02008-12-24 | Copyright, Internet, Music
Lawrence Lessing’s ‘Remix’ For The Hybrid Economy : NPR
Fresh Air from WHYY, December 22, 2008
In his new book Remix, law professor Lawrence Lessig explores the changing landscape of intellectual property in the digital age — and argues that antiquated copyright laws should be updated.
Agree with some of it, disagree with some of it (((see this entry for example – the long tail simply isn’t happening)))… but good food for thought and it’s a pleasure to listen to Prof. Lessig’s clear speaking.
02008-12-24 | Music
Hey Obama: Reboot the music industry! | Digital Noise: Music and Tech – CNET News
As with Friedman’s proposal to save America, my proposal to save music would start at the bottom–it’s not enough to give the big labels and radio stations a few hundred million dollars to stem their losses and encourage re-investment. Instead, we need to create a culture of music appreciation and nurture the talent that will lead to the next generation of musicians. Here’s my dream list:
Music education and training. In the U.S. education system, music and art are the last classes to be funded and the first to face cuts. Yet, we always seem to be able to spend another few million on sports fields and equipment. The U.S. government should mandate funding for music education beginning in fourth grade, when most kids develop the attention span and coordination necessary to learn an instrument, all the way through high school. This will not only contribute to a strong base of musical performers, but the kids who lack the talent or drive to pursue music as a lifelong hobby will at least learn to appreciate the skill it takes for others to pursue it–just like youth sports creates lifelong sports fans. And professional musicians should be able to take classes in new areas–theory, audio production–without having to pay the entire tuition out of their own pockets.
Tax breaks. Bars, restaurants, and nightclubs under a certain capacity should be given tax incentives to hire musicians. (I’m not so sure about big promoters like Live Nation or stadium-type venues.) Same with radio stations that play a certain percentage of music from local or unsigned musicians. (Big corporate radio with its narrow audience-tested playlists has done far more to devalue music–and harm sales–than the Internet.) Cities should be encouraged to create music-nightlife zones with less-stringent noise restrictions and the appropriate level of police protection.
Stipends for musicians. As romantic as punk-squatters might seem, being a musician doesn’t have to mean a life of poverty. Canada offers grants to non-classical musicians, including emerging artists with “self-training” (read: rock musicians). Yes, they must have shown a viable career for at least two years, but a one-year grant could be the perfect bridge between promising local band and national club tour. If we can give the U.S. auto industry $17 billion, surely we can spare a few hundred thousand a year to give promising musicians a chance to postpone their day jobs while they try and find a bigger audience.
Infrastructure. It doesn’t have to be all about roads, bridges, and high-speed data networks. Cities with decrepit or nonexistent classical venues should be given federal dollars for construction. National Public Radio should receive increased federal budget–with a requirement to devote a certain number of hours a day to music, particularly types of music and artists who don’t get played on commercial radio.
02008-12-23 | Music, Quotes
It is so characteristic, that just when the mechanics of reproduction are so vastly improved, there are fewer and fewer people who know how the music should be played.
-Ludwig Wittgenstein
And since he died in 1951, he wasn’t even talking about the quantum leap in reproduction of the last decade.
02008-12-23 | Music
Most music didn’t sell a single copy in 2008
According to a new study, of the 13m songs available for sale on the internet last year, more than 10m failed to find a single buyer.
The research, conducted by the MCPS-PRS’s Will Page and Andrew Bud, brings us that much closer to proving Sturgeon’s Law – that 90% of everything is crap. It also provides evidence for the famous old rock critic adage – your favourite band sucks.
More importantly, these findings challenge the “long tail” theory that diverse, specialised items – though individually less popular – will together outsell mainstream “hits”.
Page is the chief economist at the MCPS-PRS Alliance, a not-for-profit royalty collection agency. According to his and Bud’s research, 80% of all revenue came from about 52,000 tracks – the “hits” that powered the music industry. Broken down by album, only 173,000 of the 1.23m available albums were ever purchased – leaving 85% without a single copy sold.
“I think people believed in a fat, fertile long tail because they wanted it to be true,” Mr Bud told the Times. “The statistical theories used to justify that theory were intelligent and plausible. But they turned out to be wrong.”
(Via Guardian Unlimited Music)
Related links here and here.
02008-12-23 | Photos, Santa Fe
