Digital Music Stores are on the right track

Some recent changes to the digital music scene are worth mentioning and relate to the discussion I raise regarding specific strategies that will help political music to be heard in the digital environment. Firstly there has been some integration between music services and external sources of content, secondly there have been some changes allowing more flexible use of general search engines and thirdly there has been some progress with respect to allowing the streaming of content prior to purchase.

eMusic was the first to announce and begin to integrate outside content into its service with Wikipedia pages and You Tube videos being made accessible from artist's pages. This was recently followed by an announcement by Yahoo that similar measures would be undertaken.

One of the central arguments of the presentation I will be giving in early October is that this sort of integration is essential to political music as much of the lyrics relate to specific events and social history. More immediate access to this information and the direct association of this sort of material with the music would remove many of the steps needed to establish the context in which oppositional audible culture is produced and thus enhance the exposure, consumption and use of this form of music. Unfortunately early indications suggest that the integration of these sources will not be comprehensive but rather limited to artist biographies and clips relating purely to the songs themselves.

Yahoo, in partnership with Rhapsody, has also recently announced and begun allowing for full length tracks to be searched for through its general search engine. Again this is an important improvement simplifying the process of locating and accessing political music. However reports suggest that this will only allow songs to be searched for by artist name and song title. Whilst an improvement on what is available now, in order to enhance access and use of political music I argue that there needs to be more comprehensive search facilities which would enable the lyrics or embedded tags to be searched to locate material based on content.

Yahoo will also be allowing a limited number of tracks to be streamed once for free (25 per month) prior to the music being purchased. This is similar to the recently launched MySpace Music (only available in the USA at the moment) which will allow an unlimited number of streams of songs but will require purchase through Amazon in order to retain copies of tracks. In the case of MySpace Music the streams are ad supported with revenue sharing arrangements with copyright holders.

Whilst all music suffers from the pay-before-you-try model, as political music is commonly not accessible through mainstream media such as radio and television, this form of culture, and indeed many independent artists (if they are given equal access to these services), will benefit from this change of strategy.

The translation of political expression into social change requires interpretation and application. I argue that these efforts of allowing streams of songs are positive but for political music, greater exposure, consumption and use would more easily be affected through greater affiliation with legitimate non profit associations. I envisage allowing these sites the ability to stream related songs from their websites as one means to increase the communicative capacity of this form of music.

These steps whilst not across the board nor in themselves sufficient to ensure that political music is being heard, are nonetheless positive changes that can be built on in the future (if there is the commercial incentive to do so).

Further Reading
Digital Music News, eMusic Goes Under the Knife; Makeover Unwrapping Soon (17 July 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/071608emusic> at 18 July 2008

Yahoo, Yahoo hopes to boost search fortunes with new music search (19 September 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080919-yahoo-hopes-to-boost-search-fortunes-with-new-music-search.html> at 21 September 2008

CNet News, Yahoo adds full-length music tracks to search results (18 September 2008) <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10045466-2.html> at 21 September 2008

ArsTechnica, MySpace Music extends right hand of fellowship to Big Four, middle finger to indies (25 September 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080925-myspace-music-extends-right-hand-of-fellowship-to-big-four-middle-finger-to-indies.html> at 26 September 2008

TechDirt, Independent Record Labels Missing From MySpace Music (25 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080925/1530262378.shtml> at 26 September 2008

The Register, MySpace Music hears the antitrust song (18 September 2008) <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/18/myspace_music_antitrust/> at 21 September 2008

Digital Music News, MySpace Music Goes Live; All Majors On Board (25 September 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/092408myspace> at 26 September 2008

Silicon Valley/Associated Press, MySpace rolling out music service (24 September 2008) <http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_10548663?nclick_check=1> at 26 September 2008

The Register, MySpace Music hears the antitrust song (18 September 2008) <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/09/18/myspace_music_antitrust/> at 21 September 2008

TechDirt, MySpace's Music Offering: Ignoring The Elephant In The Room (12 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080912/1514312256.shtml> at 21 September 2008

Music with a Message

Next week on Music with a Message I will be playing some blues music with a special segment of JB Lenoir’s music. This leads nicely into some anti war songs followed by some tracks relating to civil rights and the experiences of African Americans.

