Fw: "China:Imitation Nation"-Salon

[david daniell <m@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

.... and this is where we come in?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Plasma Studii" <office@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <nettime-l@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, July 10, 2002 6:30 PM
Subject: Re: <nettime> "China:Imitation Nation"-Salon


>
> (if anybody didn't catch the note below, read it.  it's really cool)
>
> but then this seems like the big paradigm shift.
>
> eventually, no one can expect to make money from copywriting!  One
> result will be that the most creative industries (record labels,
> etc) will suffer (and surely are suffering) incredibly.  may wipe
> them out (like the radioactive meteor that took out the dinosaurs).
> ok.  well, then what would happen if there was no commercial music?
> what if it really became so unprofitable everywhere, everyone just
> quit.
>
> one result, would be, there would be nothing to pirate, the
> software/hardware would fade away from disuse eventually and then
> the commercialization would return.
>
> The interim will most likely consist of abysmal work.  Culture will
> be devoid of inspiration.  Movements replaced by band-wagon trends.
> (oh wait, that's already well under way)  We are prolonging the
> interim period by resisting this change.  If we want it to pass in
> our lifetime, we'll have to wade through this now.
>
> In the interim, music may be just awful.  DIY basement garage bands
> are a fun novelty, but only as a contrast to goofy madonna-esque
> sheen.  likewise, DIY art is everywhere.  the "my 6 year-old could
> have made that" stuff is worthless without a backdrop of
> "masterpieces".  Look to the past because there will be nothing to
> look at for a while.
>
> audiences now don't nearly pay the cost for theater productions.
> Most big shows are funded by the government or foundations (that are
> indirectly supported by the government).  Most actors, musicians,
> artists work for free or ridiculously low pay.  Yet audiences will
> not pay for the madonna-esque sheen they expect to be provided.
>
> So where are the public's priorities?  Hopefully, this radical
> decimation of all kinds of arty/show biz will result in changing
> that.  But that's where industries pick up the slack.  They make it
> more economically feasible by doling out resources to a cluster of
> artists.
>
> what you are discribing (musicians who can't afford to keep at it
> for so little money) is basically what we have now in all the arts.
> just as forest fires are actually part of a trees reproductive
> strategy, we need to wipe out the old system completely for it to
> repair itself.  Sad for most of us but too bad.
>
> judson
>
>
> ps. the 'information wants to be free' idea is one of the stupider
> concepts of the last 20 years.  information doesn't just sit there
> (content or not), it is like the beam from a spot light.  many folks
> try to pick at it and put it in their pocket.  But we are swimming
> in information, billions of beams from every angle and most of it we
> will never recognize.  Info is already as free as it wants to be.
>
>
>
>
> >As a DJ/musician who has lived in Hong Kong for most of the past seven
> >years and worked frequently in China, in my experience it is also fair to
> >say that the weakness of Chinese IP law has led to a situation in which
it
> >is virtually impossible for Chinese musicians/artists/writers to make a
> >living from their work. Some musicians whose CDs are believed to sell in
> >the millions of copies nationwide are still living penniless in Beijing
> >because 95% of their sales are from pirate copies. Many bands in China
> >break up after making one CD because it is economically impossible for
> >them to continue making records. Some groups on the nascent Chinese dance
> >music scene (such as the recently popular MP4) have used their popularity
> >gained from pirate CD sales and downloads to increase the price they ask
> >for live gigs, although I believe this has been difficult for many of the
> >rock groups because of gov't restrictions on live performances.
> >
> >Although I generally support a less restrictive approach to IP,
> >nonetheless the situation of artists in China should be a cautionary tale
> >for those who think 'information wants to be free' means that we should
> >forego any kind of copyright protection whatsoever.
> >
> >Also -- Confucian values aside, I have noticed that Westerners resident
in
> >HK/China inevitably begin buying and using pirated products themselves,
> >even while 'knowing it is wrong' as suggested below. After all,
> >everybody's doing it...
> >
> >John
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>
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