Filesharers have yet another defendant for whom to rally. Boston University graduate student Joel Tenenbaum is one of the latest people faced with a filesharing lawsuit filed by the RIAA (oddly enough after the organization claimed it was ceasing its lawsuits). He’s pursuing his case pro se, which basically means sans professional legal counsel — his advising team essentially consists of a group of students under the guidance of Harvard professor Charles Nesson and the backing of a whole heaping of Internet awareness campaigning via Twitter, Facebook, and the group’s own website, Joel Fights Back.

Tenenbaum was handed a bit of a setback in the online awareness area when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit sided with the RIAA and unanimously rejected U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner’s decision to allow the trial to be narrowcast on the internet. Presumably, the RIAA wants to keep such a trial under wraps, as it has previously received mostly negative coverage for its efforts to sue music fans, but what is little known is that the RIAA also seriously objects to the broadcasting of any of its lawsuits because of its lawyers’ uncanny resemblance to the Skeksis in The Dark Crystal.

The First Circuit’s decision has wider-ranging repercussions than just this trial — had it decided the opposite, the panel would have given Massachusetts District Court Judges the discretion to webcast court proceedings. Tenenbaum and his supporters say they will continue to explore every legal option that is available for his defense.

Over five years ago, a small tracker in Sweden by the Piracy Bureau was born in what was the early beginnings of the BitTorrent era. Since then, The Pirate Bay slowly became the stuff of epics: While major trackers have been shut down and boarded up, TPB maintained some resilience that you couldn’t help but be amused, maybe even proud of. They scored leaks of major films, albums, and video games like good PR coups. At times, when artists and movie studios such as Warner Brothers and ego balloon Billy Corgan beseeched them to stop uploads of their leaked movies and pirated albums, they simply posted the letters up and laughed at them. When the site was raided in 2006, protests spawned all throughout Sweden against the nature of the raids, and a political party representing the interests of these supporters (the Pirate Party) was born.

Now, after a trial jokingly referred to as "spectacular trial" or spectrial, (where several charges were dropped, wild accusations were made, and all-around melodrama and theatrics could be had by both sides), the four men who stood trial for the actions of TPB — Peter Sunde, Fredrik Nejj, Gottfrid Svartholm, and Carl Lundström — were all declared guilty of facilitating copyright infringement through TPB. According to the 107-page judgment, the four worked together as a team and "were aware that copyrighted material was being shared using The Pirate Bay and that they made it easy and assisted the infringements." Each face a fine of 7.5 million Swedish kronor ($905,000) to the plaintiffs(a consortium of MPAA and RIAA corporations) and a year in jail. Amusingly, the judges in the verdict also declared the usage of BitTorrent illegal in Sweden. I got a feeling that won’t go down too well anywhere.

Of course, the four have declared that they will appeal. Sunde, a.k.a. brokep, one of the outspoken figures of the trial, held a press conference online in the aftermath of the verdict. Comparing it to a typical episode of Swedish children’s program, Sunde sees that they will ultimately get the epic win and sees this only as a setback. He notes that he was "not surprised" at the verdict, only at the prospect of jail time. He immediately disputed the facts that they worked together as a team, as well as the fact that their actions were "organized crime," calling their site much more disorganized. He was particularly surprised at the fact that the judgment was leaked yesterday to the press, which is how they first got word of the conviction themselves. At one point, he referred to the court as a "dice court," where results tend to be unpredictable. As to whether he would pay the fine, he said that even if he had the money to pay (which he did not), he would rather "burn the money and blow away the dust" than pay a cent to the plantiffs. In regards to TPB’s fate, Sunde had said prior to trial that the site itself was never on trial and will continue running.

There is something to be said about this whole verdict. Many artists we write for here at Tiny Mix Tapes, as well as other sites such as Pitchfork and Pop Matters and Stereogum, have much to thank for file-sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay. They may not give them the immediate revenue that some artists and labels crave, but it gives them something else that’s more important: fans. Fans that will go to shows, fans that will pay for merch, fans that will support them in any way they can. I am personally acquainted with an artist (who shall remain unnamed), whose own success was through the inadvertent leaking of an album to file-sharing sites such as What.cd and TPB. He is now selling out shows across the country. There are no doubt others who have had similar success. This verdict says a lot about what is wrong with the music industry’s mentality towards piracy: All they see now are falling profit margins and the bottom line, lost sales where there never were any to begin with. They don’t see that most people aren’t just sales numbers. Some are slowly figuring this out and are now learning to earn their revenue off ticket stubs and merch sakles amongst other things. Others are still worshipping this dying god, and will do everything in their power to save it, up to the point of manipulating the government to serve them (which we will be reporting on next week). At the end of the day, while they may be morally in the right, their argument for maintaining this pyrrhic campaign is tired, and people have begun to move on.

While the labels won today, nothing can be made of this just yet.

