18.39 pm. Another "nosey, nosey grindstone" day –although my spirits are still lifted following the performance by Huun Huur Tu on Wednesday evening. With the Krims heading to St Petersburg, Russia would seem to be the place.
My own feeble allotment of energy has been focussed on supporting the Tall Pointy One fight the good fight with EMI, who have put paid Crimson downloads on various sites without the approval of the band. The EMI contract does specify that they have the right to all new "record formats". But is a download a new format? I note that the major labels sued Napster for authorizing illegal downloads, while they themselves are willing to do so without first either consulting their artists, or even necessarily having thelegal right. After all, the King Crimson contract specifies that the DGM logo must appear on all records. If a download is a "record" (as it must be if EMI have the rights), then perhaps they will explain how they are going to put the DGM logo on it. Likewise, they do not have the right to alter artwork, and I would argue they have done so in the case of a download, which has no artwork.
I would be interested if someone can tell me if King Crimson form part of the iTunes service, allowing you to download individual tracks, as opposed to whole albums.
It is not that I am against downloads. They are certainly part of the future. But I hate hate hate labels who feel that they can twist a contract designed for a physical world to sell product in the e world, at hideously low royalty rates. Boo hiss spit spit.
But what hope is there for fair treatment when the EMI legal department cannot even remember the name of the guitarist in the band that has sold them over 3 million records in the last ten years. Oh yes. "Richard" , that's the one.
18.59 pm. Before I leave, I must thank Sid the Smith for his suggestion that the BootlegTV footage of KC, as on the Heavy Construkction disc, should be considered for the forthcoming DVD. It is certainly unpretentious! AND NOW SID SEND ME THAT TAPE OF THE SOUNDSCAPES IN NY THAT YOU PROMISED ME!!
