Ultimate Chart (a/o May 20th):
A Foxconn manufacturing plant in the Chinese city of Taiyuan has been closed following massive infighting and even rioting. Reports of violence have been streaming from a number of sources, including China's Twitter-like Weibo, though of course, lots of material is getting erased. One report notes that fighting erupted after a guard struck a worker; a seemingly 'Foxconn-approved' version points to fighting between various workers. As many as 2,000 were involved in the mega-brawl, with 40 hospitalized and several arrests. This appears to be a facility that manufactures some Apple products; more as it develops.
All of which brings us to the iPhone 5. Despite some criticisms of an iterative update instead of a smashing overhaul (not to mention mapping disappointments), the 5 enjoyed sales north of five million during its opening weekend. That's roughly one million more than the 4S.
Just icing on the cake for PSY before the whole thing goes poof? The currently-crowned 'It' of the viral world has now become the most-liked video on YouTube as it careens towards 300 million views. And, "Gangnam Style" continues to spawn a growing constellation of spoof videos, including a growing mashup involving 'Call Me Maybe,' a poolside spoof that got a bunch of El Monte, CA lifeguards fired, and a well-oggled, MILF-oriented take.
And of course, the backlash keeps gaining steam...
These numbers make sense. After staging an ambitious, well-attended Made In America festival in Philadelphia earlier this month, critics have been satisifed by a nice, American-style check. Sponsors like Budweiser helped to reimburse the city for all municipal expenses surpassing $500,000, while hotel bookings and tourist activities beefed the city's coffers with millions. It's a win for Mayor Nutter, and almost seems to guarantee a second installment next year.
Not a breakup, at least not yet. It looks like ear-numbing party professionals LMFAO are taking a break, though rumors of a breakup appear premature. The question is: does anyone really care about the solo artistry of Redfoo and Sky Blu?
Green Day injected a shot of energy into the iHeartRadio Festival this weekend with some rock star theatrics. When told that they had one minute remaining, Billy Joe and the band started smashing guitars and storming offstage, though this wasn't all good. The band later apologized for the blowup, while pointing to substance abuse counseling for Billy Joe.
Pandora isn't the only one stumping for equitable (aka, 'lower') royalties on the Hill. Webcasting coalition DiMA is now backing the freshly-introduced Internet Radio Fairness Act and calling for serious updates to an 'antiquated' Copyright Royalty Board rate-setting process. "The Internet Radio Fairness Act of 2012 sheds light on a Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) system in need of meaningful reform," DiMA executive director Lee Knife emailed Digital Music News. "The legislation wisely sidesteps many of the extraneous issues involving AM/FM radio to focus on the core problems associated with the current rate-setting process – namely, the fact that the current CRB system forces internet radio services to pay unjustifiably high royalties, and is replete with a series of procedural rules that disadvantage licensees."
There's another artist miffed at Romney, this time on the graphic design side. Typeface artist James T. Edmondson alleges that the Romney campaign lifted one of his fonts without permission, specifically for t-shirts on mittromney.com. The shirts have been yanked for the time being.
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