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