Can Newspapers Save Local Music? 166
impaler writes: "Roblimo has posted a great piece over at NewsForge about how the Washington Post and other newspapers are hosting MP3 download sites for local musicians and how the sites are actually very popular. An interesting read." Just because the "music industry" works a certain way right now doesn't mean that all change is bad; Bruce Springsteen is apparently finding that he doesn't need much beyond a lock and key to keep the Internet hordes from passing around his albums before they're released, and the musicians on the Washington Post site seem to like being there.
Local music (Score:1, Flamebait)
I mean, unless you actually live in NY, Chicago, LA, etc do you really read your local newspaper or watch your local news program? If no, why do you expect local music hosted by these entities to be worth a crap?
Re:Local music (Score:2, Insightful)
Nope (Three reasons) (Score:1, Redundant)
2) Just because a musician is popular doesn't mean he/she is good. (ie: britney spears)
but most importantly,
3) You need to stop reason to techno.
ahhh (Score:2)
I guess I should stop erading \.
Re:Nope (Three reasons) (Score:1)
Which means the ones who are (still) local are the ones who didn't make it, i.e. the process weeded them out.
Just because a musician is popular doesn't mean he/she is good. (ie: britney spears)
But the best musicians are more likely to gravitate toward the national level, e.g. the Boston Symphony Orchestra rather than the Springfield USA City Philharmonic.
Re:Nope (Three reasons) (Score:1)
Not true. Many acts with dubious musical value (NKOTB, Britney Spears, the Strokes, etc) did not go through any period of being local acts before breaking big. Clear Channel and their record companies put them there.
Re:Nope (Three reasons) (Score:2)
Re:Nope (Three reasons) (Score:2)
Re:Nope (Three reasons) (Score:2)
My best friend is an independant local techno artist. I think his stuff is pretty friggin' good - but maybe that's cause I'm comparing it to the utter crap they play on the radio these days.
Anyways my point is that techno actually does better then many genres at having local independant acts that don't suck.
Re:Local music (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd disagree with that. There's a lot of high-quality local music in many cities that I've played in. Yes, there's also a good deal of trendy, badly-produced, over image-engineered crap, but that's music in general, isn't it? You have to take the bad with the good. Of course, you also run into the fact that people are used to hearing albums with high-dollar production values, and just can't see through the mediocre production to good songs/music.
Sadly, as a musician local to the D.C., I have to say that I didn't even know this existed. I now have to hope that the Post's snotty attitude towards forms of music other than Folk and Alterna-Rock doesn't carry over to the page, as there are a lot of local musicians here doing things worth hearing that aren't working in those genres. (Although I admit the Post's music critics have been getting better in this regard lately.)
Re:Local music (Score:2)
Re:Local music (Score:2)
Re:Local music (Score:1)
And yes, I continue to read my local newspaper, because I like to think I care about what's going on around me. Even if the newspaper's not that great, the alternative is
Unfortunate for you, I guess (Score:4, Insightful)
But we've got a pretty good local music scene (and pretty good local news, for that matter).
I bet if you went out and actually listened to some of the local acts, you might find some pretty good shows. I've found that local acts tend to have excellent stage presence.
Also, the big acts of today were yesterday's local acts, and some from much smaller areas than NY, Chicago, LA, etc. IE: The Tragically Hip, arguably one of the biggest bands to come out of Canada, and quite successful on the world's stage, came out of Kingston, Ontario. I suspect that NY has suburbs bigger than Kingston....
Sure, there's a lot of junk in a local music scene, but just because of that don't discount all of it. Maybe you're just going to the wrong places to experience it.
Re:Unfortunate for you, I guess (Score:2, Funny)
Don't worry kid, that's normal. Not everyone can be in porn.
Re: Kingston (Score:2)
Hell, as a former Kingston resident, I suspect that NYC has pizzerias bigger than Kingston. Incidentally, Sarah Harmer [sarahharmer.com] is also from Kingston, or at least got started playing there. She's great, I can't believe Nelly Furtado got the Juno instead of her. You'll be hearing more about her in a few years...
