That’s just music

Apple had finally reached an agreement with the Universal Music record label to start their new service iCloud, and as it’s already widely known, the latter gadget will enable users to save music on Apple’s servers; iOS operational system should be implemented on every mobile device in order to get an access. This news for originally brought up by the CNET News relating it to some unknown sources of information.  Nobody could find details, companies are trying to keep everything under the carpet until the whole issue gets resolved and people may eventually begin using it. At the same time it’s well known that Apple had also signed contracts with a few more record companies to reach bigger success, and if this business plan goes smoothly enough then they’ll fight for some sort of monopoly. However, iCloud will not be free and it can create a lot of problems while dealing with the company’s rivals, Google and Amazon. CNET News didn’t hide the scheme which is going to be used in spreading of the gained profits, thus it was shown that 58% should get to Universal Music, EMI, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, 12% will get to various publishers and merely 30% shall be taken by Apple. iCloud is going to be presented at WWDC conference in San Francisco on June 6; it must be the start of the new service, if not practically, but at least in theory.

According to the Kerrang! magazine, Metallica is now considered to be the best rock band in the last thirty years, noted Contactmusic. The full list of the most influential 30 bands of the above mentioned genre will be published on June 4, and fans or just those who are interested may judge whether Kerraing! is right or wrong. “It gives me a very warm and fuzzy feeling that Kerrang! magazine have voted Metallica as the band that most changed their lives,” said Metallica’s drummer Lars Ulrich. Definitely the band is feeling very good about it because when this magazine first came out, they’ve been nowhere and nobody knew about what is going to happen in the future, practically, this infamous band grew up with the magazine and vice versa. At last everything matched, both things became famous, one in the music journalism and another one turned to be it’s number one hero. The first issue of Kerrang! came out in 1981 and by publishing the list of the best rock performers of the last thirty years they want to mark the magazine’s 30th anniversary. The first ten bands look as this:

1. Metallica
2. Green Day
3. Iron Maiden
4. Slipknot
5. My Chemical Romance
6. Linkin Park
7. Bullet for my Valentine
8. Blink 182
9. Ozzy Osbourne
10. Foo Fighters

Many of the ‘hardcore’ metal fans may not understand why Ozzy ended up at number 9 and Green Day is right behind Metallica, this thing appears to be a bit strange because it’s simply not true. In many ways this list was produced following modern opinion, and contemporary fans may often prefer newly created music instead of the old legends. However, Metallica truly deserves to be on the first place.

Roger Waters had denied all the rumors regarding Pink Floyd reunion, he had particularly discussed this issue during the “Desert Island Discs” program on BBC Radio 4. He doesn’t really want to participate in the band anymore, but at the same time he feels no regrets for being in the band and truly remembers the joy he used to feel while being with his band-mates. It would be absolutely strange if Waters became suddenly in hatred with his glorious Pink Floyd past, he should admire it and he will keep his admiration in the future. Some doubtful information had appeared right after one of his concerts; on May 12 in London the former Pink Floyd participants came together and sang a few classic hits. In 2010 Waters and Gilmour came together in order to highlight some of their political views, and the band’s full reunion took place in 2005, however, it will never happen again because their keyboardist Richard Wright had passed away in 2008. He is vigorously touring all around the world, and may be seen as the only one who keeps the band’s legacy alive due to his activities, he simply can’t sit still. Today he is definitely enjoying his personal music career and everything what is dealing with the Pink Floyd’s past may be see as something what he hesitates to reinvent.

Journalists had discovered some curious details about widely rumored and talked Apple music service, which is supposedly will be called iCloud. As BusinessWeek magazine had discovered, users will not have to copy their music from the hard disk onto the company’s server, instead, everything should be automatic. The system must scan user’s collection and will find the right place on it’s server, this information came from some source which is closely related to Apple and record companies. Already started Amazon and Google services are insisting on the need to upload all the user’s music to their servers, this operation takes time, especially if users don’t have fast Internet connection. iCloud will not be free, noted some hidden sources for BusinessWeek, and at the same time Apple may integrate it’s service with the MobileMe server, which should cost 99 dollars per year. Expectedly iCloud will be presented at the WWDC conference, which should start in San Francisco on June 6. Special access to music will be given to users from any computer or mobile device which is using iOS operational system, in other words they’re trying to be as convenient as possible because the whole thing is not going to be totally free. Currently, Apple had signed deals with three out of four major record companies, Warner Music Group, EMI and Sony Music Entertainment, but Universal Music is still waiting for something.

Legendary ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney had announced the online competition between those who wish to cover his infamous song “Maybe I’m Amazed”; this information was posted on his personal Twitter blog. In order to participate in this contest, anybody can record his/her own version of the latter song, additionally it should be posted on YouTube as the video-file, so it can appear like the answer to McCartney’s official video. The one who will get the biggest amount of supporters shall be proclaimed to be a winner, however, money should not be used as the prize. This contest began on May 26 and it should last until June 23, only those videos which were uploaded during this time will be allowed to participate. A winner will get three solo collections: “McCartney”, “McCartney II” and “Band On The Run”, thus financial support mustn’t take place. The only thing which is surely possible, McCartney can recognize this winner, and later that previously unknown person may reach the top. After all, such contests are aiming at these people, they simply come out and eventually big stars start to see the new generation of enthusiasts. This is not the first time when McCartney had decided to run something like that; in 2010 various musicians were competing on YouTube over his “Band On The Run” song. “Maybe I’m Amazed” was originally released on “McCartney” album in 1970, a song was written not too long before The Beatles fell apart and it was particularly dedicated to his wife Linda.

