Neues Fotobuch von Wunderkid Ryan McGinley

15/05/2010 / Ari Stein

Von einem der größten und angesagtesten Fotografie-Talente momentan, Ryan McGinley, ist soeben ein neues Buch mit dem Titel Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere erschienen.

Der 32-jährige New Yorker holt sich gerade ein Lob nach dem anderen ab und wird zudem mit Preisen überhäuft. Außerdem ist er der jüngste Fotograf, der je im Whitney Museum of American Art austellen durfte. 2008 shootete er das Cover des fünften Albums von Sigur Ros Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust.



Sein neuestes Werk, das den Namen von Neil Youngs zweitem Soloalbum trägt, richtet den Fokus auf Befreiung und hedonistische Jugendlichkeit, aber auch über die Unsicherheiten, die das Jungsein mit sich bringt. Die meisten Protagonisten sind nackt und wurden in McGinleys New Yorker Studio aufgenommen.

Dem Ergebnis von 150 ausgewählten Bildern ging ein akribischer, zwei Jahre dauernder Produktionsprozess voraus, in dem Tausende Fotos aufgenommen wurden, um den ganz bestimmten Moment abzuwarten und das perfekte Bild zu schießen.




Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere ist bei Dashwood Books erschienen und erscheint als Hardcover in limitierter Auflage (2000 Stück)

Lime Wire in the deep end

14/05/2010 /

In what some say is unprecedented for the copyright world, peer-2-peer company, Lime Wire was recently found guilty of committing and inducing copyright infringement.

The case which was brought about by various record labels like Sony BMG, Virgin Records and Warner Bros. Records been pending since August 2009. It went through the US District Court in New York and on Tuesday a 59-page verdict was handed down: Lime Wire is guilty.

The decision certainly doesn't bode well for other peer-2-peer companies, in the current climate of music pillaging, pro-industry voices like the RIAA are doing all they can in order to prevent a further slide into the sales abyss.

Lime Wire started out in 2000, initially setting up a large file sharing network in which million of users could trade files with one another across several platforms.

In a counterclaim suit against the RIAA from Lime Wire, representatives issued this statement:

”[The RIAA]′s goal was simple: to destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control or force such services to do business with them on exclusive and/or other anti-competitive terms.”

RIAA hit back at Lime Wire, insulting the motivation of the New York based company:

"While most commercial illicit P2P networks have ultimately abided by the Supreme Court's unanimous decision, Lime Wire is a conspicuous holdout... A kitchen sink of frivolous charges doesn't change the law, the Supreme Court's ruling or the fact that Lime Wire has built a business based on theft and continues to profit from it."

The reality of the situation is that Lime Wire stands outdated amongst the file sharing networks, many other start up companies have popped up in the last few years, carrying the torch for illicit copyright infringement.

Ari Stein

Sources:

http://news.cnet.com/Lime-Wire,-squeezed,-files-countersuit/2100-1030_3-6119646.html?tag=mncol;txt

http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2010/05/13/riaa-victorious-limewire-found-guilty-of-copyright-infringement/

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/05/major-copyright-defeat-tastes-sour-for-limewire.ars

GEMA puts its unreasonable foot down on YouTube

12/05/2010 /

German collection agency GEMA recently ordered YouTube to remove 600 videos from its site after contract renewal talks broke down on May 10th.

Talks for its renewal had been in place for over year, but its 18-month contract with YouTube expired March 31, 2009.

GEMA have seemingly become unreasonable and over-demanding with YouTube and might also be a step out of reality. Not only do GEMA already charge 130 times more than Britain does for usage of music on YouTube. (Currently at a rate of €0.1278 for every song up to five minutes).
But the collection agency also want a share of advertising profits and aligned growth revenue, hardly viable for YouTube, if all publishing collection agencies decided to do this.

GEMA have taken a stand alongside the support of eight other collection agencies such as AKM (Austria), ASCAP (US), BMI (United States), SABAM (Belgium), SACEM (France), SESAC (United States), SIAE (Italy) and SUISA (Switzerland), hoping that their defiance will lead to improved royalty rates for artists and collection arms.

GEMA CEO Dr. Harald Heker was quoted as saying, ”GEMA wants to take a stand and stress the fact that music has its price."

The collection agency GEMA looks after a large amount of copyrights namely 60,000 composers, lyricists, and music publishers, also representing over 1 million copyright owners all over the world.

