Funny thing how many recording artists are sympathetic to the Occupy crowd. Musicians want to stick it to those money-grabbing creeps who want to squeeze every last penny out of the “little guy.” But let’s look at the music crowd.
Let’s say you live in Canada and need a blank CD to back up some data from your computer. You will pay a levy on each CD. That levy goes to the music industry. Why? Everyone knows that the real reason you want that blank CD is so you can pirate music and let poor little Avril Lavigne starve.
For my communications class we are supposed to write a proposal for a part-time business to do while we are in school. A friend and I teamed up. Our idea is to do oldies dances that families, including children, can enjoy. The plan is to rent a venue once a month and put on a great time for everyone.
I understand that we would have to get performance licenses. I have no problem with that. Since it would be impractical to carry CDs around my plan would be to have the music on my computer.
However, not only would I have to have to have a performance license, in Canada I also would need a license to have those cuts on my computer to use at the dance. Also, when I backup a CD onto my computer (generally defined as faire use – at least in the US) I save the cuts as Wave files. Nope, can’t do that. I have to save the music as MP3s.
Currently if there are songs that are not readily available on CD I buy them from sources such as I-Tunes. Guess what, songs from I-Tunes aren’t allowed. In theory downloads are allowed if the vendor is part of the program, but I don’t know who is part of the program. And I really don’t feel like buying stuff all over again just to make these people happy. I bought the songs once. I would have a performance license. Why do I have to buy them again?
I can carry factory CDs to the dance. But if I need only one song, I would have to buy an officially licensed CD that has it. Problem is how many “legal” copies of “The Beat Goes On,” which is also on that “legal” CD, do I need? If you like oldies as I do, you know that there are some songs you keep seeing over and over and over. And just because an old song is a great one does not mean it is a song people can dance to. Making compilation CDs from my library is also prohibited.
Using CDs would also mean that I would have to buy CD players and a DJ mixer rather than use the (legal, licensed) DJ software I have on my computer with the simple sound mixer I have.
When all is said and done, I will most likely say, “To heck with it.” And rather than have a chance of getting some interest generated in such Canadian artists as the Beau-Marks, Pat Hervey, and Jackie Shane, their music will go unplayed and undiscovered by a new generation. That’s really looking out for their interests.
In the early 1940s, big bands were popular. In 1943, the musicians went on strike in order to get more royalties from recorded music. That year no big band music was recorded for the domestic market. What was recorded was a cappella music. There was a lead singer with other vocalists providing the “instruments.” The musicians won the battle – they got their higher royalties. However, they lost the war. The listening public found that they did not need the big bands. The vocalists became the main focus. Before the strike it would have been “The Les Brown Orchestra with Doris Day.” After the strike it became “Doris Day with the Les Brown Orchestra,” and, eventually, “Doris Day.” By the end of 1946 most of the big bands had broken up.
The public can find other things to do without listening to music. You would think that the industry would have learned that lesson.
This is a wonderful post Matt, and it sums up a lot about of what's effed up about the whole system by highlighting one aspect; the music industry.
ReplyDeleteIt aggravates me to the point of screaming from the rooftops. There are so many pointless bureaucratic regulations and fees involved with EVERYTHING these days. It's beyond crazy!
It's really sad that so much music will be lost to current and future generations because of pure idiocy and whiny, naked selfishness.
And, just to top it off, the actual MUSICIANS don't generally see ANY of that money (or not much); it's all kept by the record companies themselves. See, for instance, Steve Albini's early-90's article on the subject, "The Problem With Music": http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
ReplyDelete"Some of your friends are probably already this fucked."
Matt - instructive to go through just what is required to do something "legally". So insane. The bit about the Big Band era is really interesting - did not know the history there. History which seems to be repeating itself...
ReplyDeletelady red, what will be lost to future generations is any respect for the law, regulations, and institutions. The younger generation is not stupid, what they are learning is that laws and norms are a game to entrap and suffocate you, and are to be evaded and scorned. Kinda like growing up in the USSR in the 70's. Awesome.
The current generation of young people (of all ages!) is experiencing the dystopic, Kafka-esque "establishment" that the Boomers imagined and whined incessantly about. (Same boomers that are at least in part responsible for now imposing this nonsense on everyone. Love to know how many former "summer of '68" radicals in Europe have been working diligently on crap like ACTA for years...)
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Now - wearing my venture capitalist hat - the crazy hurdles imposed to do something legal with publicly performed recorded music in Canada might be an opportunity. Many startups are leveraging bureaucracy into business models. One I know locally does nothing but automate the legal hold process on internal documents for companies being sued etc. Another works to make applications like Google Docs compliant with HIPAA.
Music companies like Spotify, Pandora, etc typically start out in a legal gray area, and grow large and popular enough to have some leverage when they come to negotiate deals with copyright holders.
I suggest you aim bigger than just "oldies", and aim at making a platform for ad hoc live performance of recorded music of all types. Other people must have run into this problem before - what the heck does the typical junior prom do, etc? Or bars... I do know that there are internet based "legal" music platforms for bars, coffee shops, etc in the US - find a local establishment that you figure can't afford to fly under the radar and ask what they use. Researching existing competition in this area could uncover some solution to your immediate problem in performing oldies. Maybe the oldies copyright holders are a different bunch, and haven't been approached.
Copyright holders are getting wise - they know the existing regulations make monetization of their catalog impossible - and so they cut deals with companies.
Very good article, Matt, I enjoyed reading it. That's just unbelievable, I think I broke a number of laws in the late 90's when we put on an informal dance for a group I belonged to; we recorded tapes in that instance.
ReplyDeleteWhen all is said and done, I will most likely say, “To heck with it.” And rather than have a chance of getting some interest generated in such Canadian artists as the Beau-Marks, Pat Hervey, and Jackie Shane, their music will go unplayed and undiscovered by a new generation. That’s really looking out for their interests.
And it's a shame to have to say "the heck with it". Sheesh, it really doesn't benefit the artist, does it? I didn't know that happened with the big bands but it makes sense. Who *is* benefited from all the bureacratic red tape? That's just depressing. As to your first paragraph, too many so-called "celebrities" (actors, musicians, etc.) are just hypocrites.
Anyway, allot of great food for thought, TY.
AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHH
ReplyDeleteObviously a reference to Piracy. Nice. :)
lewy, LMAO!!! Very nice!
ReplyDeleteOopsie, I just realized that was Matt's tag.
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/TCKT/dunce1.gif"
(very nice, Matt)