Before launching into “Pride (In The Name Of Love,” the band’s tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.,) Bono noted that the crowd was gathered on the mall where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Let freedom ring. On this spot where we’re standing 46 years ago Dr. King had a dream. On Tuesday, that dream comes to pass,” before launching into ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’, U2’s tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“This is not just an American dream,” he said, adding that it was “also an Irish dream, a European dream, an African dream… an Israeli dream… and also a Palestinian dream.”

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A couple of months ago a music executive said that royalty rates for songs used in video games are “paltry” and a game executive replied by saying that really, the music companies ought to be paying the gaming companies for promoting their songs.

This argument could really be applied to any license, music or not. It used to be that a game could profit enormously by having a connection to an established license. But now that media consumption patterns have shifted, those licenses profit just as much by being featured in a game.

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Move over William Hung, there’s a new King of Idol in town! Yesterday’s Canadian Idol had one of the most memorable performances in my humble opinion! Khuram Sher won everyone’s hearts with his heart-felt singing and well-practiced dancing as he performed April (sic) Lavigne’s song Complicated! He made the judges explode in laughter more than once as well!

Did I mention that he’s a personal friend of mine? Yup … well stop reading and start watching already!

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The previous post ended with a very valid question about the possible end of Media Ownership: Is it a good thing or a bad thing? For that I have no answers, only guesses and weighted assumptions.

As my friend said in the previous post, the end of corporate control over the music world can (mostly) have only good consequences for the customer: better choices, greater control and less filling. However you have to wonder if it would also see the end of the professional artist.

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Since MP3’s, WinAmp, Napster, iPods and the like, the Music industry has been in trouble. Fewer people are buying Music CDs and more are downloading songs and albums. The Recording Industry sees declining revenues year in and year out. They’re also not the only ones complaining. Both the PC and Console game markets are seeing declines in sales due to pirating. The movie industry is trying to crack down on the number of illegal movie downloads to no avail.

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