Saul Williams is what pushed me into posting this.
Nov. 5th, 2007 | 12:16 am
So over the years there have been some interesting changes to the music industry, though as a beginning to this I'd just like to say that I can’t see why there should be an industry for music in the first place, but I’ll try to keep this unbiased for the fact of letting the essays run their own rounds.
And so... most people know a little about the Lars Ulrich and Napster case. Lars himself had a few public comments about it that he tossed out into the web sometime around or after the event.
http://interviews.slashdot.org/arti
http://monkeyfist.com/articles/543
Napster was an easy fileshare system to go after. it was an entity that was publicly promoting itself for the ability it gave to grab whatever music you wanted. It was hurting the musicians, sort of. i know on my end that all of the things I found allowed me window to research bands I liked, and any new cd that was released I would buy if I could or when. If not, I did like everyone else at the time, and burned a copy of a friends. In part it was a way to make compilation cds, try to find rare songs, and do what the cassette trading industry had been doing for years. But after a while, Napster folded, and the industry had won, yay.
And then of all people there were some discussions from the recently de-drugged Courtney Love. Her proposals and honesty were to say the least, before their time. In hindsight, she'd be on the covers of rolling stone, wired, and about 30 other magazines if she had spoken louder and walked where she had talked.
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2
http://archive.salon.com/letters/da
Other fronts such as comics were having similar transformations. Video was still out of the loop due to size, but an image is tiny, and it downloads quickly, so Scott McCloud decided to talk, about not only his ideas on economics, but also the format that comics and news have gone from over the years, and the overwhelming potential it has shirked.
http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/i
http://nothings.org/writing/upay.ht
Meanwhile, Napster dying helped to spawn the start of an epidemic of the filesharing projects, Bearshare, Grokster, Kazaa, Limewire, Soulseek, Rapidshare, Megashare, Filedump, etc. people didn’t stop downloading, they began to move from the wide to the slim, constantly looking for the next crack in the system, looking for the crumbs that they were hungry for.
but the crumbs become more clean and more high quality, full cds instead of one or two songs. Then whole discographies. Napster wasnt a part of this beginning, It was basic. The stuff on there was basically scrapings that were tossed together. Big bands would have 10 fake albums out for the one they were releasing, and little bands were almost nowhere. The new systems of getting cds were becoming just like getting your friends to make copies for you. As a program would go bad because of greed or stagnance, there was a new one at your doorstep the next day, this one all the better with something new to provide. This is great for you, because you stick it to the music industry, but then what about the artist you wanted to support in the beginning?
The RIAA stands for the music industry, but it isn’t standing by the musicians. It gives nothjing back to the artists after suing people, and there isn’t really any failsafe for people who are creating. Stances against the way of the music industry is handling things have been taken bit by bit throughout the last few years specifically. Some are legal, some not.
http://howto.wired.com/wiredhowtos/inde
______Offshoot_______
You also have to consider a new issue with the territory of digital music. DRM or digital rights management. Many companies like the new Napster and iTunes have sold songs with programming in them that restricts user abilities with the song, and so it’s important to know where you get your music from now.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window
http://defectivebydesign.org/ (organization against DRM material)
http://www.drmwatch.com/ (fairly neutral party)
____________________
The beginning of blurred lines are the artistic modifiers, such as mash up artists, djs, and remixers. These people usually just take the music and don’t even look back to show the artists their work or let them see it or anything. These have remained an untapped and virtually ignored resource to the music business, as they provide offshoots of original material, which ventures into territories that the bands simply did not go, but some fans wanted. Sure there are thousands of remixes that suck, and mash ups as well, but they could still be considered as a form of grassroots advertising and celebration of an artist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(mu
http://www.hybridized.org/ (dj set releases)
http://www.ninremixes.com/ (fan remix site)
http://mash-up.seesaa.net/category/5025
The thing that is interesting is that now its falling to the monolithic musicians to step up and change the industry themselves, and some may become more like their own record labels...
Within the last few months there have been articles and rumors about the new Radiohead cd, they released without a record label. The other interesting thing is that they let you put a worth on their heads, and choose how much you want to pay for their cd. This harks back to some parts of the Courtney Love essay, when she discusses the “working for tips” concept of musicians.
http://www.inrainbows.com/Store/in
So the first major step was taken by the Brits (I’m not surprised, the rest of the world seems to always be ahead of the US anymore) and this is an interesting turn from the original issues brought to the plate in early 2000s, (with following releases like "steal this album" referenced to the bootlegging of system of a down songs and the bands thoughts on the issue.) bands begin the revolt from the industry that left them making so little money for so much work, and new bands are finding ways out of being connected with what they don’t agree with.
Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails have also recently started a plan to step forward in a similar manner. he outlines it pretty well in his news articles on the Nine Inch Nails website.
http://ninblogs.wordpress.com/2007/10/0
http://ninblogs.wordpress.com/2007/10/1
And now Trent may be moving towards a producer and netlabel stance, because now he's helped Saul Williams release his new cd. its being released for 5 dollars or for free, and you can always find a PayPal account for Saul to give him tips for the music if you want. Check it out.
So this is a turbulent time to be around. Music industry is beginning to turn on its head. Video distribution is changing, and independent artists are finding ways to release material without the middlemen. Now all we have to do is sort it out.
If you want, email your favorite artists with some of this information to suggest they do the same as soon as their contracts are up with their labels, or send them donations directly instead of by buying their cds, they'll get much more from you that way. You can also purchase Non-DRM songs, or simply download songs from netlabels that give out free music from independent artists.
