shots on goal

Part II of my interminable rumination on music in a digital world. Part I is below.

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Is it wise to duplicate content between physical and digital distribution routes?

Why not? As long as respective holders of copyright and publishing are respected, I don't see a problem with this.

How much support for downloadable music is there among the community of [drum and bass] producers? How should we talk to skeptical producers about the issue in such a way that they don't feel threatened by the whole process?

I've always been shocked at how seemingly terrified most dnb producers are of downloadable music, most so with the most elite guys. Some seemed nearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown over it (remember Digital Nation?). I think part of this neurosis stems from the internal politics of dnb and dubplate culture, something that will no doubt remain terribly opaque to anyone not already schooled in it. But it may also be due to other factors that I can't identify. It's always been puzzling to me though that a class of people who've always paid excessive lip service to the idea of the future and progressivism--to the point where it's almost become a cartoonish fetish--seem in actual fact scared to death of the real-world implications of the future.

That's why it's very encouraging to know that I'm not in fact completely alone in this idea amongst the dnb (and electronic dance music community at large?) crowd, with EHL, ASC, and yourself contemplating it.

I'm even more shocked and disappointed that the idea, as expressed here, on a board loaded with producers some of whom brazenly promote themselves as tirelessly futuristic and superior to the elite, 'pop' dnb crowd, disappeared like a lump of lead off the back of a ship.

Outside of drum and bass, thankfully, other artists have been refreshingly willing to experiment and share their music online. Two excellent examples are Dr. Frank and Ken Layne, as well as Fat Possum above. There are many more like them. I suppose I'm taking my cues from these corners of the music world, as, if it's not already obvious by this long post, the drum and bass world has ceased to be a place of very great inspiration for me, as much in terms of attitude and ideas as music.

How do you think Creative Commons licensing schemes impact physical distribution? If a label were looking into both forms of distribution, would creative licensing be an obstacle in securing physical distribution via a third party? Are download friendly labels automatically faced with the prospect of having to manage thier own distribution rather than going through traditional channels?

I am concerned that once something has been officially released online that no physical distributor would touch it thereafter. Would labels balk at releasing vinyl if they knew these tunes were officially online? I don't know. If the track record of dnb is anything to go by, the answer would be a resounding yes.

I also wonder about the basic question of whether, in the light of progress, musicians ought not to rethink the whole notion of entitlement that goes along with the intellectual property concept.

Resounding no! On this at least I have a very firm opinion. The rights that reside in the ownership of property that an artist creates are in no way shape or form entitlements or privileges. They are what I'll call inherent rights; self-evident even, solely the creator's unless the creator willingly surrenders or reassigns those rights of ownership. I think the creator has every right to claim ownership on a legal basis, and law and common practice should dictate as much. Should those rights extend in perpetuity? No...but that's veering off topic.

Do we still have a "right" to get payed for cultural production?

Yes. Absolutely.

In what sense is my own intellectual property really mine...?

In every sense except one, and that one exception has to do with meaning, interpretation, communication, and has nothing to do with legal rights as they pertain to property.

A piece of music is created and listeners consume it. Listeners are free to read that piece of music however they wish; the meaning of that piece of music is as much a function of what listeners attach to it as what you the creator put into it. Much could be written on this subject, and much has been written on it, far better than I can do; it's a huge, terribly important facet of the relationship between creator and consumer; in fact it's the most important thing there is in that relationship...but it has probably nothing to do with legal rights of ownership. Personally, I'd much rather reside exclusively in the world of ideas of that relationship than the world of legal ideas, but, alas, I also want to eat and pay my mortgage, and I don't want my work stolen outright. I'm trying to find a fair compromise, and hopefully everyone else is too. I reject the methods of the RIAA and its invasions of privacy, and I reject the neanderthal attitudes of the interests the RIAA represent, but I also reject those who seem perfectly happy to take everything they can get with impunity, seemingly as if artists exist solely as functionaries whose wish to make their art their work is somehow contemptible, and that we should all be doing this for the cultural welfare of the state and simultaneously hold down "real" jobs.

Sorry, I'm not on the state payroll to write Socialist Realist anthems to gird the flagging spirits of the workers. I've seen that gray, dirty world with my own eyes and I want nothing to do with it.

...is it really helpful to think of a creative work in terms of property?

Well, inasmuch as we're talking about legal rights and the right to financially exploit one's own work for one's own benefit, yes. As above, personally, I'd rather not have to deal with this shit at all. I'm mostly like an ostrich when it comes to this stuff...I just want to sit in my stupid little ivory tower and make pretty things, but sometimes life gets in the way, and while I want to stay engaged with progress and the world--indeed, it's necessary--I also don't want people stealing my shit. I'm willing to give some, but I also don't want to give it all away.

I think that's fairly fair.

And that is way more than enough from me on this subject. Somebody else take over please...I've got a tune to finish.