Click on any of the entry titles to get more information about all the awesome things written about!

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Remember When Radio Was Going To Destroy The Record Industry?

It's been making the internet rounds, but it's definitely worth posting (click for larger image):

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Broken Sea Audio Gets Bullied Over Licensing

It seems one of our wonderful audio drama groups is in a pickle. A pickle they do not deserve to be in.

From Jesse at SFF Audio:

Meego ConanBroken Sea Audio Productions, headquartered in New Zealand, has shut down all their Robert E. Howard projects after receiving another threatening letter from the lawyers for Conan Properties International LLC (aka Paradox Entertainment).

CPI is the limited liability company that claims all licensing powers over works by Robert E. Howard worldwide.

The whole situation is absolutely rotten. CPI is muscling a non-profit audio drama fan group that makes audio dramas and audiobooks, for fun, out of public domain stories, all so it can defend it’s trademark on “CONAN: The Barbarian” (the stories for which are in the PUBLIC DOMAIN).

Things might look different were it not for the horrendous new legislation set to be implemented on February 28th, 2009 March 27th, 2009 in New Zealand. The new NZ law makes websites that are accused of infringement subject to arbitrary-ISP pulldowns.

Here is the most recent letter from CPI/Paradox Entertainment |PDF| in its entirety.

What make this all the worse is that its an echo of a fight BSAP, in NZ, had thought it had already won. See, back in August 2008 BSAP received a similar cease and desist letter from the same firm. In that letter CPI threatened a lawsuit over the use of “CONAN” (for which they claim a trademark)…

letter1565.jpg

In response to it BSAP removed their unique, but still offending, “CONAN” logo and the CPI lawyers sent a follow-up letter. Saying…

CPI Lawyer Letter #2

After that, with the Conan audiobooks and audio dramas no longer displaying any “CONAN” label, all seemed well for the non-profit audio drama group. Paul Mannering, and staff, continued to cast Conan fans as voice actors and work on the script for a new audio dramatization based on another Robert E. Howard public domain work, Hour Of The Dragon.

Later, in November 2008, something rather cool happened. Paul Mannering got an email from the CPI/Paradox’s branding department offering BSAP a free “CONAN” license. It was to be a “royalty free” license too, that would forever keep a threat of lawsuit from CPI/Paradox at bay and allow BSAP to brand its Conan audio as “CONAN” audio.

But then, just yesterday, an unexpected email from the CPI lawyers arrived…

letter3a565.jpg

…dashing the possibility of a license AND renewing the threat of a lawsuit…

letter3b565.jpg

It seems to me that given that the Robert E. Howard stories are PUBLIC DOMAIN, that Howard is 73 years dead, had no spouse, nor children, that Broken Sea is giving away their productions to Conan fans alike - only one judgment is reasonable:

CPI LLC/Paradox Entertainment is being an asshole.

And that’s the situation as it now stands. All future BSAP audiobooks and audio dramatizations based on the PUBLIC DOMAIN writings of Robert E. Howard are canceled - or at least it’s all put on hold until someone can offer some legal advice to Paul Mannering and the Broken Sea creative team.

---

Simply put Jesse says, "An intellectual property company has been harassing fans that were making audio versions of public domain Robert E. Howard CONAN stories.

"They'd keep going, but the new fucked up New Zealand copyright law will shut down their whole operation if the company complains."

Fucked up indeed. It seems they are simply bullying without any real justification. What does that prove? They have a trademark they can enforce? Is that supposed to be what true copyright protection is about?

Timeline

Please show your support of Broken Sea Audio by reposting this wherever you can!

~Dani

Monday, February 23, 2009

Why Is Podcasting So Underappreciated?

From the Computerworld Blogs:

Podcasting is the most under-appreciated, under-utilized media ever. Some people never try it. And many who do wind up giving it up unimpressed. Too bad. A new study found that students who listen to lectures on podcasts test better than those who listen in class. Podcasting is a powerful educational medium, second only to books, in my opinion. But unlike reading books, you can listen to podcasts while doing the dishes.

I believe the reason people give up on podcasting is that they don't take the time to choose the best podcasts. In that sense, podcasting is no different than other media.

For example, the average book isn't worth reading, and bookstores are filled with garbage. But when you shop for books, you browse and consider many books before choosing the one or two -- out of theoretical millions.

Likewise with TV. Almost all of the shows on TV are a complete waste of time, even for people who love TV. But once you discover that one show and reject 100 shows, you can really enjoy TV.

Radio, magazines -- all media are the same way. Most of the content is lousy, but if you take your time and find what you really love, the media is wonderful.

