General Music Chat

I thought this was an interesting little article


WINDMILL ARM SWINGING GUITARIST Pete Townsend has called Apple a digital vampire that sucks cash out of talent without fostering it.

Speaking at a digital radio conference, Townsend said that the firm should do more to foster and support artists, and stop running them through a mincer. Comparing the firm and its Itunes service to a financial organisation, he said that Apple "bleeds" musicians, according to a report at the Guardian.

"Is there really any good reason why, just because iTunes exists in the wild west internet land of Facebook and Twitter, it can't provide some aspect of these services to the artists whose work it bleeds like a digital vampire Northern Rock for its enormous commission?", he asked at the 2011 Radio Festival in Salford.

Townsend recommended that Apple give free computers and advice to the 500 artists that it felt needed the help the most, and said it would then be working like a traditional music label, one that spends money as well as makes it.

Townsend has not spoken up about the internet for a while now, but since he had the ear of the audience he also took time to discuss illegal downloading and suggested that its increase is a sign that society is decaying.

"If someone pretends that something I have created should be available to them free. I wonder what has gone wrong with human morality and social justice," he said.

"I once suggested that people who download my music without paying for it may as well come and steal my son's bike while they're at it." µ

A little more I found, thats interesting


This sounds like a new spin on an old source of dispute between musicians and the Internet industry. In years past, artists such as Bono have expressed frustration at bandwidth providers for not doing more to crack down against illegal file downloading. Nearly a decade ago, Metallica filed a copyright lawsuit against Napster.

But Townshend's argument adds a new grievance. He says that tech companies are failing to do enough to help musicians.

Music publishing has always been a form of banking in many ways, but - in cooperation with record labels - active artists have always received from the music industry banking system more than banking. They've gotten...
1. editorial guidance
2. financial support
3. creative nurture
4. manufacturing
5. publishing
6. marketing
7. distribution
8. payment of royalties (the banking)
Today, if we look solely at iTunes, we see a publishing model that offers only the last two items as a guarantee, distribution and banking, with some marketing thrown in sometimes at the whim of the folks at Apple. It's a fantastic piece of software, I use it all the time and I was honoured once to meet the woman who wrote the software. But iTunes is not like radio.


Townshend's speech may have got an ovation from listeners but it also evoked stern rebukes in the blogosphere. One of the more pungent rejoinders came from Jm Carroll in the The Irish Times.

"There are many possible reactions to what Townshend has to say," Carroll wrote."You can dismiss them as the out-of-touch ramblings of another rich rock star aghast that he's not earning big bucks for his latest solo album. You can give him a condescending pat on the head and wonder how much he's made from synch payments in the last year. Or you can wonder if Townshend has an iota about what's he talking about."

Robert Fripp and Ian Anderson have been actively pursuing the removal of their catalogs from Grooveshark and Last.Fm to name a few.
Fripp actually going to 'internet' court (of the Crimson King?) to have his recordings removed from Grooveshark who was adamant about keeping them up.

I know King Crimson regularly has their videos removed from YouTube but they pop back up like mushrooms. I'm sick of all these pirates who think the record companies have made so much in the past and that it's time for the little guy to get some free stuff.

A little more I found, thats interesting


This sounds like a new spin on an old source of dispute between musicians and the Internet industry. In years past, artists such as Bono have expressed frustration at bandwidth providers for not doing more to crack down against illegal file downloading. Nearly a decade ago, Metallica filed a copyright lawsuit against Napster.

But Townshend's argument adds a new grievance. He says that tech companies are failing to do enough to help musicians.

Music publishing has always been a form of banking in many ways, but - in cooperation with record labels - active artists have always received from the music industry banking system more than banking. They've gotten...
1. editorial guidance
2. financial support
3. creative nurture
4. manufacturing
5. publishing
6. marketing
7. distribution
8. payment of royalties (the banking)
Today, if we look solely at iTunes, we see a publishing model that offers only the last two items as a guarantee, distribution and banking, with some marketing thrown in sometimes at the whim of the folks at Apple. It's a fantastic piece of software, I use it all the time and I was honoured once to meet the woman who wrote the software. But iTunes is not like radio.


Townshend's speech may have got an ovation from listeners but it also evoked stern rebukes in the blogosphere. One of the more pungent rejoinders came from Jm Carroll in the The Irish Times.

"There are many possible reactions to what Townshend has to say," Carroll wrote."You can dismiss them as the out-of-touch ramblings of another rich rock star aghast that he's not earning big bucks for his latest solo album. You can give him a condescending pat on the head and wonder how much he's made from synch payments in the last year. Or you can wonder if Townshend has an iota about what's he talking about."

JW Its a very good topic... I have given some thought about this for quite a while.. My take:
It cant be stopped. Ripping, torrents, etc is indigenous to the PC generation. Its regrettable, but its the reality.
However... The work around:

1) A bright side to this is that it probably gets an artist higher exposure than the conventional labels that gate-keep artist progress for self-serving profits. In short, Napster was more of an assault and ban on record labels , which led to the unfortunate consequence of stiffing the artists.

2) Because of heightened exposure, a new phenomenon might occur: Heightened demand to see artists performance in more world wide venues. With that, I can easily see a standard fee of $100-$200 for concert or special appearance tickets, more exclusive opportunity for promising artists.

I can also see $50-$100 per autograph. Additionally, joint ventures of Artist and product could sky rocket and instead of book-signings, we'd see more "bottle & carton" signings ...yielding High returns for the artist from the product promoters.
Of course, its all speculation on my part..and my theory assumes that the artists are world class talents.

I agree with all, the only thing to add is that if I really wanted a track it is so easy download with modern tech.
Every song that is up on Band Mix is fair game. Every song on Utube, just the same.
Solutions, I don't know,,, buy stock in MILV.
This business is WHACKY.
Play live and sell CDs at concerts only.
This business has gone totally WHACKY.
Just remember to vote for glenny for president next fall.

I agree with all, the only thing to add is that if I really wanted a track it is so easy download with modern tech.
Every song that is up on Band Mix is fair game. Every song on Utube, just the same.
Solutions, I don't know,,, buy stock in MILV.
This business is WHACKY.
Play live and sell CDs at concerts only.
This business has gone totally WHACKY.
Just remember to vote for glenny for president next fall.

That is why it is important to register your copy rights