And so... most people know a little about the Lars Ulrich and Napster case. Lars himself had a few public comments about it that he tossed out into the web sometime around or after the event.
http://interviews.slashdot.org/arti
http://monkeyfist.com/articles/543
Napster was an easy fileshare system to go after. it was an entity that was publicly promoting itself for the ability it gave to grab whatever music you wanted. It was hurting the musicians, sort of. i know on my end that all of the things I found allowed me window to research bands I liked, and any new cd that was released I would buy if I could or when. If not, I did like everyone else at the time, and burned a copy of a friends. In part it was a way to make compilation cds, try to find rare songs, and do what the cassette trading industry had been doing for years. But after a while, Napster folded, and the industry had won, yay.
And then of all people there were some discussions from the recently de-drugged Courtney Love. Her proposals and honesty were to say the least, before their time. In hindsight, she'd be on the covers of rolling stone, wired, and about 30 other magazines if she had spoken louder and walked where she had talked.
http://archive.salon.com/tech/feature/2
http://archive.salon.com/letters/da
Other fronts such as comics were having similar transformations. Video was still out of the loop due to size, but an image is tiny, and it downloads quickly, so Scott McCloud decided to talk, about not only his ideas on economics, but also the format that comics and news have gone from over the years, and the overwhelming potential it has shirked.
http://www.scottmccloud.com/comics/i
http://nothings.org/writing/upay.ht
Meanwhile, Napster dying helped to spawn the start of an epidemic of the filesharing projects, Bearshare, Grokster, Kazaa, Limewire, Soulseek, Rapidshare, Megashare, Filedump, etc. people didn’t stop downloading, they began to move from the wide to the slim, constantly looking for the next crack in the system, looking for the crumbs that they were hungry for.
but the crumbs become more clean and more high quality, full cds instead of one or two songs. Then whole discographies. Napster wasnt a part of this beginning, It was basic. The stuff on there was basically scrapings that were tossed together. Big bands would have 10 fake albums out for the one they were releasing, and little bands were almost nowhere. The new systems of getting cds were becoming just like getting your friends to make copies for you. As a program would go bad because of greed or stagnance, there was a new one at your doorstep the next day, this one all the better with something new to provide. This is great for you, because you stick it to the music industry, but then what about the artist you wanted to support in the beginning?
The RIAA stands for the music industry, but it isn’t standing by the musicians. It gives nothjing back to the artists after suing people, and there isn’t really any failsafe for people who are creating. Stances against the way of the music industry is handling things have been taken bit by bit throughout the last few years specifically. Some are legal, some not.
http://howto.wired.com/wiredhowtos/inde
______Offshoot_______
You also have to consider a new issue with the territory of digital music. DRM or digital rights management. Many companies like the new Napster and iTunes have sold songs with programming in them that restricts user abilities with the song, and so it’s important to know where you get your music from now.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/window
http://defectivebydesign.org/ (organization against DRM material)
http://www.drmwatch.com/ (fairly neutral party)
____________________
The beginning of blurred lines are the artistic modifiers, such as mash up artists, djs, and remixers. These people usually just take the music and don’t even look back to show the artists their work or let them see it or anything. These have remained an untapped and virtually ignored resource to the music business, as they provide offshoots of original material, which ventures into territories that the bands simply did not go, but some fans wanted. Sure there are thousands of remixes that suck, and mash ups as well, but they could still be considered as a form of grassroots advertising and celebration of an artist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mashup_(mu
http://www.hybridized.org/ (dj set releases)
http://www.ninremixes.com/ (fan remix site)
http://mash-up.seesaa.net/category/5025
The thing that is interesting is that now its falling to the monolithic musicians to step up and change the industry themselves, and some may become more like their own record labels...
Within the last few months there have been articles and rumors about the new Radiohead cd, they released without a record label. The other interesting thing is that they let you put a worth on their heads, and choose how much you want to pay for their cd. This harks back to some parts of the Courtney Love essay, when she discusses the “working for tips” concept of musicians.
http://www.inrainbows.com/Store/in
So the first major step was taken by the Brits (I’m not surprised, the rest of the world seems to always be ahead of the US anymore) and this is an interesting turn from the original issues brought to the plate in early 2000s, (with following releases like "steal this album" referenced to the bootlegging of system of a down songs and the bands thoughts on the issue.) bands begin the revolt from the industry that left them making so little money for so much work, and new bands are finding ways out of being connected with what they don’t agree with.
Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails have also recently started a plan to step forward in a similar manner. he outlines it pretty well in his news articles on the Nine Inch Nails website.
http://ninblogs.wordpress.com/2007/10/0
http://ninblogs.wordpress.com/2007/10/1
And now Trent may be moving towards a producer and netlabel stance, because now he's helped Saul Williams release his new cd. its being released for 5 dollars or for free, and you can always find a PayPal account for Saul to give him tips for the music if you want. Check it out.
So this is a turbulent time to be around. Music industry is beginning to turn on its head. Video distribution is changing, and independent artists are finding ways to release material without the middlemen. Now all we have to do is sort it out.
If you want, email your favorite artists with some of this information to suggest they do the same as soon as their contracts are up with their labels, or send them donations directly instead of by buying their cds, they'll get much more from you that way. You can also purchase Non-DRM songs, or simply download songs from netlabels that give out free music from independent artists.