records

Kenny Rogers knows when to hold 'em...and sue EMI

Pirates to the left, disgruntled artists to the right...the record labels are again besieged.

The most recent challenge came yesterday when Kenny Rogers, the silver-haired country singer and actor, filed suit against EMI's Capitol Records. Rogers alleges that he was beat out of at least $400,000 and claims he's owed 50 percent of the digital-music royalties generated by his songs. He also says that EMI has dragged its feet on handing over an audit.

EMI declined to comment.

Rogers is the latest in a growing list of artists who have filed similar suits against their labels … Read more

The 404 994: Where we need to talk (podcast)

Leaked from 404 Podcast 994:

Apple asks bankruptcy court for OK to sue Kodak for infringement. Leaning back from your PC screen can help you decide when shopping online. Street Fighter vs. Mortal Kombat might actually happen. Call of Duty: Black Ops has the best game ending of all time, Guinness World Records says. Bathroom break video 1: I'll call you right back. Bathroom break video 1: Even dogs cry to Adele.

Get a Kodak Playsport Zx5 pocket camcorder for $79.99

Great discussion yesterday on the subject of CDs! Lots of you are still very passionate about them; others prefer modern streaming and download options. Thanks for weighing in!

Back to business. It was less than a year ago that Kodak unveiled the Playsport Zx5, its second-generation waterproof pocket camcorder.

A lot has changed since then. Main competitor Cisco pulled the plug on the Flip Video line, and Kodak itself just announced plans to exit the camera business. Sad.

The silver lining: cheap deals on Kodak goodies. For example, today only, and while supplies last, Bedeals has the refurbished Kodak Playsport Zx5 pocket camcorder for $79.99 shipped. … Read more

Olympus releases LS-100, high-end audio recorder

The folks from Olympus Audio were camped out yesterday at Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village for some quick press demos promoting the release of the LS-100, the company's new high-tech audio recorder that retails for $399.99.

The LS-100 is geared toward musicians, so, not surprisingly, Olympus had a musician on hand for the demos: Dia Frampton, last year's runner-up on "The Voice," gave a short performance with sister Meg for an audience of six (two journalists and four Olympus reps), as press appointments were staggered in half-hour slots.

The company also showcased the step-down model, … Read more

The 404 991: Where we're trapped in a cube (podcast)

Steve "The Spherical Audiophiliac" Guttenberg makes his first 2012 appearance on the show this morning and adds some more descriptors to his middle name.

He brings in a few noise-canceling earbuds and headphones into the studio for a head-to-head, and we'll confer about which modern artists have the talent to stick around another 30 years.

Finally, we'll end the show with a talk about Paul McCartney pulling his tracks from Spotify! These stories and more on today's 404 Podcast.… Read more

Record anything on your Mac

Audio Hijack Pro is an affordable audio-recording workhorse for the Mac, capable of capturing audio from applications, devices such as microphones, or any other source that runs through your machine.

Audio Hijack Pro's clean, two-paned, iTunes-like interface focuses on sources that you can capture--which means just about anything, from software to hardware. By default, the left pane includes some of the usual suspects that you might want to record (DVD Player, iChat, iTunes, QuickTime Player, RealPlayer, Safari, Skype, your system audio, and default system input), but you can easily add additional sources, such as other apps or devices.

You … Read more

The 404 987: Where we get nailed for intentional grounding (podcast)

Twitter reports that football fans sent roughly 10,000 tweets in the final 3 minutes of last night's game, but that wasn't enough to overthrow the all-time record for tweets per second.

Guess which film roped in 25,088 tweets per second last December? Hint: it wasn't made in America.… Read more

Hollywood studios latest to sue LimeWire

With a frown on his face and holding his head in his hand, LimeWire founder Mark Gorton appeared depressed last May as he sat in a New York courtroom.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had already won its copyright case against Gorton and LimeWire, the once-popular file-sharing service, and the parties were back before the judge to determine how much in damages he owed the four top major record companies. On May 12, he agreed to pay the RIAA $105 million.

But Gorton's pain didn't end there. Ever since, he's been under siege by different … Read more

Nobody wanted MegaUpload busted more than MPAA

Contrary to recent media reports, the FBI did not arrest MegaUpload founder Kim DotCom after being pressured by managers at the four major record companies, who supposedly feared DotCom would launch an unlicensed music service, sources close to the investigation told CNET.

Numerous film and music industry sources have discussed some of the events that preceded the January 19 raid in New Zealand on DotCom's home. What becomes clear is that two years ago, when the FBI began investigating the cyberlocker service, the film studios were far more intent on taking down MegaUpload than their counterparts at the music … Read more

Neil Young: Apple was working on super high-def music

Recording artist Neil Young today said that he was working with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs on a project that would push the quality of digital downloads to studio-quality levels.

In an interview with All Things Digital at the outlet's D: Dive Into Media conference today, Young discussed the quality of digital recordings, chiding MP3s for having just "5 percent of the data present in the original recording."

The answer to that other 95 percent would be "high-resolution" digital tracks that are of the same quality as the original studio recording, Young offered.

There are … Read more