It’s been some time, but this was too good not to mention:

Today I was surprised by a MySpace message from Cursive, in multiple ways. They had a new studio album ready to be released, that I – as quite a fan – knew anything about. But their innovative way of releasing this album really got me going!In short they will allow people to pre-order the album (for just 11 USD), which will also instantly grant them access to 320 KBPS MP3-files for free! Oh, and people who don’t care about physical album anymore can get the high quality digital package only for just one USD (iTunes Music Store eat your heart out!).This offer is only valid today, couting up dollars until the release date. Of course there is also an LP for the purists. Last but not least they are handing out one killer song for free to persuade people who are still not sure they are getting a great deal here!

This isn’t the first time (Dutch article) I’ve written about Cursive in relation to innovation and the music industry, and I have a feeling it won’t be the last either. But I guess it also helps that I think they are one of the greatest bands solely based on their great music anyway…

To me this is a great example of a business models for music in the internet age, combining free promotion, efficient distribution and the added value of physical records in a really clever way. Too bad the online store of their record label – Saddle Creek - seems to be having some problems with the traffic they are generating at the moment!

If ‘Grunge’ died in 1994 with the death of Kurt, Punk was now the biggest musical style in the world and was reborn into a new body through the likes of Green Day, The Offspring, Blink 182, Bad Religion and the hordes of successful bands on indie labels like NOFX, Pennywise and Rancid. This film documents the 90′s incarnation of ‘punk rock’ from the dark days of the mid 80′s to the resurgence of the East Bay punk scene, the Socal surf and skate movement to the eventual start of the Warped Tour. We follow the stories of the artists, labels, managers and producers that were part of punk rocks most successful time period… Ever.

Source: One Nine Nine Four

Following the example of the Dutch post-rock band We vs. Death, the Danish singer/producer Tone, and more recently the one-and-only Nine Inch Nails, the Dutch punk band Antillectual will release their second album Testimony (2008) under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-SA). Although Antillectual is still pretty unknown in the Netherlands, their approach – and tour schedule – reveals a band that looks beyond boundaries. The band has already played numerous shows throughout Europe and the United States, and will release Testimony in Japan and the United States later this year.

Verscheen ook op Simuze Nieuws.

The day before yesterday the Danish record label Urlyd claimed to have been the first to release a physical album under a Creative Commons license. The album Small Arm of Sea (2008) by singer/producer Tone will simultaneously be available as a deluxe CD/DVD or old-fashioned vinyl and as a free and legal download. The physical editions of the album also have the words “Copy this album for your friends, please!” printed on them. This all has been made possible by using a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license and the support of KODA. This Danish music copyright collecting society will take care of the commercial exploitation of the music.

A great example of how free distribution of music can be combined with commercial exploitation! It also shows how online rhetoric is influencing the offline world and our society and culture in general.

For the Dutch readers, I would however like to refer to some controversy about Urlyd claiming the first physical release under a Creative Commons license.

Verscheen ook op Simuze Nieuws.

It almost seems that even the – normally utterly ignorant – Big Four understand the ‘problem’ of media piracy better than the European Union. While as we speak all major record labels have decided to give up on DRM, EU commissioner Viviane Reding has announced the plan to create a single European-wide market for online media content protected by a “truly interoperable, consumer friendly DRM system”. I think most people who know something about DRM will agree this plan is outdated, unfriendly to EU citizens and simply deemed to fail. DRM is defective by design!

To help remind the EU that DRM died in 2007, please sign this open letter!

For the Dutch readers who don’t know what DRM is all about, please read the article Wat is (er mis) met DRM? I wrote for Netcultuur.