I've been working my way into being a full time musician, treading that long-worn path of hard work to get there. In recent years, with the advent of connected technologies, I've been hesitant about actually putting content out there, for the lack of knowing what would happen to it.

In music college I was taught to believe in securing copyrights to my work; meticulously recording and mailing myself everything I put down, so that I could defend it if it was 'stolen' by another band making profits on my work. Then with the commonplace acceptance (at least, in private) of filesharing I had to worry about the recordings being stolen themselves.

If I follow the worse case scenario, I record my "masterpiece" only to have it pirated, freely distributed, and for some band to spring up that play it at shows. What then? I'd make zero money on my hard work, or I'd have a huge fight on my hands to wrestle that money back. At that point I'd look like a money-grabbing antagonist, when all I really want is the credit for the work.

This has been a demotivating factor for me, not in regards to writing itself, but in pushing what I've written into the public sphere. Mostly I just send my music to trusted friends, for feedback and because they happen to like it, so that I avoid the difficulty in protecting my art.

This is not how musicians are supposed to exist, afraid and scuttling in the shadows.

I honestly believe that music is one of the greatest art forms humans can produce, and as such the people that take up the task of creating it should be respected, and appreciated.

Eventually I've come to realise that musicians in this new era will have to accept that their music is free for any to hear. Their performances are free to be recorded, youtube'd, and remashed into a thousand different pieces. We've got to learn to let go. To fight and compete is an incredible effort that should be devoted to writing and performing. There are ways of making free music profitable, right now the infrastructure of Big Media is scooping such a massive, undeserved cut that it's probably more profitable for musicians than the way things have been done.

I think there could arise a new synergy between the writers and distribution channels. Where before it was all in-house with major labels, now we see how a small-scale, personal operation like "in rainbows" can have mass-effect, and turn a profit to boot. If all the band does is write, record, perform; and all that the distribution entity does is scale up a cost-analysis plan for getting the content out, plugged, and listened to, I think you've got a winning partnership.

I'm going to spend some time thinking about what exactly I think a distributor should be able to handle (the stuff I don't want to worry about or take care of) and what a rational way to make money off free music would be for such a partnership. Maybe it's a stupid approach, but it's a new one, and it's working for some. It could work for me.

After all the e-book hype generated recently, I finally got myself the Sony PRS-505 E-book reader. It's fantastic and I'm a fan of my Reader, though I'm sure I'd love reading on a Kindle too (despite the much despised design). Having read through Ender's Game and realizing how easy and enjoyable the device is to use, I want to read everything on it. I am noticing things that could be improved for the next generation of these devices, and thought I'd jot down my design of the "perfect" e-reader device, and what I'd want in a fantastical, must-have device.

For a better Reader:

Sony's PRS-505 layout, no thicker/heavier.

Slightly bigger page-turn buttons on both sides of the device.

The ability to attach covers on either side, symmetry is important.

Rudimentary text searching.

More document support and better PDF rendering.

For an indisposable device:

Touchscreen keyboard overlayed on screen, no extra clutter like the Kindle.

Text editor for notes/ideas/shopping lists/annotations/bookmarks.

Wireless. Must have a hard on/off switch, must auto-connect. Should be configurable and have a simple browser (no flash/no animations).

URL bar and navigation buttons all disappear when a webpage reached.

Possibly an extended battery to support wireless surfing.

Better/more zoom levels. Scrolling web pages should be easy (left/right AND up/down).