Gil Scott Heron, B Movie
Gil Scott Heron, Winter in America
Anne Feeney, The Corporate Welfare Song
Lions Gate Chorus, Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves
David Byrne, (Nothing But) Flowers
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama Blues
J.B. Lenoir, Alabama March
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam Blues
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam
J.B. Lenoir, I’m in Korea
J.B. Lenoir, Eisenhower Blues
Pete Seeger, Bring Them Home (If You Love Your Uncle Sam)
Cold Chisel, Khe Sanh
Billy Bragg, Like Soldiers Do
Dukes of Windsor, Its A War
The Grack Emcee, Red, White, and Blue
David Dondero, Pre-Invasion Jitters
Blue King Brown, Moment of Truth
John Mayer, Belief
Sting, Send Your Love (Art of Peace Mix)
The Impressions, People Get Ready
Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome
Bob Dylan, The Times They Are a Changin’
Bob Dylan, Hurricane
Bruce Springsteen, American Skins (41 Shots)
Bob Marley & The Wailers, War
Rage Against the Machine, Freedom
Billy Bragg, Help Save the Youth of America
Billy Bragg, Ideology

Thomas case

ArsTechnica have reported that the Jammie Thomas case has been overturned. Thomas had previously been ordered to pay $220,000 in damages for sharing 24 songs.

Judge Davis of the United States District Court has held that the instructions given to the jury - that merely making files available without actual distribution is sufficient to base copyright infringement claims - were incorrect. The case will now be reheard. No decision was given with respect to the excessive finding of damages.

Further Reading
ArsTechnica, Thomas verdict overturned, making available theory rejected (24 September 2008) <http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080924-thomas-verdict-overturned-making-available-theory-rejected.html> at 25 September 2008

Capitol Records et al v Jammie Thomas, Civil File No. 06‐1497 (MJD/RLE)
<http://arstechnica.com/news.media/thomas-ruling-1.pdf> at 25 September 2008

The Babel Objection

One of the areas I discuss in my presentation on the regulation of political music is the relative obscurity in which this form of expression is presently placed. One of the changes I have made to my paper is to include a reference to the text The Wealth of Networks by Professor Benkler of Harvard University.

Benkler considers criticisms raised regarding the democratising potential of the internet and in particular examines the ‘Babel objection’. In Chapter 5 he discusses the idea of information overload and states:

The cornucopia of stories out of which each of us can author our own will only enhance autonomy if it does not resolve into a cacophony of meaningless noise... Having too much information with no real way of separating the wheat from the chaff forms what we might call the Babel objection. Individuals must have access to some mechanism that sifts through the universe of information, knowledge, and cultural moves in order to whittle them down to a manageable and usable scope [Ch 5 pg 22-23].

He goes on to note that there are two primary mechanisms by which the Babel objection is overcome in the digital environment. Firstly, instead of isolated sites and users, there is a tendency for common interests to cluster (such as through interlinking) to establish both a core group of sites relating to certain themes as well as other more loosely connected but associated sources. He refers to this as a Bow Tie structure [Ch 7 pg 27]. Furthermore, peer recommendation, editing and filtering mechanisms assist to order the information on the internet to ensure that it is both diverse and manageable [Ch 5 pg 24].

He then goes on to refer directly to the improvements that the networked information economy provides with respect to music:

Instead of relying on the judgement of record labels and a DJ of a commercial radio station for what music is worth listening to, users can compare notes as to what they like, and give music to friends whom they think will like it. This is the virtue of music file-sharing systems as distribution systems [Ch 5 pg 25].

While I agree with the sentiments expressed with respect to music generally, when one examines the digital environment with a distinct focus on political music it becomes apparent that there is not a high level of clustering, filtering or peer recommendation.

In proposing specific strategies such as:

1. The allocation of dedicated space for political songs on digital music sites and the integration of weblogs, wikis and discussion forums,
2. Modifications to search engines to allow songs to be searched by imbedded tags or key words,
3. Allowing non commercial uses by genuine non profit websites, and
4. The development of a central repository or archive,

my goal is to create a digital environment which enables clustering, peer recommendation and filtering in order that oppositional audible culture may overcome the Babel objection and realise its true communicative capacity.

