Rick Carnes, Eddie Schwartz and Fair Trade Music Project Speaks Out for Silenced Songwriters–Please sign the petition!

Music Technology Policy

The Music Creators North America (spearheading the Fair Trade Music Project) took another step toward defending the rights of creators.

In comments this week Eddie Schwartz of the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) and Rick Carnes of the Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) discussed the alarming trend of the recent imprisonment of songwriters throughout the world.

“Freedom of expression is the life blood of all creators. There is a disturbing trend in many parts of the world to snuff out political opposition by denying songwriters the ability
to express themselves through their songs. This is why the Fair Trade Music Project adopted protection of free speech as one of its five principles. Without basic freedom of
expression it’s not just music that suffers… people suffer as well,” said Carnes.

The group’s fifth guiding principle reads, “Music creators must be free to speak, write and communicate without fear of censorship, retaliation…

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by thetrichordist

Ethical Fan Reports : EFF Agenda Theories

A fascinating look at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Rather than fighting for the rights of people who work to create content, EFF appears to fight for the rights of organized for-profit enterprises who appear to us to be breaking the law and appear to be profiting from illegally distributing digital goods with no intention of ever paying the owners or creators.

READ THE FULL POST AT ETHICAL FAN . COM:
http://ethicalfan.com/2012/04/eff-agenda/

RELATED:
EFF’s John Perry Barlow is Wrong, says Google’s Chief Economist

by Trichordist Editor

Facebook Communities For Artists Rights

The Trichordist links through to FarePlay on Facebook  from the blog and there are also these other communities. Please support all of these pages and let us know if there are more.

CONNECT!

FARE PLAY
https://www.facebook.com/FarePlay

COPY LIKE
https://www.facebook.com/copylike

RE-VALUE MUSIC
https://www.facebook.com/ReValueMusic

FIGHT FOR MUSIC
https://www.facebook.com/freefallfaithfirestor

MUSIC FIRST
https://www.facebook.com/musicFIRSTcoalition

by Trichordist Editor

Musician / Songwriter Blake Morgan Talks to NPR about Pandora’s Latest Attempt Reduce Royalties to Musicians

In a recent interview with NPR musician/songwriter Black Morgan expressed his thoughts and concerns about Pandora’s constant attempts to reduce royalty payments.

“I have a new record coming out — most people have new records coming out,” he says. “These are things that we’ve worked on for months, if not years, and we’re not looking to be paid unfairly. We’re simply looking for a fair working wage for the music that we make.”

Pandora co-founder Tim Westergren sent out emails to musicians trying to get them behind Pandora’s attempts to even the rates between terrestrial and Internet radio. Morgan wrote back to Westegren furious: “He cashes in a million dollars of stock every month on the first of the month and he’s done so over the same 14-month period that recording artists like me earned $15.75.”

Read the entire story here at NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2013/06/15/191703769/songwriters-group-calls-pandoras-radio-station-buy-a-stunt

by trichordist

Megadeth Drummer Says Piracy Has Hurt Sales of New Album

There are more and more artists everyday realizing what we’ve know for well over a decade, that artists and creators are the victims of technocratic imperialism and labor exploitation. The latest is Shawn Drover of Megadeth.

Metal-Rules.com: “Super Collider” debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 albums in the USA and #4 on Canadian Billboard charts. That’s the highest ranking since “Youthansia” back in 1994, so congrats! According to sales figures, “Super Collider” sold below “TH1RT3EN” for week one… Do you attribute that to changing times, illegal downloading, etc?

Shawn Drover: Of course it is. We are certainly thrilled to have a #6 record on Billboard in America and #4 in Canada, but sales are way down for the entire music industry right across the board, which is a real drag. Internet piracy, torrent sites and all that are the reason why. Concert attendance for us is still great around the world, so we are definitely happy about that.

Read The Full Story Here at Blabbermouth.Net:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=191371

by trichordist

Pandora is Stiffing Artists by Josh Kear | The Hill

Josh Kear is a songwriter, ASCAP member and Grammy Award-winning songwriter for such artists as Lady Antebellum, Carrie Underwood, and Darius Rucker to name of few. He’s written an excellent post at The Hill about Pandora’s latest attempt to cheat songwriters and musicians of their rightful royalties.

Pandora is another example that The New Boss, Is Worse Than The Old Boss for musicians, songwriters and creators and elitist technocrats seek to enrich themselves on the labor of others. Kear writes,

Savvy readers will note a mere four percent of Pandora’s total revenue is spent on licensing public performance rights from songwriters and composers. That means we make a fraction of a cent every time one of our songs streams on Pandora’s service

READ THE FULL STORY HERE AT THE HILL:
by Trichordist Editor

But Mommy, I’m Special! The Internet Society Wants to Punch Your Nose and Commoditize You Without Your Permission

The solution to issues facing artists and creators on the internet can be summed up in two words, consent and compensation. Those opposed to these two very simple things are those who are profiting by exploiting the artists and creators who seek it. Read on.

