Thursday, July 31, 2008

Music With a Message

Here is the play list for my political music program this weekend:

Tracy Chapman, Revolution
Bob Marley, Get Up Stand Up
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Ben Harper, Better Way
Bob Dylan, Times they are a changing
Bob Dylan, Masters of War
The Herd, 2020
Sting, Russians
Sting, They Dance Alone
Eric Bogle, No Mans Land
Neil Young, Lets Impeach the President
John Lennon, Imagine
Patti Smith, Peaceable Kingdom

John Butler Trio, Treat Your Mama
Arrested Development, Among the Trees
Jamiroquais, Emergency on Planet Earth
Michael Jackson, Earth Song
Cat Stevens, Where Do The Children Play
Bob Marley, War
Midnight Oil, One Country
T-Rex, Children of the Revolution
Cold Play, Politik
John Farnham, You’re the Voice
John Mayer, Waiting for the World to Change

The first hour starts with some songs that offer general political motivation before moving onto a war theme. The second hour focuses more on environmental issues and ends with more motivational music.

I have been reading some interesting text books about the characteristics that make up political music – more on them shortly – one interesting aspect has been the notion of content themes. I have been making more of an effort to try to set up my play lists based on these but its not always easy given that many different styles of music can relate to the same topics.

This list contains some excellent music, some of which I hadn’t heard before.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Understanding the Memorandum of Understanding

As British ISPs enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the recording industry to deliver warning letters to file sharers, it seems there is as yet no real understanding of what will take place in the event that these are not effective in deterring the illegal sharing of music.

What began as something along the lines of a three strikes policy now appears to be something altogether different.

British Music Rights, who represent music artists in Britain, have categorically stated in recent days that they do not intend to disconnect file sharers from the internet. Whilst from the outside this looks to be an act based on an understanding of the wider implications for the youth of the country who are dependent on internet access for many everyday activities including research and study, the head of BMR Feargal Sharkey, has noted that it is very difficult to sell digital music at all when the industry’s core consumers are disconnected. So while many worthy arguments have been made as to the likely impact and need to avoid a three strikes policy, in doing so the music industry have simply acted based on self interest.

The question remains as to what will happen once the warning letter process has been exhausted. With an estimated 6.5 million illegal file sharers in Britain it is inconceivable that a mass litigation campaign will work or raise music industry profits.

A more likely approach at this stage appears to be a throttling of users accounts to restrict their downloading and uploading capacity – but I question whether this will simply mean that users change ISPs or in family/share house situations, simply cycle their accounts to another household member. It seems many have overlooked the fact that only six of Britain’s ISPs have actually agreed to take part to date.

Interestingly, it was only a month or so ago that research conducted by the BMR demonstrated that the vast majority of users (80%) would prefer to pay a monthly fee for access to music. Despite this, BMR have stated that a blanket licensing option is not being considered, indicating that the pool of money and the need to negotiate raises in the fee payable were inconsistent with the needs of the music industry.

According to BMR, the more plausible third attribute of this process will be content filtering. This is something that has been discussed a number of times in the past, and more recently in Australia with respect to content deemed inappropriate for minors.

The Australian Media and Communications Authority released a report yesterday detailing the results of their closed content filtering trials with six products being tested for their ability to block file sharing protocols altogether and to block web pages. The products tested were not able to identify the content of the material being shared on file sharing networks which begs the question as to whether file sharing networks will simply be blocked in their entirety.

As has been pointed out repeatedly, file sharing networks have many lawful uses. Were the Australian or British governments to insist on the complete blocking of file sharing at an IPS level, there would be numerous consequences for many industries particularly the software and film industries.

It seems at this stage that there is actually very little understanding of what the memorandum of understanding in the UK actually means or what the next steps will be from here. When one considers the likely impact of these policies as alternatives to a blanket or voluntary licensing scheme, whilst imperfect in its own right, in context it seems the much better option than what has been proposed here.

To date all the British ISPs have agreed to is to forward on warning letters but is seems only a matter of time before BMR and others argue the case for further action.