Further Reading
Yochai Benkler, ‘The Wealth of Networks’ [Paper Friendly Version] (2006)
<http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Download_PDFs_of_the_book> at 10 September 2008

Music with a Message

Next weekend on Music with a Message I will be playing some heavy metal political music in the first half hour.

I will be then moving onto some tracks referring to war and hope to be playing both the Redgum and The Herd versions of ‘I was only 19’ – I have been looking into the resuse of political songs in new versions – both covers and adaptations - in recent weeks and for those that aren’t familiar with this song, the Redgum version (which I think may have been a cover as well but I am not sure) is sung in a very traditional/folk Australian way while The Herd's version, which was released much more recently, is performed in a hip hop style with a sample of the Redgum version towards the end.

I then hope to move on to a wider range of songs which cover topics including industrial relations, women’s rights, Indigenous land rights, civil rights, Apartheid and drug laws.

The radio station where I do my show is community based and largely operated by volunteers and in recent weeks there have been some equipment breakdowns. Some of these tracks are AAC encoded and last night I was unable to play these types of tracks. [Luckily all the heavy metal songs are mp3s ;-p ].

Lamb of God, Bootscraper
Lamb of God, Blood Junkie
Michael Schenker & Tim Owens (cover of Black Sabbath), War Pigs
Racer X (cover of Black Sabbath ), Children of the Grave
Nuclear Assault, Third World Genocide
Nuclear Assault, Price of Freedom

Edwin Starr, War
Sting, Russians
Sting, They Dance Alone
Redgum, I was only 19
The Herd, I was only 19
Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name
U2, Pride (In the Name of Love)
Bjork, Declare Independence
Buffy Sainte Marie, Universal Soldier

Gene Autry, The Death of Mother Jones
Uncle Dave Macon, We’re Up Against it Now
Tracy Chapman, Behind the Wall
Helen Reddy, I am Woman
Our Home Our Land, Solid Rock
Midnight Oil, One Country
JB Lenoir, Alabama Blues
Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit
Chuck D and the Slamjamz, Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud
Simple Minds, Mandela Day
Peter Tosh, Fight Apartheid
Peter Tosh, Legalise it
Peter Tosh, Dont Want to Be Busted
Billy Bragg, Bush War Blues
Billy Bragg, Days Like These

Mi Tunes

I was fortunate to borrow from my library a copy of the SBS Insights program recently which aired earlier this year on Australia’s SBS Television. The program consulted an audience of consumers, representatives of the recording and publishing industries, internet service providers, technology developers, digital music stores, major label and independent artists and academics, on the issue of illegal downloads.

Consumers
Three young male consumers discussed their downloading habits and openly acknowledged that the majority of the tracks they downloaded were illegal. The reasons behind this varied and included: perceptions that many artists were already rich enough and do not deserve extra money from album sales, a tendency to download out of habit rather than really think through the implications of their behaviour, that getting music out to people and their message across is more important than recouping money, that the limitations imposed on the use and reuse of tracks by legal download sites were an impediment and their limited access to credit card facilities prevented them from using services such as iTunes.

Recording Industry
Stephen Peach from the Australian Recording Industry Association refuted suggestions that the horse has bolted for the music industry but did recognise the size of the problem – he suggested that around 1 billion songs a year are illegally downloaded in Australia. Research conducted by ARIA indicated that of these 1 in 5 or 1 in 4 songs would have been purchased which equates to around 200 million songs or $200 million in wholesale revenues that the industry is loosing each year – around half the size of the industry today.

He strongly supports the introduction of a three strikes enforcement model in which user accounts are terminated after a series of warnings sent on behalf of the music industry by ISPs. He challenged suggestions that this was a punitive approach suggesting that it was a light touch compared with individual lawsuits for copyright infringement.

He also strongly supported the iTunes per track download model and suggested that without an approach such as the three strikes policy, which challenges free downloading, all other revenue models are simply unable to compete with free.

Publishing
Scott Morris from the Australian Performing Rights Association stated that record sales are down and new digital services have not made up for the shortfall and that this has changed the industry for songwriters who depend on record sales as well as recording artists. He noted that many of the major label stars do not write all of their own music and that composers are also missing out when people download illegally. He suggested that APRA would be happy to consider new revenue models that ensure that money goes back to creators. As a collection agency APRA would be pleased to participate and engage with new models.

