State of Mind of The Art

Spotted on Techdirt

A recent Wall Street Journal article talked about how the music industry is extending their influence into the world of file sharing.  Jay-Z and Coca Cola recently agreed to allow an eight minute video clip to hit the P2P networks, hoping that the exposure for the soda will eb worth giving the content away.  With this turn of events, major companies are changing their position on file sharing, and admitting that people sharing music online are fans, and maybe the most loyal fans of all.

The new mode of thinking by transnational entertainment conglomerates appears to be ‘if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.’ Groups like Big Champagne are collecting data about all of the files shared online (see this article on them in Wired), and the major labels are using those stats to measure puiblic interest in music at the most specific levels.
It doesn’t take much to realize that the people sharing music for free online are still buying media of some kind, but it’s still surprising the see major media companies admitting to this. By using services like Big Champagne, marketing departments will tweak their promotional schemes based on what’s hot.  If major labels know that a track is generating huge interest on Bit Torrent in a particular city, they can just invest in heavy radio rotation on that area.
It seems we will soon be seeing more and more marketing from major brands and labels popping up on peer to peer networks.  Just like product placement changed advertising in TV and movies, the P2P networks will soon fill up with free content designed to create brand loyalty and sell products.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see corporate sponsorship of P2P networks in a few years, in return for premium advertising, or built in ads on P2P software platforms.

Now that Big Champagne has partnered with SoundScan, the major companies have access to the listening preferences of the largest group of consumers they have ever had access to.  The rest of us will be locked out of this system in the same way we always have been.
The co-opting of the P2P landscape by corporate interests will merely push listeners on to a new platform.  Considering the continuing row abour DRM, it will be interesting to see how that is countered.  As mega corporations pour more and more content and marketing tactics into file sharing, and continue to tune their marketing, it will invite a new platform to emerge in the underground of the interweb.  Or maybe we’ll all just head back to IRC channels.

The good news is that by shifting their step, the major labels are also admitting defeat to file sharers.  The fact that they are now using it as a marketing resource is the only proof required to see that they have lost their battle to control the freedom of information.

Of course, through all of this, there is still very little discussion about what the artist is getting out of all these deals, or even the value of artistic integrity.

Spotted on: Axiomsun

Limewire was sued recently by the RIAA in yet another attempt to control the public’s consumption of media.  Once again, the RIAA has selected their own interpretation of MGM vs. Grokster.  Although that case defined the infrigement as having to be active by a group or service, the RIAA and MPAA continue to chase any group that offers P2P portal sfor file sharing. They contuinue to claim that organizations like Limewire bear the entire responsibility for how their users behave.  I always love this argument, becuase it;s the same as saying that if you sell a gun to someone, you are responsible if they use ti to rob a bank.  Of course, there’s no constitutional amendment protecting our right to bear file sharing software.
So now Limewire has filed a countersuit, accusing the RIAA of anti-trust violations.  This suit claims the RIAA is trying to “destroy any online music distribution service they did not own or control, or force such services to do business with them on exclusive and/or other anticompetitive terms so as to limit and ultimately control the distribution and pricing of digital music, all to the detriment of consumers.” (Counterclaim, paragraph 26, page 18)

It’s good to see that someone is finally standing up to the transnational conglomerates, although it remains to be seen what will come of it.  The good news about all this is it would appear the balance is finally tipping, and the death knell for the music ‘industry’ is ringing louder than ever.

Spotted on:  Austin360.com

Read the article here.

This is a great article about Dynamic Range, and how it’s gone out of style.  In the frenzy of making music louder and louder, modern music has become a static filled mess of clips, where the loudes and softest sounds are often almost identical.  We highly recommend you check this article out.