Damn, this is good"

"Damn, this is good." This is what I exclaimed after getting a whiff of the perfume to the right, it's called Nina by Nina Ricci and it's absolutely amazing! It's the perfect combination of fruits and flowers. The bottle is appropriately in the shape of a sweet red apple. Gina was wearing it the other day and I told her that I was in love with either her own scent or her perfume. She then told me about this wonderful perfume. So, thanks to Gina, I have a new scent! If you haven't already smelled Nina, I demand you go and do so now! I hope that you love it as much as I do. But not too much, I don't want us all going around smelling like this. I want to stand out a little.

Not only does Gina smell good and have great taste in perfumes, this girl can cook too! Tonight, she made yummy chicken enchiladas-her specialty! They were so good and were a great meal to end this very busy and active day. It was so sweet of her to make so many for us! Thanks Gina! Feel free to make these again whenever you feel like it.

Tonight I attended a book signing by Donald S. Passman at a small funky book store on Sunset Strip called Book Soup. Thanks to my roommate, Swati, for letting me know about it. I am familiar with Donald S. Passman because he wrote All You Need to Know About the Music Business. It's a great book full of tons of useful music business information. I've learned a lot of it in classes in college but some is new and great to learn coming from someone currently in the industry. He is one of America's top entertainment attorneys. He practices law with the Los Angeles-based firm of Gang, Tyre, Ramer, and Brown, Inc. Having specialized in the music business intensively for over thirty years, his clients include major entertainers, publishers, record companies, managers, producers, and others. He is even responsible for the record-breaking "mega" deals for both Janet Jackson and R.E.M. and he has also worked with a number of other major artists. Too bad none of them showed up to share some wisdom at the book signing.

I am glad that I went to hear him talk about his book and the music industry but sadly, I left feeling a little depressed about my job future in the music industry. I should get a job with itunes. They are the # 1 retailer right now, beating out even Walmart! He said that the music industry is in a very awkward stage right now and it will take a few years before things settle down. Everything is digital now and the need for large recording labels is getting smaller and smaller. Musicians can simply go online and put their music on sites like Myspace all by themselves. But on the bright side he did say that the music industry will never die out completely. People are always going to want their music and there will still need to be a way to get it to them. He is sure that in about five years, Cd's won't be made anymore and I totally agree with that. I cannot even remember the last physical CD I bought in a store.

I may be nervous about this business but I also know that I am a passionate person who just loves music and I am fascinated by the general music-making process that musicians go through so I know that I will be an asset in any record company. Hear that guys?! : )

The following are two questions from an interview that I found on his website:

What do you feel is the biggest issue currently facing the legal community in the music industry?

The biggest change in the music industry is going to be what's happening with the Internet and the potential for piracy. We're going to get it first, because audio products will be the first to be downloaded, as MP3 has already proven. It's a serious threat to the industry. Handled right, in the long-term, it becomes a plus, because it's a new way to distribute music. But in the short-term, we're going to have some serious security issues.

How are you advising your clients with regard to the Internet and online music distribution?

The way the world is set up, the record companies control the rights to the recordings, and therefore the only time it comes up is if you're renegotiating with a record company - none of which are willing to give up online rights - so the artists don't end up controlling them, unless they're smaller and are going to put the music out on their own label.

Most of the companies are paying 80-100% of the rate as if it were sold as a CD, and then there's a right to re-negotiate after a period of years or if it becomes a certain percentage of the marketplace, but they try to put a cap on it of 100% of the CD rate, which is probably not fair, because there's no manufacturing, no shipping and no inventory risk, etc.. But it takes time before these things sort themselves out. It's still in its earliest stages; nothing has taken form yet, where they could care less about copyright law. The answer's going to have to come technologically, because the law is going to work as a theoretical matter; but as a practical matter, it's very difficult. It has to be an encryption, where you can only read the music if you've got a key to it - There are some competing ways to do it, but nothing's taken a dominant position yet.