High-quality design and simplicity of use are expected to be the hallmarks of the new digital music service from Apple Computer, to be unveiled Monday (April 28).
Label sources mention that the service is an a la carte download store — not unlike that of rival Liquid Audio — that is built into Apple’s iTunes player. No subscription is required for the service, and tracks are expected to retail for an average of 99 cents. Once purchased, tracks are transferred to the consumer’s iTunes music library and are automatically synched to the user’s iPod portable player.
Content can also be burned to CD. Credit-card information is stored on file in the store’s shopping-cart system so the consumer does not have to re-enter the information for each purchase. The offering is expected to be made available initially only to users of Apple computers.
As part of its announcement, Apple is expected to unveil content-licensing deals with all five major labels. The Apple service is also expected to feature music from high-profile acts whose repertoire has not previously been available for digital distribution.
Source Billboard.com.
The estates of late Doors vocalist Jim Morrison and his wife, Pam Courson, have filed an 11-count trademark-infringement lawsuit against original band members Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger, among other. .
The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges that a new touring incarnation of the Doors — which includes keyboardist Manzarek, guitarist Krieger, and vocalist Ian Astbury (formerly of the Cult) — has “wrongfully misappropriated” the band’s name and logo, including reciting Morrison’s poetry during performances. The suit, which seeks unspecified monetary damages, claims that the defendants are in “a deliberate scheme” to enrich themselves and “confuse the public.”
The complaint mirrors a suit filed earlier this year by John Densmore, former drummer and co-founder of the Doors. The group is also facing a lawsuit from former Police drummer Stewart Copeland, alleging breach of oral contract.
The Doors short tour continues with a date tonight in Boston at the Orpheum.
Source Billboard.com.
Since their debut with 2000
Mike Gordon of Phish, Jamie Masefield of the Jazz Mandolin Project and Doug Perkins of Smoking Grass will perform two shows as Grappa Boom at the Iron Horse in Northhampton, MA on May 31st. The trio plays original compositions as well as a variety of jazz and bluegrass standards. This trio has performed previously a couple times for fundraisers in the town of Starksboro, VT. Masefield and Perkins have also collaborated numerous times amongst the coffee houses and small bars of Burlington, VT. For ticket info visit – Iheg.com
