty-eight years old, and what he left behind is recognized throughout the world as being one of the loudest, smoothest line of rock amplifiers, praised by some of the most legendary musicians of our time.

In the ‘60s, Jim Marshall was just a music shop owner in West London, selling drums and guitars, when local English musicians, including Pete Townshend and Richie Blackmore began inquiring to Marshall about building prototype amplifiers that were louder than Fenders. Marshall would answer with the JTM-45: 30-watts, higher-gain ECC83 tubes in the preamp, and a capacitor/resistor filter after the volume control. This made the signal distort earlier on the volume control, making for a higher-gain amp. He also kept the speaker cabinet separate from the amp, and many believe that the extra room in the cabinet boosted both resonance and bass response.

As production costs climbed with the company’s popularity, Jim opted for UK-made Dagnall and Drake transformers, as well as the switch to KT66 power tubes, making for an even more aggressive tone. Eric Clapton, then having just left the Yardbirds, loved the new design, but needed it to fit in the trunk of his car. Marshall went ahead and dropped the newly-modified amp into a new custom cabinet with two 12-inch speakers, and Clapton’s “Bluesbreaker” amp, the Model 1962, was born.

As word spread, The Who was starting to fill venues and was in need of double the 50-wattage of power they were already using. Quick to please, Jim Marshall designed a 100-watt amplifier, by doubling the amount of output tubes, replacing the transformer with a bigger one, and adding another transformer. With this new capacity, Townshend achieved his desired tone, and was hailed the first one to use the great, and now legendary Super Lead Model 1959, or the original “Plexi.”

Jimi Hendrix was perhaps the most famous fan of Marshall amps, and acquired them at a time when the KT66 valves were changed to EL34 power valves, resulting in different distortion characteristics, one that was not as loud as before, but more aggressive. Jim Marshall sold him a few stacks and made sure Jimi would have some in both America, and in London.

The innovations would continue through the 1970s on through the 1990s and beyond, with the JCM-series heads, and their production of quality solid-state amps. The success of their Vintage-Modern series of amps can be attributed to the raunchy, British sound that we’re all used to, with modern usability and additional effects.

Jim Marshall was one of the first engineers to utilize the distinct properties of certain valve tubes to get a distinct, powerful sound that is unmatched and often emulated. He catered to the needs of the music of the time, and the musicians that played the music. It was the first time manufacturer and consumer were communicating on a personal basis, and actually getting something out of it.

Let Jim Marshall be remembered for his designs, and for being such a crucial part of many of rock’s greatest careers. The Father of Loud, rest in peace!

Jon Bonner is an independent writer and musician from New England.

by Kyle Mammarella

After years of steep declines, the music industry is beginning to see some hope on the horizon.

Total music shipments – both digital and physical – rose 0.2 percent in 2011, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with a retail value of $7 billion.

In its annual year-end shipment report, the RIAA tracks the value of physical shipments, as well as the dollar value of digital downloads, mobile sales, subscription revenue, digital performance royalties and synchronization royalties, as reported by record labels.

Not surprisingly, digital revenue streams have led this growth.  Digital downloads totaled $2.62 billion, representing a 17.3% increase over 2010.  Digital albums surpassed 100 million in volume for the first time, showing gains of 25% to $1.1 billion.

Other digital revenues, including subscriptions, performance royalties and synchronization royalties, had a combined increase of 12.2% to $79.2 million in 2011.  Digital performance royalties, which are paid when a song is played on satellite radio, via webcasting, or any other non-interactive service, increased to $292 million, or 17% over 2010.  Synchronization (synch) royalties rose 4% to $196.5 million.  Synch royalties cover the use of a recording in media, such as a television show, movies and video games.  This report was the first time that the RIAA included this type of royalty, a move most likely due to the fact that as album sales continue to decrease, these types of revenues become increasingly important to artists, copyright holders and the overall health of the music industry.

Subscription services continue to become vital to the music industry, as well.  These services averaged 1.8 million subscribers in 2011, up from 1.5 million in 2010, with revenues of $241 million.  At first glance, this 300,000 increase in subscribers seems low, especially when taking into account the fact that Spotify alone, which launched in July 2011, had reported 250,000 subscribers by October.  The reason for the small increase in the RIAA’s report comes from the way it calculates the annual weighted average number of subscribers.  The RIAA takes into account when consumers started paying fees for purposes of revenue tracking.  In other words, a subscription customer gained in October was not worth the same as one gained in January.  The RIAA confirmed that the industry gained most of its subscribers in the second half of the year.

The growth of digital revenue streams remain vital to the future success of the music industry.  Physical sales decreased 7.7% compared with 2010, but this decline was narrowly offset by digital’s total 9.2% growth.  No longer simply a niche, digital music is proving to be the stabilizing factor in the decline of the music industry in the twenty-first century.

Kyle Mammarella is a New York based artist manager and music enthusiast.

via Billboard Biz

by Glenn Peoples

An anti-competition case dating back a decade may have finally concluded with a 63-page decision that Clear Channel/Live Nation does not have a monopoly on rock concerts. On Monday the judge in the case granted summary judgment on motions regarding the Denver and Los Angeles markets and granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the testimony of Dr. Owen R. Phillips.

[...]

