MP3's Are Not the Devil
Author Orson Scott Card says pretty much what my opinion on the file-swapping/music biz is.
The record companies swear that it's making a serious inroad on sales, and they can prove it. How? By showing that their sales are way down in the past few years.
It couldn't possibly be because (a) most of us have already replaced all our old vinyl and cassettes, so all that windfall money is no longer flowing in, or (b) because the record companies have made some really lousy decisions as they tried to guess what we consumers would want to buy.
It couldn't possibly be that they've targeted all their marketing at precisely the market segment -- high school and college students -- who are most likely to be sharing MP3s over the internet.
Maybe if they started marketing more music that people my age would enjoy, they'd find that, lo and behold, there are customers who prefer to buy music the legal way!
Also, they fail to take into account that we are in a slow econonmy, and the fact that the market that they have created is one where everything is the same as everything else. What if every book out there had to follow the exact same formula, with the same style and tone, with only minor variations to avoid lawsuit? Then it would be the same as the music industry.
Friday, September 19, 2003
The one where I solve the RIAA's problems...
Today on TechTv, they aired what I think was a debate between record industry spokesmen and file-swappers, moderated by Leo Laporte. I didn't get to see more than a few seconds of it at the end where a guy from EMI was saying that there won't be any good music if everyone invovled isn't getting paid.
I think that it is arguable that there is not alot of good music coming out of the major labels right now anyway, I agree with his point, but I think that the way that the RIAA has gone about trying to shop illegal file-swapping is wrong (i.e. suing twelve-year-old girls).
I think that the problem with the music industry lies in the fact that it is not recognizing the need for a shift in emphasis on what it is the labels do.
Right now they seem intent on the fact that they are a CD manufacturing company. Much in the same way that Xerox is not in the copy business, they are in the toner business.
Was there this type of an insistence on keeping the 8-Track format that there is on the pre-packaged CD? It's a bit like Sony's determination to make the mini-disc popular. The record companies are missing out on an opportunity to shape a new way of distributing music.
I-tunes and the other pay-download services are fine and good, but if you are a Ramones fan do you really want to pay a dollar for each and every minute-and-a-half long song?
The real thing that the RIAA is afraid of is that the musicians will discover that, with modern technology, not only can they record and produce their own music without a studio, but they can distribute it worldwide by themselves as well. But that's neither here nor there.
What the labels need to do is re-think the way that they distribute and take advantage of the technology at hand.
How, you ask?
Come with me into the rosy world I like to call THE FUTURE. In the Future there are robots, but there are also lots and lots of places to download and burn music. Not just from a person's home computer, that is not a place that the company's can fully control, but from access points in malls and stores.
Imagine if you will a music store where there is no stock, only listening stations where the shopper can listen to excerpts from every song in every label's catalog. There are artist and album listings from all times and genres that are available. A listener can choose either a pre-generated album (i.e. Beatles Abbey Road) or compile one of only the songs that they want. Then they can have the CD burned on demand, complete with on-demand liner notes and jewel cases.
The only stock that the store need carry is blank CD's.
I would imagine that Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart would love this idea as it would completely eliminate theft of CD's.
The labels could then have by the minute sales figures for every song and album in their catalogues.
This would also allow people with no access to the internet to use the digital technology to record their CD's. It would also cut into the used CD market, unless they wanted to start selling mixed CD's.
You pipe the music to these terminals using the same type of direct access phone-lines that ATM's use to access your bank account info.
The supreme upside of these terminals is that with newer technology you could add DVD or other capabilities to them, and they would get smaller and smaller, allowing for easier placement in, say, a library or restaurant.
Think about it and get back to me record industry.
Oh, and by the way, I am now insituting a boycott on all major label albums. I will no longer purchase any new CD's from labels that are a part of the RIAA. I realize that this type of boycott hurts the artists as well, but they should learn that they can distribute their own product just as effectively as a record label, who will only be able to give you a deal if you are pretty enough.
I've been under this boycott for about a month now, and the only break that I made from it was to purchase Johnny Cash's American Recordings, since I have not seen it used anywere. That was the only special circumstance, from now on only used CD's. RIAA you get no more money from me. None.
Today on TechTv, they aired what I think was a debate between record industry spokesmen and file-swappers, moderated by Leo Laporte. I didn't get to see more than a few seconds of it at the end where a guy from EMI was saying that there won't be any good music if everyone invovled isn't getting paid.
I think that it is arguable that there is not alot of good music coming out of the major labels right now anyway, I agree with his point, but I think that the way that the RIAA has gone about trying to shop illegal file-swapping is wrong (i.e. suing twelve-year-old girls).
