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alloy-digest Saturday, August 24 2002 Volume 07 : Number 170
Today's Subjects:
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Re: Alloy: U.S. Congressmen Want to Stop Online Song-Swapping [PRAEst76 <]
RE: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg! ["Robin Thurlow" <rthurlow@binghamton.edu>]
Re: Alloy: U.S. Congressmen Want to Stop Online Song-Swapping ["Crackers"]
Alloy: Orwell [PRAEst76 <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>]
Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg! [PRAEst76 <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk]
RE: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg! ["Robin Thurlow" <rthurlow@binghamton.edu>]
Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg! ["Crackers" <bcracknell@sympatico.ca>]
Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg! ["Crackers" <bcracknell@sympatico.ca>]
Alloy: radio airplay reply [Bluemeitz@cs.com]
Re: Alloy: radio airplay reply [William Steffey <wcs@williamsteffey.com>]
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Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 20:18:53 +0100
From: PRAEst76 <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Alloy: U.S. Congressmen Want to Stop Online Song-Swapping
graham stuart said...
> In keeping with keith's illegal copying idea, I am looking for copies
> of some obscure dolby material, i would love any old fallout club,
> jungle line, live wireless-howard the duck even...can anyone here
> help?
> i'd be happy to make a trade !
I'm on a Killing Joke mailing list. They have sites full of rare or
currently unavailable stuff. I'm assuming it's unnoficially sanctioned
by the band as there are active band members involved on the list.
Be pretty cool if there was something like that for TMDR. Save people a
fortune paying over the odds for rare singles etc on ebay. Remember
none of this money goes to the artist.
Usually though it's best not to actually ask the artist officially
about these sorts of things. As therei s Record company business that
they can't speak for. They just tend to turn a blind eye over the
trading of stuff which is copyrigted but not in circulation.
- --
PRAEst76
http://www.cancellation.freeserve.co.uk/praest76/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 15:27:29 -0400
From: "Robin Thurlow" <rthurlow@binghamton.edu>
Subject: RE: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg!
PRAEst76 wrote:
:: I trhink that's just America... wanting to be able to do whatever they
like and be excempt from prosecution like everyone else because they
are American and as such 'the good guys'. ::
More accurately, the *government* wants to be exempt from prosecution. I
don't know anyone who agrees with what they're proposing in this case.
~R
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 15:36:32 -0700
From: "Crackers" <bcracknell@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Alloy: U.S. Congressmen Want to Stop Online Song-Swapping
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "PRAEst76" <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
> How do they justify this? If they eliminate 95% of piracy through some
> miracle means would they stop taking this levy?
Technically the levy has eliminated private piracy in Canada. You see I can
download all the music CDs I want off the internet and so long as I burn
them onto a CD I am not guilty of piracy because I have paid the royalties
for that music in the form of this levy. So long as I don't sell CDs I'm not
breaking the law by copying.
So as far as musicians go this law is a total screw up. It's now legal for
me to copy their music because I'm paying a royalty fee, but the artist will
never see a penny of that because the money goes directly to the CRIA and
its members and, of course they have no way of knowing if they MP3s on my
blank CD are Thomas Dolby or Tom Jones so they just pocket the money and
maybe bleed a tiny bit of it off to their top artists just to avoid any
appearance in inporpriaty.
And of course, the levy doubly screws independent artists. Not only do I pay
a 29 cent royalty fee to the CRIA for every blank CD I use to produce my
work. When people download my works off the internet and burn it onto CD
they're also paying a 29 cent royalty fee to the CRIA. That means the CRIA
makes 58 cents off the work of an artist who is not even signed to any of
their members.
Crackers
(Reamed from hell!!!)
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
http://ghastly.keenspace.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 20:32:12 +0100
From: PRAEst76 <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Alloy: Orwell
Robin Thurlow said...
>
> George definitely knew what he was talking about.
Yes, which is why I hate him. If he were alive today he'd be smirking
wrily. The git.
It's a pity modern culture has re-associated the concept of Big Brother
with cheap celebrity and voyeurism. Which would wipe the smirk off his
face but probably replace it with a worse one.
> I think the
> culture of commercialism and shoving products at us everywhere we
> look (I can't remember what sci-fi it was, where the advertisements
> were even projected into your dreams.. was it Red Dwarf?)
Don't think so... not that I recall. Though I'm associating this
scrabled memory with Sci-Fi comedy of some kind. Maybe it was one of
the novels?
> is what
> drives my compulsion to learn how to make/fix as many types of things
> as possible. Growing up with a very limited family budget started me
> off on this road but the commercial culture keeps driving it.
