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Dear Walter Pincus: Music is a Not a Waste of Money
Source:
MusicianWages.com
Walter Pincus, an award winning journalist from the Washington Post, has recently been suggesting that Military Bands are a waste of taxpayer dollars.I must respectfully disagree. Here's how:
By asking the following questions . . .
Is it a waste of taxpayer dollars to instill a little patriotism, with some John Philip Sousa, and see my fellow Americans proudly waving their flags? Are the elderly and disabled veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam with tears in their eyes ...
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7 Things the Majors Would Do Right Now, if They Really Had the Balls...
Source:
Digital Music News
But, wouldn't it have been ballsier not to sue freckle-faced college kids, and devise riskier model adjustments in the face of disruptive chaos? Or, make difficult changes in the business instead of expensive trips to the Hill? Here are 7 things the majors would do right now, if they really had the balls... 1. No more lawsuits against music fans. Ever. Call off every lingering lawsuit against a file-swapper right now. That includes Jammie Thomas, Joel Tenenbaum, and whatever else ...
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Guest Post: Henry Rollins on Matthew Shipp
Source:
Ars Nova Workshop
Henry Rollins has been a fiery tongued advocate for independent music and creative culture since he was the frontman of seminal hardcore band Black Flag in the early 1980s. He has since released numerous solo music and spoken word albums, written several books on travel, politics, and music (including Get in the Van: On The Road with Black Flag, the audio version of which earned him a Grammy Award), hosted The Henry Rollins Show on the Independent Film Channel, and ...
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"The Marvelous Ego Labyrinth"
Source:
Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog
By Steve Provizer Too much of a bad thing, no doubt, but being unemployed has induced hyper-posting. My Little Grey Cells, otherwise preoccupied for the last 12 years with idle strategies for world domination have lately been inspired by things people write in the comments. In this case, the ego posting. The interplay of ego on the bandstand is a marvelous labyrinth-a combination of conscious and unconscious body language, visual signals and-whether playing music with or without harmonic guideposts-perceptions of ...
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Why We're Less Happy with Music Now Than Ever: The Paradox of Reversible Decisions
Source:
HypeBot
At their core, BitTorrent and LimeWire are a flight simulators, not a piracy machines. Their appeal is in their ability to let fans preview their music decisions, not solely because they enable fans to download music for free, without paying for it. That they don't buy the music once they have it is a consequence of the process, not the end result. Fans have always desired to hear music before they buy it. Too many have bought lackluster albums and ...
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The Musical Middle Class Mirage...
Source:
Digital Music News
The musical middle class sounds lovely, that is, if it actually existed. But is this just a mirage, another comfy-sounding theory that has little chance of being realized? At the Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit in DC, a burst of theoretical optimism eventually crashed into reality, andpanelists tackled the tough question of just where the money might be. “Bands that are not U2 living in some mansion made of cotton candy are having a hard time," said Jesse von ...
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"Gimme Some Jazz-over Easy"
Source:
Brilliant Corners, a Boston Jazz Blog
By Steve Provizer And one thing leads to the next...C.R. mentions in his ego postcomment the degree of effort audiences will apply to “something non essential like aesthetic nourishment." This leads to the knock heard for so long about jazz: you have to work too hard to 'get' it. It's sometimes framed as “accessibility,' a word that either puts up walls or acknowledges that walls exist. The passage through a maze can be accessible. High mountain gaps in Tibet can ...
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What Do You Really Think About the Piracy Issue?
Source:
HypeBot
This guest post is written by Chris R. at CD Baby's DIY Musican blog. Some folks in this over-saturated industry equate music piracy with free promotion, reciting the popular soundbite that “obscurity is a greater danger than theft" (Think of BitTorrent pitching their new Artists Pilot Program as a way to “amp up your audience"). Others regard free file-sharing (particularly the illegal kind) as high treason against the sacred art of music. As with most polarizing debates, the truth and ...
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