In Google's defense Patrick Walter, who is the director of video partnerships for the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) stated that "Nobody can expect that YouTube is going into a business where it loses money each time a music video is [played]. This simply is not sustainable."

Sources:

http://paidcontent.org/article/419-youtubes-german-music-royalty-talks-break-down/

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i327b3ab8972bdc8e06c3f112824ccce8

Ari Stein

Peter Gabriel - The force behind The Filter

11/05/2010 /

The artist behind multi-platinum 80s band Genesis, Peter Gabriel is behind a relatively new music and film recommendation service called The Filter.

The service, which is six years old, started out in Bath, England and has grown big enough to attract clients such as Sony Music, NBC and Nokia.

Filter currently has 15 employees and it expects revenues of nearly $4 million this year, but Filter's CEO, David Maher Roberts, a former jazz drummer is labeled the resident "visionary" of the operations by Gabriel.

Gabriel′s history in the start up tech market stems right back to 1990 when he invested in a company called Syco Systems, where he created a digital audio workstation called the Tablet.

In 1999 he had improved on his track record with technology when he helped start OD2, a download music service that coincided with the iTunes suffocation of the music market. Although Gabriel and his fellow backers did sell the company to the Seattle based Loud eye, Gabriel did make a hefty $11 million out it.

Filter is hoping to be the next step up from Google's domination in the market as Stephen Andrade, senior vice-president for digital development for NBC.com explained, "The Filter did better than a lot of its competitors," he says. "That's why we are moving forward with them."

Gabriel had been kicking around the idea for quite some time but it wasn't until 2004, when he met Hopkins who was a musically inclined physicist that things started to take shape.
"Hopkins wrote software to manage his music and used artificial intelligence that learned his tastes and then suggested playlists. That technology became the basis for The Filter"

The company have not made even yet, riding some bumps along the way, venture capital has kicked in close to $10 million USD. ?Gabriel says he is certain "The Filter could one day serve as an all-purpose "decision guru" that goes beyond music."

Although Gabriel is a minority investor in The Filter, no sale for the company is on the cards, yet they have had offers for several anonymous buyers.
Recommendations aside, Filter could have a very strong future if it manages to weave its way into the already very over-crowded tech market.

Sources:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_16/b4174046688330.htm

http://www.thefilter.com/

Ari Stein

TODAY WE LIKE: Graffiti with substance

07/05/2010 / Marc Zedler

Is the Be Yourself Movement just a bunch of new hooded heroes or just a collective of urban thugs?

BYM is a group of Italian street artists who are fed up with current outdoor adverts and as a result are determined to tag questionable messages and images. Disappearing as soon as they arrive this guerrilla faction of mainstream dissenters are armed with spray cans, paper, glue, and cutter.

Already a big hit in Rome and Milan, BYM have recently decided to take their artistic exploits to the Germanic capital, Berlin. Cheekily BYM claims, “[How] Could we obviously lose the opportunity to export the BYM in Teutonic lands?!” On their weekend bender “propaganda” was posted at the Brandenburger Tor, various universities, and even the Volksbühne. Below you can have a look at their creative mayhem.

What makes BYM unique over would-be posers is its universal mantra, ‘I am who I am.’ Altering adverts with a healthy dose of humor and self-esteem, the messages promote beauty in physical differences and imperfections. It’s a breath of fresh air to the mundane tagging and signatures. For further information add them on Facebook or view their website.

Oh, and for those who are lured by BYM’s romantic appeal you can even download BYM samples and do a bit of your own urban tagging. (Not that we support such behavior.)

Also check out BYM’s manifesto, here's a sample below:

"We’re tired of feeling like numbers, of our generation being seen as a target and of our behaviour being measured as a market trend.

We believe in and promote the development of an individual and collective critical conscience and we aim for it to be respected.

We believe it is necessary to free our and future generations from self-constraining life and beauty stereotypes.

We refuse to accept socio-cultural imposition, the standardisation of the individual and the proliferation of one ideology.

We believe in plump Prince Charmings and in well-nourished princesses.

We believe it’s much better to live life in the way one wants rather than fitting into someone else’s model.

We believe that physical differences and imperfections are positive symbols of individual uniqueness.

We believe in accepting people for what and who they are without discrimination.

We believe in freedom of expression, constructive criticism and the democracy of communication.

We believe it’s time to stand up and creatively claim our right not to be standardised.

Be yourself, be proud of it and help us to spread the Be Yourself Movement!"

Be Yourself Movement Milano metro action from beyourselfmovement on Vimeo.