苹果屈服于北京压力

 “3.15”批苹果，让苹果低下了高昂的头；新“国五条”，让楼市异常火爆而地产股集体倒下；限酒令，重创白酒行业…… 这些似乎都在说明中国政府力量之强大——没有它做不到的。
上月，中国中央电视台以保护消费者权益为主旨的“3.15晚会”点名批评美国苹果公司侵犯中国消费者利益。随后两周，中国官媒“组团”向苹果 发动一轮又一轮抨击。迫于压力，本周一苹果首席执行官库克向中国顾客道歉。当日苹果市值蒸发129亿美元。
表面看，既然外媒可以批评中国搞“经济民族主义”，那么中国官媒也可以批评外国品牌的“歧视条款”。但中国官媒反应速度之快、力量之大，让人 隐约看到其背后中国政府的影子。政府力量大到可以如此“翻云覆雨”，对股市的掌控能力自然也就不在话下。
中国股市丛发展轨迹看，与其说是宏观经济晴雨表，不如说是政策风向标，因此有“政策市”之称。目前中国股市处在所谓“新兴加转轨”阶段，注定 了政府的干预之手在未来一段时间不会消停，“强政府、弱市场”将是常态。
政府强大，在“集中力量做大事”的时候，自然有效率优势。但如果调控不当、手段低级，则负面效应也可能被成倍放大。
从过往经验看，中国政府倾向于动用“资金控制权”，如货币政策的松紧、IPO暂停或重启、印花税的加减等，来达到调控股市的目的。但如此“调 教”出来的股市，往往背离市场固有规律。以IPO为例。中国股市主要功能之一就是融资，但现阶段IPO暂停或重启已与股市涨跌形成“挂钩预 期”，这不仅反而加大了监管层调控难度，也损及投资者利益。
近几年的楼市调控，也颇有些“翻云覆雨”的意思。最初是限购，抑制房地产泡沫。到2008年金融危机后，为保增长，推出四万亿刺激计划，并对 房地产“网开一面”。等到房价几近失控，社会怨声载道时，又重新祭出限购令，一轮严过一轮。
政策推出，退出，再推出，相当于一而再、再而三地扭曲市场。要么力度过猛，要么时间滞后，要么头痛医头脚痛医脚，都使得政府公信力大打折扣。
苹果事件中，对违规企业施压没有错，但令人担忧的是政府动用公权力的界限。如果政府总停不下它的手，那么不仅是外国在华企业需要担忧，民营企 业、资本市场和各类投资者都可能成为不当调控的牺牲品。

苹 果屈服于北京压力

 苹果(Apple)和中共的意志之战，决出了雌雄。

周一，面对行为傲慢和罔顾中国消费者权益的批评，苹果首席执行官蒂姆•库克(Tim Cook)发表了“诚挚”道歉。在之前的数周内，中国官方媒体对苹果大加攻击。

苹果此次宣告屈服，实际上是它自3月15以来发表的第三份公开声明。3月15日，中国中央电视台(CCTV)在一年一度的消费者权益节目 中，抨击苹果售后服务条款歧视中国消费者。

苹果最初的两份回应言辞冷淡而带有辩护色彩，一开始也不愿采取补救措施应对批评，这促使官方媒体对苹果发起新一轮攻击，而且看上去明显是 协同出击。

“苹果似乎对此次纷争毫无准备，”危机管理专家、宣亚国际传播集团(Shunya Communication Group)副总裁吴卫华称。“苹果产品优越，且主导全球市场份额，因此它没有特别重视中国。中国与别处的不同在于，公关问题往往是政治问题。”

上周，中国的质检机构和商业监管机构加入战场，指称苹果触犯了中国产品保修方面的法规。这表明事态扩大，而且苹果胜算渺茫。

“有一点看来很明显，事情不只是央视希望保护消费者权益那样简单，”技术咨询公司BDA的董事长邓肯•克拉克(Duncan Clark)说。“苹果的象征意义重大，此次攻击可能是对所有西方公司发出的一个信号——它们必须向政府俯首，拿出配合姿态。”

央视这档一年一度的“3•15”节目定在国际消费者权益日播出，在中国业务规模较大的跨国公司中十分知名，因为它们常常在这档节目中被点 名批评。

一位就职于一家大型科技集团的公关人员称：“每年3月15日前，大公司的公关团队都在担心中度过，并花费大量时间准备应对方案，以防一旦 成为批评的靶子。”

该节目同样会指出中国公司的问题，但焦点往往是国外品牌。大型国企鲜有被批评的时候。

惠普(HP)、现代(Hyundai)、麦当劳(McDonald's)和家乐福(Carrefour)等国际公司均曾因情节较为轻微的 消费者投诉而登上这档节目。多数公司均很快公开道歉，并承诺整改问题。

