Royalty payout could await voices behind 'The Wall'
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The youngsters who sang the chorus in "The Wall" may be pushing middle age today, but they stand to collect a tidy little sum for their vocal contribution to the Pink Floyd rock opera.
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When everything gets an API then everything you can imagine will be possible if you can write a script.  And sometimes, to give you an idea, all that has to happen is that a wall come down. The latest, most intriguing such wall was the paywall at the NY Times. Now all of a sudden we find the wealth of information published by the NY Times over many decades is available without tariff. More important, we can point into the archive. We've gotten so accustomed to the wall, that you actually have to think when it may be possible to go in there, as if it left behind a wall in our minds, even after the wall on the web is gone. For example, the first episode of Ken Burns's The War, an epic series about World War II from the American perspective, cited several NY Times articles. If you looked carefully you could see the dates, and the actual headlines, and then if you have a browser handy, as I do (I have an iPhone) you can actually read the article while the narrative continues. Today this is mostly a gimick, but I suspect as we get used to having history so available (like having a library microfilm machine, which I used to spend whole days playing with when I was a kid) it will change our sense of information, perhaps as much as anything else that's ever been on the web. Take movie reviews for example. What a thrill to be able to read a review of a movie that I love that came out in 1932! The reviewers back then were more forgiving, less sarcasting, more enthusiastic. Consider their review of the Hollywood Revue of 1929, a favorite of mine that I've only seen once (I'd pay for a DVD, if it were available). They loved audible movies (that's what they called them) as if the term "talkie" was as elusive as "podcast" was in the summer of 2004. Again, we've just scratched the surface. Wouldn't you like to have NY Times movie reviews integrated with Netflix? Or have Yahoo's movie rating service available on the NY Times site. And I have to wonder whether they really have gone all the way. You can't see the reviews unless you're logged in. Can Google's robots, therefore, see the movie reviews? Unless the've made some special arrangements, it seems not.  It would be helpful to get a technical guide to the newly hatched NY Times on the Web, or (as in the old days of software) a reviewer's guide, so we get some ideas of what to look at. Clearly a lot of work went into opening up the Times archive. I'm going to be in NY the week of October 8 and will have some time toward the end of the week. If anyone at the Times would be willing to spend some time with me reviewing what's now open, that would be helpful. In any case, at least the Times today is somewhat more available to be integrated into the fabric of the web. That's some progress. How much, remains to be seen. Postscript: Kottke did a great job of skimming the surface of the newly opened Times when it first came online, just one week ago today.
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Private-equity and hedge funds may soon face the taxman.
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Radio listeners sick of hearing the same tunes again and again may soon encounter surprising new voices, thanks to a $12.5 million settlement pending against major broadcasters accused of taking record companies' bribes.
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Internet music broadcasters will have to start paying sharply higher royalties next week, after a federal appeals court yesterday refused to halt the royalty increase.
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The deal will let striking writers work on projects for  Media Rights Capital, a production company that helped finance the film âBabel.â
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Since the dawn of the musical era in radio, broadcasters have been free from paying royalties to musical performers. Radio was once the bands' ticket to the big leagues. That may change if two congressmen have their way.
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More than 38,000 performing artists are owed royalty money for certain digital and satellite transmissions, but they only have until year's end to claim it.
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Amid an outcry from online listeners and Congress, the recording industry indicated it may show new leniency on royalties for Internet radio.
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Universal Music Group is poised to win a battle in its war to claim royalties from sites that allow users to upload videos that contain its music.
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Co-founders of Miramax reportedly have been told their contracts won&#39;t be extended beyond Sept. &#39;05. NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Walt Disney Co.
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A court ruling bodes well for next-generation royalties.
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Members of the children's chorus who sang on Pink Floyd's anti-authoritarian 1979 hit, "Another Brick in the Wall," are owed thousands of dollars in payment, a royalties agent said.
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These funds are going for a song, but are they worth the price?
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A YouTube deal with the British society that collects royalties for composers, songwriters and publishers means artists will be paid for tracks used to back clips on the video-sharing website. The agreement will also give YouTube a defense when media companies holler "piracy."
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Universal Music Group is poised to win a small battle in its war to claim royalties from sites that allow users to upload videos that contain its music.
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The Grammy Awards will be in full voice next month, with the striking writers guild agreeing Monday to allow its members to work on the show