Music Technology Policy

“It’s really important that we protect the rights of really good looking people in this society,”

Attorney Andrew Bridges of Fenwick & West (frequently representing Google) quoted at Beautiful Person Derek Khanna’s SXSW Panel

_________________________________

This rather stunning bit of Googley sarcasm from the frequently-Googley litigator Mr. Bridges sums up the geek view of the world.  The Rich and Smart should win over The Beautiful and Famous.  (That he said it on a panel with one deemed to be of the 50 Most Beautiful Men on Capitol Hill and who is seemingly doing everything in his power to be famous–Mr. Khanna–does have a certain irony.)

But whatever the sarcasm and whatever the irony, Mr. Bridges apparently places himself in the conga line of those who believe that the Internet is “special”.  And nowhere is this “we’re special, screw off” more apparent than in the wandering Internet Society Issues…

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by Trichordist Editor

Fixing the Digital Economy by Jaron Lanier | The New York Times

Insightful commentary in the New York Times from Technologist, Inventor, Author Jaron Lanier. Both of Jaron Lanier’s books are recommended on the Trichordist Bookshelf.

TWO big trends in the world appear to contradict each other.

On the one hand, computer networks are said to be disrupting centralized power of all kinds and giving it to the individual. Customers can bring corporations to their knees by tweeting complaints. A tiny organization like WikiLeaks can alarm the great powers with nothing but encryption and net access. Young Egyptians can organize a nearly instant revolution with their mobile phones and the Internet.

But then there’s the other trend. Inequality is soaring in rich countries around the world, not just the United States. Money from the top 1 percent has flooded our politics. The job market in America has been hollowed out; unpaid internships are common and “entry-level” jobs seem to last a lifetime, while technical and management posts become ever more lucrative. The individual appears to be powerless in the face of tough prospects.

READ THE FULL STORY AT THE NEW YORK TIMES HERE:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/fixing-the-digital-economy.html

by trichordist

Time and Cost of Making an Album Case Study: NIRVANA

Excellent review and insight into the current of state of album recording:

By the time it was done, Nevermind ended up costing double what was originally planned: about $130,000 and one full month of work. (And that still doesn’t include the full producer and mixer’s rates, which would have come in part from royalties on the few albums like this one that did take off.)

Although a $130,000 bill might seem exorbitant by the scorched-earth standards of today’s music industry, at the time, it was actually a pretty modest budget for a multi-platinum release.

Consider for a moment that so far, Nevermind has sold 25 million copies in the US alone. That’s a huge return on investment. It makes Nevermind more profitable for everyone involved than a dozen or so Bleaches, upfront costs be damned.

(In fact, as much as we like to point and laugh at the big flops, these larger-budget releases are actually more likely to break even, not less. The label’s original hope was that Nevermind would sell 500,000 copies — an achievable goal that still would have easily covered these recording costs and more.)

To make an album of this sound quality today, you could probably get away with spending a bit less. But not by as much as you might think. My best estimate is that $30,000-$60,000 could get this record made in a similar kind of room with comparable recording talent. This assumes that a pretty decent studio, coupled with an somewhat established producer that has actually worked on a few records you love, will run an average of $1,000 – $2,000/day in 2013.

The costs have dropped a bit— not because the equipment costs that much less, but simply because the paying market for recorded music has shrunk so significantly.

READ THE FULL POST AT TRUST ME I’M A SCIENTIST:
http://trustmeimascientist.com/2013/06/03/time-and-cost-of-making-an-album-case-study-nirvana/

by trichordist

Tim Westergren’s Mask Is Slipping: Pandora’s Scorched Earth Attack on Songwriters

Music Technology Policy

In yet another disastrous act of misguided desperation, Pandora announced that they purchased a radio station in Rapid City, South Dakota.  That’s not South San Francisco, it’s South Dakota–1500 miles away.

Why did they buy that station?  To somehow try to bootstrap themselves into the most important thing in their miserable lives–paying songwriters less.  (And artists will be next.)

Pandora has no connection to South Dakota, much less Rapid City–and that’s not why the FCC grants licenses to radio station owners.  But in the world of media concentration perfected by Pandora’s running buddies Clear Channel, buying a radio station in a city you have no connection to for purposes not related to proper use of the public airwaves to benefit the citizens of Rapid City is just business as usual.  Send in the Silicon Valley lawyers with the IPO checkbook to screw the songwriters whatever the cost.

Just…

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by thetrichordist