September 2007

A quote from Hunter S. Thompson:

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.

Classic. Just classic.

Originally brought to my attention by the amazing John Gruber.

I’ve made my thoughts about copyright elsewhere on here. Here’s a study that makes an interesting case for limiting the powers of copyright because of the economic factors involved. Interesting…we make more money with proper fair use.

“As the United States economy becomes increasingly knowledge-based, the concept of fair use can no longer be discussed and legislated in the abstract. It is the very foundation of the digital age and a cornerstone of our economy,” said Ed Black, President and CEO of CCIA. “Much of the unprecedented economic growth of the past ten years can actually be credited to the doctrine of fair use, as the Internet itself depends on the ability to use content in a limited and nonlicensed manner. To stay on the edge of innovation and productivity, we must keep fair use as one of the cornerstones for creativity, innovation and, as today’s study indicates, an engine for growth for our country.”

Here’s the article.

This bugs me…

One idea is to create more word-of-mouth buzz around new bands, since that’s apparently how the kids find their rock and roll these days. Unfortunately, this will be manufactured buzz courtesy of the “word-of-mouth” department at Columbia. It sounds as though the label wants to hire college students to spread “commissioned buzz through chat rooms across the planet and through old-fashioned human interaction” though, so far as I know, most of my “old-fashioned” friends have not been paid by a record label to tell me about bands that the label wants to push.

…from this ArsTechnica article.

Wow. Soon we can be *paid* to be PR whores for big business. Now, I wouldn’t mind at all if someone wanted to pay me to tell others that I like Radiohead…since I already do. :-) But I can smell the this turning sour quickly.

Yesterday, my little brother told me to listen to the disc “The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me” by the band Brand New. He said it was one of his fav albums. So I gave it a listen. But in the near future, will I have to ask him if he’s being paid to tell me this? I suspect that this will only last as long as our cynicism is naive.

Out of curiosity, though, how will they track this? Do I have to push a button every time I say the name of the artist they want me to push? :-)