I love the record companies. If ever there was a cess pool industry where bottom-feeders thrive, it’s at the record companies.

They have been approaching Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, about raising the prices of songs in the iTunes store for the newer releases. They want them higher than $.99, but Steve Jobs has said that’s a bad idea as he feels it will make online piracy grow again.

So fine, Edgar Bronfman, CEO of the Warner Music Group, has a solution to all this…Apple should give the music companies a cut of the sales of all iPods. To quote the article:

Bronfman’s solution? Well, if Apple is “artificially” keeping the price of downloads low to promote sales of iPods (you can debate amongst yourselves whether 99 cents is artificially high or artificially low), then as he sees it, the labels should get to share in those [iPod] revenue streams.

Um…can we just file this under “insane greed”? Maybe the music companies needed to be reminded if it wasn’t for Steve Jobs/the iPod/iTunes, MP3s would have never taken off like they did. Sure, they existed before the iPod, but if it wasn’t for Apple, who knows if the record companies would even have this revenue stream now.
_____
On a totally different subject, but still on music company greed. This past Saturday night, Coldplay was supposed to play in Houston, TX. Due to Hurricane Rita, they naturally cancelled and will be unable to reschedule the show. So, refunds are being issued on all tickets. Everything sounds fine so far, up until you get to the folks who had VIP tickets.

The VIP ticket folks got assured parking, the main reason a certian friend of mine bought them, and you got free gifts of a pair of cheap headphones and a laminate pass. Well, my friend and her family member who was going with her, got their tickets refunded and thought all was good. That was until they got an email from Coldplay’s management asking them to pay $15.00 for the free gifts they received since they had their tickets refunded.

Let’s never mind the fact Coldplay probably spent $2 to $3 on the items at most, but this town just went through a mass evacuation, survived a hurricane, things are not running normally, but you owe us money. This is beyond heartless. It is low, greedy and just insane to be blunt. I really doubt if Coldplay will ever get any money from me, or my friend, ever again. Yes, they were free gifts, yes the tickets were refunded, but the management company could be a little bit bigger hearted considering the circumstances.

_____
I really wanted to buy Natsha Bedingfield’s album “Unwritten” since this is her first release in the USA, and I want to support her. The CD is copy protected and can not be converted to MP3, meaning it can not be imported to iTunes or transferred to my iPod.

Sorry folks, but once I buy an album, if I want to put it on MY iPod, that is my choice, you should have no say in that. So sorry, but you won’t be selling me a copy now.

_____
So, here is my solution, the only CDs I will buy from now on will be used. The RIAA will have no record of the sale, the artist will receive no royalties and the music company does not get a cut of that sale. If I want an MP3, I will use allofmp3.com since it is out of Russia and pays no royalties, which is legal there.

Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines both filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection today. Is it just me, or has filing for this become like a fashion accessory? I can remember when this was a big deal, but it seems now it’s like an every day occurance.

So remember kids, if you get bored, file for chapter 11!

I can’t believe it took me all day to realize this, but I officially opened my business, Splash Page Comics/AnimeUSA, 19 years ago today. (For those who have never looked, you can also check out my Yahoo Shopping store, Ebay store and Amazon zshop! My favorite is the Yahoo store.)

We have undergone a ton of changes in that time, turned over a lot of staff, although my two current guys hold the record now for longest time working for me. I promise, I’m not evil, I just tend to hire a lot of college students.

The biggest move of course was in December 2001 when we closed our retail store front and went internet and conventions only. I tell you, best decesion I ever made. My stress levels went down, and I get more accomplished in one day then I used to get done in three.

Anyway, enough of memory lane. Just struck me as funny how far into the day it was before I even remembered. This day used to excite me as much as my own birthday. Now, niether of them do a thing for me! (although, later this month, my new company, MunkiZ LLC turns a year old! Maybe, just maybe we will finally get a product out!)

Yahoo! News – Toys R Us Agrees to Buyout Deal

I covered the toy industry for several years as a magazine journalist, so this news fascinates me. In paticular though, this part:

“This is a day that toy manufacturers will be cheering. The last couple years have been bad news for the toy business,” said Jim Silver, publisher of Toy Book and other industry magazines. “This will really make a lot of people very happy.”

Folks..Toys R’ Us was bought by a combination of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Bain Capital and Vornado Realty Trust…Kohlberg, Kravis Roberts & Co are famous for being corporate RAIDERS…not saviors…RAIDERS.

You can not honestly believe they are going to leave TRU in it’s current shape. My bet…they want the land. TRU’s sit on traditonally pretty choice pieces of real-estate. Word is already circulating that at least 200 of the stores will probably be bulldozed. I mean, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that a realty company was on the three companies involved in the buyout.

This doesn’t help the toy industry…that just solidfies Wal-Mart’s hold on their 30% share of the industry, which will now just continue to grow. Add this into the almost complete collapse of FAO Schwarz, the chapter 11 Bankruptcy of KB Toys, Wal-Mart will just continue to get bigger and bigger.

This is NOT good for the toy industry folks, not good at all.