Hasta La Gadget!

The European Commission has proposed changes to music licensing rules that could significantly benefit iTunes and Amazon music shoppers among others. The proposed changes would make it easier for users to buy music and other content all across Europe. The problem for many is that under the current rules, music available in one country in the EU might not be available in other countries.

The problem is that rights to music sales and contracts are often negotiated on a country-by-country basis. One major contributor to piracy is that many Europeans can’t buy the music they want to purchase legally and may resort to illegal means. Under the new proposed rules, there will be greater transparency and better management for groups that collect royalties and copyright holders.

These new rules would encourage rights to music to be licensed wider and in more countries. The commission also says that the collecting societies acting as intermediaries between musicians and music sellers need to be more efficient. The EU has 250 different collecting societies across the 27 member states.

“Some collecting societies struggle to adapt to the requirements of the management of rights for online use of musical works, in particular in a cross-border context,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier.

[via ZDNet]

European Commission proposes changes to music licensing rules is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It may very well be time for a brand new media player from Apple, the seventh generation of the tiniest of iProducts, the iPod nano to be exact. This 8th gen iPod nano is said by sources familiar with the matter speaking with Macotakara to be returning to the tall and thin form of the 5th generation iPod nano and will have the thinness (or close to) of the current generation iPod touch. This device will also herald the end of the music service Ping – this according to these same sources in China.

This next-generation iPod nano will do away with the click-wheel that for so long has been the calling card of the iPod in general, opting instead for the same sort of thumb-sized button that the iPhone and iPod touch currently has in place. This device will also be shorter than the tallest iPod nano thus far, it having a body much closer to the first generation nano, but this time having a display that’s essentially the same size as the 5th generation (something like 2.2 inches diagonally.)

More of everything, please, thank you.

The image you see at the top of this post comes from 3D renderer and developer Taiyo Fujil who has done rendering work for Macotakara before. In other words, it’s not a real photo, it’s a mock-up done with software – don’t be fooled! Head below to see the rest of the news we’ve got recently surrounding the iPod nano. It’s not often this device comes up anymore – perhaps this is the best indicator that it’s due for a refresh? We’ll more than likely see soon!

iPod Nano 8th gen drops the click-wheel and gains iTunes is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Nexus Q is an odd little piece of hardware, filling a very small niche rather expensively. It could, however, turn out to be more useful than first thought, because a simple hack seems to bring it to life with the Android launcher, apps and as a result—you guessed it—Netflix. More »

Band members of the legendary metal band Def Leppard have announced that they’ve reached an impasse with their record label and will be freezing sales of all original recordings of their music. What they’ve done instead of accepting an unfair amount of royalties, so they say, they’ve decided to record what are effectively covers of all their original songs that’ll then be pushed to iTunes et all in a much more direct way that’ll have them cashing in as much as possible. One would hope that they’ll do a bit better than KISS did with their latest double-album (one of which was all covers of old songs too) Sonic Boom.

Thus far Def Leppard have only revealed a couple of tracks: “Pour Some Sugar on Me” and “Rock of Ages”, but they’ve let it be known that a whole lot more is on the way. Universal Music Group is reportedly stopped from releasing any Def Leppard tracks from the original albums due to the contract between the label and the band. Def Leppard frontman Joe Elliott spoke to Billboard.com this week on the matter.

“When you’re at loggerheads with an ex-record label who…is not prepared to pay you a fair amount of money and we have the right to say, ‘Well, you’re not doing it,’ that’s the way it’s going to be. Our contract is such that they can’t do anything with our music without our permission, not a thing. So we just sent them a letter saying, ‘No matter what you want, you are going to get “no” as an answer, so don’t ask.’ That’s the way we’ve left it. We’ll just replace our back catalog with brand new, exact same versions of what we did.” – Elliott

You’ll be able to see many more tracks popping up in the near future if the first two singles continue to sell well. At the moment, Billboard has “Sugar” ringing in at 21,000 downloads in the USA while “Ages” has 5,000. Hopefully soon we’ll also be seeing Animal, Hysteria, and Love Bites – soon!

[via TechDirt]

Def Leppard re-recording entire catalog while originals freeze is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Jeff Bizbub spends his days as a GE engineer, but he also has a degree in music theory. And that works just fine for him, because he’s been able to use his artistic know-how to troubleshoot problems in machines. More »