在今年的节目上，德国汽车巨头大众(Volkswagen)被指责销售变速箱存在问题的汽车。与苹果不同，大众几乎立即做出反应，宣布召 回超过38万辆汽车。

外界并不清楚央视如何挑选“上榜”公司，但与这家官方电视台打过交道的人士表示，其中往往包含一些“讹”的成份。

与央视打过交道的人士称，像苹果这样没有花高价投放广告的公司，被看作合适的靶子。他们表示，如向合适的人行贿，或承诺大规模投放广告， 有时候便可以“雪藏”负面报道。

但今年，在节目播出之后，官方媒体继续连珠炮似地批评苹果，暗示着这场针对苹果的攻击之后，有更大的幕后力量。

过往事例增加了这一观点的可信度。2009年起，中国官方媒体针对谷歌(Google)的一场联合攻击，最终导致该公司引人瞩目地退出中 国。这场攻击始于央视一档类似节目，其中批评谷歌为搜索色情内容提供便利。

攻击很快演变成一种压力——迫使该公司向中国政府严格的互联网审查制度屈服。一系列盗取谷歌源代码的黑客攻击最终让整个事件达到高潮。

谷歌抵制住了来自北京方面的压力。当时该公司高管曾告诉英国《金融时报》，他们认为，中国政府采取这些行动，是企图设置“非关税贸易壁 垒”，并将该公司彻底逐出中国。谷歌是当时中国互联网搜索市场的领军企业。

如今在中国，谷歌的很多在线服务落后于本土竞争对手。分析师现在猜测，苹果是否会遭遇类似情况，导致它离开其全球第二大市场。苹果 2012财年在华销售额为238亿美元，占其全球收入的15%以上。

“苹果地位非常敏感，因为它对于中国消费者有着如此强大的吸引力，这让中国政府感到紧张，”克拉克说。“中国社会中任何不是中共主导、或 他们难以控制的势头，都令他们不安。”

苹果在中国的巨大成功，向中国领导人凸显了一个事实：尽管几十年来在政府指导下，中国努力试图创新，但一直未能出现任何像苹果这般具有创 新性和强大实力的本土消费品企业。

然而，如果这是政府协调下的一场驱逐苹果行动的开始，那么政府将不得不小心是否把事情做过了头。

在一个有毒婴儿奶粉、假冒刹车片和毒牙膏丑闻司空见惯的国家，官方媒体针对苹果保修政策的抨击，被许多中国公众斥为舍本逐末。

中国作家李承鹏在针对央视的一篇措辞尖刻的博文中写道：“你不能放着轻易可查的国产滥货不打却死盯着综合质量全球第一的手机品牌。”

Chinese Troops Mass On the North Korea Border.

North Korea's Nuclear Talk Is Making China Very Nervous

Reports of China's massing troops on the border usually accompany the word "support," as in, openly supporting North Korea.

But that contradicts two things: China's "angry" statements on Kim Jong-Un's "bellicose rhetoric," and the location of all that nuclear material right across the border.

Recently we covered how America was conducting war games simulating the case of a failed nuclear state in North Korea. One way or another, either through crippling sanctions, or war, a failed nuclear state is good for no one.

Least of all its neighbors.

Unlike the U.S., China is incredibly close to that nuclear technology, that's why keeping the peace and maintaining an eye on the nukes is in their best interest.

As one post from Chinese news site Global Times put it:

Even if North Korea's nuclear development is only targeted at the U.S., its nuclear programs will bring huge risks to China rather than the U.S. The third nuclear test in February was conducted only just over 100 kilometers away from China's northeast border.

Japan Be Strong Again

 

The Bank of Japan had its first interest rate meeting with Haruhiko Kuroda , the dovish banker hand-picked by new prime minister Shinzo Abe to push easy monetary policy.
The incredible hype surrounding Kuroda andAbe's "Abenomics"  have caused the Nikkei to surge and the yen to plunge for months.
This had many market watchers worried that Kuroda was doomed to disappoint.
They were wrong.
In what RBS described as the "perfect answer," Kuroda surprised everyone with a massive monetary easing plan.
It will embark on an open-ended asset purchase plan and buy around 7 trillion yen ($75 billion) of long-term government bonds per month.
"The BOJ will conduct money-market operations so that the monetary base will increase at an annual pace of about 60 trillion yen to 70 trillion yen," the BOJ said.
The markets were impressed.  You can see their verdict in the Nikkei, which surged, and the yen, which tanked.

