If Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom were really smart, this is where he would be today: a beach somewhere with no extradition treaty. Who keeps their clothes on at the beach anyway?

Yesterday Digital Music News ran a post titled “What Really Killed MegaUpload? MegaBox, That’s What…” promulgating a conspiracy theory essentially claiming that Kim Dotcom’s new music platform so intimidated the record industry that they conspired with the government to shut down a foreign entity, Megaupload, in order to save its own ass. The post stated that Megabox was “being positioned as a major stab at major labels, particularly MegaUpload nemesis Universal Music Group.  ‘They don’t understand that the rip-off days are over,’ Kim Dotcom told Torrentfreak.  ‘Artists are more educated than ever about how they are getting ripped off and how the big labels only look after themselves’.”

The truth, according to a highly placed source who asked to remain anonymous, is that Megabox was most likely not even a dream when this investigation began. Anyone who took the time to actually read the indictment would see that the government clearly states “On or about June 24, 2010, members of the Mega Conspiracy were informed, pursuant to a criminal search warrant from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, that thirty-nine infringing copies of copyrighted motion pictures were present on their leased servers at Carpathia Hosting, a hosting company headquartered in the Eastern District of Virginia.  A member of the Mega Conspiracy informed several of his co-conspirators at that time that he located the named files using internal searches of their systems.  As of November 18, 2011, more than a year later, thirty-six of the thirty-nine infringing motion pictures were still being stored on the servers controlled by the Mega Conspiracy.”

There it is in black and white. The investigation was about movies and began years ago. So it stands to reason that former senator and current MPAA head Chris Dodd must have been in the Justice Department’s grill about initiating the investigation in the first place, except that Dodd didn’t start at the MPAA until March of 2011. The government subpoena was served nearly nine months prior to Dodd’s appointment and it becomes clear that the investigation had gone on for at least a year prior to the issuing of the subpoena. In light of the government’s investigation, this Megabox “conspiracy theory”  is starting to look more like Paul is dead or the moon landing was faked. Besides, DMN makes the leap of logic that the record industry is smart enough to conspire about anything! They couldn’t agree on where to have lunch let alone figure out how pull off a bust of this magnitude. Come on…we’re talking about record guys here!

Additionally, according to one of my sources, the recording industry knew nothing because “the Justice Department is extremely tight-lipped about its investigations. There’s no way they would discuss it with us. Are you kidding me?”

So how was the US government able to shut down a foreign registered company? Because these idiots kept infringing files on servers in the US, the domain is registered with a US registrar, they used Paypal to transmit monetary rewards to users in the US who uploaded the most popular movies, music, games, books and software, and they were in clear violation of Grokster while doing it!

To further negate this conspiracy theory, the indictment provides excerpts from email communications amongst the Megaupload Conspiracy that reveals various strategies on dealing with the investigation, including moving the company and going legit. “On or about November 1, 2010, (note—this is five months after the criminal search warrant served on Dotcom as noted above) ECHTERNACH forwarded an e-mail from a Universal Music Group (“UMG”) executive to DOTCOM and ORTMANN, which discussed requirements that UMG would require of Megaupload before they could discuss licensing for MegaBox. Included in the list of requirements was “proactive fingerprint filtering to ensure that there is no infringing music content hosted on its service; proactive text filtering for pre-release titles that may not appear in fingerprint databases at an early stage; terminate the accounts of users that repeatedly infringe copyright; limit the number of possible downloads from each file; process right holder take down notices faster and more efficiently”, the indictment reads. In other words, Dotcom’s archenemy Universal Music was willing to talk terms with Megaupload, and speaking from experience, I think UMG was being pretty damned decent. Had I been in Dotcom’s shoes, I would have jumped on that offer. Clearly UMG’s goal is to convert bad actors into legitimate players. More evidence that UMG digital chief  Rob Wells is the most progressive label guy in the business. (note to Lucian Grainge: don’t be a schmuck.Give this guy whatever he wants!)

One has to wonder why Dotcom and company didn’t just pick up their marbles and split once they learned they were under investigation. I sure would have. After all, they had taken in around $175 million in cash, according to the indictment, and could have easily shut down and moved to a nice beach somewhere with no extradition treaty with the US and lived like kings. But Dotcom decided to double-down instead. He just figured that he could tell the US government to fuck off, and anybody who has ever had to deal with the IRS knows that doesn’t work.

