What the HELL is Paul McGuinness on about now??

August 2010 : U2 manager, Paul McGuinness has a go at illegal file sharers, bloggers and isp's Part of his thought are below. There's a link to the full article at the end of this piece.

We are living in an era when "free" is decimating the music industry and is starting to do the same to film, TV and books. Yet for the world’s internet service providers, bloated by years of broadband growth, "free music" has become a multi-billion dollar bonanza. What has gone so wrong? And what can be done now to put it to right?

Well-known artists very seldom speak out on piracy. There are several reasons for this. It isn't seen as cool or attractive to their fans -- Lars Ulrich from Metallica was savaged when he criticised Napster. Other famous artists sometimes understandably feel too rich and too successful to be able to speak out on the issue without being embarrassed. 

Then there is the backlash from the bloggers -- those anonymous gremlins who wait to send off their next salvo of bilious four-letter abuse whenever a well-known artist sticks their head above the parapet. When Lily Allen recently posted some thoughtful comments about how illegal file-sharing is hurting new developing acts, she was ravaged by the online mob and withdrew from the debate. 

Nevertheless, Bono has stepped into the argument. Quite unprompted by me, he wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times in January and he pulled no punches. "A decade's worth of music file sharing and swiping has made clear the people it hurts are the creators.

Artists cannot get record deals. Revenues are plummeting. Efforts to provide legal and viable ways of making money from music are being stymied by piracy. The latest figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) shown that 95 per cent of all music downloaded is illegally obtained and unpaid for.

In the future I envisage every piece of music will be licensed to be available at any time on any device. All music will be transferrable between computer and portable device. ISPs will be reporting significant revenues from their "content ventures." These are the added-value businesses that over time they must move into as their flat-rate broadband business reaches saturation point. This is not fantasy: an independent survey by Ovum recently predicted that ISPs in the U.K. could earn more than £100m in digital music revenues by 2013. In the beautiful future of my dream, every record label and every ISP will be joined in commercial partnership, sharing revenues and strategies to get their music to as many millions of people as possible.

Full article at this link:

http://www.atu2.com/news/paul-mcguinness-on-music-piracy.html

Why is Paul Brady going at it HAMMER and TONGS??

Paul Brady has been putting in the hours and the miles on the road for the past couple of months in support of his latest album, HOOBA DOOBA. The album has been winning extra cool reviews on both sides of the Atlantic (the one between here and America, for all you budding junior cert students). Checkout some up and coming dates below.

What you should be LISTENING to now

The Arcade Fire's album "The Suburbs" on CD comes in 8 different covers. The allocation of the cover is completely random. Having released two of the most inventive and musically extravagant records of the noughties - 'Funeral' and 'Neon Bible' - Canadian ensemble Arcade Fire create a concept and sound that represents their personal upbringing (in the suburbs)for their third outing 'The Suburbs'. Frontman Win Butler'svocal lines are smoother than before and given weight by a looming sense of darkness, while co-vocalist Regine gives balance to Arcade Fire's music with an added feeling of wonderrunning through her work. As with their earlier material, violins, harpsichords and xylophones, among other instruments, accompany guitars and drums to add depth to a superb indierock sound.

'Surfing The Void' is the second studio album by 2007's Mercury Music Prize Winners, the Klaxons. Shedding the 'Nu Rave' tag by working with esteemed producer Ross Robinson (Slipknot, Korn, At The Drive-In), the group revel in more dense and cosmic influences ranging from progressive rock to space-age folk and Kraut rock. Constructing vast and imaginative soundscapes with their trademark harmonies and melodies, thisis their most adventurous and boldest recording to date. Includes the tracks 'Flashover' and 'Echoes'.

High Violet' is the fifth studio album from Brookyln-basedindie band The National. The album was produced by Peter Katis, who has also produced albums for several other indie bands, including Fanfarlo and Frightened Rabbit. Many of the tracks also feature contributions from other artists, including members of Arcade Fire and Bon Iver. 'High Violet' is preceded by the single 'Bloodbuzz Ohio'.