Marvin Gaye’s 74th Birthday Remembered by Motown Alumni Association

April 3, 2013 by Larry Buford

 

Scroll down to listen to 'What Would Marvin Say?' by Marilyn McLeod   

Marvin Gaye

*The Motown Alumni Association (MAA) acknowledged that Tuesday April 2^nd marked what would have been the 74^th birthday of legendary Motown singer Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. Fans all around the world remembered the ‘Prince of Motown’ who died 29 years ago on the eve of his 45^th birthday.
MAA vice president Ron Brewington said, ‘Earlier today, I visited Marvin’s home in Los Angeles, located at 2010 S. Gramercy Place. We do this every year, where a single white rose is placed on the front gate in memory of Marvin for all the great music and love that he gave to us, his fans!!!’

White rose centered on gate of Gaye home

Brewington, who led the charge in getting Gaye’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame said, ‘Next year will mark
 the 30^th anniversary of Marvin’s death, as well as his 75^th birthday, so we’re going to have a huge celebration…let’s hear it for Marvin!’

Ron Brewington

In 1970 Gaye looked at the world and asked the famous question in song ‘What’s Going On?’ Former Motown songwriter Marilyn McLeod asks today in song ‘What Would Marvin Say?’ The song, written along with veteran Motown songwriter Janie Bradford is included on the CD ‘I Believe In Me’ on Twinn Records. Click on the player below to listen.


http://soundcloud.com/eurnews

Memories Are Made Of This

The Vinyl Record Revival

Labels, collectors celebrate the vinyl record revival

By Dave Thompson
“Vinyl never went away. It was the record companies that deserted it, believing they could make better margins out of CDs,” says Keith Jones of U.K. independent record label Fruits de Mer Records, which specializes in vinyl.
Jones — who admittedly may be just a little bit biased on the topic of vinyl vs. CDs and MP3s opinion, insists that vinyl is here to stay.
“I don’t see much of a commercial future for bland, sterile CDs and even less for paid-for downloads,” he says. “The only future for paid-for recorded music that I can see is to create something that looks and sounds great, has lasting value, means something to the buyer, makes them feel good about spending hard-earned cash on it, makes them want to repeat the dosage.”

A live performance of The Pretty Things’ “S.F. Sorrow” album is among the vinyl releases from Fruits de Mer Records. Photo courtesy Fruits de Mer Records.

It’s unlikely you need anybody to explain why Goldmine is launching a new column dedicated exclusively to vinyl new releases. The familiar flat black platter has been creeping back into our lives for a few years now, and there are a lot of readers who can — and will — agree with the quotes that opened this column: Vinyl never really went away.
The fact remains, however, that there is now more new vinyl appearing on the shelves on a weekly basis than at any time since the late 1980s, when there was an industry-wide push to persuade us that it was a dying dinosaur. And it’s not only new releases, either. Over the past few months, since we first began planning this column, my own vinyl collection has been swollen by fresh pressings of albums I’d not heard in pristine condition since the 1970s, including releases by Van Der Graaf Generator, T Rex, Lou Reed, Humble Pie, David Bowie, Brainticket, The Vibrators, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles.
Still to come (at least, at the time of writing) were The Velvet Underground and a fascinating collection of old 78s, repressed to 33 in a package that I simply refuse to listen to on CD.
This column is not, however, going to concern itself only with releases, reissues and vinyl news. We also want to air some of the debates that are already going on in the collecting community — beginning with what are possibly the three most important. Your own responses to all or any of these are welcomed … just send them to the usual address (see directions at right).
1. Should a new vinyl reissue be pressed from its original analog masters? Or should the manufacturer employ the best-quality-possible digital remaster?
2. Should a reissued classic album be appended with the bonus tracks that a CD reissue might have? Or do we want it as close as possible to what it was when it was originally released?
3. Does 180-gram or equally heavyweight vinyl make any difference to a reissue’s actual sound/pressing quality?
I have my own opinions on each of these points, and doubtless they will become clear in the months to come.
In the meantime, though, those nice people at the Fruits de Mer label sent us their thoughts on the rebirth of vinyl, together with an album that justifies every word. “Sorrow’s Children” is a tribute album to that most legendary of psychedelic rock classics, The Pretty Things’ “S.F. Sorrow,” and it follows proudly in the footsteps of the same label’s recent Pretties 7-inch releases.
The contributors are not (with the exception of The Pretties themselves) household names: The Luck of Eden Hall, Sky Picnic, Sidewalk Society, The Loons. But all reimagined the magic and mood of their chosen tracks, as they recreate the original album track by track, and that was before the entire set was wrapped inside a veritable work of 12-inch-by-12-inch art.
Stunning artwork, weighty wax, quality cardboard. Gone are the days when LPs were mass-produced slices of wafer slotted into cheapo cardboard sleeves. For the first time since, perhaps, the psych and prog booms of the late 1960s/early 1970s, an album’s presentation is paramount, and with it a perceived sense of value. The impression that you’re buying something that all concerned actually labored over, and took painstaking care to create. Or, as label co-founder Jones describes Fruits de Mer’s own mission, “a release on vinyl sounds better, looks better and means more.”
“Music on vinyl gets listened to. Maybe by relatively few people, but it does get heard — and by people who care about the music,” Jones says.