To me this is simply a case of a guy having too much money to think straight.

© 2012, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

Get your motor runnin'. Head out on the highway. Lookin' for adventure and whatever comes our way

While everyone at 550 Madison Ave. eagerly awaits the exit of Rick Rubin, speculation has risen that the barefoot producer’s next stop will be Universal Music. Uni owns Def Jam Records, co-founded by Rubin and Russell Simmons, and could conceivably be the last stop for the Hagrid look-a-like who went from the pre-UMG Def Jam to a label deal with Sony for his American Records. From there he took his label to Warner Music which eventually “sold” him back to Sony. The first time around at Sony Don Ienner at least got the Dixie Chicks out of him. This time Columbia Records co-chairman Steve Barnett (Barnett is one of three co-chairman at Columbia along with Rubin and Rob Stringer) got Adele out of him. Or did he?

It’s been reported here and in the mainstream media that Barnett and Rubin have been feuding over who should get the credit for Adele. Sony, of course, denies it and claims that all is perfectly zen between the two. (Barnett has gone so far as to deny his credit grab for Adele here.) This, of course, is patently false. Barnett was sick of Rubin way before Adele released her first album, 19, back in 2008. Insiders claim that Rubin really botched his first attempt at recording Adele’s 21, but XL Records in the UK (Adele’s realrecord label) was able to salvage four tracks for the album.

Two of three Columbia Records chairmen: Steve Barnett (L) and Rick Rubin (R). Has Barnett cast a spell on Rick?

Rubin’s Sony contract is reportedly set to expire in February and he has been rumored to be shopping a new deal, but since EMI is in the process of being absorbed by Universal Music, his options are limited. The rumors have Rubin resuming his relationship with former Warner Music president Tom Whalley, now a Uni employee. However sources very familiar with the situation tend to disagree. According to one highly placed source, ” (UMG CEO) Lucian Grainge is way too smart to fall for the American Records deal. Rick is too tainted after the Sony debacle. Lucian plays his cards very close to the vest but I would be shocked if he went down that path.” Why? Well, according to a source, when Grainge made his mega-deal with David Foster, the star producer was prohibited from working on outside projects as he has done in the past. Foster is exclusive to Universal. As everyone knows by now, exclusivity is not part of Rubin’s lexicon. He’s famously produced more hits and revenue for Warner Music than he has for Sony during his 5 year tenure as co-chairman of Columbia Records. Ergo the end run credit grab for Adele. So that leaves Rick with only one option: his old pal Lyor Cohen, the Moe Green of also-ran Warner Music. Maybe Thomas Wolfe was wrong when he said you can’t go home again.

For their part, Barnett and old chum Rob “Fredo” Stringer seem to have staked their future with Simon Cowell. According to The Guardian’s Helienne Lindvall,  ”In the UK it appears Sony has put all its eggs in The X Factor basket (Simon Cowell’s Syco label is a Sony imprint and is partnered with the talent show), possibly arguing the number of votes an act gets is ample enough consumer research to make a signing a sure bet. It can also leave you stuck with a roster of old contestants no one is interested in.” Throw in reality tv star and part-time Epic Records chairman L.A. Reid,  whose X-Factor ratings fell far short of  expectations, and Sony Music becomes a talent show waste receptacle.  Glee’s ratings have been slipping significantly and the bloom may very well be off the rose. Maybe septuagenarian Sony Music CEO Doug Morris will summon up the ghost of Ted Mack.

So Steve, Doug, Fredo–who’s the next tv star to partner with Sony Music? Donald Trump?

© 2012, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

However a chief executive who is a consummate deal-maker, a financial wizard and technological visonary is always hard to find–until recently, it seems. My sources at WikiLeaks slipped me a copy of a very interesting CV that is making the rounds amongst top executive headhunters in London and New York. Looks like some lucky media conglomerate may be fortunate enough to snag this Master of the Universe.

Note to James Murdoch: pack your bags, dude.

(click here if you can’t see the document below in your browser)

For those of you who are complete idiots, this is a parody, however the information is taken directly from Edgar Bronfman Jr.’s entry in Wikipedia.

© 2012, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

How to rewrite history with one little press release

The news that NARAS is honoring Steve Jobs with a Trustee Award has been picked up by media outlets worldwide. In making the announcement, the Academy said, “As former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs helped create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books. A creative visionary, Jobs’ innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased. In 2002 Apple Computer Inc. was a recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The company continues to lead the way with new technology and in-demand products such as the iPhone and iPad.”

