Copy-protection turning fans off buying music: retailers
TORONTO (CP) - It's becoming a regular occurrence in CD shops across the country: an irate customer comes in complaining the CD they bought won't play on their computer, and worse yet, they can't transfer the tunes to their IPod.
The culprit is copy-protected or copy-controlled CDs - something many Canadian music retailers say they would like to see pulled from store shelves.
"This is just another really, really ridiculous way of telling our customers, 'We don't want your business,' " said Tim Baker of Sunrise Records, which has 31 shops in southern Ontario.
"It's so stupid."
The issue was underscored last week with news that the anti-piracy technology used on about 50 Sony BMG titles released in the United States and 37 in Canada secretly left spyware behind on people's computers.
The software - developed as a way to fight music piracy - made the machines susceptible to viruses and hackers. And trying to remove the software disabled CD drives.
Needless to say, the technology irked consumers. Thousands flocked to the web to vent, using blogs and online petitions to encourage people to boycott Sony products altogether.
"There's still plenty of work to be done if we are to achieve our goal of being treated like the music lovers we are rather than the criminals that (Sony) assumes us to be," read one posting on www.boycottsony.us.
Sony BMG said Friday that about 120,000 of the 4.7 million faulty CDs were sold in Canada.
They are not the only company to issue copy-protected CDs in Canada.
EMI has been releasing select albums - including the latest Nickelback album, All The Right Reasons - this way for about three years. The company intends to ship out all its releases with the technology by year's end.
The EMI discs use different software than Sony BMG, and have yet to cause any computer troubles.
Labels say they need the technology in order to stop people from sharing music with those who haven't paid for it.
Still, retailers say such technology is punishing those who are actually willing to fork over cash for music - an ever-dwindling group as it is.
"Consumers are not liking it," says Leslie Purchase, assistant manager at CD Plus in the Halifax Shopping Centre. "People are getting very frustrated by (copy-protected CDs)."
She's noticed an increase in customers who put CDs down after noticing the "copy-controlled" or "copy-protected" label.
"A lot of customers won't buy them now. They say 'I don't want it'," she said.
The copy controls are possible through digital rights management technology, or DRM. It lets labels restrict the number of times a CD can be shared - meaning burned or copied.
More controversial is the ability to control which programs consumers can use to playback their music. With EMI and Sony BMG discs, for instance, the music is compatible only with Windows Media Player but not with ITunes (for PC users).
That means people with IPods can't add the newly purchased CD to their playlists without some complicated steps.
CDs with this technology are marked with a warning on the back, usually in a black box.
EMI and Sony openly admit its copy protection measures have upset and annoyed some of its music fans - specifically IPod users. They've even provided websites outlining ways to override the controls, www.emimusic.info and cp.sonybmg.com respectively, in order to get the songs on IPod players.
Complaints even trickled down to the actual musicians, who subsequently posted ways to circumvent the protection measures on their own websites. Bands include Dave Matthews and the Foo Fighters.
The grumbling doesn't come as a surprise, says Terry Millar, director of manufacturing at EMI Canada.
"People have had the freedom to give 10 friends a copy of a disc. For anybody that's used to doing that, all of a sudden they're limited," he said.
"We're going to get complaints. We know that people are used to a certain thing. The thing about it is that it's not the right thing to be doing."
He expects other labels, like Universal and Warner, will eventually follow with similar technology.
But at least one label says it's vehemently opposed to the content protection practice saying it unfairly punishes the music buying public.
"It's backwards thinking. It's protectionism," said Terri McBride, president of Vancouver-based Nettwerk, whose roster includes the Be Good Tanyas. "The average consumer who's not tech-savvy is going to buy the CD, thinking that they can load it onto their IPod . . . They're going to be royally pissed off."
He added: "Why do you want to piss off the people who buy?"
Koppel Exits 'Nightline'
It won't be the same without him, since Ted Koppel and "Nightline" have been so intertwined for so long.
