Google, China and a Free Music Initiative

In an act of utter defiance today China and Google joined forces to launch a Free Music Initiative. Anyone with a Chinese IP address will be able to download copies of many of their favorite licensed Chinese and Western music. Apparently the country was so incredibly over-run with music-pirates that they simply decided to make the music files available to the public for free in hopes of turning a profit indirectly from advertisements as they give away downloads on the site.

This move by China and Google embraces a concept that I have though a lot about, but have not yet found a name for. It’s the concept of relinquishing control in an effort to regain control. It’s just like a game of tug of war (or tug of rope): two teams on each fiercely pulling on opposing ends of a rope struggle to pull the other team across the centerline. If the teams are equally matched the struggle continues painfully forever. However if the team “A” realizes their efforts are futile, they can decide to simply let go. The other team falls flat on their butts. Who’s the loser? Definitely not the team on their butts.

I imagine the word describing this process would be something ancient and deep-sounding like Fung-Chuai or Carpe Diem (it’s obviously not either of these). But for the life of me, in all my Google searches I can’t find any word that describes this concept, and I can’t seem to come up with a word that sounds decent enough to add to the English language.

So, my failure is your opportunity and here’s the $100 contest:

1.) Be the first to send me the actual word or phrase that accurately (at my discression) describes the concept of “relinquishing control in order to regain power or a sense of empowerment”. If this is an actual term, please provide a published/legitimate reference.

2.) If no one can come up with an actual existing phrase describing this concept, then I will select from a list of terms invented by you (the readers).
Entries may be submitted to mark-at-SoundSprout-dot-com. Feel free to enter more than once.
If you win, I will send you an e-mail requesting your address so that I can mail you your check. If you don’t respond within three days of this e-mail I will move to the next runner-up. If nobody enters I will coin the term and take my wife to Outback Steakhouse for dinner… with beerJ If you have any questions just e-mail them to me.

I will announce the winner and possibly some good runner-ups in this blog on Friday, April 17. I will then try to make a Wikipedia entry for your word, but I can’t make any promises.

Do Musicians Really Need to Starve for Their Art?

In my last post I listed several “Free Music” sites that exist. While there seems to be an understanding that there is a future in “Free Music” distribution, no one seems to agree 100% on how the industry should be managed: commercially or non-commercially.

In principal, I think one of the most pure embodiments of the "free music" concept is Alonetone.com. Alonetone is completely severed from any form of music industry with commercial interests, which as an artist myself, I find completely appealing. But I just make music for fun. I’m not trying to put food on the dinner table with my material. Which brings me to my question: why the hell is there a need to see professional artists starve to validate their work?

The point I'm trying to make is that the new "Free Music" industry model should be capable of providing financial vehicles to professional artists based directly upon the appreciation of the public. Under the major record label industry model artist profits were based directly upon the appreciation of the public as a result of heavy influence by the major labels.

It can take a lot of money, time, and talent to make a truly high quality album that people love. So why shouldn’t artists be able to make a buck in return?

In Alonetone’s “about” section you’ll read:

“[T]here are plenty of websites for musicians to upload their music. Why alonetone?
Well, most of the 'free' services you'll run into elsewhere are running ads, funded by investors, or actually owned by media conglomerates. In general, they are hoping making money off of your "content"...erm...music. Most music communities are overly obsessed with genres and popularity, and we're just not turned on by that. Time for something new, don't you think? alonetone was started to provide a non-commercial alternative. Something useful, something different, something that the musicians can feel like they own."

So to me, Alonetone is an excellent site for the casual musician who wishes to post their original music that they in hopes of it being shared to people who want to hear it. However, I don’t agree that the commercial world is something that “Free Music” sites need to fear. In sharp contrast, I’m not saying post adds everywhere (no one hates clutter more than myself), but I do think we should try to embrace it.

Free Music sites simply eliminate the need for major label management of artists. Fans can explore and share their favorite music with their friends to their hearts content; however, if someone is trying to make a buck off of the musicians content, the musician should receive a kickback. That includes the “free music” sites themselves. Indeed, SoundSprout is completely transparent with regards to profit sharing with musicians. The important part I think of what SoundSprout is doing is building the infrastructure for which musicians who distribute their work for free to their fans can also be justly compensated not only by their fans, but also for commercial uses of their works.

