Unless you've been living under a rock the past few weeks clinging tightly to your Peter Frampton albums in the hopes of finding sublimation, lost youth or some failed sense of purpose in life, it's been nigh impossible to ignore what's been happening in the online music world and its two heavyweight proponents of digital downloads, MP3 and Napster. The suits and countersuits over the past few weeks may very well prove to be pivotal in how digital music and digital music piracy is once and for all defined.

First, the furor surrounding Napster.

Heavy metal giant Metallica filed a $10 million suit in federal court in California against Napster and three Universities--Yale, Indiana and the University of Southern California--who "elected not to block access to Napster," claiming that the unauthorized digital distribution was music piracy. The band claim in the suit: "Napster has built a business based on large-scale piracy. Facilitating that are hypocritical universities and colleges who could easily block this insidious and ongoing thievery scheme." Having probably the largest metal fan base, Metallica's ultimate and underlying claim is that they're losing a tidy sum of money every time some pimply-faced teenager logs onto Napster and downloads illegal MP3 versions of their songs, when they should be logging onto Tower Records and paying an arm, a leg, their soul and about $20 for the same musical content, thus allowing the band to further pamper themselves with Cuban pimp suits and photo shoots with Anton Corbijn. No word whether Metallica was also planning on filing a suit against little green men, those shadowy men from a shadowy planet, and meek-gone-metal-moron Pat Boone.

Joining Metallica with a lawsuit of his own is Hip-Hop producer extraordinaire, Dr. Dre, who also claims copyright infringement by Napster allowing people to post songs and masters with their service.

In an interesting side-twist, film mogul George Lucas' Lucasfilm production company has filed its own suit against Dr. Dre, claiming that Dre illegally sampled Lucas' "THX Deep Note" (reputed to be the first sound ever trademarked). The "Deep Note" sample allegedly opens Dre's album, Dr. Dre 2001.

In other unrelated Napster news not involving lawyers in a prominent roll, the online download site will be supporting a month-long series of free concerts being put on by Limp Bizkit and Cypress Hill. Says Bizkit frontman Fred Durst about the digital uproar involving MP3.com and Napster: "There's millions of people saying it [Napster] not a good thing. I haven't heard one thing from a fan that was negative."

Kinda says a lot, don't you think?

Now on to the other half of the MP3 world, MP3.com In the ongoing legal disputes between MP3.com and the Recording Industry Association of America, on April 28 a U.S. Federal Court ruled that MP3.com was indeed guilty of violating copyright laws by allowing its My.MP3.com to allow users to download roughly 50,000 music titles without proper license. MP3.com's rebuttal has been that their My.MP3.com service will only allow users who have a legally-purchased copy of the title in question access to its database, and therefore it does not violate any copyright laws. A formal ruling is expected by mid-May.

In related news, various members of old R&B groups have filed their own suit against MP3.com. Former members of the Chambers Brothers, Coasters, and the Drifters claim that--again--MP3.com has violated copyright laws by distributing their music over the Internet without consent.

Someone who has been an outspoken proponent of free digital distribution is Public Enemy's mouthpiece, Chuck D. Mistachuck has long felt that the digital community provides artists with a way to circumvent the greed and politics, lawyers and accounts of the music industry, and that the lawsuits are just one more way record giants are trying to maintain a (strangle) hold on the music industry; a battle that Chuck D. sees as futile, if not downright evil.

As the legal woes of MP3.com and Napster start to spin 'round and again, a recent email from eP's Mark Teppo nicely summed up the sentiment here at Earpollution:

-----Original Message-----
From: mark@earpollution.com
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2000 10:33 AM
To: craig@earpollution.com
Subject: Greed. Any wonder why folks are mp3ing it?

Tower and Borders out here have gone to $18.95 price point on new CDs. Could they get a little greedier? Is there any reason to wonder any more why MP3s aren't proliferating. And reports are out that the numbers of bought CDs was up for this last quarter.

-Mark

Twisted Sister Support Gore

In something we'd wish we could say was humorous, '80s bad glam metal band Twisted Sister recently announced their support of Al Gore for U.S. president--which is, as singer Dee Snider put it, "a little bizarre." You might recall that Gore's wife, Tipper, and her cronies in the PRMC pushed to have warning labels put on "offensive" music, and Snider, along with Frank Zappa, eloquently testified against the action in subsequent Senate hearings.

Nugent Disses Latinos

It's been awhile since we've heard Ted Nugent blow wind. You might recall that when last we checked in with him, he had tried to rally a tourist boycott against Canada for that country's support of a ban on bear hunting. This time around, Nugent was making headlines for comments at a concert in Houston, Texas. "If you're not gonna speak English, get the fuck out of America. If you're going to be an asset to America, it would only be logical to speak the language. How can you be a benefit to your family, neighborhood or country if you can't speak to your fellow citizens? C'mon, if you can't speak English, get out of America." The remark was aimed at minorities and, in response, the League of United American Citizens registered a complaint with Nugent's label, Sony. It's good to know that there still are unrepentant assholes out there. Lord knows what we'd be forced to use to fill this column if it weren't for the cloven-hoofed, just plain wacked opinions of The Nuge.