The much-honored journalist leaves the 25-year-old program -- and ABC News, after 42 years overall -- with the show's Tuesday, Nov. 22, telecast. Evolved from a nightly series of specials about U.S. hostages then held in Iran, "Nightline" will continue with a trio of anchors: Martin Bashir, Cynthia McFadden and Terry Moran, who assume their new roles Monday, Nov. 28. Still, a "Nightline" without Koppel may be hard for longtime viewers to grasp, if not for Koppel himself.
"Look," he says, "the same was said of 'The Tonight Show' when Steve Allen left, then when Jack Paar left, then when Johnny Carson left. I think Jack Paar only did it for three years, but it was very difficult for people to imagine there could ever be another Paar. Well, there wasn't; there was a Carson. When he left, Jay [Leno] had a hard time the first couple of years ... understandably, because he had big shoes to fill, but he's done a brilliant job."
Koppel assesses his soon-to-be-former franchise in terms of "the kinds of programs 'Nightline' has done. Sometimes, those are subject-related, as with AIDS and our prison system and race relations. Those are topics we've come back to again and again. Sometimes, they're event-related. You can hardly talk about 'Nightline' without talking about the hostage crisis in Iran, and I find it hard to think about the program's evolution without the week we spent in South Africa in the mid-'80s, or the week we spent bringing Palestinians and Israelis together in the Middle East.
"There was a slogan some bright person in the P.R. department came up with for 'Nightline' many years ago: 'Bringing people together who are worlds apart.' In many respects, 'Nightline' did that when nobody else did, before CNN existed." Which isn't to say Koppel doesn't have a certain affinity for the cable news network: One of his three daughters, Andrea, is among its veteran international correspondents.
In an era of ever-increasing television news options -- some 24/7 -- Koppel and "Nightline" have kept distinguishing themselves, as with the "Day in the Life" profiles and the controversial 2004 broadcast, "The Fallen." That roll call of more than 700 U.S. soldiers killed in the Iraq war prompted one station group to order its ABC affiliates not to carry the episode. Koppel takes particular pride in approaches unique to "Nightline," although he concedes some concepts were born out of necessity.
"The top correspondents at ABC News really didn't want to stay up that late," he muses, "so we were always looking around for reporters to cover stories for us. The first ranks were always too busy; the second ranks were not that easy to find, either; and the third ranks, we didn't want, so we created new styles of covering television news."
Declining to specify his plans until he has left ABC, Koppel is a bit bittersweet about his departure, which comes shortly after the death of longtime friend and colleague Peter Jennings. "Sam Donaldson and Barbara Walters and Charlie Gibson and I are really sort of the last old-timers here," he reflects. "Most of the people I grew up with and admired when I came here as a young man have passed on, quite literally, so it's not quite as traumatic as if I'd left here 20 years ago."
Underwood Aims For Crossover
Unlike the winners before her, current "American Idol" champ Carrie Underwood is gunning for success in not only the pop format, but the country arena too.
Thus, Arista Nashville, a division of RCA Label Group, is partnering with 19 Recordings and J Records in New York to work Underwood's Nov. 15 debut, "Some Hearts."
Underwood has already scored with "Inside Your Heaven," this year's best-selling retail single. The song -- which has sold 434,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- topped The Billboard Hot 100 in July because of its strong sales. Now she will try to earn fans at country radio.
"It's a dual approach," says RCA Label Group chairman Joe Galante, who says his Nashville office will handle country radio promotion for Underwood's single "Jesus, Take the Wheel," as well as other marketing and promotion efforts in the country community. The J Records staff is working the album's title track to top 40 and AC radio as well as taking the record to retail.
Underwood is depending on both labels to shepherd her efforts. "They know what they're doing," she says. "I'm a country singer, but because of my exposure on 'American Idol,' I might tend to cross over naturally."
"Jesus, Take the Wheel" is off to a great start at country radio, debuting at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart and already up to No. 23. It is the first time a newcomer has debuted in the top 40 on that chart with a track from a debut album since Billboard adopted Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems' monitored airplay information as the basis for its radio charts in 1990.