Further Reading
ZeroPaid, Leaked British Government Letter - P2p Will be Cut by 80% (27 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9652/Leaked+British+Government+Letter+-+P2P+Will+be+Cut+by+80%25> at 28 July 2008

ZeroPaid, UK ISPs Surrender, Agree to Fight P2p Piracy (24 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9649/UK+ISPs+Surrender%2C+Agree+to+Fight+P2P+Piracy> at 28 July 2008

TimesOnline, Parents to be punished for children’s net piracy (24 July 2008) <http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4387283.ece> at 25 July 2008

The Register, Feargal Sharkey on the ISP filesharer MoU (24 July 2008) <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/24/feargal_music_isp_mou/> at 28 July 2008

Digital Music News, British MoU Starts Rolling; Sharkey Says No ISP-Level Blanket (28 July 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/072708uk> at 29 July 2008

ZeroPaid, UK ISPs Threat Against File-Sharers - Will B&P Be the Way of the Future (28 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9654/UK+ISPs+Threat+Against+File-sharers+-+Will+B%26P+Be+the+Way+of+the+Future%3F> at 29 July 2008

Slyck, BPI and ISPs Agree to challenge P2P Piracy in the UK (24 July 2008) <http://www.slyck.com/story1720_BPI_and_ISPs_Agree_to_challenge_P2P_Piracy_in_the_UK> at 28 July 2008

ZeroPaid, UK ISPs Surrender, Agree to Fight P2p Piracy (24 July 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9649/UK+ISPs+Surrender%2C+Agree+to+Fight+P2P+Piracy> at 28 July 2008

TechDirt, UK ISPs Move Down The Slippery Slope Of Becoming Copyright Cops (24 July 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080724/0413391778.shtml> at 28 July 2008

Digital Music News, British ISPs Agree to Massive Letter-Writing Campaign (24 July 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/072308bpi> at 25 July 2008

ArsTechnica, Survey: young people happy to pay for music—on their terms (16 June 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080616-survey-young-adults-willing-to-pay-for-musicon-their-terms.html> at 18 June 2008

The Register, 80% want legal P2P - survey (16 June 2008) <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/16/bmr_music_survey/> at 17 June 2008

ZeroPaid, Music Industry Study: 80% of UK Youth Want Legal P2p (17 June 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9560/Music+Industry+Study%3A+80%25+of+UK+Youth+Want+Legal+P2P> at 19 June 2008

Public Knowledge, RIAA wants content filters and proposes spyware too (6 February 2008) <http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/1388> at 8 February 2008

TechDirt, RIAA Says Copyright Filters Could Be Put In Anti-Virus Software (7 February 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080207/131223199.shtml> at 8 February 2008

Australian Communications and Media Authority, Closed Environment Testing of ISP-level Interent Content Filtering (28 July 2008) <http://www.acma.gov.au/webwr/_assets/main/lib310554/isp-level_internet_content_filtering_trial-report.pdf>at 29 July 2008

ZDNet, BitTorrent hole in ISP filter tests (28 July 2008) <http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/BitTorrent-hole-in-ISP-filter-tests/0,130061791,339290888,00.htm> at 29 July 2008

ZeroPaid, P2p ISP Filtering Test Published, Labels Deny Ensuing Criticism (17 April 2008) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9409/P2P+ISP+Filtering+Test+Published%2C+Labels+Deny+Ensuing+Criticism> at 26 April 2008

TechDirt, Turns Out P2P Filters Don't Actually Work (1 April 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080328/135304687.shtml> at 3 April 2008

ArsTechnica, "Year of filters" turning into year of lawsuits against ISPs (11 March 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080311-year-of-filters-turning-into-year-of-lawsuits-against-isps.html> at 18 March 2008

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Digital Natives: Battles with the RIAA

UPDATED: The Berkman Centre's Digital Natives Blog has posted the first two clips in a three part series in which they examine illegal downloading.

Zack McCune’s tells about how he got sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. He refers to the process of the investigation, the tracking of IP addresses and the ‘DMCA lottery’.

Zack settled his lawsuit for $3,000. While acknowledging that he did the wrong thing, he considers the lawsuits do nothing but alienate the industry’s primary consumer pool.

Part three will be posted soon (6th August).

