Splash Damage’s owner and Lead Game Designer, Paul Wedgwood will be demoing Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars and holding a Q & A session this coming weekend at i30. i30 is the UK’s biggest ever LAN event with 1500 players attending. The demo session will be in the Finals Arena at 8pm, Friday 6th Paril – get there early to claim your seat!
Source Continue reading Splash Damage at i30 in the UK this weekend
I do not know how I feel about this. On one hand, I applaud EMI for allowing their entire catalog to go DRM free. On the other hand, it feels like a grab for more money. I will say it's cool they increased the quality for the extra money. I guess this is one of those times where you have to take the lesser of two evils. It's a step in the right direction none the less.
Press Release
CUPERTINO, California—April 2, 2007—Apple® today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.
“We are going to give iTunes customers a choice—the current versions of our songs for the same 99 cent price, or new DRM-free versions of the same songs with even higher audio quality and the security of interoperability for just 30 cents more,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We think our customers are going to love this, and we expect to offer more than half of the songs on iTunes in DRM-free versions by the end of this year.”
“EMI and iTunes are once again teaming up to move the digital music industry forward by giving music fans higher quality audio that is virtually indistinguishable from the original recordings, with no usage restrictions on the music they love from their favorite artists,” said Eric Nicoli, CEO of EMI Group.
With DRM-free music from the EMI catalog, iTunes customers will have the ability to download tracks from their favorite EMI artists without any usage restrictions that limit the types of devices or number of computers that purchased songs can be played on. DRM-free songs purchased from the iTunes Store will be encoded in AAC at 256 kbps, twice the current bit rate of 128 kbps, and will play on all iPods, Mac® or Windows computers, Apple TVs and soon iPhones, as well as many other digital music players.
iTunes will also offer customers a simple, one-click option to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free format for 30 cents a song. All EMI music videos will also be available in DRM-free format with no change in price.
The iTunes Store features the world’s largest catalog with over five million songs, 350 television shows and over 400 movies. The iTunes Store has sold over two billion songs, 50 million TV shows and over 1.3 million movies, making it the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store.
With Apple’s legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, seamless integration with iPod® and the ability to turn previously purchased songs into completed albums at a reduced price, the iTunes Store is the best way for PC and Mac users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.
Here we are again on a Monday morning, and here is the top 15 on GR2 for the last 7 days. The only holdover from last week is the Dropkick Murphies, otherwise this is a completely different list than any previous top 15. Enjoy and thanks for listening!
Calling all New Yorkers. Do you live in or around New York City? Now is your chance to try out Frontlines: Fuel of War. Kaos Studios is looking for people to be involved in a focus test, and not only do you get to test out a kickass game before the general public, you get to take home two free…
Source Continue reading Frontlines: Fuel of War Focus Test – New York
Eurogamer posted a Frontlines: Fuel of War preview article today. However, the way you use weapons will depend on the version of the game you’re playing. Frontlines PS3 will make use of the SIXAXIS controller’s motion-sensing functionality – you’ll be able to tip it forward to throw…
Source Continue reading Frontlines: Fuel of War Preview – Eurogamer
Xequted posted their preview of Frontlines: Fuel of War from THQ’s Gamers’ day. A neat feature of the recon drone was the ability to disable the drone and blow it up, so by hovering by the feet of an enemy we were able to damage and occasionally kill any unsuspecting soldiers. After…
Source Continue reading Frontlines: Fuel of War Preview – Xequted
Here's the latest iteration of the GR2 Top 15 Songs for the last 7 days. Only 3 songs from last week are in the Top 15 again this week so either you guys got sick of the other stuff or I have two entirely different sets of listeners taking turns rating the music. Must be some sort of conspiracy…
It has always been Live365’s mission to support artists and pay our fair share of royalties. Since its inception in 1999, Live365 has always paid both composer royalties (to ASCAP, BMI and SESAC) and performance royalties (to SoundExchange). Over the last few years, we've paid millions to SoundExchange alone on behalf of our broadcasters and listeners.
