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January 26, 2006
I've just discovered by Shaun Cronin's Rock'n' Roll Damnation. Through it, via Larvatus Prodeo I came across this: ----Janis Ian's article on the music industry and internet downloads. It is very relevant response to the major labels like Sony-BMG and EMI, who are looking for new ways to make their music less convenient to access by consumers. The music industry is also prosecution of people it perceives as "stealing" music---ordinary consumers are deemwed to be pirates.
Janis states that:
The premise of all this ballyhoo is that the industry (and its artists) are being harmed by free downloading.Nonsense....Free exposure is practically a thing of the past for entertainers. Getting your record played at radio costs more money than most of us dream of ever earning. Free downloading gives a chance to every do-it-yourselfer out there. Every act that can't get signed to a major, for whatever reason, can reach literally millions of new listeners, enticing them to buy the CD and come to the concerts. Where else can a new act, or one that doesn't have a label deal, get that kind of exposure? Please note that I am not advocating indiscriminate downloading without the artist's permission.
Well put. It is what the Grateful Dead utilized to such good effect by allowing the fans to tape their live concerts.
Janis goes on to say that :
I am not saying copyrights are meaningless. I am objecting to the RIAA spin that they are doing this to protect "the artists", and make us more money. I am annoyed that so many records I once owned are out of print, and the only place I could find them was Napster. Most of all, I'd like to see an end to the hysteria that causes a group like RIAA to spend over 45 million dollars in 2001 lobbying "on our behalf", when every record company out there is complaining that they have no money.
There is there is more to music than the music industry.
The everyday musical context is changing rapidly due to digital music. Other musical aspects--discovery, experience, platforms, form--- that are changing due to the explosion of digital music are explored at City of Sounds New Musical Experience post. The argument is that 'though the volume of songs has increased, both in terms of music accessible to the average consumer and in terms of what their devices can hold.....it appears that important aspects of the music experience itself may be diminishing.'
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Thanks for the mention Gary. And thanks for the New Musical Experience article. Very interesting.