Trouble is, people don't take the time with podcasting. They try a few podcasts, then give up. And because podcasts are free or nearly free to produce, the ratio of junk to gems is even more extreme. There are a huge number of really bad podcasts out there. And it can also be surprising when a great source of content produces lousy podcasts -- which in fact often turns out to be the case. The New York Times podcasts, for example, are horrible. Great newspaper, lousy podcaster.

Finding the right mix of podcasts, in fact, takes weeks of trial and error. But once you find the best podcasts for you, you're set.

---

More here. I agree with a lot of what he says. I truly can't understand why podcasting hasn't taken off the way many of us podcasters *think* it should. One reason I can think of is too many podcasters use their shows mainly to speak to other podcasters. That probably turns off a new listener coming in for the first time. I know it keeps me from listening to a show for very long. Who wants to listen to a show that is nothing more than inside jokes you needed to hear three shows ago? A show needs to make sense to a listener coming in for the first time, every show.

What do you think could be keeping podcasting from truly becoming the next radio?

~Dani

Friday, February 20, 2009

URL Change

Well, as I'm sure you've noticed, I'm just not able to post here like I used to. Actually I haven't been able to give the same attention to this wonderful place for about a year now. It's not a bad thing, really. Just a time thing. When you run several blogs, pretty much on your own, somethings got to give. And as much as I love audio cinema, it's always been a fond hobby and not my main love. That would be politics. ;-)

Anywho, no, this is not a note that I'm shutting the place down. I do find things that I want to post that fit the best here, and I definitely want to keep sharing. However, it's no longer worth it to renew theaudioaddicts.com url. So, I'm changing the blogspot name.

http://theaudioaddicts.blogspot.com

"Societyfans", was outdated anyway. This blog began as a fan site, but it grew to be a fan site of many audio realted goodies, not merely one specific. Sometimes, change is good. :-)

Thanks for reading! Please adjust your feeds accordingly.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Dream Realm Looking For Writers


Posted to the DRE Yahoo group:

Hello Gang,

I know there are some talented writers out there amongst this group of
amazingly talented people! I'm seeking writers to help us develop our
upcoming fantasy adventure series known as Legacy of Koani (pronounced
cone-eye).

The basic premise is this: A group of young adventurers has been sent
forth to seek the Legacy of Koani, which is simply the wisdom and
knowledge of their people, who are known as the Kryth. Basically, the
Kryth are like you and me, except they have exceptional abilities.
Think of this as X-Men meets Lord of the Rings.

The main characters are as follows:

Xeric Beltane - A young man who is the chosen of his people to lead
this small band of misfits to seek wisdom and knowledge. He is about
18 to 20 years of age, and a lot is on his shoulders. But he happily
takes it on.

Kiff Korran - The childhood friend of Xeric who isn't the smartest
amongst his people. A bit of a fool at times, but with a heart of
gold. He is the lifelong best friend of Xeric's, and would do anything
for him. He can't seem to do much, but at least he can cook.

Zara Knight - She sees herself as a warrior in training, so to speak.
Or a sword-for-hire. She's as young as Xeric, but has a chip on her
shoulders. She is hired by Xeric to come along and help with the
fighting. But truth to tell, Xeric is rather taken with her. Her
feelings may be mutual, but she fights to hide her feelings from
everyone. The only emotion she allows herself to show is how
irritating she finds both Xeric and Kiff to be.

Boots - Rumor has it that Boots Kildor was once a mage and an
adventurer, and that he even advised kings and queens at one time.
However, it can't be proven. He is seen as nothing more than a fool
and a fake by most everyone. But Xeric sees more within this old
klutz, and asks him along for the journey.

Reena Farthing - A teenager who is determined to find adventure. She
insinuates her way into this small band of adventurers, but soon
proves she has some street smarts and a penchant for good luck. She
has few friends, except a small furry creature who sticks by her side
like glue. Could there be more to this pair than meets the eye?

Old Mother Volaryn - The Elder of the Kryth People whose advice is
often sought by the small band of adventurers. She is the wise
chronicler of Xeric's adventures, and is the one who sends him on his
journey.

That should be enough to give you an idea of what these characters are
about. Each episode is a fairly self-contained adventure on the
journey to find knowledge. There will be a story arc (the seeking of
the Legacy of Koani) that will be visited only from time to time as
the series progresses.

Anyone interested in writing for this series should email me
personally by no later than February 28th!

darkbuilding1 AT yahoo DOT com

The series has been cast, but we're in need of scripts. Don't submit
completed scripts, please! If you have an idea for a story, just send
me a brief (a paragraph or two in length) outline.