In the newly emerging “free music” industry, up-and-coming musicians will need a home just as much as amateur musicians. If we don’t give them one, they’ll just go back to hopelessly seeking the ease-and-comfort of the major label contracts.

In the end, our goal for SoundSprout is to be more than a site that musicians feel like they own, rather like an employee-owned company it is a site that we collectively actually own.

In the "Free Music" world, there's no shortage of Healthy Competition

So, with SoundSprout we were working on something new. An alternative to the current recording industry that had been successful for so long. You know - fat-cat record execs holding down the little musicians, payola to peddle their cheesy musical concoctions to the masses, chance meetings with big label A&R reps and recording contracts that will break your heart. But now, it seems sites like ours are sprouting up all over the place (yes, that's a pun).

Originally we thought "Hmmm - file sharing... not oppressed by money hungry labels, but rather supported by the independant artist as a means to relate and build meaningful relationships with more fans." The idea was that by giving away their music, artists regain control of their future. Before the internet, this simply wasn't a feasible solution... but it is today.

"So," we thought again, "now all we need to do is build a forum for the artists to post their downloadable music and give way to find them easily." Novel concept, right? Well, it turns out that other people were just as tired of the RIAA bickering with there customers (the music fans) as we were (and are).

Not shortly after releasing the first version of SoundSprout did we find out what the Creative Commons was; an alternative licensing mechanism for artists who want to give partial rights away to their audio recordings. It was perfect, and already established, all we had to do was plug it in.

Not long after that we encountered Jamendo, a site that had been operational for over four years and was backed by VC investors. After that, we started encountering a whole slew of like-mainded free-music sharing web projects. All with different tweaks, but with the same underlying principal of artists releasing music for free to their fans. For some reason, there seems to be a lot of drive behind this movement in Baltimore, Maryland, which is exactly where we (SoundSprout) are based. I haven't figured out why yet.

You may think this would be a downer for us because we thought we were special... well it is a little frustrating, I'm not going to lie. But really, it's a sign that we're on the right track. Someone is going to get it right and I think there's going to be an enlightenment.

The site that gets it right will be the site that can relate to the artist, because the artist is the fuel that keeps this fire buring. Most artists don't get it yet. I know this to be true because as SoundSprout's "artist relations" I spend a great deal of my time talking and e-mailing back and forth with artists who seem angry at me for even suggesting the concept of giving away their music. Even the existing major record labels know that the artists are the key... it just so happens that over the years the major labels have found a way to fabricate synthetic art and hype out of thin air (very annoying for the true talent out there).

So I'm going to devote my next few blog posts to the "Healthy Competition" I've run accross recently. Below is a list of free-music efforts currently underway. I've contacted each of these groups to discuss the concept or potential collaboration, but I never get a response. Perhaps it's because of the "tweaks" I mentioned above. Anyway, here they are in no particular order:

SoundSprout.com

Jamendo.com

The Free Music Archive

Alonetone

Internet Audio Archive

Opsound

ccMixter

mp3it

Ourmedia

The Freesound Project

Puzzling Music Archive

The collective Family

WM Recordings

ICMuS Hub

Faux Fetus Collective (to be consolidated with Free Music Archive)

Desetxea

Comfort Stand

Clinical Archives

Cash Music

Well holy crap... that's a lot of healthy competition. Some of these sites are great, some are in internet limbo for unknown reasons, and some are just confusing. Should we unite? Consolidate our resources to overcome "the man". Undoubtedly, in doing so we need to avoid becoming the man. However it's accomplished, united or in fragments, we've got our work cut our for us, but SoundSprout is up for the challenge.

The Introspective Sounds of Bert Jerred

I'm consistently and pleasantly surprised at the quality of music posted to the creative commons. I continued to be thrilled with my good fortune when I downloaded Bert Jerred's "Vanity Fair" off of SoundSprout a few weeks ago.