Re:Local music (Score:2)
Just exactly what kind of local music are you basing this on, sure, here in Pittsburgh, we have our fair share of shitty local bands(I really really hate the Clarks), but we also have a whole mess of great local bands.
I've also found that big name bands come around to do a show and the whole thing normally comes off as over rehearsed and without feeling. It's like they have a script that says everything that they have to do, even when between songs. Local bands will joke with the crowd, come off the stage and sing on the dance floor/pit. And when the concert's over, they are at the bar drinking and talking to poeple.
Re:Local music (Score:2)
how about .. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:how about .. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:New Slashdot feature? (Score:1)
I'd vote for a reference article caching server first.
Slashdot.org does not provide this service for reasons listed in the FAQ [slashdot.org]. That said, you can usually use Google's cache to read the text of a story once the page has been slashdotted.
Missing the Point (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Missing the Point (Score:1)
Backstreet Boys and N'Sync are extreme examples of the dumb luck phenomenon, because producers found them, threw out a lot of their work, handed them music to sing and sent them on their way to stardom. I think a reference to a particular South Park episode is in order here, where the boys were randomly picked by a producer and became famous overnight.
Audiogalaxy was still the best place to find unknown acts, but of course the record labels killed a good thing. I rather them shut down the P2P networks than audiogalaxy. It seems the newspapers are picking up slack from AG's demise, but they won't be able to be as complete or as nationwide. I don't particularly care if a band is local or not, just if they're good! Unfortunately being a good songwriter is one-in-a-million sort of thing.
Re:Missing the Point (Score:1)
Re:Missing the Point (Score:2)
Not really (Score:2)
So you're telling me bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, got big out of pure luck, no talent involved?
Ok, maybe you mean currently: what about Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Dream Theater, Radiohead.
Not all bands get big because of pure luck. The bands who do won't be remembered in five years (ie: NKOTB (for those you didn't realize it New Kids...)
Regarding everything else you siad, agree completely, this has got to be one of the greatest ideas. It'd even be helpful if they'd list local shows of all kinds of different types of music. In my hometown, I used to go see the local bands, and had made many friends through the shows, but since I've moved, I don't know what's around here, or where the shows are
YOU Missed The Point! (Score:1)
Then you mention bands that between them have probably sold less than the prior mentioned dogsh*t bands. Can you say niche?
Re:Not really (Score:2)
got big out of pure luck, no talent involved
I think the original poster assumed some talent and popular appeal was a prerequisite.
Yes, it takes talent AND pure dumb luck to make it big in the recording industry. Err, well, an attractive female lead vocalist doesn't hurt your chances any either.
There have been too many cases of talented bands that don't make it big time, who never get a chance to be heard by anyone other than their local rabid fans.
I think sites like this are an excellent way for popular preference in music to be expressed and for talented but lesser-known bands to get the exposure they deserve.
It's the Right Answer to the question "I wonder who gets to pick the songs I have to hear on the radio?"
Intelligent MP3 Sharing (Score:5, Insightful)
Think about it - nearly every major market has at least one "free" newspaper, and most markets do have some smaller newspaper, not owned by conglomerates (like Canwest/Global here in Canada) that could put forth, gasp, an original viewpoint, a cutting edge playlist, and even just good recommendations for new music, unlike any radio station (college stations excepted) or any major venue.
Now, will we have to worry about ClearChannel buying up North American newspapers if this catches on?
ed
Re:Intelligent MP3 Sharing (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Intelligent MP3 Sharing (Score:1)
Rochester? Try WBER (Score:2)
Granted, I've never listened to a lot of radio in general... I always thought a lot of it was crap even before ClearChannel began borging every station in sight. But WBER is an entirely independent station and as such plays a very eclectic mix of music, including local bands. --At least, that's how it was 6 years ago. I haven't listened in a while.
Re:Rochester? Try WBER (Score:1)
I haven't lived in Rochester in for over 2 years, but WBER playlist seemed not all that different from the commercial "alt-rock" station in town. It did announce concerts, but never played any of that music except during an indie rock showcase specialty hour.
Damn I miss the Bug Jar.
Re:Rochester? Try WBER (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Intelligent MP3 Sharing (Score:1)
So... I think intelligence needs to be done in what is linked as well. A quick idea would be to have a section of "what you could hear in town this week." A section where one can see all of the bands which will be playing live that week and give them a try.