All true, but disingenuous at best. I find it to be just another cynical public relations stunt by an industry seeped in hypocrisy.

Let’s look at the facts. Does anyone remember how Steve Jobs had to drag the labels into iTunes kicking and screaming? Prior to iTunes, Sony Music septuagenarian CEO Doug Morris, then CEO of Universal Music, called iPods “repositories for stolen music”. He later went to war with Jobs, enlisting Sony and Warner’s help, whining that the industry had been “rolled like a bunch of puppies” with the iTunes terms. They complained about the $.99 price point. They complained that Jobs had too much control. Artists and managers started to line up behind Morris’ ill-fated jihad. Irving Azoff (Eagles, Journey, Christina Aguilera, and others) told Businessweek ”Doug is doing the right thing taking on Steve Jobs. The artists are behind him.”

As the digital age has matured, labels have bent over backward to protect their iTunes revenues while simultaneously chafing under the strong arm of Apple. They called Jobs “pigheaded” and Machiavellian. Once the industry woke up to Apple’s business model, they cried like babies over not getting a cut of iPod sales. Genius Doug Morris got everyone together to teach Jobs a lesson and start their own digital initiative, Total Music (not exactly a household brand name today). They hated Steve Jobs.

Sure Steve Jobs was a genius. I read the book. I’m a big Apple fan and have been for many years. But Jobs didn’t invent anything. Digital music services existed before iTunes. So did MP3 players. Jobs’ talent was in making these, and other, products so much better. He didn’t invent the mobile phone but the iPhone is now the gold standard. Same with computers, tablets and soon TV’s.

Several years ago Apple was awarded a technical Grammy, and it was certainly deserved. Apple computers and software have become integral components in the recording process. The Trustees Award is given to those who have significant contributions to the field of recording in areas other than performance. So did Steve Jobs produce, engineer,compose or arrange music like his co-honorees Dave Bartholomew and Rudy Van Gelder?

If the Academy wanted to honor the actual pioneers of digital music they’d be giving an award to Michael Robertson or Diamond, the manufacturers of the first portable mp3 player. The industry chose to sue them at the time. Michael Robertson was the guy who popularized the MP3 format and was even the first to launch music in the cloud. But Michael isn’t dead yet and the industry enjoys suing him too much to give him credit for anything.

The NARAS press release was picked up everywhere and got lots of play. The lead in every story was about Steve Jobs getting a “special Grammy”. A special honor for the guy that every label hated. An award for the guy who held the industry in a stranglehold for years. A man they  all cursed and whined about. So do you think that this is just a big publicity gimmick?

Now that Steve Jobs is gone, they seem to have changed their tune.

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends." Enjoy the ride from the back of Sylvia Rhone's Bentley limo. No puny little Lincoln Town car for her!

Everyone in the business by now knows that Sony Music’s septuagenarian CEO Doug Morris has to surround himself with his former colleagues as a security blanket. L.A. Reid, Nick Gatfield and Morris doppelgänger Mel Lewinter were the first in the door at Sony with everyone surmising that Sylvia Rhone would soon be joining them. It didn’t happen immediately, but now a new Rhone rumor has popped up. Hits Magazine is reporting “former Universal Motown topper Sylvia Rhone [will] rejoin Doug Morris in a label joint venture soon after the first of the year.”

My sources, however, say that yes, Sylvia will be joining Morris at Sony, but not in a joint venture label. Instead Morris will place her in the old Tony Martell position as head of the associated label group where she will have her own staff and not have to rely on the Epic or Columbia staff. There she will license  and sign production deals in competition with Epic and Columbia, which absolutely makes no sense. In essence, this position is being created simply in order to give Sylvia a job. According to one former  Rhone associate, “this is really ridiculous because Sylvia’s just not qualified. Whatever success she’s ever had has always been with joint-ventures as her ears have always been highly suspect and her marketing budgets go through the roof. ”  Another long-time Rhone associate quoted her as once having said, “I should get one of those email machines.” Or was it Doug who said that?

As with her colleague, reality TV star and part-time Epic Records chairman L.A. Reid, Sylvia is known for her big spending. Lavish Parisian shopping trips, private jets and Bentley limos have always been de rigeur for the free-spending label princess. Vegas oddsmakers are now taking bets on whether or not Sylvia will consent to ride in a regular Lincoln Town Car. This could easily turn into one of the more entertaining conflicts of the new year.

