Click Here To Bookmark our new address DayInRock.com

Song Tax 
AP reports: Canada's songwriters sought to require that Internet service providers pay for their users' music downloading habits in a case that could generate millions of dollars in music royalties. 

In the case Canada's Supreme Court heard Wednesday, the 70,000-member Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada also wants to extend the nation's copyright law beyond its borders by applying it to offshore Web sites that serve Canadians. 

"I believe that those who benefit from selling access to music should compensate the creators," said David Basskin, president of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency, whose agency oversees royalties from CDs and includes many of SOCAN's members. 

Analysts said the case could have far-reaching implications worth millions if not billions of dollars, especially as the music industry tries to rebound from declining sales in traditional stores. 

The case could change how artists are compensated, how far a country can go to extract payment, what gets put on the Internet and how recording companies serve buyers, they said. 

SOCAN argues that everyone is downloading music, so all ISPs should pay a blanket royalty fee. 

Fighting the effort is the Canadian Association of Internet Providers, which includes Canadian subsidiaries of some of the tech world's heavy hitters: Bell, Sprint, AOL, MCI, IBM and Yahoo. Click Here for the Full Story

Ok, we're hurting for money how about the film and TV companies demand royalties from TV, DVD and VCR manufacturers? The music biz can demand royalties from stereo and CD player manufactures. And we can't let those people that sing or hum along to songs off either, we need to track them down and demand money too!  (see story below about BMI) 

MTV Made Ozzy A Clown
TeenMusic.com reports that Ozzy Osbourne's eldest daughter Aimee has slammed the producers of her family's reality MTV series - claiming they have turned her father into "a laughing stock".

The 20-year-old is furious that her mother Sharon and siblings Kelly and Jack agreed to take part in the fly-on-the-wall show because she predicted that it would ruin her dad's musical heritage by portraying him as a "clown".

Aimee - who has never appeared in the hugely-popular series - says, "I thought it was a big mistake to make 'The Osbournes' TV show and told my mom: 'They're going to make so much fun of you guys.' Today I look at it knowing everything I feared has come true."

"The first time I saw it and the way they edited it to make my dad look like a clown, I wanted to cry."

"They made him out to look totally incapable and I hated it. My mom, of course, won the argument. She won, in that the show became more successful than we all would have thought - but not in the way my dad is laughed at every day."

"Now he is a laughing stock and known as a stuttering alcoholic. After all his years of hard work and touring, this is how he's being remembered and appreciated.".Click Here for the Full Story

New Metallica in 04?
siN's metal news: According to 4horsemen.4t.com, in an interview conducted by the Norweigan publication Aftenposted with METALLICA's lead guitarist Kirk Hammett, METALLICA plan to return to the studio to start writing for their next album in the Autumn of 2004..-Click Here for the Full Story

Rumor has it that in the spirit of "Reload" following "Load" the follow up to "St Anger" will be "St. Happy" or as Robin Williams calls it Mr. Happy. 

Lennon Reissued
NME reports: JOHN LENNON's classic song 'HAPPY XMAS (WAR IS OVER)' is to be re-released on the anniversary of his death.

The song has also been covered by the finalists from TV's 'Pop Idol' show, and this recording is currently the bookies' favourite to be the Christmas Number One.

Lennon's original version will be released on December 8, which is 23 years to the day after he was murdered. The single will also be released on limited edition green vinyl, mirroring the 1972 release.

The single will also feature three tracks from the DVD 'Lennon Legend'. The full CD tracklisting runs:

'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' 
'Imagine' 'Instant Karma (We All Shine On)' 
'Imagine (Instrumental)'
- Click Here for the Full Story 

Puddle of Hate
Rockdirt reports: Puddle of Mudd frontman Wes Scantlin tells Chart magazine he's no fan of Los Angeles. "I got a crush on not being in L.A.," Scantlin said in response to whether there was a special someone he had a crush on. "I don't wanna fu**in' be there anymore. Everyone there is so fake and everybody is so fu**in' full of sh**. When I first got there, I saw the inside of it. There are people there... everything you've heard about that place that you thought was fu**in' bullsh**, well, it's true. Every girl is there to be some super fu**in' actress or some fu**in' model. People use you, no one cares about people's feelings. They just wanna figure out how to get their name next to your name."-Click Here for the Full Story

Someone forgot to take their Prozac. 