Then, you could have categorical pages, of course, but you need to find some way of encouraging support. Note, I don't think it should be required, but incentive should be given to provide easy support to the artists.
Interestingly enough, I think the venues could do well to get together and provide sites of this nature. Perhaps allow them to download clips of shows played in a venue. Perhaps to show what the lighting and overall look of a place are. This could encourage more attendees which could help to bring more revenues.
Weeklies free of Conglomerate control? (Score:2)
Ok, be very very careful about this statement. Most "free press" newspapers are owned by conglomerates: Village Voice Media Inc. (which owns the Village Voice, LA Weekly, Seattle Weekly, Cleveland Free Times, Nashville Scene, and OC Weekly) or New Times Media Inc [newtimes.com] to name a few.
Actually here is a list of Alterno-conglomerates [aan.org] and don't be surprised if your fave local paper is in there.
For the last few years "local alternative" papers have been eaten up by these conglomerates (and have minority members like Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Weiss, Peck, & Greer.)
Of course these papers deny or eschew their corporate ownership with their witty commentary and flippy attitude. But in the end it is still corporate homongenization.
Sidebar: Maybe I'm a little pissed about this since my favorite local paper [freetimes.com] has just gone down the crapper the last few months due to an "editorial change". What has this meant? 1) New oh-so-cool-but-not-self-conscious-like format redesign 2) removal of any enjoyable entertainment content 3) features that are just bastardizations of two year old stories (the IBM-Nazi Germany connection), poorly written/argued (the current one on Maven/Queen Bee girl socialization behavior that starts out on the topic, switches to a completely different topic to prove its point against the former) or insulting (like how the WNBA should support its lesbian fan base more 'cause "we all know female atheletes are dykes"... good job at reinforcing 19th century stereotypes Cleveland Free Times!). Oh and then they whine and mince at the local big paper, the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Um, hello? What, were you fired from there or something? Didn't return your calls? Anyway: tell someone who gives a damn and don't waste ink on it!)
Summary: Just because it is Propaganda you like doesn't mean it ain't Propaganda. So read a lot of different stuff and make your own choice.
I don't see.. (Score:1, Insightful)
How could they not like this? It's pretty much free advertising... and being on this site means less chance of being passed around P2P..
Re:I don't see.. (Score:1)
Check out Sleeman (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Check out Sleeman (Score:1)
Venues help, too (Score:5, Informative)
Local music magazines are also much better at promoting local musicians to the people who will actually come out to see them. Origivation [origivation.com] is a good example for Philadelphia.
Ben Garvey
Acoustic Rock : http://www.bengarvey.com [bengarvey.com]
Re:Venues help, too (Score:2)
There was a great series (well, mini-series - two albums) put out from "The Bottom Line" in Greenwich Village called "In Their Own Words - A Bunch of Songwriters Sittin' Around Singin'." It was a wonderful collection and it worked like this: the first half of every album was songwriters and one of the songs they'd written (not necessarily the one you'd think) with a short conversation about where the song came from or the status of the industry. The second half of the album was the artists singin' songs they didn't write, stuff they were inspired by and their reasons for their choice. You'd get the oddest combinations: Jill Sobule singing "I Will Survive" for instance. The artists themselves bounce from village institutions (lucinda Williams, Jimmy Webb, Pete Seeger) to then-pop staples (Jill Sobule, Gordon Gano), to legends (Barrett Strong - the guy who actually wrote "I Heard it Through the Grapevine).
Pick 'em up. they're tough to find in stores (prolly out of print) but can be ordered. If you're out of luck email me and we'll see what we can do.
Triv
You can make money? (Score:2, Interesting)
"Yes, we're making a living, Cliff says. "We're all full-time musicians."
What's this? You can share your music AND make money. And I thought the RIAA was telling the truth. But really, I think that song-sharing is a great idea. A lot of times, I'll download the music just to see if I'd like to buy the CD; and more often then not, I do. Also, I think that it makes the artists look very favorable when they actually let you download their music, so you are more apt to want to support them over a group who tries to destroy and user with a ripped, illegal version of their song.
Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:1)
Re:Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:2)
I'll go one step further than that. I suspect that most local bands are so starved for exposure, that they'd be willing to sell their CDs at (distribution) cost, if they were guaranteed a large enough audience. P2P sharing is essentially doing just that.
Of course at some point, the opportunity cost of giving away all their work will exceed the benefit. Unfortunately, P2P sharing doesn't give them the option to cut back on what gets shared.
Re:Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:2, Interesting)
The general idea is that for a hundred dollars' worth of blanks, you can get a few hundred people listening to your music, telling their friends, driving around in fucking honda civics with their 8000-watt noisebox playing your tune... if you've got good music and you can get it out there, it will become its own advertising up to a certain extent, which will be much more effective than buying airplay at your local CKFU.
Re:Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:2)
That doesn't explain the Emenem thing. His CD was distributed widely on the Internet before it was released, yet it's still the biggist hit of the year.
It turns out that people like to buy the music they enjoy. It's nice to have a real physical CD, complete with a printed liner. It plays to the same basic human instinct that makes us buy hardcover copies of our favourite books, or DVDs of our favourite movies.
Re:Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:1)
Re:Just playing devil's advocate... (Score:2)
So don't pay for the 'aural junk food'. Are you saying there's no CD you'd pay 15-20$ for? None at all?
You might be the exception, but most of us do pay good money for music we like. I'll pay money for a Sting CD, despite the fact that I can borrow it from a friend and rip it. In fact, I'll buy the legit CD even after I already have a ripped version. I like to have my Sting collection, just like I like to have my Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy boxed set and my map of Thailand on the wall.
Most people build up collections of 'stuff' that have meaning to them. I wouldn't call it materialism so much as sentimentality.
Re:You can make money? (Score:5, Insightful)
Way to quote it out of context. The text you're quoting is with respect to sharing 3 songs on the Washington Post site. 3 songs that were chosen by the copyright holder (presumably the band, given that they're unsigned). Not their entire album. Not whatever 3 songs a random P2P user chooses.
Guess what? This is the exact same thing that RIAA acts do, too. Take, for example, Linkin Park. They're big right now, they're signed with Warner Bros. Records, they're on the radio a lot, they're showing up on MTV. You don't get much more RIAA than that.
Yet on mp3.com, they've got their own page [mp3s.com] with FOUR songs available for anyone to download. That's a whole song more than the band interviewed by Roblimo. But still, it comes back to the fact that it's 4 songs that the copyright holder chose to release. It's only the songs they pick, and it's certainly not the entire CD.
Arguing that giving away a few songs from a CD validates unrestricted P2P filesharing is like arguing that a free demo of the first few levels of a game validates piracy. It's up to the copyright holder to decide how much freebie/give-away advertising to use to promote the product before it starts to cut into sales.
Re:You can make money? (Score:1)
Re:You can make money? (Score:2)
You've lost me. The RIAA has primarily villified P2P filesharing services, which tend to use the horde effect to make it difficult to identify and stop individual copyright violators. The example this point uses is just a website serving up files in compliance with the copyright holder's licensing demands (specifically, "You can stream these 3 files from your website."). I don't see how that changes the filesharing issue at all. "Which would you rather give money to?"
Funny you should mention freeware versus nagware. I don't have the details handy, but I seem to recall a study mentioned on Slashdot about how the more obnoxious a shareware program was, the higher the registration rate.
For best results, integrate this with CD giveaways (Score:2, Interesting)
In the UK, one sunday paper (Sunday Times?) recently gave away an Oasis CD with every purchase. Half the songs were playable on a CD player, and half were PC-playable four times, before they expired. Imagine if CD giveaways were integrated with MP3.com-like portals.
This would be a great way to promote new music, since CDs are cheap to manufacture and small enough to package with a newspaper. It would be great to see the newspaper websites host local artists' music, and then their distribute songs.
One of the arguments in favour of Free(dom) music is that artists can promote themselves with free distribution, then earn their feed by doing live gigs. Newspapers are an excellent mechanism for alerting people to upcoming events. They could play an integral part in reinventing the music industry by promoting small artists and helping them sell tickets.
