Can you save Internet radio?

Internet radio has had a stake driven through its young heart by the U.S. Copyright Royalty Board. To make a long story short, the Royalty Board—spurred on by hacks and lawyers at SoundExchange (an RIAA front)—decided to raise the royalty rates Internet broadcasters must pay to broadcast music. While the rate raise is only pennies per song, it adds up to a nearly 150% increase in fees. That's a lot. Increase your rent by 150% and see how quickly you have to move.

To make it worse the fees are retroactive, meaning a lot of Internet broadcasters will have to immediately shell out a lump sum payment for music they've already played. I'm not going to sugarcoat it: things look bad. An appeal of the decision has already been denied.

SaveNetRadio.org is a website that's trying to spread the word and also offers fans of Internet radio a chance to contact their representatives and have them ask for a Congressional appeal of the decision. Take a few minutes, click over to SaveNetRadio.org and use their extremely easy to use website to contact your Congressional representative(s) and ask them to help save Internet radio.

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

He's gone.

Poo-tee-weet?

Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt.

Pro-quality FireWire audio interface for $200

Yeah, that's the stuff right there. Sweet gear on the cheap. In case you've missed it, Musician's Friend is blowing out the Mackie Onyx Satellite.

The Satellite is a very rugged 2x6 computer audio interface that gives you eight separate inputs and six line outs, has two clean-and-clear-sounding Onyx preamps, and high-quality 24-bit/96kHz audio converters. It also ships with a full version of Tracktion for recording, processing, and mixing audio on your PC or Mac. But the coolest part of the Satellite is its totally unique two-piece form factor made up of the Pod and the Base Station. It allows you to easily take your recording interface wherever you go without having to unhook all the wiring and cabling you have it connected to at home. It's a fresh, functional idea that works exceptionally well. All this for $200.

But WAIT, there's MORE!

Forgive me—I've always wanted to do that. Not only is the Satellite only 200 clams, but for a limited time (through the end of April) when you buy a Mackie Satellite from Musician's Friend you're also eligible for a rebate that gets you a free padded carrying bag for the Satellite and a FireWire cable kit. Huzzah! Free stuff!

DRM-free downloads from EMI and iTunes

EMI and Apple have struck a deal to distribute high-quality, DRM-free music through the iTunes Music Store. The 256kbps AAC files will cost 30 cents more per track and you can still download the 128kbps version for the regular 99 cent price.

The wall hasn't fallen, but I think I see a hole.

Got $50 to spend on music?

Of course you do. If you're like me you easily spend more than that on CDs, LPs, and digital music files each year already. But Peter Jenner says $50 a year is all it would take to save music. He made his argument at a panel held at SXSW last week called Reinventing Payment Models for Digital Music. The influential manager of musical acts from Pink Floyd to The Clash to Billy Bragg has publicly gone off on this subject before, but this time he's put forth a bold and simple solution to the situation. And no one has to put up with any crappy DRM schemes.

Needless to say, I like this idea. But do you think anyone at the Big Four will listen? Color me doubtful . . . but hopeful.

U2 in 3-D

If only this was some kind of B-grade science fiction flick where Bono's head swells to ginormous proportions, threatens to block out the sun, and only the Edge can save him. But no, it's simply a concert film shot entirely in 3-D. Its producers say the movie, creatively titled "U2 3D," is in fact the very first live action movie ever shot, edited, and publicly shown entirely in 3-D. The company behind the movie is called Real D, and they've worked on a boatload of projects from various studios, everything from Disney's latest cartoon Meet The Robinsons to 3-D remakes of classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas as well as StereoGraphics scientific 3-D visualization products. "U2 3D" was shot during the South American leg of the Vertigo tour in 2006.

Real D 3-D isn't like the stereoscopic film you may remember from your childhood, though. All the 3-D rendering is done in digital for a much higher quality level, and you can't even watch a RealD-ified movie in a standard theater. You have to see it in a cinema outfitted for the RealD experience. While RealD has made serious strides in 3-D technology, here's a heads up: you still have to wear special glasses. You don't have to feel silly for wearing dark glasses in a theater, though . . . you know Bono will be wearing his.

Photo from PulseTC.com

Stax and SXSW

Okay, there's nothing even remotely high-tech about this, but as a soul fan—and a Stax Records fan specifically—I gotta post this. Number one soul man Isaac Hayes will be hosting a Stax Records revue at SXSW.

It's a celebration of many related events. The first is the reactivation of the Stax Record label, Isaac re-signing with Stax, and the 50th anniversary celebration of the label. Many thanks to Isaac Hayes, Stax and SXSW for working to put something like this together.

Thanks to Modern Guitars Magazine.