aeblog

I am a musician and I support file-sharing

Yes, I do. And thankfully I am not alone. Everyone should check out what a grassroots organization called Downhill Battle, based in Worcester, MA, is doing. I love that they exist and that they are having success in certain arenas and that they are gathering support. These guys were behind the whole Grey Tuesday release of Danger Mouse's Grey Album and are plotting more similarly subversive-in-a-socially-conscious-way things. Everyone should join this revolution if we want art to continue to flourish in our world. If we want art to do what it can do for the human spirit. If we don't want to live in a world in which individual expression is straight-jacketed.

There was a great article in this week's Phoenix about Downhill Battle.

Fight Song

Please read this and check out their site and think about this issue. Currently we are being fed music that is hand selected for business purposes. Currently we are being prevented from easily browsing and listening to independent and under-funded music. Currently our government is trying to tighten copyright to the point where I won't be able to use the word 'copyright' without paying the copyright holder royalties. Some things that are well intended and good in small doses can be disastrous when taken to extremes. I am incredibly afraid that this is the direction things are headed, but thankfully I don't think the masses agree. We must be heard.

Let me pull out some of my favorite quotes from the Phoenix article.

"Britney sells lots of records not because she’s particularly talented or even much beloved, but because the major labels create a market for her through practices such as pay-for-play, where major labels dole out millions to independent promoters to make sure their songs get on the radio."

"So we tell people, ‘Don’t buy [major-label] CDs. It’s unethical. You’re not giving money to the musicians you like, you’re just giving money to prop up this old system. Go to the show. It’ll be more fun, and money will actually be going to the right place, to a nice split between the local venue and the musician.'"

"These are important times"

Yes, they are.