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

Back to the future? With the new app from legendary AIR Studios your iPad can now play vinyl! Pretty cool.

The resurgence of vinyl records has been a small but growing bright spot for the music industry in the last few years. Whoever thought that kids would be schlepping around crates of LP’s in the 21st century, decades after the onslaught of the CD? The old analog sound has gained so many new devotees that Universal went so far as to create it’s own online store, Groovetown, devoted to vinyl. Many independent online retailers like MusicDirect, MusicStack, Buy Vinyl Records, Vintage Vinyl, even Best Buy and Amazon have started merchandising new and used vinyl LP’s. Mom and pop record shops across the country have seen as much as 30% of their business come from new and used vinyl. To paraphrase Mark Twain, history doesn’t repeat itself but it rhymes.

Digital sound has been criticized as being cold and antiseptic, but now studio engineers from the legendary AIR Studios, founded by Sir George Martin, have found a way to take digital sound back to the future. With the help of UK app developer Bappz, AIR Studios has created AirVinyl, an iPad app that recreates the warm, harmonious depth of sound that is found on vinyl records for digital media files when played through the iPad. The app is also AirPlay enabled and will soon include its own clever feature – AirStreem, which also allows users to stream music from their Mac to AirVinyl over wi-fi. It’s available today at the iTunes App store for a limited time for $.99.

The AirVinyl app is an exciting new twist for digital music afficionados and audiophiles, but it could also serve as a platform for even bigger projects like an Air Studios digital record label. AirVinyl could also be easily integrated with new streaming music services like Spotify to bring the analog listening experience to the cloud, Facebook, or even the FLAC store that is part of UMG’s Groovetown.

The app goes on sale Monday morning and is fun, creative and beautifully crafted. Plus the sound is amazing. You’ll think that you’re back in your room at home sneaking a joint and listening to Hendrix blast on your stereo before your parents come home and bum you out. Bappz, the creators of the wildly popular London Tube Map app, did a terrific job by lovingly recreating the physical act of LP listening. Bappz was founded by former record producer Paul Myers, a high profile London internet entrepreneur who created Britain’s first free ISP, X-Stream, and Wippit, once the biggest UK-based MP3 online music and movies store. Myers has just the right experience and sensibilities that Air needed to bring an invisible under-the-hood technology to life in AirVinyl and it really shows.

Users can select their music from Crates, browsing by flicking through the covers. Playlists are accessed as Mixtapes, using the familiar analog interface of the cassette deck, but fortunately without recreating that nasty cassette sound. This app is REALLY cool and supposedly will be available soon for iPhone. More skins and features will be added soon. My guess is that they’ll eventually put out an Android version but I’d love to see a desktop version that would essentially turn your computer into a virtual analog turntable.

I know you’re not used to me saying nice things, and I certainly rarely review stuff, but it is Christmas time and I’m feeling it. But not for long, I’m sure.

Get AirVinyl at http://bappz.com/airvinyl

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/airvinyl/id482570332 for the UK

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/airvinyl/id482570332 for the US.

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

It's bonus time!!!!

When Lucian Grainge pulled the rug out from under Sony Music and Warner Music last month with the surprise acquisition of EMI, it left both companies sucking for any leftover oxygen. Warner was counting on picking up EMI at distress prices in order to benefit from economies of scale and provide growth opportunities for the future. Sony and its septuagenarian CEO Doug Morris were blindsided and destined to be the perennial Number Two. Warner Music, continuing to rack up huge losses, is a very distant third with 18.6% of the US market and is a virtual non-entity.

Now sources say that Warner is in serious discussions with Sony Music for a distribution deal, leaving the former major label as little more than a big production company. Even though Warner has a huge hit with Michael Bublé’s Christmas album, that’s really it. Sources say that the upcoming Warner release schedule is as barren as the Mojave Desert and with nothing in the pipeline and only one big holiday seller, the company will eventually be forced to make a lot of cuts. In fact, according to another source, “They’ll [WMG] have to just keep cutting and cutting until finally they just won’t be able to do the job any longer”.  Right now it looks as though the company may have a very hard time being competitive.

Sony, of course, will do anything they can to pump themselves up. You just know that the Sony brass is going crazy over the fact that Lucian Grainge has suddenly come out of nowhere to become the undisputed King of the World in what is now a two-horse race. Sony execs may think that cutting a distribution deal with Warner may give them bragging rights to the extra market share when in reality it’s nothing more than scrapping around for crumbs. Every little bit helps, I suppose.