I think that the problem with the music industry lies in the fact that it is not recognizing the need for a shift in emphasis on what it is the labels do.
Right now they seem intent on the fact that they are a CD manufacturing company. Much in the same way that Xerox is not in the copy business, they are in the toner business.
Was there this type of an insistence on keeping the 8-Track format that there is on the pre-packaged CD? It's a bit like Sony's determination to make the mini-disc popular. The record companies are missing out on an opportunity to shape a new way of distributing music.
I-tunes and the other pay-download services are fine and good, but if you are a Ramones fan do you really want to pay a dollar for each and every minute-and-a-half long song?
The real thing that the RIAA is afraid of is that the musicians will discover that, with modern technology, not only can they record and produce their own music without a studio, but they can distribute it worldwide by themselves as well. But that's neither here nor there.
What the labels need to do is re-think the way that they distribute and take advantage of the technology at hand.
How, you ask?
Come with me into the rosy world I like to call THE FUTURE. In the Future there are robots, but there are also lots and lots of places to download and burn music. Not just from a person's home computer, that is not a place that the company's can fully control, but from access points in malls and stores.
Imagine if you will a music store where there is no stock, only listening stations where the shopper can listen to excerpts from every song in every label's catalog. There are artist and album listings from all times and genres that are available. A listener can choose either a pre-generated album (i.e. Beatles Abbey Road) or compile one of only the songs that they want. Then they can have the CD burned on demand, complete with on-demand liner notes and jewel cases.
The only stock that the store need carry is blank CD's.
I would imagine that Wal-Mart, Target and K-Mart would love this idea as it would completely eliminate theft of CD's.
The labels could then have by the minute sales figures for every song and album in their catalogues.
This would also allow people with no access to the internet to use the digital technology to record their CD's. It would also cut into the used CD market, unless they wanted to start selling mixed CD's.
You pipe the music to these terminals using the same type of direct access phone-lines that ATM's use to access your bank account info.
The supreme upside of these terminals is that with newer technology you could add DVD or other capabilities to them, and they would get smaller and smaller, allowing for easier placement in, say, a library or restaurant.
Think about it and get back to me record industry.
Oh, and by the way, I am now insituting a boycott on all major label albums. I will no longer purchase any new CD's from labels that are a part of the RIAA. I realize that this type of boycott hurts the artists as well, but they should learn that they can distribute their own product just as effectively as a record label, who will only be able to give you a deal if you are pretty enough.
I've been under this boycott for about a month now, and the only break that I made from it was to purchase Johnny Cash's American Recordings, since I have not seen it used anywere. That was the only special circumstance, from now on only used CD's. RIAA you get no more money from me. None.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Dream Buffet
Yesterday was a dream buffet at the KFC...Squash, Okra and Brownies. It was quite possibly the best meal and one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.
Just thought you should know.
Squash AND Okra. Not one or the other, but both AT THE SAME TIME. Wrap your mind around that one.
Yesterday was a dream buffet at the KFC...Squash, Okra and Brownies. It was quite possibly the best meal and one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever had.
Just thought you should know.
Squash AND Okra. Not one or the other, but both AT THE SAME TIME. Wrap your mind around that one.
Saturday, September 13, 2003
More on the $200 Bill
The Smoking Gun has the full story of the $200 bill passed at a Roanoke Rapids North Carolina Food Lion, complete with a picture of the bill. My favorite thing is the serial number being "DUBYA4U2001"
The Smoking Gun has the full story of the $200 bill passed at a Roanoke Rapids North Carolina Food Lion, complete with a picture of the bill. My favorite thing is the serial number being "DUBYA4U2001"
Friday, September 12, 2003
Sound Waves as Spiritual Catalysts
Forgive me if I ramble a bit. If you're wanting something witty you better skip this one, I'm thinking out loud.
I just finished a book called Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck, and in this book he talks about a variety of psychedelic substances to bring about visions and mystical experiences. Two of these chemicals are DMT and DPT.
Of the two DMT is a naturally occuring chemical found in many common plants, and also according to at least one study the cerebrospinal fluid bathing the human brain. DMT when ingested is usually harmless as it is broken down by chemicals in our bodies known as MAOs. When DMT is ingested by shamens and other religious seekers it is most often in combination with other plants and substances that contain inhibitors for these MAOs so that the drug can have its effect. When taken by itself DMT is most commonly smoked or injected to bypass the MAOs. DMT is a very potent drug, much like LSD in that it is effective in the microgram range. According to Pinchbeck a lifetime supply of DMT would be smaller than a bar of soap.