More Information
Digital Natives, The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part 1 (23 July 2008) <http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives/2008/07/23/the-ballad-of-zack-mccune-part-1/> at 28 July 2008

Digital Natives, The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part 2 (24 July 2008)
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives/2008/07/24/the-ballad-of-zack-mccune-part-2/> at 28 July 2008

UPDATE: Here is part 3:

Digital Natives, The Ballad of Zack McCune, Part 3 (6 August 2008)
<http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/digitalnatives/2008/08/06/the-ballad-of-zack-mccune-part-3/> at 12 August 2008

Variable Pricing

As a person living in a regional area – we have two department stores and from last count only two independent music retailers – it can be difficult to get tracks for my radio program, especially as I am only looking for political music. Even if I can locate the track I am after, more often than not, I have to purchase a whole CD to get one or two tracks.

I am an eMusic subscriber and this helps a lot as I am able to search for tracks and download them individually but sometimes I have to resort to iTunes to get some of my music. Like many users I question iTunes fixed pricing policy – why should I pay the same price for a 2 minute track as a 7 minute track? Perhaps this is something that concerns me more as I am looking to gather 2 hours of music per week but from a basic economics perspective it seems as though the pricing structure should be based on the length of the track.

In Australia an iTunes track cost $1.69. The average length of a standard ‘radio play’ song is around 3 minutes – working on this basis, I propose that the pricing structure should be altered based on length, something along the lines of:

2 minute song $1.00
3 minute song $1.50
4 minute song $2.00
5 minutes or longer $2.50

There has been some discussion of the need to move to a variable pricing structure but as yet this has been resisted. The model which has been trialled by Warner uses real time data to determine popularity, with the price of tracks changing either lower to promote more sales or lowering over a period of time due to the age of the song.

Interestingly it appears that most resistance to this idea has come from Apple, possibly due to the logistics of tracking and maintaining variable prices across such a large catalogue which of course varies from one jurisdiction to the next. As an alternative, pricing based on time would produce better value for consumers without creating an ongoing issue for online retailers who would only need to set the price once.

Further Reading
THR.Com, Warner music Group to try dynamic pricing (5 May 2008) <http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i33d4223fc20859064e611002f6284804> at 7 May 2008

Digital Music News, Warner Music Group Pilots True Variable Pricing (6 May 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/050508warner> at 7 May 2008

WashingtonPost, New Music Model: Free Before Fee (15 September 2007) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402282.html> at 24 September 2007

Friday, July 25, 2008

Yahoo & DRM

I was reading today a rather amusing article from ArsTechnica who speak of the recent announcement by Yahoo Music that they will no longer be supporting the DRM on their music files next year, and I quote:

Good thing you didn't download it illegally or just buy it on CD!

No, you were one of the digital pioneers, and in this brave new frontier world, a few people are just going to get malaria. Fact of life. And someone will step in a bear trap, and then it's time for the bite rag, the alcohol, and the saw. Just the price of progress. And yes, some poor group will get trapped in snowfall when crossing the pass, and cannibalism may or may not be involved by the time they stumble barefoot from the mountains next spring. No one can prevent such tragedies.

Funny from this perspective but not so funny for those who have purchased music from this service and who will be unable to transfer their legitimate purchases to new computers.

Microsoft also attempted a similar thing earlier this year until pressure from outside forces including a campaign by the Electronic Frontiers Foundation resulted in a promise to support their DRM for an extra three years. I have CDs I bought in the late 1980s - I have had them for more than 2o years. From a consumers perspective none of this makes any cents.

Further Reading
ArsTechnica, DRM still sucks: Yahoo Music going dark, taking keys with it (24 July 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.arspost/20080724-drm-still-sucks-yahoo-music-going-dark-taking-keys-with-it.html> at 25 July 2008

Digital Music News, Microsoft's Final 'Up Yours' To Those Who Bought Into Its DRM Story (23 April 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080422/234401923.shtml> at 26 April 2008

ArsTechnica, DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys (22 April 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080422-drm-sucks-redux-microsoft-to-nuke-msn-music-drm-keys.html> at 27 April 2008

Digital Music News, MSN Music: The DRM Aftertaste Really Lasts... (24 April 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/042308msn> at 26 April 2008

Digital Music News, Microsoft: We'll Support Your Downloads After All (17 June 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/061808msft> at 20 June 2008

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Song/Clip of the Moment: System of a Down, Boom

I am in the middle of drafting a paper for a conference early next year (I hope) and have been referring to much of the music that I have been writing about on my blog.

One of the points that I am seeking to make is that for contemporary music, sometimes the film clip can inform the lyrics of the track and ehance the political content.