Some things are timeless. If you are a beaver, these things might include being brown or chopping wood all the time. If you are Dubai, these things could be constructing new buildings in the shape of things that aren’t buildings, or putting a scale model of the Atlantic Ocean in a shopping mall. Now if you are, say, Mark E. Smith of seminal post-punk outfit The Fall, these things might include buttoning your nerdy oxford shirt all the way to the top at all times — decade be damned — and cultivating a reputation for having some major ’tude. This is important because, as you may have guessed, this story is about The Fall.

Which leads me to my next point: some things change. For example, right now The Fall has found a new label to add to its ever-growing list of conquests. This time around it’s Domino, home to Animal Collective and Franz Ferdinand, to name but a few. Domino previously released Tromatic Reflexxions (TMT Review), the 2007 album from the Mark E. Smith/Mouse on Mars collabo known as Von Südenfed.

The Fall are heading back to the studio in the very near future, so word on the street is that a late-2009 release might be a possibility.

In his latest pathetic attempt to stroke his own ego, Billy Corgan has posted a manifesto of sorts on The Smashing Pumpkins’ website. Okay, truthfully, I didn’t read the entire thing, as I fear it would somehow take some of my dignity away (and I have very little of that to spare). But for those of you who want to take the high road and read the entire post, check it out here. For the rest of you, here is my summary based on what I gathered:

Hello, this is Billy Corgan! I am the King of Smashing Pumpkins. I am also the king of music, sex, and the world! Remember this music video? It was great — my favorite part is me, Billy Corgan! The old world is dead, long live the new era, the era of Billy Corgan! Referring to Billy Corgan in the third person is a joke, but not really... Billy Corgan is Billy Corgan! Blah blah blah blah Billy Corgan blah blah Billy Corgan!

And there you have it, folks. While the all-knowing Mr P said “I wonder if we should stop posting stories on this bullshit...” when this story was assigned, I think we need to constantly remind ourselves what happens when egos go wild — and the dangers that come with it.

Looks like the good times might be over for brokers of Ticketmaster subsidiary TicketsNow – their records are as good as public, due to “special interest” and subpoenas from the ongoing governmental investigation of the ticket giant’s shadiness. Brokers (an awfully generous term) will have no choice but to surrender records regarding individual tickets sold and even provide copies of their contracts with TicketsNow.

It’s an interesting turn of events, as brokers have always been the money-making lapdogs of the ticket behemoth but now appear to be grade-A dirty laundry. Just taking a stab here, but perhaps investigators might be interested in exactly how many tickets never make it anywhere near the individual consumer for direct sale, resulting in absurdly quick sell-out times and, yes, scalping by brokers on the internet.

The text of the e-mail sent to brokers is as follows:

As you are aware, recent events have resulted in a heightened level of interest in Ticketmaster’s and TicketsNow’s businesses. One by-product of this heightened interest is that we have received a number of subpoenas and demands for sworn information about TicketsNow and its broker clients. These include formal requests for information and/or subpoenas from, among others, the United States Department of Justice, the New Jersey Attorney General’s office, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Canadian Competition Bureau.

The purpose of this letter is to inform you that we are now required to hand over certain information about TicketsNow’s broker clients and their sales activities. In particular, we are required to identify: (i) information regarding any seller of tickets on TicketsNow for the May 21 and May 23, 2009 Bruce Springsteen concerts at the IZOD Center in New Jersey; (ii) the names and contact information of all ticket brokers with whom TicketsNow does business; and (iii) copies of TicketsNow broker contracts.

We are taking steps to protect the confidentiality of these materials once produced but feel we are required to provide these materials in response to lawful demands. Therefore, please be advised that we will respond to these subpoenas and demands for information one week from today. We appreciate your understanding in this matter. Any questions should be directed to legalinquiries@ticketmaster.com.

Ticketmaster Legal Department

OH MY GOD!

TOUCH AND GO RECORDS STOPPED DISTRIBUTION FOR A BUNCH OF OTHER INDIE LABELS!

NOBODY TOLD ME!

Just joking, I read the website that I work for; and even though there were initial rumors of T&G completely shutting down (it won’t), the label is mainly just discontinuing distribution for other labels and won’t release new music for awhile. But now most people are wondering: “What’s going to happen to all the labels that used T&G as a distributor?” I don’t know about most of the labels (like Merge, Drag City, Suicide Squeeze, or Jade Tree), but like the headline read: Kill Rock Stars has moved on and found a new distributor.

The venerable Northwest indie label announced on Monday that it has signed a new deal with independent distribution company, Redeye. The entire KRS catalog will now be carried by the indie firm ensuring that records by Elliott Smith, The Decemberists, Bikini Kill, and Sleater-Kinney will still be available to emo kids and riot grrrls everywhere.

Redeye distributes labels like Barsuk, Warp, Luaka Bop, Daptone, and Yep Roc and also ensures that releases by artists like Public Enemy, The Faint, The Donnas, Lisa Loeb, and Cake make it to store shelves.

The first Redeye-distributed record from Kill Rock Stars will be the new album by The Thermals, Now We Can See, expected for release on April 7.