"I'm not preaching," Underwood says of the tune. "It's just a beautiful song I figured a lot of people could relate to whether they believe in God or not. Everybody has had a time in their life when they needed help with something."
In recording the album with producers Mark Bright and Dann Huff, the Checotah, Okla., native says it was important to "keep things as country as possible." Her manager, Simon Fuller (who heads the 19 imprint) suggested she meet with Nashville writers. That turned into a weekend retreat that resulted in one of her co-writes, "I'm Not in Checotah Anymore," making it onto the record. She is buying a home in Nashville and looks forward to more co-writing opportunities.
"Everybody seems to have their arms wide open to me, so that's been great," says Underwood, who admits her first Nashville experience was not so positive. At 15, she was pitched to labels on Music Row and turned down.
Confirmed appearances for Underwood include the Country Music Association Awards, "Dateline," the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, "Dr. Phil," "The View," "Today," "Live With Regis and Kelly," "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Late Show With David Letterman" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."
Underwood has also gotten exposure through her spokeswoman deals with Skechers and Hershey's. She appears in Skechers print ads and Hershey's TV ads.
'Rent' veterans turn musical into lively movie
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Rent" is one of the best film musicals in years -- exuberant, sexy and life affirming in equal measure.
Jonathan Larson's 1996 Tony- and Pulitzer Prize-winning rock musical, based upon Puccini's opera "La Boheme," makes an electrifying move to the screen as director Chris Columbus and choreographer Keith Young push the singing and dancing out into New York streets and subways.
Stylized action in real locations doesn't always work in movies, but it does here perhaps because six of the eight actor-performers from the original Broadway show return for the movie version. These actors know their roles down to the grit in their fingernails, so the film feels loose and real, unfettered by a proscenium and opened up in an almost spiritual way.
"Chicago" proved that American audiences can still, on occasion, embrace a genre that has largely gone out of style. But what will mainstream audiences make of a musical about AIDS, drug addiction, homelessness and drag queens? "Rent" will be strong in major markets but needs crackerjack marketing to draw a broad young audience to the film.
"Rent," which Larson, its author and composer, did not live to see became a worldwide success, focuses on a group of impoverished young artists and musicians, struggling to survive in New York's East Village neighborhood in the 1980s under the shadow of AIDS. "Rent" shares with "La Boheme" an affirmation of the bohemian lifestyle, of creativity and art over anything as mundane as earning a living or paying the rent.
The reason, of course, is these lives might be short. Drugs and HIV inflict several characters. Each feels a pressing need to create a legacy, one in which whom you love is at least important as what you create. You live your art -- and life -- with a metaphorical gun to your head.
Roger ( Adam Pascal) is a handsome yet melancholy songwriter coming off a long bout with heroin. Downstairs neighbor Mimi ( Rosario Dawson), a spectacularly beautiful exotic dancer, has a definite eye for Roger, but he is emotionally shut down and understandably wary of her drug habit. What eventually brings them together, for a moment at least, is the realization that both are HIV-positive.
Roger's roommate Mark ( Anthony Rapp), a struggling filmmaker, starts to document life around him, starting with his circle of friends. He also carries the torch for mercurial performance artist Maureen ( Idina Menzel), who left him for -- the indignity of it all -- a woman, Harvard-trained attorney Joanne (Tracie Thoms).
Returning to the circle of friends is Tom ( Jesse L. Martin), a former professor and computer whiz who is jobless. Moments after getting mugged outside his former digs, Tom meets the love of his life, Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a drag queen street musician. These two also are HIV-positive.
The outsider of the group is Benjamin Coffin III ( Taye Diggs). Benny married the landlord's daughter and, despite a vow to keep his former roommates in the loft rent-free, has become the "enemy," a capitalist who wants to transform the 'hood by evicting everyone and building a headquarters for a cyberspace enterprise.
The threat of eviction ostensibly gives the story its dramatic impetus: Maureen means to stage a one-woman show in protest, Benny pressures Roger and Mark to stop her and so on. But the real dramatic propulsion comes from love. Tom and Angel fall hard for one another and revel in that love as their time together will be short. Mimi and Roger share an equally profound passion, but Roger refuses to acknowledge it. Mark still pines for Maureen, whose open behavior with men and women sparks doubt and jealousy in Joanne.