DPT is apparantly not a naturally occuring chemical, though it is quite similar molecularly to DMT and other compounds found in the body.
Music and sound are used traditionally in ritual ceremonies as a way to entice spirits, or to guide the seeker on their quest after ingesting the drugs. Many of the drugs used throughout the world contain DMT, or Psilocybin (one of the active compounds in the so-called magic mushrooms). In various shamantic cultures in the world during ceremonies there are often visions of gods or goddesses who do various things to the persons body, such as taking it apart and putting it back together, or adding things such as metals inside the persons body.
Sidetracking now I should explain one of the main teachings of all of the psychedelic researchers, that of the importance of set, setting and dose when using these chemicals.
Set, Setting and Dose are all equally important. It should come as no surprise that when soldiers were given LSD they experienced military related trips, and when CIA agents took it they had paranoid James Bond style experiences.
This is also similar to the idea in Magickal practices where there are rituals involved. The aim of Magickal ritual is to bring about the same types of visions that the drug user experiences, but most often without the drugs. Ways of bringing about the visions traditional involve such things as dancing, chanting, fasting or some form of self flagellation. The idea is to bring the body to a breaking point where the conscious mind is supressed and the spirit is free to move into the collective. Magickal and religious rituals are designed as a sensory overload so that the mind is shut down and overwhelmed. The Catholic church is the most prominent example of this in the west, with the grand architecture, incense, chanting and uncomfotable pews. Mass, specifically with the giving of the sacrament was meant to cause feelings of communion with God. Often times it would bring about visions in the people involved.
Part of the reason that most of the practices don't have the same effect on modern people as they did in times fast is the sensory overload that we experience in our daily lives. Is mass in a cathedral going to have the same effect on us as a movie in the theater, or a concert?
Which brings me to the study that has been quoted on various pages, such as here. This is not really news, though it is pretty much the first time the mainstream press has looked at such studies. Warren Ellis's Global Frequency comic had an issue devoted to just such a phenomena. I also remember a story on the television show Sightings about a doctor who was using sound and sensory depravation to bring about UFO abduction and NDE type experiences.
What do DMT, sound waves and Magick have to do with one another you ask?
Could it be that in the human brain there are certain chemicals released in a tiny amount under certain conditions that bring about these types of experiences. If the DMT or DMT like chemical were produced inside the brain, it would only need to happen in the smallest micrograms of doses since it would immediately bipass the MAO inhibitors and work directly on the brain.
Could it be that hauntings, alien abductions and mystical experiences are all metaphorical projections on the same experience catalyzed by the release of these types of chemicals in the brain, brought about by conditions in the environment, such as Ultra-Low Frequency sound, or other phenomena. The ingestion of these drugs brings about stronger reactions most of the time.
Could this be a type of chemical that is released when the brain feels that it is going to die or experience tremendous trauma to ease itself? Religious seekers will often bring themselves to the brink of physical death for a vision, and likewise the NDE phenomena could be accounted for in this way.
Just thinking outloud, perhaps more on this later.
Forgive me if I ramble a bit. If you're wanting something witty you better skip this one, I'm thinking out loud.
I just finished a book called Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck, and in this book he talks about a variety of psychedelic substances to bring about visions and mystical experiences. Two of these chemicals are DMT and DPT.
Of the two DMT is a naturally occuring chemical found in many common plants, and also according to at least one study the cerebrospinal fluid bathing the human brain. DMT when ingested is usually harmless as it is broken down by chemicals in our bodies known as MAOs. When DMT is ingested by shamens and other religious seekers it is most often in combination with other plants and substances that contain inhibitors for these MAOs so that the drug can have its effect. When taken by itself DMT is most commonly smoked or injected to bypass the MAOs. DMT is a very potent drug, much like LSD in that it is effective in the microgram range. According to Pinchbeck a lifetime supply of DMT would be smaller than a bar of soap.
DPT is apparantly not a naturally occuring chemical, though it is quite similar molecularly to DMT and other compounds found in the body.
Music and sound are used traditionally in ritual ceremonies as a way to entice spirits, or to guide the seeker on their quest after ingesting the drugs. Many of the drugs used throughout the world contain DMT, or Psilocybin (one of the active compounds in the so-called magic mushrooms). In various shamantic cultures in the world during ceremonies there are often visions of gods or goddesses who do various things to the persons body, such as taking it apart and putting it back together, or adding things such as metals inside the persons body.
Sidetracking now I should explain one of the main teachings of all of the psychedelic researchers, that of the importance of set, setting and dose when using these chemicals.