People think you are strange of you want to repair things. It's
expected not to replace stuff when it breaks. This is why so many
modern consumer good are unrepairable. My cellular broke last week, so
I have to buy a new one. Replacement parts are unheard of. I'm told
it's so cheap to buy one that no-one would bother replacing them. I
wish I was the sort of person who could consider a cellular phone a
'cheap' item. It's over a weeks wages for a half decent one.
> At the coffee stand yesterday, I ran into the most strung-out,
> argumentative guy who works with me on campus, and he ordered a
> double espresso, loaded it with sugar, and slammed it down like an
> old-west cowboy downing whiskey. It made me wonder if he would be
> sweet and agreeable were it not for the daily caffeine overdose. The
> stuff was so dense it was practically solid.
Absolutely. Since I gave up my fresh ground expresso habit I've
mellowed to an amazing degree. Even started writing poetry agian. Feels
like I've been reborn.
And strangley my libido has incresed. This wasn't expected.
- --
PRAEst76
http://www.cancellation.freeserve.co.uk/praest76/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 20:46:52 +0100
From: PRAEst76 <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg!
Robin Thurlow said...
> :: I trhink that's just America... wanting to be able to do whatever
> :: they
> like and be excempt from prosecution like everyone else because they
> are American and as such 'the good guys'. ::
> More accurately, the *government* wants to be exempt from
> prosecution. I don't know anyone who agrees with what they're
> proposing in this case.
Neither do I. I often wonder how they got into power.
- --
PRAEst76
http://www.cancellation.freeserve.co.uk/praest76/
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 17:00:10 -0400
From: "Robin Thurlow" <rthurlow@binghamton.edu>
Subject: RE: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg!
PRAEst76 wrote:
:: Neither do I. I often wonder how they got into power. ::
Me too... maybe metaphysics are involved?
(harking back to DOOM PATROL comics of the 1980s...)
My mind seems to automatically recall surreal sci-fi whenever the topic of
governments comes up these days. I think it's a traumatic stress response.
~R
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 17:44:11 -0700
From: "Crackers" <bcracknell@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg!
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "PRAEst76" <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
> I didn't even know bands where still producing cassettes? Usually I see
> albums released just on CD, maybe with a limited LP for the handcore
> vinyl junkies. I don't see Cassettes on release information. Infact I
> don't see them for sale anywhere except in some second hand stores and
> pawn shops.
Yeah some still do. They still have a cassette section at some music stores
around here. It's mostly "old people" music though. Stuff being marketed at
people like my grandparents who don't own a CD player. Some Indies still
release on cassette, but usually it's some sort of "analogue elitist" crap
behind it.
I'm all up for a debate of 24-bit digital vs. 2" 16 track tape, but I'm
sorry you can't play the "analogue elite" card when it comes to cassette.
I saw an ad for a place that will produce limited runs of 100 vinyl 12" for
you at the cost of $1000.
Crackers
(Bootleg some collectables from hell!!!!)
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
http://ghastly.keenspace.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 18:05:22 -0700
From: "Crackers" <bcracknell@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Re: Alloy: RIAArrrrgggg!
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "PRAEst76" <praest76@cancellation.freeserve.co.uk>
> Crackers said...
> > As for used CDs enjoy them while you can. If the RIAA gets their way
> > those will be illegal too.
>
> Very true, and if the album yo uwant is deleted... well you'll have to
> buy something current which will ultimately be top 40 stuff only in
> their vision (and all artists on the main 5 majors)
There's the other thing that pisses me off to no end about the music
industry. If it's not the flavour of the week then as far as they're
concerned it just doesn't exist. With modern technology there is absolutely
no need for any album to ever go out of print. Especially now that the RIAA
bribed into creation a law that lets record companies keep possession of the
artist's music forever and not just 35 years as used to be the case.
Look at MP3.com. They're producing "one-off" albums for thousands of
independents. Wether a band sells 1 CD or 1000 it makes no difference. Each
CD is only made as an order for the CD comes in. The technology has
progressed to the point where it is economically viable to operate like
this. The "Big 5" could create online catalogues of every artist they own
and sell and produce the product as it is ordered. No need to pre-burn 1000
or so CDs and then have to physically store them in a warehouse and hope
they sell. Their entire catalogue can be warehoused digitally. Everything is
manafactured at the point of sale. What does the computer that is burning
all the CDs care if it's burning a Britany Spear's CD or an old Muddy Waters
CD? It's not like it's more work for it. Instead of getting the 1s and 0s
from one directory it gets them from another.
