Don't Copy That 2
Thursday, October 22, 2009 by Sergio
It's very important that all you pirates see this.
It's the official sequel to this 90s gem for those not in the know.
It's the official sequel to this 90s gem for those not in the know.
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Self identity through music
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 by ltop
I came across a website today that is called last.fm which is sort of a social networking site where you can share music interests with your friends. The website measures how often you listen to specific songs and how many songs you have listened to throughout your membership of the site. With this information the website can also recommend music to you and compare your music taste with your friends. It can be seen as a place where you develop an identity through your music, as people can see exactly what you are listening to at the exact time you are listening to it. I think this is a very interesting concept because this can connect people through music, which can be a very important thing in many people's lives. Many would probably think this is the same as just another facebook group, but it is actually not because the focus is not on socializing specifically, but rather on sharing music and to learn more about your own “musical identity”, which is why I found it quite unique compared to anything I have seen before.
A nation of criminals?
Sunday, October 11, 2009 by Katie
After reading Yar and other opinions on the morals of illegal music downloads, there seems to be a common thought that online piracy is a catalyst for other more sinister behavior, something which I disagree with. Like a classmate mentioned, there is a big difference in downloading a music track and stealing the physical CD from a store. The latter is premeditated, involves risk and implies certain character or behavioral traits of the thief that leads them to physically steal the goods, hence petty theft often escalates to more serious crimes. However, since illegally downloading media arguably doesn't involve these elements it can hardly be seen as a crime, and therefore is unlikely to escalate to more serious situations.
In the post Psychology of Internet Music Piracy, on the website Not Evil Music Niklas Ramo says "It is hard for people to consider piracy as a real threat, because you can’t see the Internet pirates actually stealing anything tangible. Downloading an album is different from shoplifting, because online digital copies are “non-rivalrous” goods", to which I fully agree with.
Personally, I think that the fight against music piracy is fruitless, as like the tradition of making mix-tapes in the '90s, file-sharing and torrenting media has become a hobby for todays youth. People aren’t setting out to purposefully partake in illegal behavior, it’s just an activity that has become normalized in society, namely because of the lack of social stigma around it. If it has become so engrained in society, then it can hardly be argued that in every instance downloading media illegally can lead to more serious crimes, as if it was true then we would be dealing with a whole generation of criminals!
On a lighter note, here's a song by satirical musician Weird Al Yankovich on the effects of music piracy:
Alternative means of profit in the face of piracy
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 by Sergio
A number of solutions to the problem of piracy faced by various industries were discussed in the lecture. I'd like to mention some methods which currently function primarily as a means of sustaining independent productions, but could be put to use by larger corporations.
Sites such as Kickstarter, ArtistShare and Fundable facilitate the funding of a product prior to its creation by interested members of the public. Piracy is impossible at this stage as there is nothing to pirate; the product will only come to exist if enough money is pledged to fund its creation. By the time piracy is possible (assuming the product gains sufficient support) production costs have been covered, often with added profit.
Products on these sites often offer incentives to make people pledge larger amounts of money. These incentives can include merchandise, playing a credited role in the product's development, or some sort of unique experience with the creators of the product.
Musician Josh Freese takes this a step further through offering some truly unique incentives to buy his album. One of the smaller incentives is a five minute phone call with Freese in exchange for a $50 contribution. On the other end of the scale, shelling out the ludicrous sum of $75,000 for Freese's album comes with the added bonuses of touring with Freese, receiving an EP by him about your life, getting one of his drumsets, having him play in your band for a full month (if you have one) and the option to take a flying trapeze lesson with him.
If these techniques (or variations on them) don't provide a means of recouping the alleged billions of dollars lost to piracy, I don't know what will.
Sites such as Kickstarter, ArtistShare and Fundable facilitate the funding of a product prior to its creation by interested members of the public. Piracy is impossible at this stage as there is nothing to pirate; the product will only come to exist if enough money is pledged to fund its creation. By the time piracy is possible (assuming the product gains sufficient support) production costs have been covered, often with added profit.
Products on these sites often offer incentives to make people pledge larger amounts of money. These incentives can include merchandise, playing a credited role in the product's development, or some sort of unique experience with the creators of the product.
Musician Josh Freese takes this a step further through offering some truly unique incentives to buy his album. One of the smaller incentives is a five minute phone call with Freese in exchange for a $50 contribution. On the other end of the scale, shelling out the ludicrous sum of $75,000 for Freese's album comes with the added bonuses of touring with Freese, receiving an EP by him about your life, getting one of his drumsets, having him play in your band for a full month (if you have one) and the option to take a flying trapeze lesson with him.
If these techniques (or variations on them) don't provide a means of recouping the alleged billions of dollars lost to piracy, I don't know what will.
"the number of teenagers illegally sharing music has fallen dramatically in the past year"
Monday, July 13, 2009 by Technoculture and New Media
... according to new UK research featured in today's Guardian. "The survey of 1,000 fans also shows that many14 to 18 year olds are now streaming music regularly online using services such as YouTube and Spotify."
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