We can discuss the pros and cons of a Sony/WMG distribution deal and Warner’s future after having doubled their losses last quarter, but to what end?  The more important question is “How will all of this effect Lyor’s bonus?”

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

Everybody has said something stupid that they later regret. However the music industry is awash in stupidity.

Given that it’s final exam time, take this little pop quiz and see just how smart you are at judging which record execs said the dumbest things. This is only the stuff that’s been in print and doesn’t even include all the other dumb stuff they say when there’s no reporters around. If  you get all the answers right, you just might be qualified to run a major record label. If you get them all wrong, congratulations–you may already be running a major record label. If you’re not too embarrassed you can post your score in the comments section below. You can also add any gem quotes of your own that you think should have been included there too.

Go ahead and give it a try. And remember–NO CHEATING!

Who Said This?

Start Congratulations - you have completed Who Said This?. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%.   %%RATING%%
Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

  "We didn't know who to hire. I wouldn't be able to recognize a good technology person — anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me."      

	Andy Lack, former Sony Music CEO and industry whipping boy
	Alain Levy, testy Gallic former EMI CEO.
	Doug Morris, septuagenarian current CEO of Sony Music
	Professor Irwin Corey, renowned idiot

Question 1 Explanation:Septuagenarian Sony CEO made the comment to Wired Magazine back when he was only in his 60's and CEO of Universal Music. In the interview Morris "happily reveals his ignorance of all things having to do with business, business models, strategy, economics and technology", according to Techdirt.

Question 2

"What’s the role of the labels? I don’t know.”      

	Doug Merrill, former President of EMI Digital Business
	Michael Nash, former Warner Music Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy and Business Development
	Alex Zubillaga, former Executive Vice President of Digital Strategy and Business Development of Warner Music Group
	Jackie Mason, former rabbi and two-time Grammy nominee.

Question 2 Explanation:Merrill said this in a paidcontent.org. This poor schmuck left a great gig at Google to work for Guy Hands only to last a year in the job. Bet he'd like to have a mulligan on that one.

Question 3

Which record company boss firmly decreed..."Free streaming services are clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as [we're] concerned will not be licensed. The 'get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price' strategy is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future."    

	Guy Hands, tax dodger and former CEO/Owner of EMI Music Group
	Septuagenarian Sony CEO Doug Morris
	Junior Bronfman, rich kid and former CEO of Warner Music
	Roger Faxon, CEO of EMI Music and Mitt Romney look-a-like

Question 3 Explanation:Junior made this comment after losing millions on a boneheaded investment in the now-defunct music streaming service Imeem and stonewalling licensing talks with the popular music streaming service Spotify

Question 4

  "We do see Spotify and streaming revenue from services other than Spotify to be meaningful in 2011."      

	Septuagenarian Sony CEO Doug Morris
	Roger Faxon, soon-to-be ex-CEO of EMI Music
	Junior Bronfman, rich kid and former Warner Music CEO
	Guy Hands, former EMI Music CEO/Owner and German truck stop operator
	Mitt Romney, ex-CEO of Bain Capital (investors in Warner Music) and current lame GOP presidential candidate *see photo above

Question 4 Explanation:Right! Exactly 1 year after making the stupid statement that he'd never allow WMG to license any music streaming services he tergirversates and decides that streaming services are the savior of the music industry. Putz.

Question 5

" You guys have brought nothing good to the table, you ought to smoke pot and hear some better music."        

	Rick Rubin, barefoot record producer and soon-to-be ex-co-chairman of Columbia Records
	L.A. Reid, reality TV star and current part-time chairman of Epic Records.
	Rob "Fredo" Stringer, Chairman of Sony Music North America, sort of--for now, at least.
	Snoop Dogg, rapper and well-established pothead

Question 5 Explanation:This was Stringer's take on how his hire, former Epic Records head Amanda Ghost, probably conducted her A&R meetings. The Hollywood Reporter story story also quoted Stringer saying "I'm the first to admit that I made an experimental judgment that possibly wasn't fair on Amanda. She struck me as a tour de force and a creative whirlwind -- which the industry needs more of -- and she was very keen to do the job and super-excited and confident about it. But in the last few weeks, we both agreed it was too big a mountain to climb." Good call, Fredo.

