meta-roj

i’m obviously still on the back end of the loop when it comes to the ongoing music business discussion, so in an attempt to catch up and keep myself a bit relevant, i’ve opted to skip the “essay-length” response once again (and i apologize to all those who were so looking forward to my dense, improperly capitalized prose 🙂 ).

first, i want to thank john beezer of weedshare for dropping in and saying hello. i’m glad he appreciated my back-of-the-envelope analysis of weedshare, and he did take a few steps toward answering the concerns i suggested participants in the system might have (both listeners and musicians). that’s a very welcome thing, i’m glad this little blog in the dark corner of the net helped shed some light on the adventures happening over there.

next, i want to assure you that i intend to make some comments on irate and magnatune and mercora and last.fm and several other things – but i do want to devote a bit of time to them, and it’s been a bit hectic here lately.

if you’re following the music business discussion among the blogs, i’d point you to this bit by kevin laws over at due diligence, and this and this over at the big picture. barry’s talking about irate, kevin’s talking about some of the reasons online distribution hasn’t happened yet. both are worthy of a visit. i’ll respond someday 🙂

the new york times has a recent piece [registration], on the history of the prices of various audio formats.

and one last thought, borrowed from an old article in slate:

In erecting bulwarks around their domains, the major music businesses have left no entrance for the serendipity that kept the pop industry lively (and profitable) for decades

just hours after i make a post about justice systems that are strong enough to admit they are wrong, and within days of a series of posts about telling the truth and banking on darkness and going where the lawyers point and retreating back to sensible territory, leave it to one lawrence lessig to give me hope

see? it ain’t all bad. mostly.

thanks, larry.

proto-bond

in my america, the justice system is always ready to consider innocence

come home safe.

this is not my america.

a couple days ago, i ran across yet another story of this country gone wrong. i hesitated to post on it – i dropped myself a “draft” with the link, and sat on it. honestly, i wasn’t sure what i might add.

after some thought (and a nap), i’ve decided what to do.

beate will inaugurate a new category here on the meta-roj blog – “not my america”

i don’t think i’ll be adding much in the way of commentary to posts in this category (after this one, obviously). i have no business getting into or commenting on the lives of people who fall into the traps of the new america, but i can help draw attention to them.

i think a stark, simple statement of dissent is most appropriate. you make up your own mind.

the bbc has a piece that quotes an EMI spokesperson saying, “The Beatles have chosen not to put their music online.”

of course, the beatles back catalog is already online, but this is a spokesperson talking about “legit” (as in paying for) download sites. i’m also given to understand that green day, beyonce and creed (to name a few more) are not available online.

those of you following my closely probably already know this, but it’s probably worth repeating on this subject. my work on solving the problem of the business of music largely ignores the back catalog. there are a few reasons for this, and this is one of them.

anyway, i don’t want to fault the beatles for this decision (or whomever it was that made the decision) – it’s perfectly legitimate. one of the principles i strongly believe in is that the artist should be able to say “no” and do what they think is in their own [long term] best interest. of course, that opens up the whole issue of getting artists to think in the “long term” but that’s a discussion for another day.

a legal read on this might be that there’s an ongoing dispute between apple (the beatles label) and apple (the computer company) about itunes. anything that could bias that case would be a Very Bad Thing for apple (the beatles).

in any case, since it is the beatles, it was worth mentioning.

shujaat hussain khan, accessible raga master.

“They’re very alien sounds, so it’s really difficult to concentrate and understand what a person is doing by making these different sounds for over an hour, two hours. But it’s much easier if it’s presented in shorter time frame and a little more relaxed frame of mind.”

don’t take my word for it… go hear.

10/24/03 Washington, DC Lisner Auditorium
10/25/03 Atlanta, GA Rialto
10/26/03 Middlebury, VT Middlebury College
11/1/03 Houston, TX Hobby Ctr / Zilkha Hall
11/2/03 Austin, TX UT Hogg Auditorium
11/7/03 Santa Cruz, CA UCSC Rio Theatre
11/8/03 Bellingham, WA Wstrn. Washington U.
11/9/03 Seattle, WA Earshot Festival
11/15/03 Paris, FRANCE Theatre de la Ville
11/17/03 London, ENGLAND London Jazz Festival

ok, so this is a bit self-serving, but… a few days ago, i said it in a chat room, and i felt like saying it again.

“it’s an opt-out kinda universe. embrace it”