A bit of confusion struck the indie rock blogosphere last week after Pitchfork announced that The Shins, one of the standard bearers for indie rock in the aughts, had left Sub Pop, one of the biggest and most revered indie rock labels in the country. The band was said to be working on new music with no set release date. The day after making the announcement, Pitchfork clarified the news the next day, reporting that Sub Pop has said that The Shins’ contract with the label has merely expired, and the band is on writing hiatus and has no definitive future plans.

Well, if you’re scratching your head, recall that Shins manager Ian Montone told Billboard last year that the band was planning to release its next album through singer James Mercer’s Aural Apothecary label. Sub Pop has left open the possibility that the band will keep some sort of partnership with the label.

It’s all so confusing. But I suppose that if you’re desperate to know just what the band is doing, just ask the boys yourself on their just-announced tour!

05.02.09 - Bellingham, WA - Red Square on Campus
05.04-05.09 - Seattle, WA - Showbox
05.06-07.09 - Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
05.09.09 - Oakland, CA - The Fox
05.10.09 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Palladium
05.11.09 - San Diego, CA - Soma
05.13.09 - Richmond, VA - The National
05.14.09 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
05.15.09 - Baltimore, MD - Ram’s Head Live
05.16.09 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
05.17.09 - Wellmont, NJ - Wellmont Theater
05.18.09 - New York, NY - Terminal 5

As we previously reported, the RIAA is none too happy with one Joel Tenenbaum, who is facing a $1-million lawsuit for downloading seven songs on the filesharing service Kazaa. Tenenbaum, in turn, has launched an admirable defense with the help of attorney Charles Nesson and a Harvard Law School litigation team, along with a website that keeps the world up to date: JoelFightsBack.

Late last week, Mediapost announced that Tenenbaum will also have the support of none other than Radiohead’s manager, Brian Message — that’s right, the manager of a recorded musical group: the very population whom the RIAA posits are helpless, hapless victims of rampant downloaders like Tenenbaum. Nesson plans to use Message’s testimony to both support the theory that non-commercial filesharing actually encourages growth in the music industry and illustrate the success of Radiohead’s non-traditional “pay what you want” album release of In Rainbows (TMT Review).

Of course, the RIAA plan to caterwaul about how filesharing is crippling business, and while it’s true that record sales have dropped ($15 billion to $10 billion since the dawn of Napster 10 years ago), Radiohead’s record sales markedly increased with the release of In Rainbows. Message’s testimony will support the theory that “the music business is going to be saved by readjusting and developing these exciting new business models that are consistent with a digital environment.” In other words, Message will directly represent a musical group that has harnessed the technology of filesharing and used it for profit, thus supporting the defense that filesharing is not simply a tool of destruction within the music industry, and that Tenenbaum’s actions fall within the “fair use” category.

What’s especially troubling about this case, besides the egregious sum of money demanded over the digital equivalent of a $14 CD, is that the RIAA doesn’t even bother to sue filesharers anymore (or is it?). Instead, they’ve taken to working with Internet service providers to identify and shut down individual users who utilize their internet connections for filesharing, a practice many ISPs feel yucky about. Perhaps the information Message brings to the trial will shed some light on the benefits of filesharing, rather than the small amount of damage caused by one person.

[Photo: Angela N.]

EMI Australia has announced its latest attempt to decide for millions of consumers what’s “cool” in the music world with their totally original idea for "the first major label blog" in the world. Fantastic guys, you want a medal? The In Sound From Way Out (great name, by the way) features EMI artists across the globe as well as the typical features you’d expect from a music blog. However, the Aussies have come up with one unique element: an artist and repertoire (A&R) Dropbox where those connoisseurs of music, the general public, can recommend the latest acts to the dudes at EMI. This, of course, means you can expect legions of Kelly Clarkson, All-American Reject, and Lily Allen fans proposing... yep more artists like Kelly Clarkson, The All-American Rejects, and Lily Allen!

The team pictured below are representatives for EMI. But let’s be honest here: even if you were a rabid Justin Timberlake fan, would you trust these jokers to recommend you good music?

In an age when corporate treasure holds are ever diminishing, music executives may now join their banking brethren in bereaving the loss of another piece of self-indulgent booty: the platinum record. Since no albums released in 2009’s first three months got even close to the one million mark, the RIAA won’t be doling out a single platinum record so far this year. In fact, only 39 releases sold more than 25,000 units in their opening week. Ouch.

The lack of platinum releases stands as a pale reflection of the sorry state of CD sales in general, which have dropped 20.3% from this time last year. While dwindling CD sales are nothing new by this point, labels now have to deal with store closings by credit-crunch ravaged retailers like Circuit City (RIP), Virgin Megatore, and Borders. Coupled with the ever increasing digital market (both legal and ehhh not so legal), I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that music industry may be in a bit of trouble. And as long as I’m making wacky theories, I don’t think newspapers are doing that great, either.