General Music Chat

Mate we should get together sometime and write.

Music is so damned good for the soul.

Keep well.

I'm not saying it's worth no effort at all, understand.

You really have to do your homework and understand your options. Most of what is available for DRM (Digital Rights Management) just isn't worth the expense, unless you already have a lot of capital, or access to someone else's deep pockets via a record deal.

I wouldn't put a "Here, take it" download link on my stuff, but I remain aware that anyone with a modicum of computer knowledge could easily get the files right here off of Bandmix, or my own site for that matter. Bandmix uses the same player I use in my site (Wimpy), which is really cheap and fairly easy to set up if you have your own domain, and can read and follow instructions.

I've tried every way from Sunday to find a way to set it up in a way that prevents downloads, and it simply isn't possible. If it can't be downloaded, it can't be streamed.

There are streaming server services that offer storage for your streaming music. The way they work is to split your files into segments, only allowing a portion to be downloaded at a time, and deleting the already played portions. The portioned files can still be ripped, but you need proper software to put them back together correctly. Most users aren't going to go to the trouble. Those services are prohibitively expensive in my opinion.

All kinds of "tricks" are used to make it more difficult to download music, but all of them have holes. Not one is truly secure.

I'll bet you didn't know you can download YouTube videos. You can! And the software to do it with is free! You can even convert Wave files to MP3 for nothing using another free software, instead of buying plug-ins for your existing softwares.

I learned all of this just by searching Google. It's all out there for anyone who wants to use it. If you think of something useful, someone else has likely already thought of it. Most want to make money from it, but there's always at least one who doesn't. Look for "Open Source" when you want to do anything. There's a software for almost anything, from ripping streaming files to conversions from any file type to any other file type.

That said, though the vast majority of listeners won't want to go to all that trouble to steal MY music, or YOUR music, it doesn't take a majority to have an impact.

All it takes is one webmaster to rip your music, and anyone in the world can get to it without any trouble at all if they see it on his site.

And it WILL HAPPEN.

For my money and time, it's better to think about other things to concern yourself with.

This is the one thing in the business that's going to have the greatest impact on distribution and marketing.

It's the real reason behind so many bands starting to put free music out there. They know they can't protect it anymore. They're experimenting with other ideas on how to market and still make a living out of it.

I see a LOT about Radiohead on here lately. I don't even know their music, or anything about the band other than that they are pioneering the free music download idea.

I think it's worth watching at least. If they make a success out of doing it, I want to know how they did it.

Twenty years from now music will be marketed in ways we never dreamed of twenty years ago. A lot of ideas will fail miserably. Others will work really well.

It's time to pay very close attention to what's happening out there!

The only thing I'm positive of is that the "old school" record deal way of doing things is dying, and dying fast.

Don't dismiss the industry giants yet though. They're not stupid. They know the old rules are changing better than anyone else. They may be trying to hold on to the old ways, but trust me, they're preparing for change too.

Keep an eye on them as well!

Make no mistake. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE!

And I'm glad you brought it up.

I mean its something that crosses my head once in a while even just when I'm singing my songs to my friends, I sometimes worry that when the songs get stuck in they're head they'll be singing them out of no where and someone some day will be like "who sings that?" and when they say my friend wrote it the other person might get ideas but I mean its real unlikely that some random person will just take your song, I'd say if you dont want a "song thief" taking cred for your doing then just dont give anyone your song, Worriers out there though,Dont stress to much on the subject just be aware [/b]

Hmmmmmmmmm

I see 2 people thought it was not a good idea to publish globally and I chose "There is nothing you can do about it"

Here's what I am doing. I am just this next week finishing off my first recorded track. It's not special, big, great. I do know it's different.

So what am I doing about this?
1. I am following good advice and getting copyrights in place.
2. I am sending it out just as soon as I can to publishers who will ignore it.
3. Once this is done I will publish it globally.

It's not that you write anything that cannot be done or copied by anybody else. It's the imaginative side that we all possess. So all I am copyrighting is the idea of my song. I cannot copyright a chord or a word, but yes I can the arrangement.

Quite simply everyone should do in a file sharing world.

Another misspent tuppence.

Dude, why do you talk like you're british?

Coz I am.....

Dude, why do you talk like you're british?

Oh.

Damn. Hit the button twice.

I mostly avoid listening to anyone else's music at all, because it pollutes the process of creation.

If you refuse to listen to other music then you are limiting yourself as a musician. Every single musician of note has been influenced by the music of others. How can anyone advance as a musician if they won't listen to other music for fear that it will "pollute the process of creation"?

Duff Beer you hit the bottle square on the bottle cap. All of the greatest composers were experts on the music that proceeded them. It's doubtful that Beethoven would have been able to incorporate a fugue in the fifth symphony if he had not studied Bach. It's doubtful that Jimi Hendrix would have been able to write "Voodoo Chile" if he hadn't studied Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley. You cannot help but be influenced by music unless you live on an island alone. The better approach is to listen to as much music as you can and then filter it into your work. I don't trust or like musicians who don't go see other bands, listen to the radio or collect albums.

My best and most creative and most popular songs come into being after 4 -5 days of not listening to a lot of mediocre music.
That was my point.
When it comes time to write your own music - listen to yourself . . .
Listen to your OWN heart for inspiration.

While I won't push the idea of listening to nothing (true, it's nearly impossible), I do believe in a sort of sensory depravation during the creation process. I know it sounds kind of hokey, but my original ideas come from two places: My instrument, and myself. The last thing that I want is to listen to something-especially something that is going to stick in my head-and then sit down and write music.

A former boss of mine decided to mess with me one day and walked around whistling "Puff the Magic Dragon." Not only did it take me nearly two weeks to get that damn song out of my head, but I somehow instantaneously learned how to play it!! Everytime I picked up the guitar, it was "Puff..." My creative flow was dammed up like a thousand beavers had worked on it.

I agree that it is a bit ridiculous to think that you can create something completely new, but there's also a fine line between eminent borrowing and blatant stealing. I've played with musicians who, after playing a cool solo on an original song, explained to me the various pieces that they stole from other songs. The last thing I want is to go play that song somewhere, and have a listener accuse me of stealing someone's idea.

Stuff just pops into my head. Usually while very tired. Some times while asleep. But for sure any type of external influence will seep into the creative process. I cannot think of a single song I've done where I sat down and thought "I think I will write a song today." For myself that would be either impossable or disastrous.

Yes very interesting reading now isn't it. I find it hard to write stuff. It never comes easily and even when it does I just sit there wondering how on Earth do I get it to the next part?

Sometimes it just comes and sometimes never. Actually I find myself having ideas at the strangest times. Driving, sitting in the bath (YES), on the phone. so much so in fact that I bought a tape Dictaphone so I could hum the damned thing, I always think I'll remember it because I like it so much but I never do.

Which and of course annoyingly brings me back to the original post.

We are doing it for a reason. To make someone either smile, tap their feet, feel emotional and so on. We all know its very hard for the most part to get something that's worth putting out there so isn't it worth just that little bit of effort in getting it stapled to your name?

Some great posts and ideas on this thread folks. Thank you.