IASPM ANZ – Day 3

Yesterday was the third and final day of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference (Australia/New Zealand) in Auckland NZ.

I attended a number of presentations today which were fantastic, in fact I had a hard time selecting what to see because there were so many good ones to choose from.

Andrew Whelan – Free Music and Trash Culture: the reconfiguration of musical value online

Andrew spoke at length about the impact of the digital environment on music. He considered the loss of economic value and suggestions that this leads to a loss in aesthetic and affective value. Furthermore he discussed the over abundance of music and perspectives that suggest that this results in transient, adhoc and frivolous interactions with music and inturn reduces the worth of music.

Andrew also considered the potential benefits of the democratisation of music and Attali's perspective that the ability to remove art from the constraints of capitalism and ability of listeners to select their own soundscape as being a step forward.

He also went on to outline the additional consequences of free online distribution with particular reference MySpace profiles, netlabels, 'cracked' software and the quantity of material available to sample. He discussed how open licensing has in fact resulted in musical subcultures that are thriving in what many others consider to be a difficult environment.

He played examples of 'counter music' such as DJ Lovechoad who sampled and remixed Gnarles Barkley. Other examples included Butress and O'Kneel who have remixed Enya on the album Mash Up Your Ass as well as remixes of the Ass of Bass by Alex Tune. Andrew later discussed mashups generally, stating that they are essentially a redemption activity that seeks to recycle the old and reuse it in a way that enables a form of revival.

Andrew also referred to the abundance of music available on the internet through music blogs such as http://mutant-sounds.blogspot.com; http://rhhb.blogspot.com and http://progotfrong.com/blogpost.com. He also noted the Mega Super Mammoth mp3 Bloglist which lists all of the weblogs devoted to mp3s as a further illustration of the mass of music available on the internet. While initially much of this music was located on peer to peer networks, the development of bit torrent and weblogs has seen a steady transition onto the world wide web, enabling the music to become more accessible than it used to be. In debating the free cost of this music Andrew noted that the fact that it is free is sometimes used to depict it as being of poor quality and yet the labels in the genre that he is referring to are well respected despite the lack of cost associated with the music.

Cathrin Jaeger – The Digital Revolution and Its Beneficial Effects on New Zealand Independent Record Labels

This was a great paper that considered the reaction of independent record labels in New Zealand to the challenges of the digital environment. Interviews were conducted with seven labels who were questioned about their use of web 2.0 applications. It was found that while the independent labels retained the role as talent spotters but they are also increasingly taking on the role of the major record labels in bringing music to an international audience (distribution and marketing).

The independent labels interviewed clearly recognised the benefits of cost-free word-of-mouth promotion by fans and have embraced the use of social networking sites where news about new bands and songs can be easily accessed. This in turn results in audiences having a much broader range of music to select from and enjoy far greater exposure to a diversity of genres which assists the unique New Zealand musical sound.

She made an interesting point about MySpace being a musical encyclopaedia but also noted the increased use of Facebook. Independent labels are using Facebook to enable both communication with fans and marketing as well as market research. She stated that this architecture facilitates the building of a large number of fans in a short amount of time and that a large fan community can in turn help to attract external sponsors.

Steven Knopoff (and Graham Strahle) - What Happened to High Fidelity? Portable music, the Internet and the changed culture of listening

Steven Knopoff (and Graham Strahle) presented a paper titled 'What Happened to High Fidelity? Portable Music, the Internet and the Changed Culture of Listening' that concerned sonic realism and the changes in technology which have in fact seen a reduction in sound quality and compromises made to ensure digital files remain easily transferrable. In turn there has been an acceptance of a poorer quality product by consumers and the loss of sound quality has largely been ignored. Even CDs are seen as being of reduced sound quality despite the noise reduction this has been furthered by mp3 compression. One example can be found here: http://mastering-media.blogspot.com/2008/09/metallica-death-magnetic-sounds-better.html

Steven also noted that some music manufacturers are also doing what tv advertisers have done for a long time in increasing the volume of the songs when recorded/mixed in order to try to out do each other in capturing the attention of listeners. Increasingly the expectation of listeners is one of stylised naturalism for sound quality even in live performances.