"I am Pete Townshend!"

Actor Nicolas Cage insists that he is the man to play Pete Townshend in a movie based on the life of their tumultuous drummer, Keith Moon. Developed by Who singer Roger Daltry and supported by all three surviving members, the film is being bankrolled by Warner Brothers.

Drug/Sting

VH1 poster child Sting announced recently that he was "shocked and distressed" when a substantial sum of hard drugs was found at a backstage party thrown by him at the Royal Albert Hall. Sting was reportedly not in attendance--and at press time, it's unsure whether Whitney Houston was there as well or not.

One Toke Over the Line

Speaking of Whitney and drugs, Hawaii County prosecutors will not be pressing drug possession charges against the singer. As previously reported here, marijuana was discovered in a piece of luggage purported to belong to Houston at Keahole-Kona International Airport in Hawaii but before authorities could question Houston, Whitney had slipped away inside an aircraft and was on her way to San Francisco. Earpollution would like to recommend that Houston seek the advice of Paul McCartney before attempting to travel with guitar cases full of pot.

Fan Kills Himself at Cure Show

"Fan kills himself at Cure show." Should that come as any surprise, really?

Thieves Are Scum (You Stole My Lunch Money remix)

On April 27, Kid Koala reported that his records, along with his favorite blue record box, were stolen while on a train traveling through France. As anyone enamored of their collection goes, most of Kid Koala's records are irreplaceable. Ninja Tune, Koala's label, is offering a copy of every album in their existing back catalog as a reward for any help gained in retrieving Kid Koala's livelihood. If you have any info, you can email them at: dean@ninjatune.net.

Pope to Share Stage With Lou Reed/Eurythmics in Talent Contest

Pope John Paul II is scheduled to make a personal appearance this month at the Great Jubilee Concert for a Debt-Free World at Rome University, where it was reported he'll share the stage with Lou Reed and the Eurythmics. Adrea Bocelli is scheduled to sing a musical tribute to the Pope, and it is still uncertain whether the Pontiff will break out "Lucille"--B.B. King's guitar that he gave the Pope several years back--to join Reed in a version of "Heroin." Stay tuned for details.

Luscious Jackson Split

Funk-female groove queens Luscious Jackson let it be known last month that they are splitting after eight years and four albums. Announcing that "we are still good friends," and fresh off the heels of a tour supporting their last release, Electric Honey, the band said: "We all want to diversify what we do individually, and the band just came to its natural conclusion. It's been a great eight years, and we hope to work together again in the future." Luscious Jackson formed in 1991 and released Manny, their debut EP, on the Beastie Boys' label, Grand Royal.

Nick Drake Has Hit

In some long overdue notoriety, the late folk singer Nick Drake has charted a hit with "Pink Moon," almost 30 years after his untimely and tragic death. How? Volkswagen has run an ad in America using the title song from his 1972 release for their Cabrio car, which has resulted in the album going from obscurity into the top five at Amazon.com. Because of the attention, the track subsequently has gone out to American radio stations and a single is scheduled for release. Says Joe Boyd of Ryko-Palm Pictures (who controls Drake's catalog): "We felt anything that gets Nick's music out to more people is good. When I saw the ad I thought it was brilliant." Earpollution couldn't agree more and hopes the whole world will now find the beauty we have in his music. Suffering from severe depression for years, Drake died at his parent's home (where he had lived for some time) in November of 1974 after an apparent accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

Similarly, Volvo is using a Minutemen song ("Love Dance") in another commercial; we can only hope for the same success for those seminal '80s punkers, and that the world as well can discover the genius of D. Boon (RIP).

Britney Spears Konked on Head

Britney Spears recently had to get four stitches in her skull after a camera fell and hit her during a video shoot. When asked if she was okay, she reportedly replied, "Uhh...whuh?" Doctors were relieved to hear those eloquent words, as that's pretty much all Britney gets across when in good health. No word on whether the incident is related to a similar one some months back where Culture Club's Boy George narrowly avoided death by a falling light during concert rehearsals. As the old saying goes, "third time's a charm." Earpollution is watching the skies in anticipation.

Currently on rotation at eP:

Pitchshifter, Deviant
Joseph Arthur, Come to Where I'm From
Built to Spill, Live
Shivaree, I Oughtta Give You a Shot to the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump (once again dedicated to Seattle City Light)
Lou Reed, Ecstacy
Murder City Devils, In Name and Blood
Godflesh, Love and Hate in Dub

Craig Young
Editor, Earpollution