The judge found plenty of problems with the expert report submitted for the plaintiffs by Dr. Owen R. Phillips, a professor of economics at the University of Wyoming. One interesting piece of the judge’s 63-page order describes how Dr. Phillips calculated damages in Los Angeles ($70.6 million) and Denver ($21.7 million) by calculating the difference in prices for rock concerts promoted by Live Nation and its competitors. But as the judge noted, Dr. Phillips didn’t account for other explanations for the price disparity such as artist popularity or venue size.

Read full story at Billboard Biz

by Kyle Mammarella

For those fans that love live music but hate the crowds and long lines for the porta-potties, YouTube and Dell have announced a new partnership that would bring the concert experience to the comfort of your own home.

The exclusive partnership, which was announced at last week’s South by Southwest conference, will live stream webcasts of four of this year’s major music festivals: New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Austin City Limits (ACL).

“There is nothing like seeing your favorite artist live,” said Fara Howard, executive director, North America consumer marketing at Dell.  “This partnership enables music fans to not only connect with their favorite artists, but also discover new rising stars in the process. A win-win situation for everyone.”

Music lovers will experience shows in a presentation that includes multiple live channels, behind-the-scenes content and exclusive artist interviews.

“As a platform, YouTube is committed to bringing original content and unique music experiences to fans, artists, and festivals in a way that benefits the entire music ecosystem,” said Robert Kyncl, global head of content for YouTube. “This live streaming partnership is an exciting example of our commitment to music and YouTube is thrilled to join Dell in bringing four incredible festivals to the world’s largest stage and a diversity of music to fans worldwide.”

Michael Tatelman, vice president, Dell North America Consumer, added, “Enhancing the music experience for customers is what the collaboration with YouTube is all about.  Dell has a long-standing tradition of supporting music lovers, and all of these festivals have their own cool, unique vibe framed by the music culture of each city. Now with Dell technology, we are able to share that special vibe with millions of music lovers around the world via concert live streams.”

Live streams and video content for music festivals require a high-end, accelerated workflow that enables near real-time video production.  Many festivals are turning to powerful Dell Precision workstations, which are designed to run professional video applications, to produce these streams.  For example, ACL and Lollapalooza’s video production team used Dell Precision workstations at the 2011 festivals to produce video extras to support and surround the live broadcasts. Cameras positioned throughout the festivals capture performances, crowd shots, interviews and other content which was edited on the workstations and then uploaded to multiple simultaneous channels on YouTube.

“Timing is everything when you’re providing online, HD video and audio content during large festivals,” said Daniel Gibbs, video director for C3 Presents, the event production company for ACL and Lollapalooza.  “Thanks to Dell Precision workstations and Adobe Premiere Pro software, we were able to cut production time in half, bringing more live music, backstage action, audience interaction and festival footage online than ever before.”

This announcement comes just as the concert industry is beginning to see some growth after years of declining attendance.  Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, reported that overall revenues for 2011 had increased by 6.3 percent, to $5.38 billion from just over $5 billion in 2010.

“The concert business is off to a great start in 2012, driven by a solid early line-up of artists and healthy ticketing demand,” said Michael Rapino, President/CEO of Live Nation Entertainment. “We believe that the industry has stabilized and expect the overall market environment to be much the same in 2012, with the fan’s passion for our products mitigating any ongoing economic uncertainty.”

The music industry continues to dive deeper and deeper into the digital sphere.  Time will tell if the “live” music market will follow suit.

Kyle Mammarella is a New York based artist manager and music enthusiast.

via CNET

by Greg Sandoval and Roger Cheng

Google is rebuilding Android Market.

The Internet giant, looking to create a more comprehensive source for movies, apps, music, and e-books, is folding Google Music and Google eBookstore into one store, now renamed Google Play, according to Jamie Rosenberg, director of digital content for Google. The changes go into effect today.

Google Play marks a radical departure from Android Market, which has been a fixture of the company’s mobile platform since the debut of Android more than three years ago. The move is a tacit admission that offering apps, games, and e-books–the main features of Android Market–isn’t enough to remain competitive even as rival app stores spring up. Google Play is designed to break down the walls separating the company’s disparate offerings, Rosenberg said.

“Google Play will become a single experience for users,” Rosenberg said. “This creates a more powerful experience around Android and also increases opportunities for content partners” to interact with more of Google’s offerings.

Read full story at CNET.com

via Billboard Biz

by Richard Smirke

Radiohead is looking to sidestep the thriving secondary ticketing market by partnering with the fan-to-fan orientated Ticket Trust for its forthcoming U.K. tour.

The Ticket Trust was established in 2011 by the U.K. Association of Independent Festivals (AIF) and U.K.-based merch and e-commerce company Sandbag to offer a secure ethical alternative to the thriving secondary ticket market. The independently run Trust, which has previously partnered with a number of U.K. festivals, including Secret Garden Party, Bestival and Creamfields, provides a platform for fans to buy and sell tickets at face value, plus a handling fee, capped at 10%, payable by the buyer.

Although dates for Radiohead’s 2012 U.K. trek are yet to be announced, the band has pledged that any tickets sold through its w.a.s.t.e. merch store will be made exchangeable for face value via the Ticket Trust, if the owner can no longer attend.

Radiohead is the first high-profile artist to directly align itself to the enterprise. Joining the band in signing up to the Ticket Trust is the Eden Sessions, a series of summer concerts staged at the Eden Project, Cornwall. Blink-182, Plan B and British electronic artist Example are confirmed to appear at this year’s event. U.K. festival the Secret Garden Party has also signed up to the service, with Bestival among those set to register, according to a spokesperson for the Ticket Trust.

Read full story at billboard.biz