I am using this System of a Down clip – Boom – as an example of this and given that it is available to freely and legitimately share, I thought to add it to my blog for those who haven’t seen it:





According to wikipedia, the clip was made with the assistance of Michael Moore.

Of course my earlier analysis of the Dukes of Windsor Clip for ‘It’s A War’ shows that the opportunity is not always taken to put forward a political statement in video clips.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Music With a Message

Here are some of the songs I played in my radio program last week. I had a ‘womens hour’ first up with some great songs about being independent, reflecting on the place of women in society and addressing issues that women face. The second half of the program was more general political music:

Helen Reddy, I am Woman
Pink, Stupid Girls
Tracy Chapman, Behind the Wall
Sinead O’Connor, No Mans Woman
Sinead O’Connor, Daddy I’m Fine
Lions Gate Chorus, Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves
Alicia Keys , A Woman’s Worth
Christine Aguilera, Can’t Hold Us Down
Queen Latifah, U.N.I.T.Y
Vitamin Spins/Destiny’s Child, Independent Women Part 1
Ani DiFranco, Out of Range
Merideth Brooks, Bitch
Neneh Cherry, Woman
Just a Girl, No Doubt
Aretha Franklin, RESPECT

Arrested Development, Revolution
Arrested Development, Mr Wendel
Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi
Pixies, Monkey Gone to Heaven
Country Joe McDonald, Save The Whales!
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Universal Soldier
Blue King Brown, Comin’ Through
Blue King Brown, Come & Check Your Head
John Butler Trio, Fire in the Sky
Dukes of Windsor, It’s a War
Billy Bragg, Help Save the Youth of America
Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome
Yoko Ono etc, Give Peace a Chance

I really like the sarcasm in 'Just a Girl' by No Doubt and the Destiny's Child song 'Independent Women' also stands out as a great feminist song.

The Country Joe McDonald 'Save the Whales!' song was an unexpected find from eMusic - I am loving having the opportunity to explore new music - check this song out if you get the chance.

This week (barring any computer crashes) I hope to be playing these tunes:

Blue King Brown, Us and Them
Pattie Smith, People Have the Power
Ghost Writers, Political Animal
Anne Feeney, Have You Been to Jail For Justice?
Edwin Starr, War
The Neville Brothers, With God On Our Side
The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Oliver’s Army
Pete Murray, George’s Helper
U2, Walk On
Paul Kelly & The Coloured Girls Bicentennial, Bicentennial
Our Land Our Home, Solid Rock
Our Land Our Home, Land Rights

Arrested Development, Lost Soldiers
Arrested Development, People Everyday
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Len Chandler, Murder on the Road to Alabama
Chuck D & the SLAMjamz Artist Revue, Say it Loud: I’m Black and I’m Proud
Billy Bragg, Ideology
Billy Bragg , Days Like These
John Butler Trio, The Gov Did Nothing
John Butler Trio, Ocean
Salt Water, Julian Lennon
Anne Feeney, The Corporate Welfare Song
Joe Glazer, There’s Power In a Union
James Brown, Peace in the World

Anne Feeney’s Corporate Welfare Song is one favourite from this list (although there are many that I really like) – this song speaks of the stupidity in governments providing subsidies and financial support to corporations at the expense of its own people. The James Brown song 'Peace in the World' is also worth a listen and is available on eMusic .

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Play Ogg

The Free Software Foundation/Defective by Design have a new campaign to promote the use of the Ogg Vorbis format for music. Ogg is an open source file format that is better quality than mp3 and not subject to digital rights management restrictions. They write:

Are you tired of constantly being prompted to download proprietarysoftware and plugins to play the videos and listen to the music you want? Are you fed up with seeing new gadgets that only use incompatible and restrictive audio and video formats? Did you know that it's not a lack of technological know-how that causes this, but software patents and other legal restrictions?

Increasingly proprietary software companies like Microsoft, Apple andAdobe are pushing video and audio formats that restrict access and restrict software developers, but there is an alternative that can be played on all computers without restriction — Ogg...