Jenny Morris who is a former recording artist and member of the APRA board also suggested that educating consumers is important and that this would help to overcome the culture of free downloads.

Clive Hudson of Shock Music Publishing however, suggested that file sharing was essential given that the per track legal downloads model has created an industry dependent on single sales. He suggested that the word of mouth that the internet provides, assists the industry by encouraging people to buy albums rather than single tracks. It was his opinion that the industry could not survive on single track sales alone.

Internet Industry Association
Peter Coroneos was quick to make the point that ISPs cant not tell what files are being transferred and cannot know what portion of their services are being used fort illegal vs legal downloading. He also noted that the internet is a hugely transformative communications method and that this is a period of transition in which business models have not yet adapted. He suggested that this was a case of market failure as the old structures of the music industry are not able to deliver the value convenience and choice that consumers desire.

He suggested that while ISPs are interested in revenue sharing models, they should not be held responsible or liable any more than Australia Post should be for what is sent through the mail as the role of ISPs is simply to act as independent carriers.

He indicated that Australian ISPs are not keen to participate in a three strikes policy and suggested that this is the wrong way to resolve illegal downloads and considered that terminating families internet accounts to be a punitive approach which sets a dangerous precedent in a democracy.

He considers that the better approach is to explore new business models which focus on alternative sources of revenue such as concerts and subscriptions and that the industry needs to create incentives for the market to move rather than attempt to force it to participate in what the industry considers to be the acceptable form of delivery.

The IIA have recently started a new website - nuturemusic .org – which seeks to help artists negotiate the digital terrain.

Technology Developers
Kevin Burmeister of Altnet and formerly associated with Kazaa who were sued for providing file sharing software and settled with the recording industry for $115 million in damages, was of the opinion that technology could be developed that would assist all parties in the downloading of music in a legal way. His product which has not been endorsed as yet by the recording industry operates in conjunction with existing file sharing software to redirect users to legitimate files rather than illegal files.

Digital Music Stores
Rebekah Horne of MySpace Music suggested that while this was a complex issue, punitive models have the added danger of distracting participants from the real solutions and tend to take the focus away from working out the long term sustainability of the music industry.

Artists
A number of major label and independent artist also discussed their sentiments regarding illegal downloads. Most indicated that they were torn on this issue.

Phrase is the only hip hop artist signed to a major recording label in Australia. He began the show by suggesting that he was concerned by the number of people who downloaded his music rather than paying for it suggesting that he would be dropped from his label and that this would mean that he would be unable to continue making music. His main source of income is from live shows and he said that he makes next to nothing from CD sales.

He questioned why it is that people spend lots of money on their lifestyle like food and clothes but wont spend $20 on an album that takes six months to make. He said that it is not possible for him to keep giving music away all the time and that at some point he needs to earn a wage.

He was also concerned about the fact that it appears as though ISPs are making money from internet users but they are not giving any of the money to the artists. Later in the show however he was very supportive of a flat monthly fee paid by consumers with the funds being divided up and given to artists.

Mahalia Barnes (daughter of Jimmy Barnes) who released her debut album earlier this year further noted that it takes eight session musicians for her to play live and that it is very difficult for her to make money from live performances. In response to comments relating to recent business models employed by bands such as Radiohead, she stated that new artists are not in the same position to take risks which other more established acts can.

Tim Levinson from the independent band The Herd noted that they way he and his friends used to find out about music was by making mixed tapes and sharing them and agreed that this was simply a much more efficient way of doing the same thing. He suggested that this was not a black and white issue with some benefit coming from getting their music out to a broader section of the community. He also acknowledged that many young consumers simply do not have the money to spend on albums.

Similarly, Taasha Coates of The Audreys wondered whether she would have downloaded if it had been available when she was younger and suggested that touring bands are doing reasonably well in Australia.

There was also a brief clip of an interview with John Butler of the John Butler Trio where he suggested that he was selling around 40% less albums. He stated that his new album appears to be doing better than his earlier CDs but that it has sold nearly less than the last. Peter Coroneos later commented that he questioned whether there had been a significant change in the number of people attending the bands concerts and implied that this may offset the loss in CD sales.

