Sotise quite rightly reminds me that my point below "A worldwide capitalist system" does sound pretty odd : -either quite pretentious, or overblown and grandiose.
"Oh no! - Maybe we're in for political theory here, or the pushing of some Marxist agenda ?"
No no - not at all.
I simply couldn't find another phrase that means "In the world we live in , you pay for stuff".
"Paying for stuff is how it all works"
Sure this means paying for boring things like gasoline, rent and food.
But it also means paying for The Products of Cultural Creativity - like albums, paintings,
films,
plays..
So that creators & producers of those ' Products of Cultural Creativity' - ie The Artists - are able to afford things like gasoline, rent and food.
To make it simpler?
How do our artists - our musicians we're talking about here - earn their living in an enormously changed environment ?
If we care at all about this - and it may be that we do not, in any way that is functionally meaningful - we need to ask this question.
... I believe
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Monday, May 14, 2012
"Some Issues" - A Shortlist
The basic issues involved are to do with
- Valuing the artist
- Expressing that value somehow
- A worldwide capitalist system
- A breakdown of the section of this system that deals with music production & distribution ('the music industry')
- This breakdown precipitated almost totally by technological advances - ie. the internet
- Responses of consumers of music to the above
Prelude
I'm interested in music, the artists who make it , and the people who consume and enjoy it.
The connection between these two endpoints of a single line - the creators and the listeners - has changed massively in the last 10 years.
Almost entirely due to the fact that music - and films as well - can be disseminated intact over the now ubiquitous and relatively high-speed internet - from anyone willing to copy a commercially issued product or private recording - to anyone in the world that has the time and the bandwidth to click a link and wait a bit - for anything from say a single live concert to the complete released recordings of an artist's career , constituting tens, even hundreds of hours of recordings.
It is foolish to believe that a blog (oh god not another one) - will be any sort of platform for discussion or exchange of ideas or points of view. Nevertheless, that's what this one is being established for the purpose of .
Blogging is pretty much 'over' people say in 2012, and any desire for discussion or interaction should be taken direct to Facebook or somewhere.
But anyway...
Perhaps a main reason to do this - and lets face it starting a free blog takes all of 40 seconds - is simply so I have something to point to that vaguely represents my views and thoughts on a particular topic, in this case the filesharing of music and film.
So I don't have to keep explaining my odd, eccentric, nonsensical, not widely-held views to others - in emails etc etc. .
To save myself some typing in other words.
And because I'm perfectly happy to discuss, debate, and exchange viewpoints on this, out here on a public blog. As mentioned, I don't really expect anyone to say nothing, but at least the opportunity is there .
If you want to weigh in, think aloud, or come in the room swinging - feel free.
I don't think (right now I mean) - that I would delete any comments made here - even hate-filled, vitriolic, poorly argued ranting. As long as it's mostly on topic. . .
So - let's see what happens. I look forward to being underwhelmed.
But thanks to anyone who's read these few sentences all the same.
The connection between these two endpoints of a single line - the creators and the listeners - has changed massively in the last 10 years.
Almost entirely due to the fact that music - and films as well - can be disseminated intact over the now ubiquitous and relatively high-speed internet - from anyone willing to copy a commercially issued product or private recording - to anyone in the world that has the time and the bandwidth to click a link and wait a bit - for anything from say a single live concert to the complete released recordings of an artist's career , constituting tens, even hundreds of hours of recordings.
It is foolish to believe that a blog (oh god not another one) - will be any sort of platform for discussion or exchange of ideas or points of view. Nevertheless, that's what this one is being established for the purpose of .
Blogging is pretty much 'over' people say in 2012, and any desire for discussion or interaction should be taken direct to Facebook or somewhere.
But anyway...
Perhaps a main reason to do this - and lets face it starting a free blog takes all of 40 seconds - is simply so I have something to point to that vaguely represents my views and thoughts on a particular topic, in this case the filesharing of music and film.
So I don't have to keep explaining my odd, eccentric, nonsensical, not widely-held views to others - in emails etc etc. .
To save myself some typing in other words.
And because I'm perfectly happy to discuss, debate, and exchange viewpoints on this, out here on a public blog. As mentioned, I don't really expect anyone to say nothing, but at least the opportunity is there .
If you want to weigh in, think aloud, or come in the room swinging - feel free.
I don't think (right now I mean) - that I would delete any comments made here - even hate-filled, vitriolic, poorly argued ranting. As long as it's mostly on topic. . .
So - let's see what happens. I look forward to being underwhelmed.
But thanks to anyone who's read these few sentences all the same.
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