No reason why these things couldn't be done with free software either.
New revenue streams (Score:3, Insightful)
Newspapers are struggling to keep readers and stay relevant. I see this as a Good Thing. It provides a good service and it's a way to get more eyeballs on their ads, without resorting to charging for internet content, registrations, etc.
Mp3's work for indie bands (Score:5, Interesting)
Thanks to file sharing we're hitting the states for the first time in September when our new cd is released and we also will have two songs on an upcomming movie sountrack.
What record companies have forgotten is that word of mouth is a very powerful thing
Re:Mp3's work for indie bands (Score:3, Insightful)
They havn't forgotten, they just know that their canned distribution model is a lot more powerful (at least for profits).
You are exactly what they are afraid of. I don't know if your music is any good or not, but some guy who just came from the ivy league and sits in a chair behind an executive desk at a record company hasn't given you his seal of approval, and therefore a record company can't plug you into a formula (x dollers for promtion, x dollers for a video = y dollers in profits regardless of the bands talent).
I wish you luck on your tour, and am very excited to see a band make it because of the Internet.
Re:Mp3's work for indie bands (Score:4, Insightful)
Now with MP3s it's so much easier. If I see a band I haven't heard of that's playing in my town I can grab an MP3 and decide if they're worth driving downtown and paying a couple of bucks to see. I can't count the number of CDs and other merch I've bought and shows I've been to that I wouldn't have otherwise because I heard a few MP3s.
The real reason the RIAA should hate MP3s is because of people like me and my friends. MP3s allow us to find out about and support non-RIAA bands that we never would have heard of otherwise.
Re:Mp3's work for indie bands (Score:1)
Another great thing is that when you go to a show, you'll be exposed to 2-3 other bands. Many of them are awful... But one in 20 is really good, and you'll end up hooked on their music, too.
Got to love live local music.
Tom in Boston
http://bostonrock.home.attbi.com [attbi.com]
Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've never heard of snoozerland (until now). I've never heard any of their songs. How am I supposed to find snoozerland on a file sharing network when I don't even know it exists? WHY would I search for snoozerland if I don't know it exists? WHY would I search for snoozerland besides something with more name recognition?
Filesharing doesn't help get the word out about your band. It only helps get the music out to those who already have the word and care about hearing your music.
For instance, you say: "(Actually untill napster we weren't selling any records outside Canada!)". As I stated above, how could napster help you sell records outside of Canada when no one outside of Canada knew about your existance?
Wouldn't 'net radio or sites like MP3.com be more influential for fledgling bands when a filesharing system?
(I'm not trying to poop on your parade here. Just presenting a line of thought. It's cool that you are now experiencing greater success because of MP3s and the 'net, I'm just saying that I'm not sure how important a factor filesharing was to the bands success due to the natue of filesharing systems.)
Re:Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:3, Interesting)
These days of course, I can't really do that anymore, and it's the one killer feature of Napster that I really miss a lot. I once again have to rely on music reviews on other web-sites, word of mouth, and Amazon recommendations to point me at some new acts which I may or may not like.
An Amazon-like recommendation system from a file-share network (users with music selections like yours also have this stuff that you don't) would kick a lot of ass. Good music would pretty much promote itself with such a system. Unfortunately, this only seems to be possible using centralized database servers, which would constitute a single point of legal attack against such a network. But hey, we can dream right?
Re:Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:1)
Re:Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:1)
The problem with the record companies is that they don't say "Look, our sales have gone up 300%", they say "Our sales have only gone up 300% but 500% more people are listening to the music" - they see the people who are not paying as a problem rather than acknowledging the extra exposure's benefit.
If they implemented DRM then sales would go up slightly (you could download songs rather than just albums, it would be east to do so) band 100% of listeners would pay for it (ok, maybe not 100%), but if they don't, they may make more money but quite possibly only a minority of people will pay for it.
Who knows though - maybe if, in the future, everyone has CD-RW, cable internet, and their HiFi is served from their HDD, filesharing could actually be a real threat.