Academics
Kate Crawford from the Media Research Centre at UNSW suggested that there is definitely a future for the music industry but that it is radically different from what it was in the past. She said that there are essentially two options for the recording industry – either they can wage war on their best customers as they have done over the past 8-10 years or they can collaborate to embrace new technologies.

She suggested that turning ISPs into copyright cops is not the answer and commented that downloading is part of the new reality for the music industry that must be engaged with, noting that flat monthly fee structures with the use of watermarking to track the number of times a song is played is a preferable option to punitive approaches.

_ _ _
Overall this was a very interesting program and although for me it didn’t really raise anything new it did attempt to cover the field and discuss many of the main issues relating to illegal downloads and the future of the music industry. I found it informative but was a little annoyed with the repetition of phrases that directly correlated downloads to stealing.

The show closed by noting that the Australian government is keen to support a culture in which music is paid for but that no formal policy is yet in place. Let’s hope they can see past the idea of a three strikes policy and encourage the industry to take a more imaginative and effective approach.

Integration

One of the points I make in the draft presentation concerning the regulation of political music in the digital environment is that to overcome the silencing of this form of culture there must be far greater integration of discussion forums, Wikipedia pages and similar formats that allow for information to be shared with respect to political songs.

I was reading with interest only today that some digital media stores are attempting to do this. First it was eMusic that updated its site to incorporate Wikipedia pages alongside artist and album pages. In the past few days it has been reported that Yahoo is to do this as well and should launch an updated site within in six weeks. MySpace music is also integrating music into its site, combining advertising with streaming content in a social network environment.

These are all excellent developments and will certainly make some difference to the discourse surrounding music generally and by implication will assist listeners who seek out political music. It is not however the complete solution. There continues to be limitations which prevent an open exploration and discussion to take place.

eMusic for example only allows short samples of songs to be played prior to downloading, restricting the exposure of listeners to songs prior to selection. While eMusic will also inetegrate content from sites like Flickr, YouTube and Wikipedia, it has appears as though this content will be limited to that which relates directly to the artist.

MySpace music will allow streams of songs from user’s websites provided they display advertising. I wonder whether an artist will have the chance to refuse advertising, whether only songs that are deemed worthy by the advertisers will be used and how the store intends to deal with music that is licensed under a non-commercial use license.

True integration of music that would best allow political music to be heard would enable some grouping of similar songs by multiple artists that address a common theme. These sites whilst providing increased opportunities for discourse and exploration will nonetheless fall short of providing the basis enabling political music as a genre to find its feet – these approaches remain largely artist centric rather than issue focused.

To further enhance the opportunities for political song there should be a dedicated effort to cross reference songs with issues and to link artists together to form a web. I wont be happy until I can go from J.B. Lenoirs’ eMusic profile to his Wikipedia entry, then onto a Wikipedia page about the Vietnam war followed by an entry relating to music of that era and back into eMusic to get it without having to stop and search each separate step along the way. When we can truly navigate around these forums to gather music and information at the same time, political music will have a far greater chance of realising its potential.

This attempt at integration is fantastic but nonetheless is in its infancy.

Further Reading
Digital Music News, eMusic Makeover Starts Rolling; Album Pages First (22 July 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/072208emusic > at 14 September 2008

Digital Music News, MySpace's Music Offering: Ignoring The Elephant In The Room (12 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080912/1514312256.shtml> at 14 September 2008

Digital Music News, Manic Monday? MySpace Music Around the Corner... (12 September 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091108myspace> at 14 September 2008

washingtonpost, Yahoo to open music to other services (11 September 2008) <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091101997.html>a t 14 September 2008

Digital Music News, Yahoo Music Starts Opening Up; Early Blueprints Revealed (12 September 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/091008yahoo> at 14 September 2008

Political Music Political Campaigns.

Those that have taken the time to peruse my draft presentation on political music and ways to overcome institutional constraints, will note that one of the solutions I propose to ensure that oppositional audible culture is heard and realises its communicative potential, is by allowing legitimate non profits the right to stream music on their websites as a way of educating and informing the public about topical issues.