Hell if you want to take it a step further people could order their very own
mix CDs online. They select their own compilation of artists and the machine
grabs the appropriate files from memory and burns them.
There's really no need for the music industry to cling to their outdated
production methods but like all large dinosaurs they lumber along their
preselected course even if that means lumbering along to their own
extinction.
But it all boils down to control. For too long the Big Five have controlled
what artists get signed, what artists get heard, and what artists the public
can buy. Now that technology is putting control in the hands of the artists
and presenting the public with more listening and buying options the Big
Five are starting to see their own end. Instead of fighting their inevitable
extinction they should be examining how they can evolve to survive in a new
form.
Crackers
(Vote for Turok from hell!!!!)
Ghastly's Ghastly Comic
http://ghastly.keenspace.com
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 21:45:16 EDT
From: Bluemeitz@cs.com
Subject: Alloy: radio airplay reply
I really dont understand this homogenized airplay that is quite common on the
radio nowadays. Of course, I can understand that radio station play the
biggest hits but it seems that these big hits are the only ones that seem
common on the radio. There is a dance radio station that i get here in New
York, 105.3 and also 103.5 - i know they may look the same but they are not
and sorry dont know the call letters for either station - and they both play
a good variety of dance music. i know that sometimes the same hit may be on
the air more than once during the course of the day but not multi plays but
those other big conglamerate stations. i dont really like the lack of variety
on the radip thesedays and wish there would be more. The variety seems to be
more focused on droning the listener to focus exclusively on a selected few
srtists but not on all. The solution may be an independent station but then
again that might be homogenized one day, unless the station organizes a set
policy. The early reviews of clearstation or satellite radio seem to
establish a sense of variety but too early for a conclusion.
Not really sure what how to change the "system" or the "norm". It seems that
all of the clear cut concepts of the right way to do things that may have
been taught in high school or colleges classes all seem to be thrown out of
the window in the real world. Sometimes I really dont underatand why this is
so - besides money, power, or control. I guess Mr. Spock was right when he
visited earth toward the end of the 20th century in star trek 4 when he
observed human behavior and must've thought we humans are quite illogical.
Not sure when the human race will or ever modify their behavior or actions.
Walt
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 22:00:06 -0500
From: William Steffey <wcs@williamsteffey.com>
Subject: Re: Alloy: radio airplay reply
Walt,
Homogenized airplay = better targetting for advertisements. That's why
it's done that way. I agree, it is getting really bad... and I think
that's part of why the biggest selling record last year (Linkin Park)
sold only 4 million copies, instead of a 16mil Alanis or something
similar. Nobody's taking any chances. The radio vets I've talked to
believe the radio is cyclic... and that no matter how unrealistic it may
seem to us now, something huge will come along musically and blow apart
everything. Other glimmers of hope lay in the fact that the business
models aren't proving to be fruitful. Some of the corporate megaliths
(AOL/Time Warner, Vivendi / Universal) aren't doing well financially and
have even bandied about the idea of divesting some of their assets. I'm
not positive, but I believe this slump is also affecting corporate radio
entities like Clear Channel and Infinity as well.
William
Bluemeitz@cs.com wrote:
>I really dont understand this homogenized airplay that is quite common on the
>radio nowadays. Of course, I can understand that radio station play the
>biggest hits but it seems that these big hits are the only ones that seem
>common on the radio. There is a dance radio station that i get here in New
>York, 105.3 and also 103.5 - i know they may look the same but they are not
>and sorry dont know the call letters for either station - and they both play
>a good variety of dance music. i know that sometimes the same hit may be on
>the air more than once during the course of the day but not multi plays but
>those other big conglamerate stations. i dont really like the lack of variety
>on the radip thesedays and wish there would be more. The variety seems to be
>more focused on droning the listener to focus exclusively on a selected few
>srtists but not on all. The solution may be an independent station but then
>again that might be homogenized one day, unless the station organizes a set
>policy. The early reviews of clearstation or satellite radio seem to
>establish a sense of variety but too early for a conclusion.
>
>Not really sure what how to change the "system" or the "norm". It seems that
>all of the clear cut concepts of the right way to do things that may have
>been taught in high school or colleges classes all seem to be thrown out of
>the window in the real world. Sometimes I really dont underatand why this is
>so - besides money, power, or control. I guess Mr. Spock was right when he
>visited earth toward the end of the 20th century in star trek 4 when he
>observed human behavior and must've thought we humans are quite illogical.
>Not sure when the human race will or ever modify their behavior or actions.
>
>Walt
------------------------------
End of alloy-digest V7 #170
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