Re:Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:1)
Re:Are you sure it's the filesharing systems? (Score:2)
or you hear one of their songs on college radio
before Audiogalaxy (which was better than Napster for indie music) shut down, I almost only downloaded music that I'd only been told "I think you should check them out"
Now I would never pay $18 for a CD just because I hear one song on the radio, or a friend thinks I might like them. But I'll sure as hell download some MP3s.
Everyone talks about buying CDs because of MP3 downloads. I don't know about anyone else, but I can look through my CDs and out of the over 150 CDs I purchased last year, over 100 were directly because of MP3 download, and the rest were because people made me mix-tapes etc.
The bottom line is, if you don't like the crap that Clearchannel/MTV/RIAA shoves down our throats, then illegal sharing is just about the only way to hear about new music.
Hm... (Score:1)
Newspapers usually cover news in a local area, so I can understand why "local bands" are an interest. I just wonder how well it will catch on. Businesses don't usually do something that isn't in the interest of profit. With the songs being put up for free, it will only work if they use the popularity of the music downloads to attract more advertisers (who like to see higher circulation).
Or they will require a log-in with a valid email address amd give you all the spam you can eat.
My Optimism is Rising (Score:2)
Wider exposure for local musicians is the kind of the thing the Internet was supposed to be all about. And it's a necessary step toward eradicating the music industry.
Re:My Optimism is Rising (Score:2)
Just like open-source software has so successfully eliminated the closed-source software industry?
You may (ideally) reform the music industry to the point where it's no longer locking artists into unfair contracts, but eradicating it? As much as we may wish otherwise, there'll always be a job for people who invest money in the creation of something. There'll always be a job for people who promote a finished product.
They only thing that might potentially eradicate the music industry would be a general repeal of copyright laws. And while that may sound good, there's quite a bunch of nifty intellectual property that only exists because it was commercially viable to recoup the investment under copyright law.
This is a great idea (Score:1)
A better question (Score:3, Interesting)
A better question should be can local music save newspapers. When I used to buy a paper, I typically did so to look for something in particular; classfied ads, movie listings, the latest electronic store ads, even the comics. Occasionally if I had a few hours to kill, I'd actualy read the news.
But the net has given all of those things to me for free, and a heck of a lot faster. So newspapers have to find new ways to bring in revenue. I don't (and currently won't) pay for a local newspaper online, but I would if it were to provide new avenues of information like local band MP3s. This is such a great and fantastic idea.
If my local newspaper were to still provide the news and information I want online and add mp3s from local bands (and who knows what else), I'd have no reservations about plunking down $15 a month for it.
Re:A better question (Score:2)
Of course, you can, but you need a wireless connection, mobile hardware, batteries...and you're doing it in a rather disgusting environment, around water. Do you really want your laptop/palm/subnotebook around that? And if a fly comes buzzing by or the dog climbs on your sofa...I assure you, a newspaper works a LOT better.
Returning to the "newspaper in the bathroom" scenario, in my office we have a lot of people who kindly leave the Sports section, the comics, or other bits of their newspaper in the bathroom stalls. So when the next gentleman comes in, he too can entertain himself on the crapper. All for $0.75....which is a price that beats any Internet connection's, let alone that of the hardware that you need for it. Plus, it's a great way of "file-sharing" without some corporation's lawyers prosecuting you for violating the DMCA.
Sure, I can read more news on the Internet, and quicker, at my desk...but there are some situations in which it's really handy to have a good old-fashioned newspaper around.
Support your Local Bands (Score:2)
I see the emphesis being placed back on local bands, which will then be scouted by professionals from a bastardized version of the recording industry and put on tours designed to make money rather than sell albums. MTV and commercial stations will have to go back to (gasp) making their money off ad sales like everyone else.
This won't be anywhere near as lucritive as the current music monopoly, but that's life.
Counter-spin (Score:3, Informative)
Some pretty heavy spin Timothy is applying to that story. It reads more like -- In order to avoid having his new album widely available through file sharing services, as recently happened to Eminem, distribution of Bruce Springsteen's new album is being tightly restricted. As a result, few reviewers or radio stations have heard it.
Of course, Springsteen can get away with that. (Or is he completely washed up now, anyway? I lost interest in him 15 years ago.) For less prominent artists, handcuffing their publicity efforts is a major issue.