Join us in advocating for Ogg right now by taking 3 Easy Steps: jointhe Play Ogg action alerts list, download the VLC multimedia software,and encourage others to do the same. Start here:


More Information
Free Software Foundation, Play Ogg: <http://playogg.org/>

Wikipedia, Ogg Vorbis: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ogg>

Friday, July 18, 2008

Music With a Message

Here are some of the tracks I played on my radio program last week:

Tracy Chapman, The Rape of the World
John Butler Trio, Company Sin
The Neville Brothers, Sister Rosa
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama Blues
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam Blues
U2, Pride (In the Name Love)
U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Herd, The King is Dead
The Herd, I was only 19
Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name
Rage Against the Machine, Freedom
Bjork, Earth Intruders
Bjork, Declare Independence
Pattie Smith, People Have the Power
Billy Bragg, Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Midnight Oil, One Country
Peter Gabriel, Biko
Michael Franti & Spearhead, Bomb the World
Archie Roach, Took the Children Away
Hunters and Collectors, When the River Runs Dry
Powderfinger, How Far Have We Really Come?
Christine Anu, Cos I am Free
Tjapukai Dancers, Proud to Be
Ani DiFranco, Your Next Bold Move
Ani DiFranco, Subdivision
Red Eyed Frogs, Reconciliation
Red Eyed Frogs, G.E. Mutant Food

Get Up Stand Up: the history of pop and politics

The Get Up Stand Up series consists of six one hour documentaries detailing the history of popular music and its relationship to politics, social justice and the environment. The series looks predominantly at the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France, and the music composed and performed to illustrate and comment on profound social events.

Aired on Australia’s ABC in April/May 2005, the first documentary, We Shall Overcome focuses on music as it relates to the American Union movement, Apartheid and Civil Rights.

The introduction to this program sees the likes of Bono, Graham Nash from Crosby, Stills and Nash, Ed Sanders from the Fugs, Patti Smith, Michael Franti and others discussing the power of music and its ability to communicate messages and speak on events in society. Changing even just one person is considered to be an achievement, and it is recognised that the ability to make social changes is always present but needs a concerted effort and a conducive environment in order to be realised.

In discussing the events in the early 1900s with respect to the Union movement in the United States reference is made to artists such as Joe Hill who composed tracks such as Workers of the World, Union Scab, Rebel Girl, The Preacher and the Slave and There’s Power in a Union. Hill recognised that many people could not read or write at that time and considered music the best way to get messages across. As technology for recording was not developed or widespread, the music was performed live and passed on by word of mouth to inform, educate and empower the workers.

Joe Hill is considered to be the father of modern protest music, influencing the likes of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. He was eventually executed on a murder charge that many considered trumped up and designed to get him out of the way.

Other songs leading on from this era include Which Side Are You On which again refers to the Union movement and early civil rights songs such as Hard for a Blackman by Oscar Brand and Free and Equal Blues by Josh White.

Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and later Bob Dylan embraced the folk tradition and to many are seen as the real drivers of political music in the United States. Woody Guthrie’s, This Land is Yours and Ranger’s Command, Pete Seeger’s, If I Had a Hammer and Midnight Special all reflected the events taking place in society at that time.

Other instances of political censorship include the banning of The Weavers, who sang Marching to Pretoria, from public performances until 1955. The persecution of socialist thinkers at that time is reflected in the Peter Paul and Mary song, Have You Been To Jail For Justice.

The documentary also takes a detailed look at the music and events that took place with regard to the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King are the focus from a historical perspective with songs such as Pete Seeger’s adaptation of the 19th century negro gospel number We Shall Overcome and the Freedom Singer’s song, Freedom, demonstrating the use of music to reflect on current events.

The documentary also pays homage to Bob Dylan with songs such as Subterranean Homesick Blues, Mr Tambourine Man, Blowing in the Wind and Times they are a Changing all considered to be among his best political music at that time.

Johnny Cash is also mentioned, in particular his Bitter Tears album and the song Rusty Cage which refers to the treatment of native American Indians.

The documentary also considers events which have, and continue to take place in China with respect to human rights in Tibet and consideration is given to the Miller Rapper Fund set up by the Beastie Boys. Adam Yauch comments that music and concerts are one means of communicating a message and inspiring others to act. He considers grass roots political action such as letter writing, demonstrations and boycotts as the natural flow on effect from political music and the combination of the two which produces social change.

In the final part of this documentary Apartheid is considered with songs such as Peter Gabriel’s BIKO, Simple Mind’s Mandela Day, UB40’s Sing Our Own Song, Sade’s Why Cant We Live Together and the Artists United Against Apartheid’s Aint Going to Play Sun City and the Free Nelson Mandela song, all illustrative of the power of music to comment on and help change society.