The limited sound quality of iPods is not new but the portability of the songs has made a strong contribution to changes in listening behaviour (which initially began with the portable radio and then the walkman). He noted that there are a greater number of playback technologies now than ever before, however most listeners gravitate to one type (the iPod) due to social and commerce related factors rather than sound quality. The basic parameters of an acceptable mp3 player include large storage capacity, low cost as well as speakers and headphone that are good, small and cheap.

He concluded that while there remain niche pockets of people that retain the desire of high fidelity, there has been a gradual dissolution and replacement of sound goals with technological advances.  

There were many other great papers that I attended both on the final day of the proceedings and throughout the past few days that I haven't had a chance to write about. All that attended agreed that it had been a very successful conference with the diversity of disciplines and the topics of the papers, not to mention the fantastic people, being the cornerstones of a wonderful association an enjoyable and productive exchange of ideas. The discussions after each session I attended were indicative of the provocative nature of the contributors as well as the benefits of having the chance to share time with people in the same field and related areas. The next IASPM ANZ will be in Melbourne in 2010.  

IASPM ANZ – Day 2

Today was the second day of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference (Australia/New Zealand) in Auckland NZ.

Liz Giuffre - Trivial Music: a preliminary study of the resurgence and value of music quiz programs on Australian television.
I attended a number of presentations today which were fantastic including Liz’ Giuffre’s paper on the resurgence and value of music quiz programs on Australian television (Spicks and Specs; and Rockwiz). Liz noted in particular the lack of research of these programs compared with the extensive coverage of Australian Idol and questioned both why it is that these programs have not been explored in detail as well as their emergence on public broadcasters rather than commercial television. Both shows enjoy continued success with Spics and Specs in particular being a very high rating show.

Katelyn Barney - Songs of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness: musical responses to the National apology to the Stolen Generation.
I also attended an excellent presentation by Katelyn Barney on the ‘Songs of Hope, Healing and Forgiveness: musical responses to the National apology to the Stolen Generation’. She started by showing the ‘It’s Time’ clip which is a collaborative effort between Russell James and Will i am along the lines of the ‘Yes We Can’ Obama clip. The song/video uses aspects of the apology to the Stolen Generation by Kevin Rudd (13 February 2008) as well as singing by Clifton Bieundurry (an Indigenous man from the Walmajarri people of the North West Kimberley). The clip is available here and is well worth watching.

Katelyn also spoke at length about songs by indigenous artists: Les Collins – Great Moments and Emma Donovan – Ngarranga. She also spoke about musical responses from non indigenous Australians including the new verse to Kerry Fletcher’s - Sorry Song and Susie Keynes – Sorry Song.

This was a very interesting presentation which I enjoyed a lot.

There audience questioned the accessibility and effect of these songs on both indigenous and non indigenous people. In particular there was a suggestion of a co-ordinated effort to increase the number of YouTube hits of these songs and how to spread the word (viral marketing seems like too crude a term here) through other indigenous communities to ensure that these songs reach a wider audience. I asked Katelyn why she hadn’t mentioned the new version of Paul Kelly’s ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ - she indicated that while this was one of the most well known musical responses to the Stolen Generation apology, that she had spoken about it on an earlier occasion and was simply exploring other artists responses for the purposes of this paper.

Sally Hawkins - Contemporary Australian Political Musicians: authenticity and the integration of culture and activism.

Naturally I also attended my own presentation today... I spoke about the comparative authenticity of four contemporary Australian artists: John Butler Trio, Blue King Brown, The Herd and the Hilltop Hoods and in particular the suitability of the term ‘political artists’ with respect to these bands. I considered authenticity of genre, use and ethos by examining recent political songs released by these artists, the frequency of political releases over time, the percentage of political songs on an album by album basis as well as the use of the internet – the artists websites, Facebook and MySpace profiles - to demonstrate a personal commitment and involvement in current political issues. Particular points worth noting include the very high percentage of political releases by Blue King Brown, the increase of political releases by The Herd over the course of their career and the drop off in the frequency of political releases by the John Butler Trio in recent years (does not include the single ‘One Way Road’ due out early December 2009 or the new album April Uprising). Furthermore the very effective use of Blue King Brown’s website and MySpace profile and the John Butler Trio’s use of their website, Facebook and MySpace profiles for political activism, was an important part of this paper. I was really pleased with the way my presentation went and was given very positive feedback afterwards.

