First off, you have got to know by now that, after yonks of to-ing and fro-ing in the lead up to a trial, it’s now all over. R. Kelly has been acquitted on charges of child pornography. Apparently, according to one juror, the question wasn’t whether the man in the video tapes was Kelly or not. Rather, the question was who exactly was the young girl or woman in the video. In the end, there was reasonable doubt about her identity and the case crumbled like a dry sandcastle. So, the freaky songman remains something of a deviant in any event, but hasn’t been branded a child pornographer.

Speaking of guys on the skeez hunt. Not only is the reunited New Kids On The Block single, “Summertime”, uninspired, the accompanying video borders on depressing. These guys were living large two decades ago. I’m not ashamed to say that I was down with NKOTB when the Bean was listening to them back in the day. Yes, they were a corny boy band. But, “Hangin Tough” was the bomb. And, before anyone jumps on it, I’m in no way discriminating against the middle-aged (that’s pretty much me) kicking the jams on a reunion tour. But, who are they kicking the jams for? The video gives the impression their target group is, um, pretty young. And, really, was this necessary? They should either have left well enough alone or targetted their previous fans for a reunion. (Though I guess that doesn’t bring in the duckets.)

Are you surprised the video debuted at 2:00pm on a Sunday? Next up, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch bust it reunion stylie.

So, we all know Metallica live in the Stone Age and just haven’t gotten down with the whole digital music thang, often openly battling against it. Example: In the past few weeks I’ve wanted to purchase some Metallica albums (true story) in order to make a best of mix. However, I do the majority of my music buys via digital retailers. When I want music, I want is now. Not tomorrow or days and days after. Was Metallica on the two I use most? Nope. Well, I’m out those Metallica albums and Metallica are out the royalities on my missed purchases.

Anyway, the news-ish portion of this story is that Metallica hosted an album listening party for some music writers (including bloggers) in London. Bloggers being bloggers, what was heard was written about. In reaction to this, apparently, unexpected and outrageous turn of events (sarcasm), Metallica management, Q Prime, pressed for the coverage to be pulled down. Of course, Metallica being Metallica and the world being aware of their feelings about ideas being rapidly-and-digitally disseminated, this just made them look dumber than they look already. Then, my guess is, wishing to avoid this embarrassment, the band itself posted an explanation-cum-apology on their site, essentially blaming it all on Q Prime weenies. In a normal situation with normal participants, this would actually be understandable. Metallica are not just a band. Their a brand with a cast of many supporting their organization. Organizations have failures and this may just have been one of them. But, again, Metallica being Metallica and us knowing what we know about their general incapacity to deal with the digital age, this just looks idiotic all-around.

From one band struggling just to get on the Information Superhighway to two industry giants slugging it out about who drives the biggest hog on the Information Superhighway. The National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America are trading blows about, essentially, who is more vital to the health of the music industry, rather than realizing the you-scratch-my-back and so on relationship they have. The RIAA wants radio stations to pay more royalties for the music played. The NAB says they are an invaluable means of generating cash for the big music labels so why should we pay you for letting us advertize your product. Of course, in the Age of Science, this couldn’t be settled without resorting to empirical evidence. Numbers to you and me.

I’ll cut to the chase. The resulting report, Sales vs. Spins, pretty much identifies “a direct correlation between the number of ’spins’ (plays on free, local radio) and the sales of albums or singles.” Duh. Seriously, it took what was probably a well-compesated research organization to tell the RIAA that people hearing songs on the radio leads to an upswing in purchases?

Irrespective of who wins that punchout, the music industry, in general, is still running around like the Keystone Cops. Another example: Since the previous News-ish Roundup the RIAA has voluntarily dropped the case of Warner vs. Cassin. This was one of a number of legal actions the RIAA was fronting that focused on the issue of making MP3s available for download being a copyright infringement. I ain’t no lawyer, so I’m not holding my breath on this. While it might look like the RIAA has been pushed onto the defensive, I fully expect them to come up with another strategy that will continue to alienate us music lovers.

   New Kids On The Block – Hangin Tough