And he’s right. Maybe we needed vinyl to slip away for a couple of decades to remind us precisely what we were losing. CDs and, later, MP3s are a lot more convenient, of course. They require a fraction of the storage space, and the bad old days of having to leave your seat every 15 to 20 minutes to flip over a disc are all but forgotten.
But at what cost? It’s only when you are reacquainted with an old friend on vinyl that you realize how inadequate it looked on CD all these years. And talking of looks … what would you rather have spilling out across the floor? A few hundred vinyl albums, each with its own sleeve prominent from the other side of the room? Or a heap of CDs in their nasty little jewel cases? LPs create conversation pieces. CDs create clutter.
Which brings us back to Fruits de Mer. Jones explains that it started out very much as a label that would hopefully appeal to people like him and friend Andy Bracken, who jointly launched it — vinyl junkies who love music rooted in the sixties and seventies, whatever their age.
“We released a couple of singles early on and hoped that somebody would buy them — not very scientific! But a few record shops in the U.K. supported us from Day One … which was real encouragement to press on,” he says. “I’d like to say it snowballed from there, but for the first 12 months, we could hardly give copies away. However, more positive reviews, vinyl-friendly independent record shops, a few DJs and — most of all — word of mouth from people who had bought one of our records, liked it and wanted to tell others about it, meant that sales grew steadily over time, and now a typical Fruits de Mer release now sells out pretty much instantly on a pressing of 800. And that’s fine with me. Much bigger than that and the whole thing risks getting out of hand.”
Sparkling limited editions, then, primarily 7-inch singles but expanding into EP and the occasional long-playing territory, too. Upcoming are tributes to The Hollies and The Beatles’ White album. It’s an indication of just how well-loved the label is today that visitors to the Fruits de Mer website [http://fruitsdemerrecords.com]are greeted with a litany of “sold out” notices.
Which is what we want to see. Because it’s another indication that not only is vinyl back, but that this time, it means business.
“Sadly, disposable music and a disposable medium go together,” Jones says. “If music doesn’t mean as much to people as it used to, asking them to shell out for it becomes more and more of a challenge. Thank god there are still plenty of music junkies out there, and plenty of scope for artists and specialist record labels to feed their habits. It’s possible to do something interesting and creative with the CD format — but there’s a lot more scope with vinyl formats.”

Tributes For  Phil Ramone

A native of South Africa, Ramone learnt the violin at the age of three

Music stars have paid tribute to US producer and compact disc pioneer Phil Ramone, who has died at the age of 79.
Singer Tony Bennett said on Facebook: "Phil Ramone was a lovely person and a very gifted musician and producer... it was a joy to have him work with me."
Ramone is regarded as one of the most successful music producers in history.
He won 14 Grammy awards and worked with stars such as Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Elton John and Paul McCartney.
Ramone had been in hospital for several weeks, where he was being treated for an aortic aneurysm.
Confirming his death, his son Matt Ramone said he was "very loving and will be missed".
Phil Ramone's last Grammy came in 2012, when he won best traditional pop vocal album for producing Bennett's album Duets II.
"He had a wonderful sense of humour and a deep love of music. Phil had the admiration and respect from everyone in the entertainment industry and his passing is a great loss," Bennett added in his statement.
Other artists took to Twitter to pay tribute.
Gloria Estefan tweeted: "Sending prayers & good thoughts 2 the loved ones of our dear friend & colleague, the unequalled Phil Ramone. RIP friend, we will miss u always!"
Singer-songwriter Josh Groban tweeted: "I'm filled with sadness at the news of Phil Ramone's passing. He was a great friend and made music the right way."

Michael Wood from the LA Times said Phil Ramone spent his career ''working with A-list singers for almost half a century''

Julian Lennon also took to Twitter, saying he was "deeply saddened to hear the news of my dear friend & first-ever producer, Phil Ramone's passing."
Ramone produced the first major commercial release on CD, Billy Joel's 1982 album 52nd Street.
Some of his awards were for soundtracks to TV shows, films and stage plays.
A native of South Africa, Ramone learnt the violin at the age of three,
He became a US citizen at 12, and opened his own recording studio in 1958.
He produced three records that won Grammys for album of the year - Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years in 1976, 52nd Street and Ray Charles' Genius Loves Company in 2005.
"My career as an engineer and producer coincided with one of the most profound periods in pop music history: that of the contemporary singer-songwriter," he wrote in his 2007 book Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music.
Ramone also won Grammys for soundtracks to Flashdance, the Broadway musical Promises, Promises, and an Emmy for a TV special about jazz great Duke Ellington.
He was known for bringing artists together for duets, producing efforts by Frank Sinatra and Bono, and Tony Bennett and Paul McCartney among others.