Grateful Dead Label Demands NPR Feature Story To Blog A Grateful Dead Song
from the seems-a-bit-extreme dept
If you haven't followed the "MP3 blogging" scene, it's grown quite big over the past few years, to the point that most folks (including the record labels) have effectively turned a blind eye to the copyright questions it raises (for once, this is a good thing). In many cases, record labels even treat some of the best music bloggers similar to the way they've always treated radio DJs -- sending them promo CDs and trying to get "air time." Most music bloggers don't ask for permission before blogging songs (some have policies saying they'll take down a song if any musician complains). However, over on an NPR blog, one of the bloggers has been putting together "mixes" of music on the blog, and being quite careful to ask for permission before any song is included. As BoingBoing points out, when the blogger, Carrie Brownstein, asked the Grateful Dead's label if she could use a Grateful Dead song, the response was a rather pompous demand that the band would require a piece done on the band on the radio show All Things Considered as well as a feature about the Grateful Dead on the NPR website. Just for using a song in a way that many would say was fair use (not to mention that it would be from a band that actively encouraged fans to tape and share its music broadly). If anything, it sounds like the record label overreaching in seeing an opportunity to get more press for a band that hardly needs any more. But, on the whole, it shows the sort of attitude that's becoming all too pervasive these days when people need to ask "permission" to help promote a song or a band.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: blogs, grateful dead, music, permission, promotion
Companies: npr
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Pompous Hippie Ass Holes
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NPR did a story two weeks ago
(Heard it on KQED in SF, actually they were pretty open and generous then, this sounds like some bureaucrat at the music company)
Flack
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News?
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All Things Considered is busy now
overseas. They were doing a series in China and had a program blog called
"Chengdu dairy".
Yep, Chengdu-- in Sichuan.
The blog is still runing and they're submitting audio reports for NPR, but
their focus has changed a bit...
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??
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Re:
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NPR sould do it !
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I worked for an NPR station..
One thing I CAN tell you is that the people ARE a bunch of pompous bitches and they'll demand just about anything, and sue you if you don't follow what they say.
I'm not saying their lawsuits had any merit-- but-- they will sue you.
So-- our station had 100's of these CDs and decided we didn't want to buy any more of them, so we didn't buy any more and started playing the old ones.
The label contacted a local lawyer and filed a lawsuit, specifying that our radio station couldn't play any GD music without a specific license from them.
They believed that our previous fees as well as ASCAP, etc, etc didn't cover GD music, even though they belonged to ASCAP and BMI.
Anyway... we wiped our asses with their lawsuit.
Something tells me Jerry is rolling in his grave. I won't listen to the Dead anymore. I quit listening to Metallica, too. Won't even listen on the radio if they happen to come on. Fuck 'em.
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Well, they could have said no
Also, they might have been open to negotiation. Maybe they would have settled for a five-minute piece? Plus an interview with Bob Weir would have fit right into All Things Consider's format. They interviewed Artie Lange of MadTV and Howard Stern fame! He's not exactly a pop icon. Why not a piece on the GD's legacy?
Just because you asked permission doesn't mean everyone you ask is going to say yes. And you don't have to whine about it either.
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well, you mean except that she wasnt asking them for a favor, she was asking them for permission to promote their ungrateful asses. now they neither have their song in a polular blog mix nor do they have the ATC story
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My question is...
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Re: ??
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