Radiohead Ballet?
NME reports: The MERCE CUNNINGHAM ballet scored by RADIOHEAD is set to come to the UK.

Earlier this year the band and Sigur Rós put together the improvised soundtrack for 'Split Sides', and performed it live at the show's premiere in New York in October.

The ballet is now set to come to the London Barbican in October 2004, although a spokesperson for Radiohead told NME.COM the group probably won't be playing live. Instead, the show will use a remixed soundtrack of the material recorded in New York..Click Here for the Full Story 

Sued For Karaoke
Moses Avalon checked in with an interesting article at BMI. Below is a summery of the article that was posted on MusicDish.com, use the full story link to read the full thing: I want to thank BMI. For years I have had to listen to God-awful amateurs try to sing "Born in the USA" via a Karaoke machine in just about every local bar I go to. BMI is going to put a stop to that. 

Jealous that the RIAA gets to sue everyone for piracy, BMI is sending their own type of litigious message; they sued an Indianapolis Karaoke bar for not paying them licensing fees for the pop tunes that are part of the karaoke juke box in the bar. 

The lawsuit claims that Parrotheads Bar and Grill failed to pay licensing fees for using songs such as ``God Bless the USA'' and ``Old Time Rock and Roll," during their weekly Karaoke night. 

Many songwriters view BMI as the cops of performance royalties, without which, songwriters would see virtually no money from juke boxes, radio play and arena performances. However, in a climate where the record industry has appeared overly litigious, this action will likely be met with some public retaliation. 

Many legal-eagles will be watching this one. Considering that the maximum damages that I think BMI can seek is about $1000 per venue, I'm not sure this has the same sharp, sexy teeth that the RIAA suit does with its potential claims of $150,000 per infringement. - Click Here for the Full Story

"Let's kill all the lawyers, then we can claim insufficient council at our trial" - Dennis Miller

Petty Diamond
Billboard reports: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers have earned their first Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) diamond award for their 1993 MCA compilation "Greatest Hits." The set was certified in November for U.S. shipments of 10 million copies. Through a career that saw them inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, Petty and the Heartbreakers have shipped more than 28 million copies of their albums in the U.S., according to the RIAA's accounting. Click Here for the Full Story 

Jagger Stands Up The Queen
siN's metal news reports: Mick Jagger has switched the date of his knighthood ceremony to avoid a clash with rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson. The ROLLING STONES star had been due to be honoured by the Queen on December 10th, the same day as the England world cup star is due to receive his MBE. Jagger has now agreed to an alternative date of December 12th offered by Buckingham Palace. 

Jagger's spokesman said that Mick recognised that Wilkinson was "the man of the moment". Jagger is to be knighted for services to music, almost 18 months after the honour was announced. It was delayed due to the ROLLING STONES' 40th anniversary world tour, which began last September in Boston and ended in Hong Kong last month. Jagger had expressed surprise when the knighthood was announced, saying: "I didn't expect to get one. I just didn't". -Click Here for the Full Story

Tower of CDs Baby!
Music Dish reports: CD Baby says it's struck a deal with Tower Records under which the latter's online commerce site will offer CD Baby's 50,000 independent titles, making Tower.com the largest retailer of independent music on the web. 

"Many amazing artists are shunning record labels, choosing to self-release their music directly to fans," says CD Baby president and owner Derek Sivers. 

"By going through CD Baby and now Tower, their music is getting the distribution it deserves, while still leaving the musician in control of their work." - Click Here for the full story

Record label? We don't need no stinking record label. 

Free Napster
Billboard reports:  In an effort to drive business over the holiday season, Napster has announced a series of promotions. 