Since downloading the collection I've spent several hours with Bert exploring what it means to love and embrace life for what it is. The lyrics are complex, but Bert certainly gives it to you straight leaving little to question at the conclusion of each song. That's probably what I find most satisfying about his music - the clarity. To me the album is very thereputic, and I have certainly used it to help me cope with the stresses of my daily work environment. It actually may have saved the life of one of my co-workers.

As an English scholar, Bert would probably pick apart this blog post into little-bitty error pieces, but that's alright. My goal here is simply to point you to one of the several audial treasures recently posted to SoundSprout. I encourage you to explore Bert Jerred's works here and elsewhere. Your co-workers may thank you.

Behind the Scenes at SoundSprout

If you're curious about tech technical underpinnings of SoundSprout, here's a presentation I did for a local development group.

Developing And Running A Website On Amazon S E

View more presentations from jaymuntz.

You know what? Rock and Roll… Rock and F-king Roll.

I’m listening to “Brad Sucks” first release (available on SoundSprout ofcourse); I’ve already listened to the 10-track album and now I’m back around on track 4 again and I’m not anywhere near tired of listening to it. The impassioned lyrics are somehow nonchalantly conveyed, but it’s definitely derived from a mind that is or was at least one time in a twisted state… we can all relate to this, right?

However, the thing that strikes me most is the professional craftsmanship of the album. One would be surprised to learn that Ben created these works somewhere outside of a formal record studio. Here’s the list of recording equipment that he uses to record his music:

Behringer Eurorack UB1204-PRO mixing board

Delta 66 sound card

Event 20/20bas monitors

Shure SM58 dynamic microphone

MXL v67 condenser microphone

Boss GT-6 guitar effects processor

PreSonus BlueTube preamp
Gibson Epiphone G310 electric guitar

Some Norman acoustic guitar

Yamaha RBX260L bass guitar
AthlonXP 2700 w/1gig RAM

Software:
Steinberg Cubase SX

Sonic Foundry Sound Forge

One striking thing to note about this list is that this stuff isn’t free and neither is the time (no doubt countless midnight-oil burning hours) it took to produce the music from scratch. But he gives the music away for free to his fans!

No doubt, Brad gets it… and he’s gotten it for a long time. He started giving his music away on the internet back in 2001. He’s not the first, but he’s definitely a pioneer who’s efforts are “starting a trend”.

So what does he get? He gets that his music is just one part of a holistic entity that is “Brad Sucks”. Aside from the music recordings Brad Sucks exists as a presence at live performances and is also a line of merchandise, and an online community. Brad gets that his music is capable of transcending space and time. It can be on Huntington Beach with a girl at noon, and in a Volkswagen cruising down the autobahn on a cool spring day, and in the evening on with a tired worker on a hammock tied between two in South African trees, or accompanying a space shuttle pilot as he’s launched into orbit.

By giving his music away for free he breaks down the traditional boundaries between himself and his fans. His fans are now free to spend time building a relationship with him whenever they want, even if he’s home at bed nursing a hangover.

I must say though, the reason I’m so excited about this album is not because of the production quality or that my ears crave more, it’s that Brad also understands that he doesn’t have to leave his success as an recording artist up to a fate chance encounter A&R rep from a major label record company who. From what I can tell, he’s using his music to advertise his product. By tangible product I mean the things his fans can buy and hold such as tickets to his live performance, merchandise, artwork, even virtual monetary contributions to his (and our) many vices. All these things allow his fans to take part in his artistic adventure.

Ben Sucks and artists like him are the reason we’re building SoundSprout.com. I’m extremely excited that he’s agreed to set up an account on the site. For the sake of the music we love, we hope other recording artist “get him” and follow his lead.

A Visit to Charm City Art Space (CCAS)

The other day I barged in on a monthly member’s meeting at Charm City Art Space. Located near MICA and a block from Baltimore’s Penn Station, a place I walk to every morning to catch my train to work, I had no idea of the eye opening experience I was in for. CC Art Space is simply a venue for any kind of art… and I do mean any kind… it’s a music venue, a visual art gallery, and even home to the occasional flee market if you want to consider that art. Why not, right?