British legend Amy Winehouse is well known for possessing five Grammy awards, and this time she has decided to enter the rehabilitation clinic, noted Reuters. As her press-secretary said on Friday Winehouse is staying at the Priory Clinic in London since last Wednesday, but there is nothing scary with her, so fans shouldn’t worry at all. The reason for rehabilitation stays in the fact that she wants to prepare herself for the upcoming European tour this summer, thus she is simply trying to be stronger. Nevertheless, many suspicious people believe that Winehouse is not feeling good due to her lifestyle, and she is just cleaning up, but during the most recent time she wasn’t participating in any scandalous situations, so most likely her press-secretary is totally right. It seems that Amy’s further plans fully belong to her doctors, who will decide when she can get out. At the same time the People magazine is insisting on the fact that her entrance to the clinic was dictated by her father because according to his opinion she is drinking too much, in other words this magazine is dealing with some hidden sources of information. Winehouse is famous for her wild rock n’ roll lifestyle, so alcohol can play some role in these rumors, everything will become real when she leaves the rehabilitation clinic and starts the tour.

Social network Facebook is going to start it’s own music service in about two weeks, this information was taken from one of the expert blogs located at the Forbes website. This thing should be started within the frames of the Facebook’s partner project and Spotify - a source which is enabling it’s users to listen music online. Developers did not invent the name for this new service, but the most possible ones are “Facebook Music” or “Spotify on Facebook”. At this moment specialists are testing it all, and according to Forbes as soon as everything begins to move on, users may see the Spotify icon at the left corner of the infamous Facebook platform. One of the biggest functions will enable users to listen all sorts of music together with friends, in other words it can be synchronized all along the way. Facebook users will have to download some kind of special addition (free though) of Spotify platform, and this will not make things get tougher. Nevertheless, as Forbes noted, the Facebook music service should be available merely in those countries were Spotify is currently functioning, therefore those will be Britain, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Spain and Netherlands. Facebook is jumping pretty high in everything it’s doing, and now it will include music, so due to the fact that 500 million people are staying with the network, Spotify may become the largest online music service in the world.

Lady Gaga had helped Saturday Night Live by setting up the highest rates in seven years, noted The New York Times. The last episode of the final season, which came out previous Saturday, Lady Gaga came to visit Justin Timberlake, another quite famous persona in the show business, so the result was obvious, seven percent of Americans, who possess television were watching it. This is one the biggest results for the SNL final episode in eleven years, the last similar success made it up to 5,8 percent. In 2000 Jackie Chan had invited Kid Rock, and SNL’s rates were standing at 7,3 so the most recent one is just a little worse, but not the worst for sure. According to the Forbes magazine, Lada Gaga was named to be the most influential celebrity of the year, and there is no question about this fact. If this singer makes it once again and her album (or any other upcoming album) gets very popular worldwide, then she has a chance to remain pretty high, however, Gaga’s image may go down if nothing new comes out. Many celebrities stay on top only because they won everything before and all they can do is to produce absolutely un-talented albums in the future, music becomes their side-project. Hopefully, she will not freeze with what she is currently doing, and new albums shall be as good as the original one.

Sony corporation had announced the fact that hackers had recently attacked it’s website based in Greece (www.sonymusic.gr), and as the result of it, 8500 users lost their private information, noted Associated Press. Company’s representative Shigenori Yoshida said that thieves were able to steal names, phone numbers and e-mails, but the credit card information remained intact, and it seems to be the most important thing. The above mentioned website was immediately closed on Sunday, May 22 and currently competent investigators are taking care of the situation, thus the whole service will be re-started by the end of this month. Hackers kept on attacking Sony’s servers for more than once, particularly those were PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment branches, formally the reason is the company’s legal battle with a hacker named “Geohot”. The worst attacks took place on 17-19 of April, when more than 100 million users of the Sony game services lost information which included credit cards, something what can’t be tolerated at all. Now “Geohot” and Sony came to an agreement, however, he had asked other colleagues to ignore Sony products and continue the cyber war. What other moves this powerful and rich company will do in order to stop such a problem is not clear, most likely the legal and cyber conflict is going to continue.

Fifty photographs from the first Beatles’ concert in the US will be sold at the Christie’s auction on July 20 this year. Associated Press notes that the price may reach up to 100 thousand dollars, so some people who possess money and admire the band may try to spend something over there. These photos were made in 1964 by an eighteen year old Mike Mitchell during The Beatles’ concert in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, practically these two performances were possibly the biggest in the history of rock music and US history too. As the Christie’s representative Simeon Lipman said, these black and white photographs are very good in quality, and were made in short distance from the actual performance, they simply truly portray what was going on over there. Also, he had noted some interesting colors and artistic findings that Mitchell was able to manage at his historical photos. The most famous lot belongs to those pictures that were made from behind during the infamous press conference, they show some curious light above each band member. It’s interesting that for the last forty seven years Mitchell didn’t try to publish or sell his unique collection, however, only recently this thought began to visit his imagination, and eventually the whole variety of digital technologies had replaced the “dark room”, thus everything will be seen by the public.