As part of the campaign, Roxio-owned Napster will offer a free three-day trial of its subscription service during December. Consumers who subscribe to the service after their free trial ends will receive five free permanent downloads. 

Additionally, Napster has inked a deal with RadioShack to distribute pre-paid cards that allow consumers to buy tracks without a credit card. The Napster Card-which is also distributed through RiteAid, Best Buy, CompUSA, Kroger, Safeway, ExxonMobil, Duane Reade, Diamond Shamrock and Speedway/SuperAmerica-offers 15 downloads for $14.85. 

Finally, Roxio is bundling a Napster start-up disc with the Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 software it sells at retail. The bundle, called the Napster Burnpak, is priced at $29.99. Consumers who buy it also will receive five free permanent downloads. .-Click Here for the Full Story 

Napalm Death Sides
Metal Underground reports: Napalm Death's website has posted the following comments from bassist Shane Embury regarding ND side projects.

In regards to his grindcore project with Lee Dorian (Cathedral, ex-Napalm Death), Shane comments, "Yeah, me and Lee have been talking about doing something for ages but I think hopefully next year we will get something together... hopefully Roy Mayorga, who was playing drums in Soulfly will drum and Mid who is responsible for a lot of the Napalm Death artwork will play guitar as he now plays in a band called Bait and used to be the guitar player for Deviated Instinct who of course go way back to the early Napalm days! Fingers crossed!"

Regarding his other project that also features vocalist Kevin Sharpe (Brutal Truth) and guitarist Buzz Osborne (Melvins, Fantomas), Shane states, "The one with Kevin and Buzz will be out early next year as we are just searching for a label to put it out, but it's done and ready to go, gonna be recording some songs for some split records early next year as well.".-Click Here for the Full Story 

Charlatans UK
Aversion reports: The solo work is behind them: The Charlatans UK have broken ground on their new record. 

The act entered the studio Monday (Dec. 1) to start work on its follow-up to Wonderland (2001, MCA) in Manchester's Big Mushroom studio. With a pool of 19 songs to choose from, the band has three tracks already finished, and hopes to put eight more to tape by Christmas and then wrap up recording in January. No title or release date has been revealed for the record. 

"Everything in the Big Mushroom is absolutely fine and dandy," the act reported of its first days in the studio..-Click Here for the Full Story 

Flawed Life
Blabbermouth reports: Reunited New York metallers LIFE OF AGONY are currently preparing for their upcoming U.S. tour, which is scheduled to begin in January. Direct support at all dates will come from FLAW.

LIFE OF AGONY/FLAW tour dates:

Jan. 20 - Northern Lights - Albany, NY 
Jan. 21 - Trocadero - Philadelphia, PA 
Jan. 23 - Palladium - Worcester, MA 
Jan. 24 - Starland Ballroom - Sayerville, NJ 
Jan. 25 - Webster Theater - Hartford, CT 
Jan. 27 - Crocodile Rock - Allentown, PA 

More dates will be announced soon. -Click Here for the Full Story 

Bottom Line Evicted 

AP reports: A Manhattan judge has ordered the eviction of the Bottom Line nightclub from the Greenwich Village space it has occupied for the past 30 years. 

Civil Court Judge Donna Recant found that the club, which had no lease and admittedly owed more than $190,000 in back rent, must relinquish its space to its landlord, New York University. 

The Bottom Line's lawyer, Mark Alonso, said Wednesday that he expected the ruling, but hinted that the club could reopen at another site. 

"What makes the Bottom Line is not the building," he said. "It's the people who run it." 

The Bottom Line hosted many legendary music nights over its three decades, with performers from rocker Bruce Springsteen to jazz trumpeter Miles Davis playing the intimate room. 

In June, the club faced eviction after falling behind 17 months in rent. But attorneys for the club and the university agreed to postpone eviction proceedings with an eye to signing a new lease. The nightclub was operating by month-to-month agreement. 

NYU spokesman John Beckman said the university was pleased that the judge had ruled in its favor but saddened that the Bottom Line would close. . -Click Here for the Full Story 

Sad that this historic venue will be closed over the "bottom line". 

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days