I expect that this idea will raise concerns with some about the rights of artists, or more accurately copyright holders, to control the uses and applications of their works. For more aesthetic forms of music there is less contention with respect to restricting these uses, particularly as mass media avenues such as radio and television remain as one means of exposure. For political music however, there is more commonly a need to link with grass roots campaigns in order to achieve the desired goal and intention of the songs.

But where does one draw the line in enabling the use of works for these purposes?

In the United States recently, the use of music in political campaigns has been somewhat of a topical issue.

First Jackson Browne’s song ‘Running on Empty’ was used by the McCain campaign in political advertising against Barak Obama. Find Law reported that the artist filed a Federal lawsuit in Los Angeles against McCain, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Ohio Republican Party (ORP), accusing them of copyright infringement, statutory violations, and violation of the right of publicity. Browne seeks injunctive relief stopping the unauthorized use of his song, actual damages, statutory damages, and attorney's fees and costs.

Then the McCain party used the Heart song ‘Barracuda’ at a campaign event. Provided a performance license was obtained prior to the use of the work this is not a breach of copyright. The copyright holder however, was reported to have sent a cease and desist letter.

In the United States election process it is common for artists to endorse candidates. Where their works are used without prior consent or in conflict with their political views there is likely to be some backlash. Another example of this was when the Reagan administration was seeking re-election and an approach was made to Bruce Springsteen. Reagan sought endorsement from Springsteen and despite being refused made public reference to the song ‘Born in the USA’. In response, Springsteen made an announcement at a concert refuting suggestions that Reagan was a true fan.

I consider there to be a distinct difference between using music on websites for lobby groups, and use for an election campaign. In the first instance the work is used to express the intended sentiment of the song, for educational and illustrative purposes that inform citizens about important issues. In the later, it seems the music is more about marketing a person or party in a way that contributes to their image and public perception.

I acknowledge that the idea of allowing grass roots campaigners to use music on their websites, is one which may require further detailed analysis in order to establish boundaries and processes that enable it to happen without derogating from the artists preferences. However I also consider the present regulatory environment to be one which impacts on political music to the point of it being virtually silenced and see the need to take steps to overcome this as a very important objective.

Further Reading
FindLaw, "Running On Empty"? - Jackson Browne Files Suit Against John McCain (August 2008) <http://technology.findlaw.com/resources/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=//articles/00006/011198.html> at 22 August 2008

TechDirt, McCain Campaign Ignores Cease-And-Desist; Keeps Playing 'Barracuda' (10 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080910/0316412221.shtml> at 12 September 2008

TechDirt, Heart Demanding McCain Campaign Stop Using Its Song (5 September 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080905/0231272177.shtml> at 12 September 2008

FindLaw, "Running On Empty"? - Jackson Browne Files Suit Against John McCain (August 2008) <http://technology.findlaw.com/resources/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page=//articles/00006/011198.html> at 22 August 2008

Wikipedia, Born in the U.S.A song (30 August 2008) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_in_the_U.S.A._(song)> at 14 September 2008

Music with a Message

I really enjoyed featuring the Rock the Net CD last night on my radio program. Having played a few feature albums in recent weeks next weekend I will be returning to my usual plan of putting together songs in certain themes. As you can see from this play list in the first half I am playing a few anti war songs followed by some with an environmental theme. The second half covers civil, indigenous rights, race relations and industrial relations.

I like many of these songs but one that stands out for its currency is thegoogledolls track Mr Obama Save My Planet.

Neville Brothers, With God on Our Side
Lead Belly, Uncle Sam Says (Bottle Up and Go)
Lead Belly, Hitler Song
Texas Jim Robertson, The Last Page of Mein Kampf
J.B. Lenoir, Vietnam Blues
Red Gum, I was only 19
John Butler Trio, Fire in the Sky
Wildfire, Make Music Not War
Neon Prophet, Running Out of Time
Neon Prophet, Save The Planet
Jeffrey Walker and Michael Droste, Save The Planet
Thegoogledolls, Mr. Obama Save My Planet
Scrabbel, Save the Green Planet
Julian Lennon, Saltwater
John Butler Trio, Treat Yo Mama

