bit torrent

December 16, 2009

Transformative Vs Incremental Change

This was originally written for MusicThinkTank, and the comment thread there is well worth reading. But you lovely regular readers here haven’t had a chance to mull it over and chat about it, so I thought I’d repost it here. On you go 🙂

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OK, I’m going to try and explain why Big Music genuinely doesn’t get what’s happening with the online stuff. It’s easy to dismiss the thoughts coming out about ‘3 Strikes Laws‘, and Bit Torrent being to blame for the death of musicians’ livelihoods etc. as being a bunch of really rich people want to keep their massive piece of the pie – and there is some of that, for sure. But there’s also an entire way of thinking that explains why they feel the way they do.

The problem is to do with the difference in response required between transformative change, and incremental change.

Sticking with the music industry, let’s have a look at some examples of both, starting with incremental change: Continue reading “Transformative Vs Incremental Change”

November 12, 2009

Online Music: Balancing The Scales Of 'Free'

I’ve just been reading Helienne Lindvall’s latest blog post on the Guardian site, entitled, ”
Behind the music: Can we ever measure the impact of downloading?“

It’s well worth a read, as it talks about vested interests on either side (though doesn’t mention that Helienne herself was a signatory on the patently loony pro-MandelsonÂ AIR statement from the Featured Artist Coalition – she probably has mentioned it in previous posts). It does contains a couple of interesting points that I thought I’d throw out for discussion. Continue reading “Online Music: Balancing The Scales Of 'Free'”

October 28, 2009

"Piracy" And The 3 Strikes Law – A Few Thoughts From A Working Musician

Right, so “Lord” Mandelson has announced that the Government is indeed going to go ahead with their unenforceable nonsensical plans to “cripple the internet bandwidth of persistent file sharers“. Here’s a few highlights of the plans:

the cut-off is a ‘last resort‘, used if people don’t comply with requests.
the cost of monitoring will be “shared between ISPs and content providers” – that means that the labels that are already incapable of making money for the musicians signed to them are now going to fund this Wile E. Coyote-esque plan to catch people sharing files.
The ‘trade-off’ is that copyright ‘law’ will be rejigged so that now – WOW – “someone who has bought a CD would be able to copy it to their iPod or share it with family members without acting unlawfully.” (does he not remember listening to tapes made from his mum’s record collection in the car in the 80s??) Continue reading “"Piracy" And The 3 Strikes Law – A Few Thoughts From A Working Musician”

October 5, 2009

Featured Artist Coalition Backs Lily. "WTF?" Says Everyone Else.

So, after initially recognising the truth that Lily Allens position on file-sharing – her pro-Mandelson notion that ‘persistent file-sharers’ should have their internet connections cut off/crippled – was nonsense, they’ve now turned round and said, “ah no, see when Lily was talking like a complete loony? yeah, we’re all about that now. Rock on, with your Machiavellian internet snooping!” Here’s a link to their statement on it. Continue reading “Featured Artist Coalition Backs Lily. "WTF?" Says Everyone Else.”

September 16, 2009

Independent Music Manifesto

I was asked to write a piece for Agit8.org.uk about ‘The Future Of The Music Industry‘. It was a nice chance to pull together a lot of thoughts, which, given that we’ve no idea quite how the future is going to pan out, are actually all about where we’re at now. A state of the indie nation address, if you will. So here it is. Enjoy, it’s a pretty good summary of where my thinking is at just now.

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Major label collapse, 360 deals, Pirate Bay, Spotify, Bit Torrent, Youtube… Itâ€™s clear to anyone with half an eye on the news that something huge is happening in the world of music. And if you believe the majority of the press, itâ€™s universally a bad thing – lots of very sad multi-millionaires are seeing their scarcity cash-cow sacrificed on the alter of ubiquity.

However, the problem is not actually with the music industry, but with the CD selling industry. Thereâ€™s an old saying, â€˜when all that you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nailâ€™ – if your entire view of what being â€˜in musicâ€™ is about is shifting CDs, then indeed, the future of the CD selling business looks pretty bleak. Continue reading “Independent Music Manifesto”