Have you been following the story about Coldplay being accused of using portions of a Joe Satriani song on Viva La Vida?

I have. And wow, it looks like much of the melody for the song Viva La Vida is a direct lift of Satriani’s If I Could Fly. Check out Exhibit A:

Satriani’s convinced that Coldplay’s song is a direct copy, and having heard the YouTube version above, it’s hard to argue otherwise.

Read more & comment »

…if you’re downloading his music for free.

In this interview with Billboard, Gene describes how the entire record industry is in a complete mess and how the downloading of music is killing the industry.

Now, Gene’s a guy who protects his copyrights somewhat over enthusiastically. If you’ve read his book, Sex Money Kiss, you’ll know stories of how he’s hunted down owners of KISS fanzines in order to get his dues from them for capitalizing on the KISS brand. So it isn’t any surprise when Gene tells us his feelings on the matter:

The record industry doesn’t have a f*cking clue how to make money. It’s only their fault for letting foxes get into the henhouse and then wondering why there’s no eggs or chickens. Every little college kid, every freshly-scrubbed little kid’s face should have been sued off the face of the earth. They should have taken their houses and cars and nipped it right there in the beginning. Those kids are putting 100,000 to a million people out of work.

Gene seems to have as much respect for the music industry as he does for those college kids he’d love to sue, doesn’t he?

Read more & comment »

Wow. In a shockingly stupid move, Prince (short guy, wears purple, gives away free albums) has decided that fansites dedicated to him should remove anything which contains his hallowed image straight away.

What a dumbass.

When he decided to give his Planet Earth album away for free in a Sunday newspaper, we all applauded. He was a pioneer, and he was suddenly part of the movement which would reshape the music industry. Ha.

Read more & comment »