Pictures from IASPM Day 1

A warm Pacific welcome.

Dr. Kirsten Zemke

IASPM ANZ – Day 1

Today was the first day of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music conference (Australia/New Zealand) in sunny Auckland NZ. The conference started with a warm Pacific Welcome which included some traditional music and dancing.

Dr. Melenaite Taumoefolua from the Centre for Pacific Studies, Dr. Gregory D. Booth an Ethnomusicologist from the University of Auckland, Dr. Shelley Brunt the Chair of Aus/NZ IASPM and Dr. Kirsten Zemke, conference convener and ethnomusicologist at the University of Auckland, opened the conference.

I attended a number of fascinating papers today all worth mentioning however given time and space constraints will restrict this post to just a couple.

Adrian Renzo – Seamless: re-evaluating medley records of the 1980’s
This was an excellent presentation which considered the place of medleys from the 1980’s as part of the origins of the modern day mashup. Medley’s such as Stars on 45 were seen as a cheap recycling venture of record labels and took a particular place in Disco culture. Renzo discussed the arbitrary nature of the transition between songs and how in the 1980’s the merger of songs was undertaken with a clean cut and instant move to the next song. He noted that in the 1990’s, with developments in technology, there was a change in the way that songs were put together. From this time there was a far greater tendency to layer the tracks over each other in the transition from one track to another. Seg-ways became much more important with Renzo noting that a single facet of one song enabled the movement from one to another. He noted that the narrative logic or the textual ideas of the songs were unimportant to the transition between them. An important distinction between the medley’s of the 1980’s and 1990’s compared with the mashups of today was the involvement of the original artists – these days it is highly unlikely that original material is contributed to mashups nor are the original recording artists usually involved. This was an excellent presentation – both entertaining and very educational.

John Egenes – Remix Culture: the folk process in the 21st century
John Egenes from the University of Otago presented a paper on how the internet and technology are responsible for the blurring of the line between the performer and audience (creator and consumer). He noted that consumers of music are increasingly the producers of music which in turn results in changes to notions of creativity, individuality and intellectual property. The division between creator and consumer is no longer clear but for a very long time the separation has been taken for granted. There is a steady transformation from a top down culture to a bottom up one.

In addition to the democratisation of creativity, those artists that remain identifiable and separate must also contend with alterations to the environment in which they work. Open access is now given to artists through the internet with fans demanding communication with artists and direct feedback to the creators. Furthermore, with open access to music, the artist has lost control over when, where and how consumers interact with their art.

He stated that young people don’t listen to albums anymore instead they download single songs and create their own playlists. An album is more commonly seen as something to be broken down into its individual components. Likewise, with the aid of technology, individual components of a song are remixed together to create new songs. He stated that remix signals a fundamental shift from music as a commodity or product, to a process.

While initially an aural culture, Egenes stated that for the past couple of hundred years society has been focused on visual culture which emerged with text and focuses largely on individual creativity. He stated that the aural culture of society is remerging with computers augmenting the folk process. He noted that the financial worth of music is also being replaced with the value of online reputation. He considers online reputation as increasingly becoming a very important personal currency.

Henry Johnson – Chordophones, Aerophones and iPhones: the value of interactive mobile applications in the mediatization of music performance.
Henry Johnson spoke about the use of touch screen mobile phones such as the iPhone and how this has created instant access to music as well as new forms of production. He linked these new innovative features to the mediatization, globalization and consumption of music.

In particular he discussed iPhone apps such as the iKoto, iShauhachi and ecShamisen which are digital versions of traditional Japanese instruments.

The iShauhachi, attempts to emulate a bamboo flute which is 55cm long with four finger holes. The app emulates the finger holes (4 for the basic user and 5 for an advanced user). The player must blow into the microphone on the iPhone to create the dynamics of the wind instrument. Henry stated that while the app did go someway toward creating a digital version of the original instrument, the quality of the sound sample used in the app is not very good. For an example of the iShauhachi in use see: http://www.youtbube.com/watch?v=K36fMLIFUVg

The iKoto is a traditional 13 string Japanese instrument. The iPhone tries to recreate this instrument through an app which has the same number of strings. Given the size of the phone, the spacing between the strings creates some difficulties but nonetheless basic compositions are possible. Henry suggested that while the sample sound of the app is very close to the original, there is no way for the player to change the dynamics of the string plucking, limiting the digital replication of the instrument.

