http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2007/press18.htm
DRM (Digital Rights Management), the nasty, nasty technology which record-companies use to secure their music so you can’t play it on any old MP3 player that you want (boo, hiss!) has taken a shot to the gut with EMI’s decision to released DRM-free downloads.
Bravo EMI. I doubt you will be the last to go this route. I am proud of you.
The Junos were pretty slick this year. I skipped out watching them last year as I really didn’t think anything good could come with Pamela Anderson hosting them this year.
Nelly Furtado did a good job last night. I think she was nervous half the time and it was amusing to see her switch from ‘Hey, I won’ to ‘Alright, on with the show!’. Excellent performances all around, but I have to speak about this one dude who came out, and for the life of me I cannot find a picture or remember his name.
Sam Roberts hits the stage with some 12 year-old kid and talks about the musican.ca project which helps kids learn music. Then this 12 year-old rips into a cover of American Woman and blows us all away. Forget all the other performers, it was all about this kid. Imagine!
The other great performance was by Paul Watson whom I had never heard about before. The guitarist grabbed a balloon full of helium and let it out over the pickup of his guitar which had this crazy effect. I’m telling you, I love innovation in music. Imagine a balloon solo with 10 balloons!
All in all, not a bad show. Nelly Furtado blew away the competition. I missed the part where Bob Rock was inducted into the Hall of Fame for his excellent producing skills. Hey, wait a second?! He lives in Hawaii!
This brings up the main point that Stompin’ Tom is hammering into my head with his second autobiography. He feels that the Junos should have two separate categories for the awards – one for the Canadians who choose to live in Canada, record in Canada and have their main base of operations in Canada, and the other category with the Canadians who don’t fall into one of those categories (like…Bob Rock for instance. Last time I checked, Hawaii is not in Canada.).
While I can’t say that it’s a really bad move on his part to move to Hawaii for the rest of his life (heck, who wouldn’t?), I have to gather my thoughts on Stompin’ Tom’s thoughts on the Junos and figure out if I agree with them or not.