Question 6

"No I never pulled a gun on anybody. That is outrageous, preposterous, ludicrous. These stories all sound like jokes to me."    

	Morris Levy, former owner of Roulette Records and close "business" associate of the Genovese crime family
	Tommy Mottola, former Sony Music CEO and Michael Jackson nemesis
	Joe Isgro, former independent record promotion man and convicted extortioner
	Lyor Cohen, gangsta CEO of Warner Recorded Music North America
	All of the above

Question 6 Explanation:I know this was a tough one, but hey, if you guessed Tommy Mottola you got it right! The statement was made by Mottola to Vanity Fair reporter Robert Sam Anson while denying he had any mob ties.

Question 7

What CEO said this about his colleague..."He is so deceptive with that little kind face and those little glasses. Behind them, he is actually a killer shark."    

	Rolf Schmidt-Holz, former CEO of Sony Music and current German investor
	Septuagenarian Sony CEO Doug Morris
	Lyor Cohen, North American Chairman and CEO of Recorded Music for Warner Music Group, the Moe Greene of the music business
	Moe Greene, Vegas branch of the Corleone family

Question 7 Explanation:Morris, while still at Universal Music, said this to The Guardianabout his hand-picked successor, Lucian Grainge. Right now that killer shark is biting him on the ass.

Question 8

"I don't know anything about music. My job has very little to do with music."        

	Elio Leoni-Sceti, former detergent marketer and CEO of EMI Music
	Steve Barnett, pr genius and co-chairman of Columbia Records
	Rick Rubin, zen record producer and co-chairman of Columbia Records, but not for long
	Eric Nicoli, former EMI Group CEO and ex-biscuit baker.

Question 8 Explanation:Yes, Rick Rubin actually said this in an Esquire interview. Inspires confidence, doesn't it?

Question 9

"I believe that the CD will out-survive me as a format."      

	Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music
	Junior Bronfman, spoiled ex-CEO of Warner Music
	Clive Davis, octogenarian Sony Music exec
	Dick Clark, tv producer and stroke victim

Question 9 Explanation:You read it correctly. That's exactly what Grainge told the NY Times. Good luck with that, Lucian. You'd better keep Rob Wells around.

Question 10

"Most people, I think, don't even know what [it] is, so why should they care about it?"        

	Thomas Hesse, soon-to-be former president of Global Digital Business at Sony Music Entertainment
	Adam Klein, former executive vice president of strategy and business development, EMI Music
	Michele Anthony, former President of the Sony Music Label Group U.S.
	Hunter S. Thompson, gonzo god and human cannon fodder.

Question 10 Explanation:Thomas Hesse made a bad situation worse when he said this to NPR right after news broke that Sony Music had embedded Rootkit anti-piracy spyware in some of their CD's. Oops.

Question 11

“It’s the downside of a family business: anything good is because I’m somebody’s son; otherwise, I’m a schmuck.”      

	Marshall Chess, son and nephew of the Polish immigrant founders of Chess Records
	Frank Sinatra, Jr., musician and Italian America's crown prince.
	Junior Bronfman, ex-music biz CEO and son, grandson and nephew of famous Canadian bootleggers
	Blanket Jackson, son of deceased show biz freak Michael Jackson

Question 11 Explanation:Right you are, Junior! I know, I know. I just couldn't resist an easy layup. Junior said this to writer Fred Goodman in his book "Fortune's Fool". The guy's got real daddy issues.

Question 12

"What we are doing is taking the power away from the A&R guys and putting it with the suits - the guys who have to work out how to sell music."      

	Len Blavatnik, Russian oligarch and owner of Warner Music Group
	Guy Hands, Brit twit billionaire and former CEO/Owner of EMI Music
	Howard Stringer, gaijin CEO of Sony Corp.
	Jay Berman, alta kocker former head of the RIAA & IFPI

Question 12 Explanation:Back in 2008, Hands said this to The Telegraph. As we all know now, the strategy worked out perfectly.

Question 13

"I do not believe the way corporations run the music business today is a recipe for success."    