The film spills out of the cold-water lofts into nearby streets, bars, restaurants, performance spaces and churches in a celebration of the bohemian life. Stephen Goldblatt's camera is constantly in motion, and Young's dances have a athletic dynamism that energizes the screen. Some dialogue has been added in Steve Chbosky's adaptation, but like the stage show the story is told in musical numbers that flow smoothly one into another. Meanwhile, Larson's music honors a host of traditions, ranging from rock and blues to gospel, soul and even tango.
Columbus managed the complicated logistics of the first two " Harry Potter" movies but never put his own stamp on those huge productions. Something in "Rent," though, hooked him emotionally for the movie represents his best work -- confident of the material inherited from Larson, true to that legacy yet willing to make changes and expand the possibilities for the screen.
Nearly every big movie has its set pieces around which the film develops, but "Rent" is all set pieces. Each requires ingenuity and sweat to get the best out of a super-talented cast. That each succeeds on its own terms yet flows together so easily is a tribute to Columbus' passion for the material.
Howard Cummings' interior sets, the location work, Aggie Guerard Rodgers' vibrant costumes, the terrific dances and adventurous cinematography all add up to pure pleasure.
Revolution Studios presents in association with 1492 Pictures a Tribeca production
CAST:
Mimi: Rosario Dawson
Benny: Taye Diggs
Angel: Wilson Jermaine Heredia
Tom: Jesse L. Martin
Maureen: Idina Menzel
Roger: Adam Pascal
Mark: Anthony Rapp
Joanne: Tracie Thoms
Director: Chris Columbus; Screenwriter: Steve Chbosky; Based on the play by: Jonathan Larson; Producers: Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro, Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan; Executive producers: Jeffrey Seller, Kevin McCollum, Allan S. Gordon, Lata Ryan; Director of photography: Stephen Goldblatt; Production designer: Howard Cummings; Music and lyrics: Jonathan Larson; Choreographer: Keith Young; Costumes: Aggie Guerard Rodgers; Editor: Richard Pearson.
Bowie ponders 'Prestige' thriller
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Rock star David Bowie is in talks to play inventor Nikola Tesla in "The Prestige," a thriller from "Batman Begins" director Christopher Nolan.
The cast also includes Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine in a tale of rival magicians in early 20th century London. The Tesla character is based on the real-life Serbian-American who discovered the rotating magnetic field.
The script, on which Nolan is working, is based on Christopher Priest's 1996 novel and was adapted by Nolan's brother, Jonathan, who also wrote the short story on which Nolan's breakout movie, "Memento," was based.
The movie is scheduled to shoot in January with a budget in the $40 million range. Disney will distribute the film domestically, and Warner Bros. internationally.
Bowie's acting credits range from 1976's "The Man Who Fell to Earth" to 1983's "Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence," 1966's "Basquiat" and, most recently, 2000's "Mr. Rice's Secret."
CBC, CTV share Gemini honours
TORONTO (CP) - The Eleventh Hour, a program already cancelled by CTV after its third season of low ratings, won the 2005 Gemini Award as Canada's best dramatic series.
Michael Riley and Cara Pifko of CBC's legal drama This Is Wonderland were named best drama series actor and actress.
The results were announced Saturday night at a black-tie gala, the finale of three successive nights of Gemini events marking the award's 20th anniversary.
"I believe that's why they invented the word bittersweet," said Eleventh Hour producer Peter Simpson, who was reluctant to blame the network for the show's cancellation.
"In terms of audience, we were on life support for a long time."
Simpson said they just couldn't hustle the ratings.
"We were very proud of our quality, the problem was we didn't know how to whore ourselves enough to get the numbers."
The Gemini telecast, airing for the first time on Global TV, got off to a rocky technical start but soon picked up steam with a sketch that featured a wide variety of Canadian TV entertainers past and present, from 8-year-old kids' show host Daniel Cook to veteran comic Dave Broadfoot, who turns 80 in a few weeks.
