The Trichordist

Why does Google Play’s Tim Quirk show such disdain for musicians? | The Guardian

Musician turned digital music executive [Tim Quirk] hits the wrong note with artists and composers over rights and royalties.

It’s perhaps not surprising that someone working for a digital music service is telling artists not to worry their pretty little heads about getting paid properly, but what may surprise some people is that Quirk is – or at least used to be – an artist himself.

Sure, many online music service executives claim to be musicians in order to convince artists that they’re on their side, despite them driving down royalties. Tim Westergren, the head of Pandora, has used that argument, claiming he cares about musicians while going to Congress to try to reduce songwriters’ royalty rates from next-to-nothing, to even less than that.

Back in 2009, he [Quirk] was raging against the major label system, but now that he works for a corporation that reported more than $50bn in revenue last year – more than three times the $16.5bn revenue of the entire global recorded music industry in 2012 – he appears to think musicians should now simply accept whatever scraps his company chooses to throw their way.

Read The Full Story at The Guardian:
http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2013/nov/14/google-play-tim-quirk-music

November 21, 2013November 17, 2013 by Trichordist Editor

A Chat With Blake Morgan | Fox News

Shannan Ferry interviews ECR Music Group owner Blake Morgan on his music career and Pandora royalties.

Watch the Full Interview at Fox News:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2834264097001/a-chat-with-blake-morgan-/

November 20, 2013November 17, 2013 by Trichordist Editor

Tashaki Miyaki Asks People to Please Stop Pirating Music

It’s not just mainstream artists like Tom Yorke and Beck who are speaking up about the challenges facing the new generation of musicians. We’re seeing more artists are speaking up as they face the financial reality that music piracy is having on their careers. We applaud Tashaki Miyaki for taking a public stand in an effort to educate and inform their fans about the challenges musicians are facing today.

the large number of people who are okay with uploading music which one does not own, is truly unfortunate. many musicians have multiple jobs in order to be able to tour and make recordings without becoming homeless. aside from it being copyright infringement, which is an illegal act, uploading tracks onto these torrent sites is robbing the artist of money which would otherwise allow him or her to continue to work. it doesn’t matter the level of the artist. more successful artists support more people, and often successful acts support their label, which then allows the label to take a chance on signing smaller, unknown artists.

please stop pirating music.

Support the band and read the full post here on their Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/tashakimiyaki/posts/744509558897013

November 19, 2013November 19, 2013 by trichordist

Beck on Spotify: “The Model Doesn’t Work. And the Quality Sucks.” | DMN

The model doesn’t work, so we have to come up with ways in which people can help us to make music for free, or at least for much less. But the current way isn’t working, something’s gotta give.

If I tried to make my albums with that Spotify pays me, I wouldn’t make them. I couldn’t hire other musicians or someone to master it; I’d have to do everything myself.

Read The Full Story at Digital Music News:
http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2013/11/14/beckspotifywork

November 18, 2013November 17, 2013 by Trichordist Editor

Rap Genius Says It Will Seek Licenses for Lyrics | NYT

It’s been an interesting week in the battle over unlicensed lyric websites. These lyric sites, likes music piracy sites earn revenue from advertising but don’t “share” any of that revenue with artists and songwriters. The New York Times reports.

Rap Genius, a website that was accused by music publishers on Monday of reprinting thousands of song lyrics without permission, revealed that it had a major licensing deal all along — and also indicated that the site was likely to pursue more such deals in the future rather than fight with publishers over copyright.

…

“We want to spend our time building an interesting product and community instead of building a legal case, even though we’re sure it would be interesting,” he said. “We chose to partner up with the music publishers and license the lyrics so we could get on with our work and establish closer ties to songwriters and artists.”

David Israelite, the president of the publishers’ trade association, said of Rap Genius’s deal with Sony/ATV, “I think it proves that what Rap Genius is doing is not fair use, and I am hopeful it is a first step toward becoming a fully licensed site.”

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/business/media/rap-genius-says-it-will-seek-licenses-for-lyrics.html

November 15, 2013 by trichordist

The High Cost of Free | Music | East Bay Express

A new documentary takes a hard look at how the digital age has eroded the value of music and the ability of musicians to make a living.

