Re: [microsound] re: mp3 redux

[Ben <bent@xxxxxxxxx>]

You have nothing to apologize for; there was little, if any, redundancy 
in your post. To the contrary, I found it quite the refreshing expansion 
of the topic to more universal notions. And, despite the misguided 
ramblings of trolls who fail to grasp your point, I think you've nudged 
this thing closer to the real heart of the matter: Capitalism is stupid. 
There, I said it. Oh, it works fine in certain limited, idealistic 
cases, but the entire human race is neither.

There has been a nagging, gnawing notion in my gut since I was a child: 
that this whole "grab-everything-that-you-can" imperative is not just 
illogical, it's ultimately immoral. I might be going out on a limb here, 
but I would think that a list of experimental electronic musicians would 
be able to sympathize. We, as artists, should not be indignant that 
someone wants to experience our art without shelling out; we should be 
indignant that our society is organized so that we starve if they 
don't... and, so that all of our endeavors only have as much worth as 
monetary value can be attached to them.

I think ultimately what is at the heart of the intellectual property 
issue is that, deep down, most people don't buy it (heh, pardon the 
pun). People don't see the harm in circumventing the societal construct 
that ideas cost money. As someone once said: information wants to be 
free. Even a lot of staunch supporters of IP wouldn't bat an eye at 
"borrowing" someone else's idea. It seems darkly ironic that we base our 
society around supply and demand and yet we are constantly working to 
create infinite supply. Also that everyone's supposed to find their 
niche, their work, and yet we are constantly making jobs obsolete. And, 
as you pointed out, that the primary result of this comptetition, this 
glorious free market that we're so in love with, is the unrestrained 
pilfering of the planet's resources.

I wonder if this slow motion rebellion against the ownership of ideas 
could someday lead to the collapse of property in general. I can dream, 
can't I?

b

(As a disclaimer, I should point out that I don't have any brilliant 
alternatives to suggest. Indeed, as I tend towards the nihilistic, I 
think of such ideas as mere observations. Kind of like sitting on the 
deck of the Titanic, taking notes as she goes down.)

Renick Bell wrote:

>Sorry for any redundancy in my previous post. I'm reading backwards from the
>present, and hadn't yet discovered the majority of posts on this topic.
>
>To correct myself, obviously enough people think that CDs are worth spending
>for; this keeps the surviving labels alive (for the moment). I'm thinking about
>the future and about better or next models.
>
>Thanks to Alex for the link to Creative Commons. You mentioned that people have
>had success with these alternatives; do any of these successes directly result
>in livings provided, bank accounts filled? Sure, Linux... but music seems a bit
>different. There is no support needed (or is there?) for a microsound release.
>However, this is what I am thinking about. What is the artist equivalent of
>manuals and user support?
>
>Renick
>
>
>  
>

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