	Jimmy Iovine, aging hipster chairman of Interscope Records
	Amanda Ghost, volatile pothead and former chairman/CEO of Epic Records
	Dr. Luke, record producer and Doug Morris' "new Jimmy Iovine"
	Prince, eccentric James Brown impersonator

Question 13 Explanation:Duh. Really, Amanda? We could tell by the way you ran your A&R meetings. You go girl! The Guardian

Question 14

Who said this about a co-worker..."My wife's father is Dick Vermeil, the former coach of the St. Louis Rams. My sons would go to training camp, and when Marshall Faulk started playing for the team, they called me and said, 'Not only is this guy a great player, he makes everyone around him better.' Of course, the Rams went on to win the Super Bowl. I think [he] is our Marshall Faulk. I knew he would change the culture here."

	Rob "Fredo" Stringer, titular CEO of Sony Music North America
	Tommy Mottola, former big shot and CEO of Sony Music
	Steve Barnett, co-chairman of Columbia Records and self-described "not a music guy"
	Dog Morris. septuagenarian Sony Music CEO

Question 14 Explanation:Barnett was referring to his newly hired co-chairman of Columbia Records, Rick Rubin, in an interview with Lynn Hirschberg for a cover story in the New York Times Magazine on Rubin. The cumbaya moment didn't last long, the culture at Sony didn't change and Barnett never made it to the Super Bowl

Question 15

"I never really liked the Stones. Although, I loved the Monkees — they had all the best songwriters."

	Doug Morris, former Monkees songwriter and current septuagenarian Sony Music CEO
	Rob "Fredo" Stringer, CEO of Sony Music North America and founder of Monkees tribute band.
	Clive Davis, follically-challenged octogenarian Sony A&R man and original member of the Monkees
	Steve Barnett, co-chairman of Columbia Records and former president of the UK Monkees Fan Club.
	Rick Rubin, co-chairman of Columbia Records and part-time caretaker at Hogwarts

Question 15 Explanation:Yes..the famed producer of all those Metallica and Kid Rock records likes the Monkees more than the Stones, at least that what he said in his New York Times Magazine love letter in which he pontificated about his good taste in music and art, among other things. (Did Lars read that story?) Now that's real rock & roll authenticity!

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You have completed questions question Your score is Correct Wrong Partial-Credit You have not finished your quiz. If you leave this page, your progress will be lost. Correct Answer You Selected Not Attempted Final Score on Quiz Attempted Questions Correct Attempted Questions Wrong Questions Not Attempted Total Questions on Quiz Question Details Results Date Score Time allowed minutes seconds Time used Answer Choice(s) Selected Question Text All doneYou're a moron!What's wrong? Didn't you take your medication today?Not too bad, but maybe you should read the trades more oftenYou're smarter than I thought!Perfect! You have now mastered the world of idiocy

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.

Remember what happened to Moe Greene?

Today Hits Magazine reported that former Sony North America chairman Don Ienner has been added to Lucian Grainge’s executive stable at Universal Music in the form of a consultancy. The item goes on to speculate that Donnie along with Jason Flom and Tom Whalley, “both of whom are currently operating within Monte Lipman’s Universal Republic”, could possibly play a role in the “retooled” EMI.

Grainge has been locked in meetings for the last couple of weeks obviously figuring out just what he wants to do with EMI. Everyone knows that UMG will have to divest itself of some assets–in France, for instance, the combined UMG/EMI would control something like 60% of the market and EU regulators are likely to frown upon that. My sources tell me that the also-ran WMG  and Lyor Cohen–the Moe Greene of the music business–are doing everything they can to blow up the UMG/EMI deal. I really don’t think that Grainge has anything to worry about since he’s infinitely smarter than any Warner knucklehead and is just as tough as Lyor. In fact, he just may be the prodigal third Kray twin.

Who knows what Grainge is planning for EMI, but I find the Ienner association interesting. I know that I’ve been pretty rough on Donnie in the past, but I have to confess that he was successful at Sony. I don’t necessarily mean to diss Roger Faxon, but the betting is that he will go with EMI Music Publishing. He served his purpose as CEO of the music group by bringing stability to the company and tidying it up for sale (like I always said, he reminds me of Mitt Romney). But when I think about it, Don Ienner is just the kind of record guy that could revitalize EMI. He’s had some recent success with Hot Chelle Rae and I would imagine that he’s learned a lot from his unceremonious departure from Sony and is a different type of executive. He definitely has an energy and enthusiasm for the business and a genuine love of music that  EMI could certainly benefit from. Ienner, like Lucian, is very competitive, and together I’m sure that they would delight in kicking some septuagenarian ass.

The worm keeps turning.

© 2011, Wayne Rosso. All rights reserved.