[rumori] pho:Proposal for Open Song Registry-FreeDB


From: Don Joyce (djATwebbnet.com)
Date: Sun May 20 2001 - 01:58:19 PDT


>X-Authentication-Warning: penguin.onehouse.com: majordomo set sender to
>owner-phoATonehouse.com using -f
>Date: Sat, 19 May 2001 22:31:38 -0700
>From: Tom Barger <tomsongATearthlink.net>
>Reply-To: tomsongATearthlink.net
>X-Accept-Language: en
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>To: phoATonehouse.com, pamATeff.org, Rob Kramer <robATuprizer.com>,
> marsh6AThome.com, editorATmusicdish.com,
> Noel Ramos <MixxMagATInterMixx.com>, Robin Gross <robinATeff.org>,
> sanjay malkani <sanjayATmusician.com>, rroehlATumich.edu,
> halATsims.berkeley.edu, kelseyATcounterpane.com,
> schneierATcounterpane.com, leflawATleflaw.net, thumbtack1348AThome.com,
> MosesAvalon1ATaol.com, RockrapATaol.com, jsobelATerols.com,
> "A. Barry Cappello" <abcappelloATcappellomccann.com>,
> James Barber <jimbarberATtheredceiling.com>
>Subject: pho:Proposal for Open Song Registry-FreeDB
>Sender: owner-phoATonehouse.com
>Precedence: bulk
>
>(Note: You may distribute or publish this opinion freely)
>
>THE OPEN-SOURCE SONG REGISTRY
>A direct-payment method for songwriters and artists
>
>DIRECT PAY SYSTEM
>The direct-pay system is a pass-through fee licensed for per-use
>payments (suggest it be capped at $9 month) that is added onto a phone
>bill or cable modem bill. Administration costs at 10% are acceptable at
>the ISP, cable, (or phone bill) level. This may require mandatory
>compliance through legislative efforts. And so we would ask you all to
>contribute your efforts in the compulsary-license/political arena.
>
>We applaud the efforts of PayPal, FairTunes, FairShare and Musicians
>TipJar. But we simply believe that the voluntary-contribution model has
>proven itself to be unreliable. Credit cards are not acceptable for a
>variety of social reasons. Smart cards or phone cards would prove to be
>the worst example of "DTU" (difficult to use.) The spigot at the source,
>then is the provider. Since we ourselves practice the Gift of Music, we
>only ask to receive the same spirit in return from websites or
>webcasters. Get your hand out of my pocket. It is not only true that "I
>cannot make money from music"--but that the act of getting this show on
>the road "costs me money." Show some respect. Any attempt to extract
>payments from musicians on behalf of the "new middleman" is simply not
>acceptable to any independent artist.
>
>PHOENIX RISES FROM THE WRECKAGE
>Whatever its recent failures as a media-streaming distribution system,
>the internet is "here-to-stay" as a data-gathering method, where
>accounts are transparent at all times. Supported by hundreds of
>thousands of users, an independent pay system would utilize
>fact-corrections based on community peer review.
>
>We build a new system. It is a non-profit organization. We do not
>attempt to fix ASCAP/BMI or Harry Fox--the monopolies-- we refuse to
>lend any legitimacy to discussions with the horse-and-buggy
>manufacturers. MP3. Com has shown us how to build a transparent pay
>system. The good analogy to use is--"We saw public support to build
>FedEx, and it didn't occur to us to ask the US Post Office to
>participate."
>
>
>NEW MIDDLEMAN (SAME AS THE OLD)
>Our efforts to discuss this with many of the NewMedia Elite has elicited
>the same old "scorpion snap." (You recall the story--alligator crsossing
>the river, a scorpion riding his back)---
>
>Stop this dot-com madness, this ugly VC dance. You NewMedia Elite, you
>must accept a new idea, that people in the community DO contribute to
>the Celestial Jukebox for humanitarian, creative, hobby, or spiritual
>reasons. Some people find gainful employment in the academic environment
>or charity foundation. Some people are content to receive an
>administrative salary. The musician needs the crowd, and vice-versa. You
>Monetizers, in your march to profit, you cannot take your onerous
>percentage ever again, not while information is free. It is a
>conversation-killer to reply "but how do you make money?" You who ask
>for biz plans will be left behind. The people have left the Napster
>building. If you offend the community, then they drift away. Then all
>you are is GraceNote, trying to find someone, anyone, to blame. The
>recent hammer-death of OLGA is disgraceful.
>
>PRO's ARE INDUSTRY PIMPS
>We will resign from the PRO's. And you will say, "Whoa! Wait! You want
>radio don�tcha?" Think again. You may not understand this, but the
>blood-lust radio industry has lost the goodwill of the audience.
>Corporate radio has demanded the creation of AFTRA actors who lipsync.
>It stands to reason that a one-CD career is not of sufficient length for
>the labels or middlemen to justify payment of royalties to said