Unsound, which is currently in the midst of an Indiegogo campaign to raise $52,000 to finish an edit of the film, marks Count’s first foray into the documentary format — an endeavor that required him to take a two-year break from his music career. In a phone interview, Count said he was “the last person in the world” who he thought would take an activist stance on an issue, but this was something he couldn’t ignore.

Thirteen years since the Internet Revolution, I watched all of the artists around me make less and less while their popularity increased,” he said. “I saw how unfair that was. I saw how afraid people were to speak out. How could it be as artists — who are the most vocal during times of injustice — how are they so afraid that they weren’t writing about this? I thought that was a little shocking. This is a very compelling story.

READ THE FULL STORY AT:
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-high-cost-of-free/Content?oid=3762154

November 14, 2013November 13, 2013 by trichordist

The Good Guys: Shazam and Other Licensed Lyrics Resources.

You’ve been asking “If those 50 lyric websites are undesirable which websites/apps are fair to songwriters?”

First of all if you get your lyrics through Shazam you are using a licensed service. To me Shazam is THE shining example of technology that brings artists and fans together while managing to actually pay songwriters. We wish everyone was like Shazam.

Here are some lyric sites that appear to be licensed and pay songwriters. This is by no means a definitive list. If you are already using these sites? Great. If not consider using these sites:

http://www.azlyrics.com
http://www.elyrics.net
http://www.songlyrics.com
http://www.songtexte.com

November 13, 2013November 13, 2013 by Dr. David C Lowery

Congresswoman Judy Chu: Too Many Americans Think Piracy is OK | THE WRAP

The American public doesn’t understand the consequences to piracy. There are large segments of it that even think it’s okay.

We need to have a greater understanding of [piracy] by the American public. Piracy affects one of the main American exports. It’s a huge industry for the United States, and Americans have to understand it is not right to pirate information.

The MPAA just did a study on how people get pirated content. 74 percent said they first were introduced to infringing content through search engines.

We need to develop a better system for fighting piracy than a whack-a- mole project.

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE WRAP:
http://www.thewrap.com/congresswoman-judy-chu-many-americans-think-piracy-okay/

November 13, 2013November 12, 2013 by trichordist

In Music Piracy Battles, Lyrics Demand Respect Too | NYT

David Israelite, the president of the trade group, said that his organization was filing take-down notices against what it called the 50 “worst offenders” based on a web search conducted by David Lowery, a researcher at the University of Georgia. Mr. Lowery, best known as the lead singer of the alternative rock bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, has become an outspoken advocate for artists’ rights in the digital age, which has often put him at odds with technology companies large and small.

“These lyric sites have ignored the law and profited off the songwriters’ creative works, and N.M.P.A. will not allow this to continue,” Mr. Israelite said in a statement, referring to his organization. “This is not a campaign against personal blogs, fan sites or the many websites that provide lyrics legally. N.M.P.A. is targeting 50 sites that engage in blatant illegal behavior, which significantly impacts songwriters’ ability to make a living.”

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/business/media/in-music-piracy-battles-lyrics-demand-respect-too.html

November 12, 2013 by trichordist

Lessons from the Music Industry: Should We Put Our Faith in Technology Companies? | TSK

The new landscape is instead dominated by technology companies who see all creative content as mere fodder for fueling their own business models (selling ads or devices for example) and they offer no support, no insulation:

The new bosses further cement their position by “waging a cynical PR campaign that equates the unauthorized use of other people’s property (artist’s songs) with freedom.” Through an army of “quasi-religious” surrogates (“freehadists”), the industry pushes for a “Cyber-Bolshevik campaign of mass collectivization,” where creative output is devalued. He sees it as particularly cynical because there’s one exception to this devaluation, one type of IP that is seen as sacrosanct — and that exception is software patents.

Lowery states that suggestions that artists simply need to find a new business model are a clear indication of awareness that artists are getting a raw deal. The new business model is already here, it’s been in place for over 10 years, and it’s making an enormous amount of money. But very little of that money goes to the creator.

At some point, one has to question whether it is still possible to earn a living as a musician, or any type of creator.

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE SCHOLARLY KITCHEN:
http://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2012/06/05/lessons-from-the-music-industry-should-we-put-our-faith-in-technology-companies/

November 11, 2013November 7, 2013 by Trichordist Editor