Not that I'm losing sleep over this either way, but the Slashdot writeup is a 180 distortion of the NYT article.
Re:Counter-spin (Score:1)
I use this same kind of "security" to keep people from stealing my car... I drive a piece of crap and no one wants it anyway.
Re:Counter-spin (Score:2)
These are the ones just from the top of my head that come on the radio quite frequently. Just because you're a 15 year old suburbanite idiot who thinks Eminem and maybe the fronting, lying, frauding Marilyn Manson are gods doesn't mean everyone else is too.
Re:Counter-spin (Score:2)
If I don't like one no-talent mumbling butt-munch, I must like 2 other no talents...
Here's a thought for ya: Perhaps I can try to find music that isn't based on how many people I can annoy and freak out. Then, maybe we could listen to an artist with talent for something other than shock value.
Nah... then there would be no way for teenagers to piss off their parents.
Re:Counter-spin (Score:2)
I don't mind the new stuff, but 'Born to Run' is one of the most kick ass rock songs...
Washingtonpost.com legal agreement (Score:3, Interesting)
For example, you are not allowed to distribute the music over a LAN. This means that I could not use my Rio Receiver to play the music over my hifi system. You are also not allowed to use the music to construct any kind of database. This probably rules out most fancy players that create nice indexes of your music. It may rule out all hardware based players as they will create a (small) database of the music stored internally to the player. It certainly rules out using JReceiver [sourceforge.net] as my music server.
I understand that they want to restrict the use that people make of the band's music, but it does seem a little over restrictive.
Re:Washingtonpost.com legal agreement (Score:1)
A lot of local bands/ minor labels embrace mp3s as a method to get a following.
My Favorite D.C. Musician doesn't have anything up (Score:1)
Sales (Score:2)
Re:Sales - even worse than that . . . (Score:3, Insightful)
That's how it would be if RIAA ran the car industry, and it's a darn good thing that they don't - not just for the customers but for the car makers. Think of all the impulse buys they would lose if potential customers couldn't walk through the lot, seeing, touching, smelling the new car smell . . . . Now, it's true that car dealers have problems with theft off the lot, and they'd have less theft if they kept the cars locked away from potential buyers. But such measures would cut heavily into their sales, so they don't dream of trying it. In most business sectors, the sellers of quality merchandise understand intuitively that knowledge of the product sells the product. Contrast this to the shady used car dealer trying to pass off lemons as good cars -- that's the guy who won't even let you kick the tires, much less test drive.
The counterintuitive, myopic policies of RIAA and its marketing-machine clients stem from their shady used-car dealer psychology. The RIAA machine clearly recognizes that quality music will sell itself to informed listeners. Music that sells itself doesn't need an RIAA machine, so RIAA necessarily becomes the enemy of both quality music and informed listeners, to preserve its own existence. That, in and of itself, explains why the trash the big labels put out keeps getting inexorably worse. If sites like the Washington Post succeed in convincing a critical mass of musicians that they are better off without the RIAA machine, no Fritz Hollings, Bono amendment, or anything else can save this dinosaur industry that exists solely to hard-sell crappy music to malleable children and teens. To speed this day along, I will be making a point of visiting the site, listening to the downloads, and purchasing CDs of bands that I like.
Re:Sales - even worse than that . . . (Score:2)
Re:Sales - even worse than that . . . (Score:2)
Moreover, the point was not to make an "excuse" for P2P, but to point out how, unlike other industries, the RIAA machine's continued existence depends on keeping the consumer uninformed. Barnes and Noble has clearly decided, like most rational retailers, that they will sell more CDs by informing the consumer. However, RIAA does not necessarily see a cent of that - I will bet my left buttock that the "Kodo" taiko drum group you discovered through Barnes and Noble's open marketing was not put out by any of the studios in RIAA's cartel. So Barnes and Noble, in effect, is putting another nail in the RIAA machine's coffin.
Does anyone know whether RIAA has taken a stand against Barnes and Noble's marketing practices, threatened any kind of legal action, or demanded royalties for songs that customers listen to in the store? Given their stance on webcasting, it seems unlikely that they would let this pass.