Thanks! I look forward to hearing from a few of you!

All the best,

Jonithan

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

The Sexy Zoom H4n

From Podcasting News:

The Zoom H4n Digital Recorder

Zoom has introduced the next generation in its handheld audio recorder line, the H4n.

Zoom’s H4n features built-in X/Y stereo condenser mics that allow variable recording patterns at either 90° or 120°. Other new features include digitally controlled high-quality mic preamps and the ability to use internal and external mics simultaneously, for 4-channel recording. The H4n records audio at up to 24bit/96kHz on SD/SDHC media of up to 32GB and syncs via USB 2.0.

The H4n has features to help it handle real-world mobile recording, including a rubberized, shock resistant body, all-metal microphone design and a built-in mounting joint for tripod and mic stand use.

For musicians and songwriters, the H4n offes multi-track recording capability along with Hi-Z Inputs for recording guitar and bass, variable speed playback capability for “phrase training”, onboard studio effects, and over 50 guitar and bass amp modeling settings. In addition, a new stamina mode enables the H4n to operate for 10 hours continuously on a single set of AA batteries.

The package includes a 1 GB SD card, wind screen, mic clip adapter, AC adapter, USB cable, protective case and Cubase LE recording software. An optional remote control is also available.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

The Mark Time/Ogle Awards Approaches Again!

Time flies when you're.. well... living! Email received for this year's Mark Time Awards!

Producers:

The deadline for entering the Mark Time Awards and Ogle Awards competition is approaching: March 1, 2009 is the date for a postmark.

The Mark Time Awards are given each year for the best Science Fiction audio theater production of the year, and the Ogle Awards are for the best Fantasy and Horror audio theater production of the year. This will be the 12th Annual awards, announced at Convergence 2009, July 2 in Bloomington, MN.

Named for the character created by the Firesign Theatre, the awards are a celebration of the most popular genres in audio theater these days. The Ogle awards are named after Charles Ogle, who played the creation of Baron von Frankenstein in Thomas Edison's 1910 silent film of that name. The winners will receive a plaque, a t-shirt, a letter from David Ossman (Mark Time himself) and the right to shamelessly promote their work holding the award out in front.

Convergence, an annual convention sponsored by MISFITS, the Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy, is pleased to host the awards ceremony, and MISFITS is honored to be a supporter. Winners are invited to attend the convention to accept the award in person as part of the Opening Ceremonies. The convention also hosts a venue for playback of winners for convention attendees.

Five judges will listen, rank the entries, and come to a concensus of the winners by Mid-May. Recent judges have included Philip Proctor (of the Firesign Theatre), Tom Lopez (of ZBS) and Dani Cutler (of SFFaudio and the Society of Audio Addicts). Judging is based on the quality of the writing, performance, sound production, and originality of the whole package. Remember, this is SF & F we're dealing with, so originality counts. Recreations and adaptations are considered, and judged both on the above criteria and considering the original source material. Audiobooks are NOT what we are looking for, but full cast audio theater.

To enter, go to the Mark Time website, http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html, and print out the online form. Send the form, a $25 entry fee, and FIVE copies of your entry (usually an audio or MP3 CD these days) to the address listed there. Postmark must be on or before March 1, 2009. Past winners, and the Mark Time SF Audio Hall of Fame are there as well.

Don't miss the deadline. Enter now.


Jerry Stearns
Coordinator: Mark Time Awards
http://www.greatnorthernaudio.com/MarkTime/MarkTime.html

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Free your media!

From Podiobooker:

How free media brought in $4.2 million in sales

by

It’s not a giant leap to draw parallels between indie musicians and authors. To wit; I’d like to introduce you to Corey Smith, a new personal hero of mine. He gives his music away for free on his site. And he sells that music — the very same music — on iTunes. When he takes his free music down, his sales on iTunes go down.

That bears repeating. When he takes his free music down, his sales on iTunes go down.

Cory is now making his living as a musician, resulting in gross receipts of $4.2 million last year. Most of that cash comes from concerts. Tickets to those shows go for $5. As in, five dollars.

So let’s go over this again:

  • He gives his music away for free, or you can buy it
  • He uses no-brainer pricing to make his concerts accessible to just about everyone. And all of their friends
  • Phase Three: Profit.

    Read the story on TechDirt. Then see if you can think of any ways YOU can work in this brave new world. I hope a few authors and publishing houses are paying attention.

  • Scott Sigler goes by this philosophy too, as well as the Monty Python gang. I know personally I find myself more inclined to purchase something even after listening to it for free, if for nothing else to support the artist.