They do a lot of good for young independent bands who just want a place to play for their friends/fans. The space itself was eerily reminiscent of the teen center that I grew up with 50 miles east of Baltimore, and no doubt similar to many other “open” spaces across the globe. It’s a dingy place and yet it’s full of life at the same time. The building suffers from a lack of maintenance, but not from a lack of love or employment.

Like my old teen center back home, at CC Art Space there’s no alcohol or drugs to complicate matters. I have yet to attend a show so I don’t know in what state of sobriety people arrive to shows in, but I got the feeling all these people care about is the music… that is as long as they’re able to keep their heads above water and get by on their own.

Mike, was the apparent leader and organizer of the meeting and while the rest of the crew were a bit busy figuring out what to make of me barging in like I did, Mike was very warm and welcoming. My goal in attending was to learn what the group was all about, ascertain what they knew about the creative commons, and find out if any musicians would be interested in having their music recorded live and posted on the site. Perhaps not... but perhaps.

Well… while Mike entertained my rambling about SoundSprout.com, I could tell the group either didn’t get what I was doing, or more probable, didn’t care. To them the creative commons was old hat. I believe the response I got was “Oh yeah, that licensing thing… so, what about it?” She had a good point. What could I tell these people that they didn’t already know; I’d be preaching to the choir. So instead of talking, I listened to their rants, musings about bluntly pornographic band names, and the space’s financial status.

It’s a gritty place, and I imagine the acts that come through there are only more gritty and righteous. My SoundSprout business-looking flyer stuck out like a soar thumb on the folding table that held a rainbow flashy/artsy abstract-looking flyers for upcoming shows and other event info. When we first started SoundSprout, I had come up with some artwork to represent the site, and now I think I finally have a home for that artwork other than this blog.

Anyway, I can’t wait to dig my eyes and ears into some of these shows. I hope they’re raunchier than ever. Mostly, I’m looking forward to exploring the raw power of music from the next generation, like I used to do frequently before I sold out and went to work for the man, if I’m being honest. I’m going to try and work with some of these artists and record some of these shows and post them on SoundSprout. After all, why should Jimbo over in Spokane Washington, miss out on the show The Trites performed in Baltimore just because they live 2000 miles away???

This is the backbone of free music. This is the fun part!

Amazon To Let Authors Turn off the "Text to Speech" Feature on Kindle 2

If you're a heavy reader like me, you've probably seen the new Kindle 2. One of the enhancements over the first Kindle (an iPod-like device for reading books) is the addition of a feature that will read a book out-loud to you using a built-in voice synthesizer. You can switch from reading in text to listening by computer-generated voice, while driving for example, and the Kindle will keep your place in the book.

This has generated controversy among publishers and authors because they earn a lot of revenue from the audio versions of their books. They perceive this as a threat to those revenues. I doubt that threat will materialize, at least in the short term. The Kindle voice sounds like a Speak & Spell. Also, even if the voice sounded good, it's clear no laws are being violated by the feature. Nonetheless Amazon is sensitive to their concerns.

Just a few days after the Kindle 2 started shipping, Amazon has announced that they are giving publishers/authors the right to disable the text-to-speech feature for their books on Kindle 2.

I think Amazon is calling their bluff. It will be interesting to see how many of the complainers among the publishers and authors actually disable the feature now that Amazon has given them the ability to do it. I doubt very many will.

Facebook

This article about the ongoing controversy about Facebook's terms of service reminded me about one of the thing I like most about SoundSprout - we respect your intellectual property rights. It's not just because support use of the Creative Commons licenses for all of the music uploaded by artists. It's also because, we don't claim any ownership over anything you post to the site.

We think this is the right thing to do, and it makes good business sense.

Stephen does "not not" want you to take his interview with Lawrence Lessig and remix it with a pumping k-hole groove

An update on Stephen Colbert and Remixing:

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Stephen's Remix Challenge

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

Hat Tip: Creative Commons

Lawrence Lessig on The Colbert Report

Lawrence Lessig was on the Colbert Report last week talking about the freedom to remix and create derived works and how lawmakers and copyright owners need to change.  It's interesting because Colbert is one of the masters at navigating today's changing media marketplace. Lessig's new book is Remix. An op-ed version of the book can be found here.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Lawrence Lessig

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview