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Sony-BMG merger
The BBC reports that the Sony-BMG merger has been approved by the EU authorities (after it had been overruled).
What has this got to do with Nightnoise? I am informed the whole merger story is the reason why only 3 Nightnoise albums are available on iTunes Music Store and only one track on the new Amazon MP3 store. Since Sony had (has?) plans for its own online music store, all electronic sales of BMG music (BMG owns Windham Hill) have been on hold since the merger got under way over 3 years ago.
The result is that Nightnoise, and many other artists, have lost potential online sales since the records are no longer available in the shops, and you can’t download the tracks either. (Well, of course you can, but not in any way that benefits the artists – I mean Usenet and BitTorrent, not to mention those Russian sites :-).
A case in point is the “Nightnoise” album by Billy Oskay and Mícheál Ó‘Domhnaill, but “The Parting Tide” and “A Different Shore”, both by Nightnoise, are also unavailable.
So this may be a sign that Nightnoise’s full catalogue of music may eventually be available for sale online, but don’t hold your breath. The music business has shown in the past that artists’ interests are the very last thing on its mind.
Posted Oct 3, 05:34 pmComments made
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