There are currently two ecShamisen apps available for the iPhone. The digital version of this instrument has greater dexterity than the real instrument, however again, there is no way for the player to change the dynamics of the string plucking. Uses of this app include practising or learning how to play the original instrument.

Primarily Henry sees these apps as gadgets rather than instruments. However, he suggests that they could have a real use despite the size limitations of the device. For those with no experience with the traditional instruments, these apps may provide an opportunity for use and production that would not have been possible otherwise. Experiential learning and cultural exposure are enhanced by their existence. However he does not consider that they will ever replace the real instruments.

Henry noted that the mobility of the device enables it to be used in many environments and is not dependent on a tv screen, computer and/or mouse. While the player is restricted by the physical limitations of the size of the device, it nonetheless transforms music production and performance in terms of availability and ease of use. This enables a type of musical tourism with musicians able to use instruments that in the past were only available in specific geographical locations. However there remain some geographical restrictions, for example, Apple has not yet made the Taiko available for purchase by New Zealand iPhone users.

This talk was excellent and provoked a lot of discussion about the use, function and value of mobile touch screen interactive musical instruments.

Overall this was an excellent start to the IASPM ANZ conference. The people, as always, make the conference and combined with papers of a very high standard which are both educational and interesting it has been a fantastic day.

IASPM ANZ

This week I am traveling to Auckland in New Zealand to present a paper at the Australia/New Zealand branch of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music's conference - "What's It Worth". My paper is titled 'Contemporary Australian Political Musicians: The Integration of Culture and Activism'. I will be discussing the comparative authenticity of four Australian bands and whether they can be considered 'political' artists (it is an interesting study but perhaps more useful for my PhD than wider society).

The conference is being held at the University of Auckland on Friday 27th November to Sunday 29th November inclusive - you can read more about it here.

Some of the other presentations I am particularly interested in seeing include:

• Egenes - Remix Culture: The Folk Process in the 21st Century
• Johnson H - Chordophones, Aerophones and iPhones: The Value of Interactive Mobile Applications in the Mediatization of Music Performance
• Griffiths - Weapons of Mass Resistance? Radical Musical Responses to 9/11 and the War on Terror
• Giuffre - Trivial Music: A Preliminary Study of the Resurgence and Value of Music Quiz Programs on Australian Television
• Milicevis (presented by Borota) - Cyberspace and Music
• Jaeger - The Digital Revolution and Its Beneficial Effects on New Zealand Independent Record Labels
• Knopoff - What Happened to High Fidelity? Portable Music, the Internet and the Changed Culture of Listening
• Novak - Digital Music in Everyday Life
• Borschke - Archival Auteurs: MP3 Blogs and the Aesthetics of Social Distribution
• Strong - The Triple J Hottest 100 of all time 2009 and the Social Construction of MVsical value

These all look like excellent presentations and I can't wait to hear the papers. If you are around Auckland contact the conference organisers about coming along to see some papers! Otherwise, I hope to be blogging about some of the presentations while I am there. I am also hoping to get some other academics/PhD students together to see if anyone is interested in starting an organisation like FMC/Creative Freedom - hopefully a senior academic will volunteer to chair a working party to get something like this established.

Sally

ACTA

This is a presentation from Michael Geist published on his website and BoingBoing yesterday. Here Geist outlines the history and current state of negotiations on the ACTA Treaty.

The treaty was initiated by the USA in 2004 as a response to counterfit copyright products with a focus on the importation and cross border movement of pirated goods. Negotiations moved forward in 2006 with Australia joining the process in 2007. Since this time the scope of the Treaty has expanded dramatically. Furthermore serious concerns have emerged with respect to how this process undermines WIPO, has been conducted behind closed doors without sufficient transparency and consultation, and the potential need for dramatic changes to domestic copyright regimes in many countries. Some have suggested that this is in effect corporate interests dictating international copyright policy and the globalisation of protectionist copyright standards in order to protect economic interests.

