Apple Beaten at a Trademark by--Wait for It--MySpace

Apple tried to trademark this:

But they were turned down because MySpace already owns this:

Win some, lose some.  Full details at Gigaom.

How's This for a Headline: Coldplay and Pink Floyd Dropped from their Record Label

A headline like that will get any music fan's attention.  And while it's a bit misleading it's also quite true.

Now that Universal has regulatory blessing to swallow EMI, they have to follow through on some conditions imposed by various government organizations--and clauses contained within the contracts of some EMI artists.

Under the deal, Universal has to set free a number of big-name acts.  Both Coldplay and Pink Floyd have contracts that trigger free agency in the event that EMI disappear.  They've been "dropped" by contractual agreement.  Or at least that's my understanding of the issue.

Meanwhile, Universal has been ordered to sell off a number of EMI subsidiaries including Chrysalis and Parlophone.  That means artists signed to these labels (Gorillaz, Depeche Mode, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Moby, David Guetta and many more) will have to wait to see where they land.  I'm sure many of them also have interesting passages in their deals, too.

And the Beatles?  Universal is keeping them. Are you nuts?

Meanwhile, enjoy this musical farewell to EMI from Beans on Toast.  (NSFW lyrics, mind.) 

More Coldplay Coming

What, you're surprised that Coldplay took a film crew with them on the Mylo Xyloto tour?  It's in post right now.  Coldplay: Live 2012, a tour film/DVD/CD/Blu-ray will be out November 20.  I quoth Chris Martin:

The Mylo Xyloto tour has been the most fun we've ever had as a band. It's felt very uplifting right from the start; partly because we are proud of the music, the LED wristbands, the pyrotechnics, the lasers and all of that stuff, but mainly because of the amazing audiences that we've been playing for. Over the years, our crowd has become more and more a part of the concert itself. They're loud, diverse, full of soul, and make the songs sound much better than we can on our own. We wanted to try to bottle the incredible feeling that they give us, and hence our concert film.

The director is Paul Dugdale, the who who did Adele's Live at the Royal Albert Hall.  And along with footage from Paris and Glastonbury, a chunk of the film is from the Bell Centre in Montreal.

New Lana Del Rey. Sort Of.

In the tradition of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj and others who put more-or-less the same album out twice comes Born to Die: The Paradise Edition.  It'll be released November 13 and will feature one new tune produced by Rick Rubin.

Feist Wins Polaris. I Did Not See That Coming.

Photo credit: Dustn Rabin

It took less than 30 seconds for the disgruntled emails and texts to start flashing on my phone.  "We are not happy here," read one.  Another read "Really? Seriously?"  And if I'm going to be honest, I was a little gobsmacked at Feist's win, too.

Such is the Polaris Music Prize.  Anytime you entrust a group of mysterious insiders (well, mysterious to the general public, anyway) to declare which piece of art is "best," you're going to have a subjectivity shitstorm followed by an enormous blowback when the winner is finally declared.  

But this is all part of the fun.  It's why we all love Polaris and pay such close attention.

And now, without allowing the members of the jury to explain their reasoning or defend themselves, let's just recklessly dive in and try to deconstruct things, shall we?

There are two ways to approach Polaris.  There's the album you want to win and the album you think is going to win.  The first is easy. You just pick the record that speaks to you the most.  

The second approach is very, very difficult.  Who are the jurors?  Do we know their personal biases and preferences?  Can they be trusted to listen to music in the "right" way?  What sorts of psychological dynamics take over in the jury room?  Are there bullies and hold-outs?  How is consensus reached? How are deadlocks broken?  And could leading contenders be thrown under the bus in favour of a compromise vote?

I'd put my money on Japandroids' Celebration Rock.  I even introduced their album at the event last night. But if they didn't win, I'd be happy if Grimes, YAMATAKA//SONIC TITAN or Kathleen Edwards won.

But if a gun were put to my head, I'd have said "Cadence Weapon. I just have a feeling that it's his time."

Passionate arguments were also made for Cold Specks.  Fucked Up had their supporters.  For a while, I was swayed towards Drake's Take Care.  But then someone said "Arcade Fire won last year. There's no way a commercially successful act will win two years in a row." I found myself agreeing.  What was going on in the heads of the jurors?

But when the verdict was read just after 11pm ET last night, there were some gasps.  It's not that Metals isn't a good album; it's very good.  But is it really the best of the Short List?  I obviously don't think so, but there are many who will disagree--including those who matter the most:  the Polaris jurors.

My guess--and it's only a guess--is that like (I think) we saw with Karkwa in 2010 is that Metals snuck up the middle when the jurors became deadlocked over two or more other nominees.  I have absolutely no proof of that--but I can see it happening.  

And that's not a slag against Feist, her album or the jurors.  It's just the kind of thing that can happen when you seal off 11 people in a room and tell them to come to a conclusion by a certain time.

So Leslie gets the $30,000 cheque.  The other nine acts on the Short List leave with $2,000 each (or, as co-host Grant Lawrence put it, "An indie musician's income for an entire year--or one pair of shoes for Drake.")

Now we move on.  The arguing and debating for Polaris 2013 has already begun.  Enjoy the ride.