Set: This is the mindset of the person taking the drugs. If you are experiencing anxiety or fears, those will manifest themselves in the experience. Likewise if the person is mellow and serene they will most often have a mellow trip. Feelings of paranoia will also be amplified.
Setting: This is the physical setting of the person taking the drug. If you are in a hospital, then the trip will most often involve something along the lines of doctors or medicine, perhaps surgery. If the setting is one of an eastern temple, then there that will set the tone for the trip. If you are in a forest you'll get forest based imagery.
Dose: This is the actual dosage of the drug. The higher the dose the different the trip. Sometimes you might get stronger visions from the drug at a higher dose, sometimes it might just make you throw up alot, or it might cause psychosis.
Set, Setting and Dose are all equally important. It should come as no surprise that when soldiers were given LSD they experienced military related trips, and when CIA agents took it they had paranoid James Bond style experiences.
This is also similar to the idea in Magickal practices where there are rituals involved. The aim of Magickal ritual is to bring about the same types of visions that the drug user experiences, but most often without the drugs. Ways of bringing about the visions traditional involve such things as dancing, chanting, fasting or some form of self flagellation. The idea is to bring the body to a breaking point where the conscious mind is supressed and the spirit is free to move into the collective. Magickal and religious rituals are designed as a sensory overload so that the mind is shut down and overwhelmed. The Catholic church is the most prominent example of this in the west, with the grand architecture, incense, chanting and uncomfotable pews. Mass, specifically with the giving of the sacrament was meant to cause feelings of communion with God. Often times it would bring about visions in the people involved.
Part of the reason that most of the practices don't have the same effect on modern people as they did in times fast is the sensory overload that we experience in our daily lives. Is mass in a cathedral going to have the same effect on us as a movie in the theater, or a concert?
Which brings me to the study that has been quoted on various pages, such as here. This is not really news, though it is pretty much the first time the mainstream press has looked at such studies. Warren Ellis's Global Frequency comic had an issue devoted to just such a phenomena. I also remember a story on the television show Sightings about a doctor who was using sound and sensory depravation to bring about UFO abduction and NDE type experiences.
What do DMT, sound waves and Magick have to do with one another you ask?
Could it be that in the human brain there are certain chemicals released in a tiny amount under certain conditions that bring about these types of experiences. If the DMT or DMT like chemical were produced inside the brain, it would only need to happen in the smallest micrograms of doses since it would immediately bipass the MAO inhibitors and work directly on the brain.
Could it be that hauntings, alien abductions and mystical experiences are all metaphorical projections on the same experience catalyzed by the release of these types of chemicals in the brain, brought about by conditions in the environment, such as Ultra-Low Frequency sound, or other phenomena. The ingestion of these drugs brings about stronger reactions most of the time.
Could this be a type of chemical that is released when the brain feels that it is going to die or experience tremendous trauma to ease itself? Religious seekers will often bring themselves to the brink of physical death for a vision, and likewise the NDE phenomena could be accounted for in this way.
Just thinking outloud, perhaps more on this later.
Johnny's Gone, One More Round, Johnny's Gone...
I figured he wasn't too much longer for the world when June died, every picture of him from then on only showed a man that was more and more just a shell of himself.
Then this week there was news of him being released from the hospital and I had a feeling that it would be pretty soon.
The Man in Black is one of those transcendant figures that defies simple genre stamping or being forced into a niche. People from punk rockers and hard rockers to the most country of country liked Johnny's music. He may not have had a great range or voice, but much like Sinatra you always got the impression that he was sincere in what he was singing, be it a ballad about Ira Hayes or just a song about a boy named sue.
The sad part about his career is that only recently was he getting the outside of country music acclaim that he had deserved for years. His Hurt video was up for the MTV video of the year and should have won. His American recordings were some of the best in his career and the albums were getting better and better.
I am sad to see him go.
I figured he wasn't too much longer for the world when June died, every picture of him from then on only showed a man that was more and more just a shell of himself.
Then this week there was news of him being released from the hospital and I had a feeling that it would be pretty soon.
The Man in Black is one of those transcendant figures that defies simple genre stamping or being forced into a niche. People from punk rockers and hard rockers to the most country of country liked Johnny's music. He may not have had a great range or voice, but much like Sinatra you always got the impression that he was sincere in what he was singing, be it a ballad about Ira Hayes or just a song about a boy named sue.
The sad part about his career is that only recently was he getting the outside of country music acclaim that he had deserved for years. His Hurt video was up for the MTV video of the year and should have won. His American recordings were some of the best in his career and the albums were getting better and better.
I am sad to see him go.
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