Neon Prophet, One World
Peter Tosh, Equal Rights [Live at the One Love Peace Concert 1978)
Len Chandler, Murder on the Roads of Alabama
Arrested Development, Revolution
The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
The Get Up Mob, From Little Things Big Things Grow
Our Land, Our Home, Land Rights
Our Land, Our Home, Forgotten Tribe
Our Land, Our Home, Stricken Land
Joe Glazer, We Will Sing One Song
Joe Glazer, Rebel Girl
Woody Guthrie, 1913 - Massacre
Tracy Chapman, Talkin’ About Revolution
Sinead O’Connor, Daddy I’m Fine
The Herd, 77%

[You may have also noted that some of my earlier posts appear to be having a formatting problem - they were not like this when I posted them but blogger appears to be displaying and publishing text from Word 2007 differently - hopefully they will fix this up soon and sorry for any inconvenience.]

Keep an eye out...

In reviewing the play lists for my political music program I have noticed a distinct lack of heavy metal music that comments on social issues. It seems simply a case of not having found it yet rather than it being non existent. I have started to do some research but if anyone has any ideas I would be delighted to hear about them.

One article I read recently suggests that political commentary is becoming more prevalent in this form of music. Examples given include the band Cattle Decapitation who are ardent vegetarians and record songs commenting on the meat industry, there is the song Amerika the Brutal by Six Feet Under which is an anti war song and songs such as War Pigs and Children of the Grave by Black Sabbath are anti Vietnam tracks.

If you can think of other songs like these that are not mentioned in this article feel free to post them in the comments section.

Thanks.

Further Reading

Msnbc, Heavy Metal becomes increasingly political (10 August 2006) <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14288309/> at 12 September 2008

Music with a Message

This week on Music with a Message I am going to feature the benefit album called Rock the Net. This album was released recently by the American non profit association, the Future of Music Coalition.

The organisation, which was started by a number of musicians including REM and members of Pearl Jam, is raising money and trying to educate people about Network Neutrality.

Like many others they are arguing that Internet Service Providers should not be to prioritise some internet traffic over others. This issue is particularly important for independent musicians and artists who depend on the internet to get their music out and their message across.

It is also very much an issue related to free speech and open communication. If ISPs are able to discriminate and determine which traffic is most important then those with the financial backing to spend more money will be able to dictate what information is most easily available on the internet.

To date 955 bands and 185 labels have signed up to support the campaign. Two hundred and six live shows have been dedicated to promoting the cause and 2481 people have signed their petition.


Rock The Net:
Bright Eyes, I Won’t Ever Be Happy Again
Aimee Mann, 31 Today
David Bazan, Cold Beer and Cigarettes
The Wrens, Sleep
The Classic Brown, Modulation
They Might Be Giants, We Live In a Dump
DJ Spooky Featuring Saba Saba, Uganda
Palomar, Red
Guster, Timothy Leary
Wilco, Impossible Germany
Portastatic, Hang Down Your Head
Matthew Shipp Trio, New Orbit
BC Camplight, Soy Tonto
David Miller, Sunday Driver
Free From Funky Freqs, The Binds That Tie

Other music I will be playing on Saturday night includes:
Blue King Brown, One Day
Blue King Brown, Moment of Truth
Ice T, Freedom of Speech
Shiny Dragon, Freedom of Speech
Eliot, Freedom of Speech
Pitch Black, Speech (Freedom of Speech Remix)
Ben Harper, With My Own Two Hands
Ben Harper, Better Way
John Mayer, Waiting on the World to Change
Peter Tosh , Get Up Stand Up
Bob Marley & The Wailers, Four Hundred Years
Joe Glazer, Preacher and the Slave, “The Pie in the Sky”
Joe Glazer, Casey Jones (The Union Scab)
Vitamin Spins, Independent Women Part 1
Meredith Brooks, Bitch
U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Herd, 2020

Music with a Message

I have been busily preparing for my radio show this weekend - here's the list of tracks - the first half has a small atomic/nuclear theme to it and the second half has a few tracks about industrial relations and workers rights. I was a little disappointed by Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around – its a great track (about war!!!)