Best dramatic miniseries was CBC's Sex Traffic, an intense story about the modern-day international slave market. Nominated for 14 Geminis, it won seven.
In comedy, CTV's runaway hit sitcom Corner Gas was voted the best, although the Brent Butt series was not nominated in other key categories. Conversely, that other popular comedy, Showcase's Trailer Park Boys, was not nominated in the best comedy series category this year but won for best ensemble performance.
Best lead actor in a dramatic program or miniseries was Brendan Fletcher for his chilling performance as a psycho killer in The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton. It was his second win out of four nominations. Kristen Thomson won best actress in a drama or miniseries for CBC's I, Claudius.
"My mom is going to be so happy," said Fletcher, 23, who confessed he was so nervous he forgot to go to the washroom.
"Can you say holy crap on TV?" blurted an excited Pifko in accepting her statue.
The Eleventh Hour, which dealt with life behind the scenes at a fictional TV newsmagazine show, went into the Gemini weekend with a leading 15 nominations. On Friday, it won four other awards, for best direction (David Wellington), writing (Semi Chellas and Tassie Cameron), makeup (Marilyn O'Quinn) and guest actor (Henry Czerny).
In a departure from tradition, Global's Kevin Newman - who already has two Emmys - won the best news anchor Gemini, although Global News did not win in the best newscast category at Thursday's non-televised gala.
"I want to thank you for giving me the Peter Mansbridge award," he said, referring to the usual winner in that category.
"We are blessed in this country with three fabulous newsrooms," the former ABC-TV newsman said. "Canadians have a good choice in this country. I think we should be very proud of that."
Newman called Global National a "small guerrilla team" that works hard to be worth viewers' support.
The nod for best writing in a comedy or variety show went to Ken Finkleman for The Newsroom on CBC while best drama program or miniseries writing went to Alan DiFiore and Chris Haddock for CTV's gritty street crime drama The Life.
"The best thing about writing is you don't have to thank anyone," is all the droll Finkleman said in accepting his award.
Best sports host or interviewer honours went to Scott Russell of CBC Sports Saturday and the Gemini Viewers' Choice award went to Marilyn Denis of Cityline on CHUM's Toronto-based Citytv.
Denis conceded she felt like the Susan Lucci of Canadian TV, a reference to the much-nominated U.S. soap actress. Denis was nominated five times in the past but this was her first win.
"I'm so happy for our show," she declared, noting she had been doing it for 17 years.
Here are some of the key winners at the 2005 Gemini Awards:
Best Dramatic Mini-Series
Sex Traffic
(Big Motion Pictures Ltd., Granada Television, in association with the CBC)
Wayne Grigsby, Michele Buck, David MacLeod, Derek Wax
Best Dramatic Series
The Eleventh Hour
(Norstar Filmed Entertainment)
Ilana Frank, Semi Chellas, Daphne Park, Ray Sager, Peter Simpson, David Wellington
Best Comedy Program or Series
Corner Gas
(Prairie Pants Productions II Inc)
Brent Butt, Mark Farrell, Paul Mather, David Storey, Virginia Thompson
Donald Brittain Award for Best Social/Political Documentary Program
Runaway Grooms
(ASLI Films Inc.)