Alternative News & MP3s (Score:2)
Can somebody help me? (Score:2)
I read this story and was wondering, does anyone know a good PHP solution for hosting musician content? I'm looking for something that can allow musicians to upload their music, and automagically add their upload to the
library.
Either that or something custom written. We could probably afford $200 bucks to anyone that could write such an app as well as some free adspace in the print rag. Any takers just reply to
toqer @ pacbell dot net
Thanks!
It would have been nice... (Score:2)
Re:It would have been nice... (Score:1)
My Money!!! (Score:1)
Sincerely yours
Hillary Rosen
Any /.'ers in bands looking for promotion? (Score:1)
If you're in a band (or have friends that are) and use Andromeda to stream MP3s (PHP or ASP) and would like a steady flow of traffic, please let me know. -Scott
encouraging (Score:1)
Basically I'm creating the most extensive site regarding music in the area - (not a challenge, unfortunatly)
The heart of the site is the local album and show reviews which can be submitted by registered members. I am trying to create a sense of community, because, quite frankly, our scene sucks. (especially for being a major university town)
Charleston SC - has live local band internet radio (Score:1)
http://www.real-local.com [real-local.com]
No mp3's though...
I don't get the logic here.. (Score:1)
My band uploaded our mp3s to mp3.com a while back, and let me tell you we were all ecstatic the day we found out we were being passed around (in small doses) on kazaa.
The best reason to do something (like making music or art) is because you love to do it. Not because you are a greedy bastard only in it for the money.
I mean, the money is nice too but that's what day jobs are for. I dont plan to quit mine.
Nice counter example (Score:1)
Springsteens secrecy over his album will give a nice statistical counter example to those whos albums are freely available on file sharing networks...
come to think of it he has gotten less and less popular.. but that can be attributed to alot of factors, not necessarily just that he's so tight on his music.
i hope we get to see the raw sales statistics. it would be a shame if they are not available to contrast them in an analytical paper or something.
Many people are missing a key part of this article (Score:2, Insightful)
Even if he did send out a ton of pre-release albums, you can bet there wouldn't be that many passing around on p2p networks like there would be if a new Limp Bizkit album was out.
Saying that tactic is an effective anti-piracy strategy would be like saying the new Charlie Pride encoded CD they just released was effective because you don't see it on the p2p networks either.
By that logic, I could say a computer monitor will keep tigers away as a natural repellant, I mean has anyone ever been attacked by a tiger while reading something on your screen?
The fallacy in the logic of this article is astounding, especially since it came from the NYT.
-S
Can't resist... (Score:3, Funny)
I mean has anyone ever been attacked by a tiger while reading something on your screen?
Nope. The tiger is for defending yourself against people attacking you with fresh fruit.
Sorry, it's been that sort of day.
-r
stream it (Score:1)
New outlet, but the sources are already there. (Score:1)
I'm not going to drop URLs here just because I'm not out to
If you're interested in the local scene, just check out the listings in the free "alt" paper. That will get you names of a few venues and bands. Go there for a night and see if you like the place . Find its website and periodically check its show schedule. From they, try to find the sites of the bands that play there. The chances are good the band has a few mp3s available to DL. If you like them, go see them. Talk to people there, get recommendations for other bands to catch. And check out the merch table.
One of the best venue in DC is Fort Reno. Its a free outdoor concert series. Its purpose is to showcase local punk/indie/whatever bands.
Oh. I noticed Barcelona has a few mp3s on the Post. They would definitely appeal to the slashdot audience. "Shell Account" is a good song.
On the verge of a revolution? (Score:1)
The missing piece now is promotion - how could the audience learn about a musician they would like, without spending an insane number of hours sampling music? The most direct solution would be the "if you liked this, you might also like this other thing" recommendations you'd see at video stores or Amazon, but it should also be possible to develop software to analyze submissions from artists, and play them over niche Internet radio channels with little or no (expensive) human intervention.
The middleman has reasons to be afraid.
What most of you don't realize is.... (Score:1)
About Springsteen (Score:1)
I think there's some merit to the point of keeping CDs secure. Obviously the Boss can pull it off. But, let's face it, how many 'Springsteen' searches are going over Gnutella?