Blue King Brown, Stand Up
Sting and the Radioactors, Nuclear Megawaste
The Golden Gate Quartet, Atom & Evil
Billy Hughes and the Rhythm Buckeroos , Atomic Serman
The Son of the Pioneers, Old Man Atom
System of a Down, Boom
Dead Kennedy’s, Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around
Edwin Starr, War
Ani Di Franco, Self Evident
Green Day, American Idiot
NoFX, Franco UnAmerican
Jewel, America
John Butler Trio, Gov Did Nothing

Lucinda Williams, American Dream
Neville Brothers, The Ballad of Hollis Brown
Elvis Presley, In the Ghetto
Slim Smith, Bread Line Blues
Lee Hayes, The Dodger Song
Joe Glazer, There’s Power in a Union
Anne Feeney, What Ever Happened to the Eight Hour Day?
Anne Feeney, War on the Workers
Anne Feeney, Scabs
Anne Feeney, Take Them Down!
Living Colour, Open Letter to a Landlord
The Whitlams, Blow Up the Pokies
No Doubt, Just a Girl
Billy Bragg, Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards
Yusef Islam, Peace Train
UB40, Sing Our Own Song
USA For Africa, We are the World

In The Matter of Mashups

It has been very pleasing to hear the Australian ABC radio station, Triple J, play the new Girl Talk track 'Let Me See You' from the album 'Feed the Animals' repeatedly in recent weeks. I admire both Gillis skill and tenacity in blending old sounds into new art.

A number of articles have been written recently about the potential legal impediments to this type of creation and the threat that creators of mashups face from copyright holders. Gillis consistently refers to his sampling as a form of fair use suggesting that he transforms the original works by recontextualising them. Others suggest, based on Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. Dimension Films, 410 F.3d 792 (6th Cir. 2005), that any sampling requires a license and it is just a matter of time before Gillis ends up before a court.

It was interesting to me to read recently that his music is licensed under a non commercial use creative commons license. One commentator questioned this given that Gillis himself is selling his music and yet he inturn seeks to prevent others from making a profit from sampling his remixes. The argument, which I found hard to agree with, was essentially that he was being hypocritical. I personally recognise the new value he has created and consider a non commercial use license as a generous affirmation of the values of the culture that surround the art form.

The law with respect to sampling highlights the inability of the legal system and the legislatures to keep up with modern developments and trends. It shows a distinct lack of flexibility to emerging art forms with many more creations such as these likely in the future. Indeed a German avant-garde musician Johannes Kreidler recently composed a song that samples 70,200 other musical works in 33 seconds.

Part of the problem is the uncertainty with the legal tests that are applied – in the United States factors such as the amount of the work that is used, whether it is for a commercial or non commercial purpose and the impact the use has on the market for the work are deciding factors. But in themselves as guidelines they are simply too vague for creators to apply to real life situations with certainty.

The situation in Australia is generally considered more strict but turns on whether a substantial portion of the prior work has been used.

I propose that the law be changed to allow an additional fair use/fair dealing right for music mashups. A maximum sample of 15 seconds of any song should be permissible before a license is required. This sample could be used repeatedly in the same song but any longer would require copyright clearance. Attribution should also be provided.

By providing a clear cut, timed segment of music without the need to compensate the copyright holder this art form would be free to develop without negatively impacting on the ability of past creators to receive entitlements from their works. As is often the case, the mashups trigger people’s cultural memories and sometimes even result in an increase in sales of back catalogue items.


Further Reading

MySpace, Girl Talk <http://www.myspace.com/girltalk> at 2 September 2008

Pop Matters, Life Savers: Girl Talk (17 July 2008)
<http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/60913/life-savers-girl-talk/> at 2 September 2008

Digital Music News, Resnikoff's Parting Shot: Girl Talk (31 July 2008) <http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/073008parting> at 7 August 2008

TechDirt, Why Doesn't Girl Talk Allow Commercial Use? (25 July 2008) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080707/0016231597.shtml> at 28 July 2008

P2p Blog, Musician mashes up 70,200 songs, delivers lists to rights holders by the truck load (21 August 2008) <http://www.p2p-blog.com/item-826.html> at 22 August 2008

Wikipedia, Good Copy Bad Copy (13 August 2008) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_copy_bad_copy> at 2 September 2008

Wikipedia, Girl Talk (musician) (31 August 2008) <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Talk_(musician)> at 2 September 2008