It’s all about supporting artists who write and perform the songs we enjoy. This is a core mission behind Live365. Some of this support comes from promotion, airtime, so artists’ works can be heard. Some comes from cash in the form of ROYALTIES. Last year, Live365 paid SoundExchange, the collector of sound recording royalties, more than $1 million (for the performing musicians and singers) on behalf of our broadcasters and have continually paid royalties since day one of our service.
To take the administrative burden of tracking Live365 stations off SoundExchange and our broadcasters' back, we also created and provided for our stations an entire data management system that tracks which songs were heard, by how many persons, providing SoundExchange with a single, compiled report insuring thousands of Internet stations are law abiding webcasters that do report and pay royalties. And that’s just one type of royalties. Live365 and its broadcasters do the same reporting and paying for the song writers and composers through contracts with their royalty organizations, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.
What we do not understand is why Internet radio is saddled with the highest rates. Satellite services, such as Sirius or XM, and cable TV music providers, such as Music Choice, pay nearly 50% less for the same royalties. AM & FM stations pay NO sound recording royalties at all. If all parties were putting in their share, if there was parity for all broadcasters, there would be no need to double, nearly triple the royalty rates for Internet radio as the government established Copyright Royalty Board has done.
Many small, non-profit and public service stations with little or no revenue will be stopped from broadcasting on the Internet under these new rates which will eliminate many of the music you can’t find on AM, FM, satellite, or cable radio. If these rates stay in place, we’d expect 80% of Live365 stations, specifically those in niche genres with unique content unavailable elsewhere, will have no choice but to shut down. Our 260 genres would probably be reduced to 10 and become homogenized as AM/FM radio. As an example, this year’s “pay for performance per listener” rate of $0.0011 may seem tiny, but one Internet radio station that broadcasts 15 songs an hour to even 500 listeners would pay SoundExchange $72,270 a year for sound recording royalties alone, not to mention their other costs for composition royalties, hosting, bandwidth, music library and their programming. Compare that to the current under $1,000 average price of broadcasting on Live365.
Internet radio, such as Live365, is the only source most people have for jazz, classical, folk and many other types of music in niche genres. Many of these genres are key elements of American culture, and Internet radio is one of our best resources for preserving them. Internet radio reaches the entire world and helps spread the exchange of cultures and goodwill to people everywhere.
Thank You,
Atomm Nihilo
Live365 Broadcaster
GamersRadio.com
GR1 – Heavy Metal
GR2 – Punk Rock
The members of Break The Silence have announced plans to take a short break from the band. They stress that this is not a permanent thing but simply that things are “on hold.” In the meantime, the members have opted to form a new project which is currently unnamed, which they explain:
It is just a way for the members of the band to pursue different options in their lives without killing off something we all love so much.
To that end, they are searching for a new singer. The new band has fifteen songs written and is asking interested vocalists to contact them via this email or via their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Break the Silence taking break, members looking for singer for new project
Outernational has announced one last gig before they enter the studio with Tom Morello to begin work on their next full length. The band received a ton of attention last year when Morello described them as “the next Rage Against the Machine” and will be performing on March 25th at the Knitting Factory in New York City with support from Pistolera.
After that, they plan to head out west to record their new album, and touring is expected to resumje after that.
Punknews.org spoke with the band last year.
Source Continue reading Outernational recording this Spring
Brandon Roundtree, who’s departure precipitated the end of Ferret act Scarlet has resurfaced in a new band. Roundtree, along with members of Race The Sun, FIAD, Race The Sun, Motion Picture Demise, and Tragedy Letters have formed Conditions.
The band has posted two new recordings from the band, and you can find those on their myspace page.
Source Continue reading Scarlet vocalist resurfaces in Conditions
As previously reported, the ERIC SINGER PROJECT performed on March 18th in Bochum, Germany. ESP features Eric Singer (KISS; drums), Bruce Kulick (GRAND FUNK RAILROAD,…
Source Continue reading ERIC SINGER – Part Three Of Drum Solo Video From Recent ESP German Show Available
The following report is courtesy of Tony Belshaw from Sheffieldtoday.net One of the cradles of Sheffield’s industrial heritage has been given protected status by city chiefs….
Source Continue reading Former DEF LEPPARD Rehearsal Space “Stag Works” Given Protected Status By Sheffield City Chiefs