Ali Kazimi
Best Direction in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Chris Abraham - I, Claudia
Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Alan DiFiore, Chris Haddock - The Life
Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program or Series
Ken Finkleman - The Newsroom Season III - Baghdad Bound
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Brendan Fletcher - The Death and Life of Nancy Eaton
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Kristen Thomson - I, Claudia
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
Michael Riley - This Is Wonderland - Episode 213
Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role
Cara Pifko - This Is Wonderland - Episode 212
Best Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
John Paul Tremblay, Cory Bowles, Lucy Decoutere, Barrie Dunn, Sarah Dunsworth, John Dunsworth, Jeanna Harrison-Steinhart, Michael Jackson, Garry James, Tyrone Parsons, Pat Roach, Mike Smith, Shelley Thompson, Jonathan Torrens, Robb Wells - Trailer Park Boys: Season 4 - Working Man
Best News Anchor
Global National with Kevin Newman
(Global National)
Kevin Newman
Best Host or Interviewer in a Sports Program or Sportscast
Scott Russell - CBC Sports Saturday
Gemini Viewers' Choice Award
Marilyn Denis - Cityline
A complete list of winners is available at www.geminiawards.ca
Aguilera Reportedly Marries Music Exec
NEW YORK - Christina Aguilera has found out what a girl wants, and now she's married him. The 24-year-old pop singer tied the knot with music executive Jordan Bratman in a Saturday evening ceremony at Staglin Family Vineyard in northern California's Napa Valley, Us Weekly reported on its Web site.
Sources told the magazine that Aguilera, her hair decorated in jewels and pulled back in a bun topped by white flowers, walked down the aisle in a Christian Lacroix gown. The couple exchanged rings in front of about 130 guests.
Aguilera and Bratman arrived in Napa Valley on Wednesday to kick off wedding festivities, with a Japanese-themed rehearsal dinner Friday night at the Auberge Du Soleil resort, Us Weekly reported.
Bratman, 28, proposed to Aguilera in February while on vacation in Carmel, Calif. Their hotel room was filled with rose petals, balloons and gift boxes.
"When I got to the last box, there was a ring in it," Aguilera told People magazine. "He got down on one knee and said 'Will you do me the honor of being my wife?' I've been floating ever since."
'Harry Potter' Dominates Box Office
LOS ANGELES - The bespectacled boy wizard has worked his biggest box-office magic to date.
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" grossed $101.4 million in its debut weekend, the best results yet for the franchise, according to studio estimates released Sunday.
The latest Potter movie led a lineup that helped reverse the Hollywood box-office slump, with the top 12 films raking in $171 million, up 19 percent from the same weekend last year when "National Treasure" was No. 1 with $35.1 million.
"Goblet of Fire" was the fourth-best, three-day opening weekend ever, behind "Spider-Man" at $114.8 million in 2002 and "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith" and "Shrek 2," at $108 million apiece.
The fourth installment of the adventures of Harry and his curious classmates at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is the first Potter film to earn a PG-13 rating for its fantasy violence and special effects. But that did not deter audiences.
"The Potter franchise is just irresistible to moviegoers," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "The combination of the Potter books and the love audiences have for the movies conspired a big opening weekend."
Debuting in second place was the Johnny Cash film biopic "Walk the Line," which took in $22.4 million. The film chronicles the early musical career of Cash, played by Joaquin Phoenix, and also stars Reese Witherspoon as Cash's lifelong love, June Carter. Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing.
Disney's computer-animated film "Chicken Little," which held the top spot last week, slipped to No. 3 with $14.8 million. Jennifer Anniston's thriller "Derailed" ranked fourth with $6.5 million and the sci-fi fantasy "Zathura: A Space Adventure" rounded out the top five with $5.1 million.
Based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, "Goblet of Fire" follows 14-year-old Harry, who unwillingly competes against three older wizards in a dangerous Triwizard Tournament. The movie features a dramatic face-off between Harry and Lord Voldemort — He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named — the dark warlock who killed Harry's parents and who tried to kill him when he was a baby.
Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros., which released "Goblet of Fire," said the results exceeded the studio's expectations. The third Potter film, "Prisoner of Azkaban," premiered last year at $93.7 million.
"As the audience has gotten older in time, faithful readers of the Potter books will remain faithful to the movies," Fellman said.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," $101.4 million
2. "Walk the Line," $22.4 million
3. "Chicken Little," $14.8 million
4. "Derailed," $6.5 million
5. "Zathura," $5.1 million
6. "Jarhead," $4.8 million
7. "Get Rich or Die Tryin," $4.4 million
8. "Saw II," $3.9 million
9. "Legend of Zorro," $2.3 million
10. "Pride and Prejudice," $2.1 million