As the opening documentary to this series I found this program to be incredibly detailed and informative. If you have the chance to see it I highly recommend it.

More Information

PBS <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/getupstandup/about.html>

National Library of Australia <http://nla.gov.au/anbd.bib-an42200446>


Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Payola

The Future of Music Coalition have released a new report into 'payola’ – the practice of paying radio stations to play music.

As they detail in the report this system of bribery had been in place in the United States since the 1950s. In the 1960s Federal laws were passed to prohibit the practice however record labels and radio stations simply began using middle men to pass benefits which included cash payments, favours and goods.

In 2003 the New York Attorney General conducted an investigation with out of court settlements being reached and record labels forced to compensate the public for distorting the communications system. The compensation of over $30 million was used to set up music education programs. A voluntary agreement was also entered into by the radio stations allowing for independent music air time and rules of engagement establishing acceptable industry standards.

These rules specify that radio stations should establish non-discriminatory procedures for music submissions and access to radio station music programmers. It is also important that stations do not form relationships with music companies, independent promotion companies, or others who may seek to influence the content of the music played on air. There should be open access to all independent promoters rather than exclusion of independents as a class. Furthermore and of fundamental importance, there should be no direct or indirect benefit passing in exchange for the playing of music with internal tracking systems to allow for transparency of any promotional offers.

The Future of Music Coalition raise a number of concerns with respect to the settlement and voluntary agreements. In particular the voluntary agreement does not have any real enforcement provisions and is separate to the rules and regulations of the Federal Communications Commission. This raises questions as to accountability and compliance.

The time afforded to promoting independent music is also questionable given that it has been offered on a voluntary basis and is quantified at 4,200 programming hours. This does not specify how this amount of time will be allocated nor does it provide a long term commitment for the inclusion of non label artists.

Such a practice is particularly problematic as it prevents independent artists from gaining exposure to listeners. Radio remains one of the key drivers of CD sales and for bringing audiences to concerts. The payola system created an environment in which some artists were favoured over others with those making the payments unaccountable and the public left ignorant of the practice.

Despite being able to access independent music over the internet, many independent artists struggle to attract and sustain an audience large enough to enable them to support themselves financially from their creations. Unless there is a level playing field for radio air time these artists are far less likely to succeed. Major record labels have in the past had too much influence over the content of radio programs and unless concerted and ongoing efforts are made to ensure fairness, this system will remain distorted.

Further Reading

Future of Music, Change That Tune Introduction (July 2008)
<http://www.futureofmusic.org/research/payolaeducationguide.cfm>

Future of Music Coalition, Change That Tune Report (July 2008) <http://www.futureofmusic.org/images/payolaeducationguide.pdf>

Digital Music News, Senator Prods Radio Conglomerates on Payola Compliance (12 July 2007) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/071207feingold/view> at 15 July 2007


Digital Music News, FCC Issues Payola Decrees Involving Terrestrial Conglomerates (16 April 2007) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/041607fcc> at 17 April 2007

Digital Music News, Major Radio Conglomerates, FCC Forge Payola Agreement (5 March 2007) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/030507payola> at 7 March 2007

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Song of the Moment: Self Evident

I played the Ani Di Franco song, Self Evident, as the first track on my first radio show –it is well worth a listen if you have time.

She talks initially about the role America has played in the world prior to 911 and then goes into more detail about the impact of those events on the American people.

The role of the media is also an important point with recognition of the use of the media to convince citizens that the war in Iraq is justified as well as America’s involvement in other parts of the world.

She also refers to freedom of choice for women, the inhumanity of the death penalty, the way technology distracts people from their awareness of political issues, the events that led George Bush to be elected, the environment, fossil fuels and the place for public transport.

The lack of substantive democracy in the United States is another theme of this track with multiple references to the American people being little more than pawns.

This track is spoken word with backing music. It clearly demonstrates the role that music can play in educating and informing people of political issues and policies.

Di Franco encourages listeners to think carefully about these issues and to take steps to rectify the problems that are self evident.

“The lessons are all around us and the truth is waiting there. It’s time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets and clear the air...”


Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Collection Agencies and Competition

Competition in the royalty collection arena arises again and again as an issue in many jurisdictions.