>performers. Why should the old messy process of career development stand
>in the way of corporate quarterly results? Why wait for out-of-the-blue
>hit songs to establish themselves in the traditional break-out regional
>markets of Philadelphia, Miami, Washington? Who can argue that these
>AFTRA acts are anything BUT work-for-hire? Who amongst you can honestly
>say that the recorded vocals are the work of said performers, or for
>that matter, that the eye-popping dance extravaganza you see onstage is
>anything but pre-recorded vocals? Let's repeat that phrase: Lost the
>goodwill of the audience. Gave a party and no one came.
>
>And if we artists choose to license our songs into theatrical film, even
>if for no fee, we would witness the success of "O Brother" despite the
>hostility and complete non-compliance of the radio industry. The
>audience has voted with their wallets. Nothing you can do to stop it.
>
>Those of us artists, therefore, who choose to avoid the through-the-air
>radio broadcast system, even for as simple as reason as creating our own
>non-commercial art, do indeed choose to free-license our music for
>promotion purposes. We indie artists choose to handshake with
>community-based radio or in-store play, which for legal reasons and FBI
>harassment, cannot license RIAA or PRO material. But webcasters and
>websites will distribute "our" indie projects, and the cost is passed
>directly to the consumer. The public has demonstrated a vast
>unprecedented outpouring of love of Music, and a renewed discovery of
>America's gift of culture to the world. Unable to (ultimately) ignore
>this tsunami, the labels have implemented a zero-tolerance war, a
>scorched-earth policy directed at their customers.
>
>Esther Dyson has opined that there are only two ways to participate in
>the music dance. You either work as a manager-slash-employee of the
>artist for ten percent--- or you contribute freely of your time to the
>Celestial Jukebox. FreedDB has already begun the process. The last
>decades of abuse and slavery in the music business are shameful. It is
>time to stop. How you yourselves resisted or ignored this diaspora will
>be noted on your time card.
>
>TO THE ARTISTS
>What works for me, First-Time Artist, works even better for established
>artists. Artists who "only" lost three of their fingers in shaking the
>hands of a record executive. Artists who have not been bludgeoned to
>death in overexposure by the label releasing four singles from the first
>album. And as for the "now and forever thorughout the universe" eternal
>loss of your compositions and copyrights---sorry about that, but you
>might take consolation in the hope that things might be better in the
>next generation. If you are an artist stuck in the greasy hallway, get
>out now, before your audience hates you.
>
>The Direct Pay System will instantly attract users amongst the
>disenfranchised artists and bands. The artists who are RIAA-compliant
>are still suffering from plantation-house mentality, or Stockholm
>Syndrome, and we regrettably cannot assist them. But their time will
>pass. Their numbers decrease daily, simply for the reason that said
>individuals entered the music business in hopes of winning the lottery,
>and being unable to survive financially, will go home. A lifetime oath
>to poverty is essential to a music career. It still requires paying your
>dues, honing your chops, and earning the respect of your fellow
>musicians. It is a long and spiritual path connecting with the crowd.
>Any artist clinging to the old model will starve.
>
>After me, the Deluge.
>
>COMING UP NEXT:
>Why would anyone give half their royalties and eternal copyrights to a
>publisher? What the hell is a publisher? Another criminal gatekeeper?
>Everything I say goes double for "those who still suffer" in Nashville.
>
>
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>This is the pho mailing list, managed by Majordomo 1.94.4.
>
>To send a message to the list, email phoATonehouse.com.
>To send a request to majordomo, email majordomoATonehouse.com and put your
>request in the body of the message (use request "help" for help).
>To unsubscribe from the list, email majordomoATonehouse.com and put
>"unsubscribe pho" in the body of the message.
>

----------------------------------------------------
Rumori, the Detritus.net Discussion List
to unsubscribe, send mail to majordomoATdetritus.net
with "unsubscribe rumori" in the message body.
----------------------------------------------------
Rumori list archives & other information are at
http://detritus.net/contact/rumori
----------------------------------------------------



Home | Detrivores | Rhizome | Archive | Projects | Contact | Help | Text Index


[an error occurred while processing this directive] N© Detritus.net. Sharerights extended to all.