Gizmodo announces war on the RIAA during the month of March. OK, it's not a war, but a boycott, which is still a continuation of politics by other means - in this case economic. So it would seem like such schemes can circuit bend capitalism for a positive feedback into democracy, not just its distortion/negation. And if a DJ/producer getting arrested by the same companies that paid his mixtape productions doesn't seem like having anything to do with democracy, consider this video:
Still not sure?
Compare Copyright vs. Creative Commons and consider what the music culture might be if imagination could run independent of industrial/corporate law. Here is a trashy cult-movie example of such "unimaginable" exploration.
So here's to a month free from the rule of RIAA (emusic is a great legal alternative), higher concert attendance, and imaginative future.
Monday, February 26, 2007
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4 Comments:
On a related but slightly different topic .......
I am waiting (not for long, I think) for the collapse of the recorded music industry's mass product driven (cassette, vinyl, cd, etc etc) state to one of irrelevance. CDs (or whatever formats may be available in the future) return to being small run, in control of the artist and much more personal. Musicians will hopefully spend more time *performing* than the last 80 or so years, allowing music to return to being an experience of the moment, rather than a style to be consumed. When live performance becomes the main way that people experience music (again), I hope for better times all round!
Musicians do perform allot. There is no lack of musicians. There is however a lack of live audience for live music.
Have to agree on both points - on one hand music has been reduced to an object-less state where value is dictated purely by marketing. On the other, audiences have forsaken concerts (and dancing at concerts) for the comfort of iPod enjoyment. Still, the future is definitely bright since I don't think prostitution will die because of internet porn (and yes, I am comparing paid performed music to prostitution as much as it's a socialized experience of the intimate).
How about an entirely different model where recordings are distributed for free in whatever format as a promotional tool and concert tickets are several times more expensive? The very fact that recorded music is free will make people crave live performances (not to mention most of the profit will go to musicians and not to trans-national distributors)
Pretty much anybody who has skimmed over an article about an 8 year old girl getting sued for downloading music at her grandmother's house or has read the price tag on a cd recently has been made aware of the fact that the RIAA is an obsolete association, and has most likely turned to downloading regardless of the threats, because well, it's free, and who isn't more inspired to steal from a place with great stuff that's run by horrible people? However, I don't believe that when people download music, the first thought entering their mind is the part they're playing in taking down the system or that the artist isn't going to be seeing more than a dime of the profits, it's a matter of immediacy and affordability. As long as people can receive something at quality equal to that of the AAC files they will convert their cd's to once they get home, for free, they have no reason to to go out to pay for it.
There is also the matter of aesthetics to consider. The smaller the format gets, the smaller the artwork. Interestingly enough, I've noticed that a lot of the more ornately packaged cd's are smaller label releases with more limited pressings.
As for raising ticket prices, I am unable to attend the Pogues this month because 2 tickets will cost roughly $115 dollars total once service fees are added. The model already seems to be in that direction, however unintentional that may be on the part of the artists and/or industry.
Either way, prostitutes still have somebody else to pay when all is said and done.
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