songwriting
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Spotify faces $1.6 billion lawsuit over song licensing
Spotify is no stranger to facing lawsuits accusing it of offering unlicensed songs, but the latest could prove to be very costly. Hollywood Reporter has learned that Wixen Music Publishing, which manages the song composition rights for artists ranging from Neil Young to Zach de la Rocha, has sued Spotify for copyright damages of at least $1.6 billion. Wixen claims that the streaming service is using tens of thousands of songs without proper licenses and the compensation to match. The plaintiff had already objected to proposed $43 million settlement in another case in May, so this wasn't coming entirely out of the blue.
BOSS's Micro BR-80 digital multitrack and field recorder fits the band and studio in your hand
Who needs a recording studio -- or even a full band -- for that next demo? Grab your guitar, BOSS' latest portable Micro BR digital recorder and a fistful of ego for a do-it-yourself session that only a mother could love. The BR-80 lets you record two tracks at once and offers eight tracks of playback along with 64 virtual tracks to mix and master any epics you're dreaming up. For hookup, it's packing aux and 1/4-inch inputs, a headphone out, and even a USB port to interface with a computer. You can also record using its onboard stereo field mics if you lose your cables at a gig. Inside, it's packing four and six-string COSM effects, DNA from its VE-20 to spice up your vocals, and eBand options. There's support for WAV and MP3 formats, but better yet, SD cards up to 32GB giving you a whopping 550 hours of recording time to lay those burnin' licks down. It's currently available and shipping for about 300 bones -- eRoadies not included. Full PR after the break.
Breakfast Topic: BlizzCon contests
BlizzCon is a mere month and a half away, and I can just imagine the excitement building up. With Wrath certain to be released this year, there has got to be some big news about the expansion during the convention. Who among you are going? Better yet, who among you are going and joining a contest? If I actually managed to get tickets to BlizzCon (or at least be in the United States in October...), I would have wanted to join -- alright, maybe just check out -- the costume contest. I know, it sounds silly, but some costumes are actually pretty cool.For sure, when BlizzCon rolls around, WoW Insider will put up a gallery of the costume contest entrants. But there are contests that don't require you to be at BlizzCon. Quite a few of them are online contests like the poster making, songwriting, and movie-making. Will you be joining any of them? Everybody loves swag, after all. Even if you aren't, what entries are you looking forward to seeing this year?
BlizzCon contests open for submission
If you like winning stuff, you might want to check out BlizzCon and its contests. Whether or not you'll be going to the sold-out event this October, there's something for you to participate in. Obviously, if you're not going, you won't be able to join staples like the costume contest or the impressive (and often hilarious) dance contest, but most of the BlizzCon contests can be joined online. If you think you've got the chops for stuff like making movies, ace graphic design skills to make motivational posters, or even songwriting skills and making dioramas, then head over to the BlizzCon contest page and read about how to submit your entries. Unfortunately, if you think you're a funny guy (or gal), Blizzard wants to see you in person.