In the United States there are two main publishing collection agencies with respect to compositions. ASCAP and BMI compete with each other to attract composers and users of music. As more the one collection agency operates in this area there is commercial pressure to ensure composers are given the best services available.

Some suggest however, that having more than one agency with the repertoire of songs split between them, leads to complications for businesses and other organisations seeking to use tracks, often needing to deal with both agencies in order to have access to all the music they seek to use.

In Australia only one collection agency operates in the area of performing rights. In March 2006 the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission re-authorised APRA to act as the sole collection agency in this country. In doing so a number of issues were raised in considering whether more competition is required in this area.

Concerns were raised regarding the ability for creators to negotiate directly with users. This includes the ability for individual composers to license works, for example by use of a creative commons license, at the same time as having the song in the APRA repertoire. APRA undertook to make this process easier but the expectation of the ACCC was that such licensing would remain minimal.

In dismissing the need to establish additional collection agencies, the ACCC noted the inconvenience of having to deal with more than one collection agency. The costs associated with establishing and running additional services was of further concern, as was the enforcement of breaches on behalf of creators. The ACCC concluded that no additional collection agency was warranted at that stage. This will be reviewed again in 2010.

In the EU at present each country has its own royalty collection agency. The European Commission has been conducting an anti-trust investigation into whether there should be an amalgamation of these agencies and a regional licensing structure adopted.

The move toward regional licensing arrangements has been met with criticism and resistance from a number of composers and musicians who argue that this would result in lower royalty payments across the region, impacting on their ability to produce creative works into the future as they will be unable to sustain themselves financially:

More than 220 singers, musicians and composers - including Charles Aznavour, Sade, David Gilmour, Julio Iglesias, Maurice Jarre, Mark Knopfler and Michel Legrand - already have signed an appeal to the EU saying pan-European music licensing will stifle creativity.

For businesses, particularly large organisations needing to deal with individual agencies in each country, present arrangements raise administrative difficulties with some creative works being available for use in one country but not in another.

Competition in the collection of music royalties is of fundamental importance. The experience in Australia shows that when one agency is allowed monopolistic power there can be difficulties for artists wishing to negotiate alternative arrangements.

While there is undoubtedly a need for some integration of the licensing arrangements in Europe there must be more than one licensing body to ensure that composers and the users of music are serviced in an effective and efficient way.

In the end, as with much of the arrangements made with respect to copyright and musical compositions, the question of the number and services of collection agencies remains one of balance. Without multiple collection agencies there is the ever danger of monopolistic control and yet with too many, complexities arise leading to inefficiencies, ultimately impeding the ability of users to access creative works.

Further Reading
ASCAP: http://www.ascap.com/
BMI: http://www.bmi.com/
APRA: http://www.apra.com.au/

ACCC, ACCC re-authorises collective administration of music performing rights by APRA (9 March 2006) <http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/726809/fromItemId/2332> at 10 March 2006

SiliconValley/Associated Press, EU musicians oppose Europe-wide online royalties; outcome could affect iTunes (3 July 2008) <http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_9776215?nclick_check=1> 9 July 2008

Digital Music News, The Push for Pan-Licensing: Not Everyone Agrees (7 July 2008)<http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/070608eu> at 9 July 2008

Friday, July 4, 2008

Independents Day

To celebrate independent music, eMusic have a special compilation CD available for subscribers (free downloads are available when you trial their service). The CD includes tracks from Ani Di Franco, Slipknot and Feeder among others with proceeds from the downloads going to the American Association of Independent Music (AIM), the charity MusiCares and a special fund for independent labels in the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe.

In describing independent music they state:

Independent music is the songs that have to be sung, the melodies that lodge a lump in the throat, the rhythms that lift arms toward the heavens and feet from the floor. It's music from the heart — even when it's broken. It's music propelled not by money or obligation, but inspiration, desire, joy, sadness, elation.

The album is available from 4th July to 6th July 2008.

More Information
eMusic <http://www.emusic.com>

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Thesis Time

Just to let you know that I have started drafting a chapter for my thesis. This will be taking up more time now so expect these posts to drop off a little in frequency. I am still researching examples of political music this semester and keeping up with current events so I hope to keep you up to date when I can. The monthly posts to http://www.ocaustralia.blogspot.com will still be happening so head over there for links if you are missing me too much!

Sal