Specific areas of focus for this treaty include border measures to reduce illegal imports, the internet, as well as the enforcement of intellectual property rights through civil and criminal penalties. The treaty relates to commercial infringement and significant wilful non-commercial infringement (ie. is not dependent on financial gain).

Aside from the substantive issues with respect to the content of the treaty the most significant concern is how the negotiations have been conducted. A number of countries including Canada and the EU have sought greater transparency with those outside of the content industry (including academics and the public) being deliberatly excluded from the consultation process. In the United States the Electronic Frontier Foundation made an application for disclosure of docuemtns relating to the treaty under their Freedom of Information laws however access was denied on the basis that it would be contray to national security. At this stage it is anticiapted that the treaty will be publically available in its finalised form in 2011.

While it is being negotiated in secret there are little opportunities to challenge its substantive content. What should be taking place on a global, domestic and local level is grass roots action against the lack of disclosure and consulation. If there are likeminded people around the globe that care about the direction this treaty appears to be heading, hopefully they are able to mobilse locally and then coordinate with others to bring this to the attention of the citizens and law makers of their countries. I am on my way now to check for the Anti ACTA Facebook page...

Further Reading
Michael Geist, The ACTA Threat: My Talk on Everything You Need To Know About ACTA, But Didn't Know To Ask (12 November 2009) <http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/4530/125/> at 13 November 2009

BoingBoing, Everything you want to know about the scary, secret copyright treaty (12 November 2009) <http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/12/everything-you-want.html> at 13 November 2009

Michael Geist, ACTA Posts <http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?option=com_tags&task=view&tag=acta&Itemid=408> at 13 November 2009

WikiLeaks, ACTA <http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=ACTA> at 13 November 209

EFF, Anti Counterfitting Trade Agreement <http://www.eff.org/issues/acta> at 13 November 2009

EFF, Government Blocks Release of Documents on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty (29 January 2009) <http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/01/29> at 13 November 2009

National Business Review, NZ should not sign international piracy agreement (9 November 2009) <http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/nz-should-not-sign-international-piracy-agreement-114686> at 12 November 2009

TechDirt, More ACTA Details Leak: It's An Entertainment Industry Wishlist (3 November 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091103/1308526784.shtml> at 9 November 2009

ZeroPaid, Anti-Piracy Treaty: Global DMCA, “Three-Strikes” (6 November 2009) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/87211/anti-piracy-treaty-global-dmca-three-strikes/> at 8 November 2009

ArsTechnica, Secret ACTA treaty can't be shown to public, just 42 lawyers (15 October 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/10/these-42-people-are-shaping-us-internet-enforcement-policy.ars> at 29 October 2009

TechDirt, ACTA Negotiations Back On... White House Shows Small Group Proposed Text Under NDA (14 October 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20091013/1854546514.shtml> at 24 October 2009

Digital Music News, USTR: We Can't Be Open About ACTA Because We Promised We Wouldn't Be (*Lobbyists Not Included) (28 September 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090925/0801256322.shtml> at 5 October 2009

ArsTechnica, EFF, libraries: Keep your ACTA out of our Internet! (19 July 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/07/acta-no-internet.ars> at 26 July 2009

ArsTechnica, Transatlantic coalition calls for "halt" to ACTA talks (23 June 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/06/transatlantic-coalition-calls-for-halt-to-acta-talks.ars> at 30 June 2009

TechDirt, Consumer Group Wants ACTA Discussions Stopped Until Consumer Rights Are Represented In Negotiations (29 June 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090628/1640555388.shtml> at 30 June 2009

ZeroPaid, Consumer Groups Want to Halt ACTA Negotiations (25 June 2009) <http://www.zeropaid.com/news/86492/consumer-groups-want-to-halt-acta-negotiations/> at 25 June 2009

TechDirt, EFF, Public Knowledge Drop ACTA Lawsuit, Realizing 'National Secrets' Claim Will Block Them (18 June 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090617/1918145270.shtml> at 19 June 2009

TechDirt, Obama Administration Reiterates Its Support Of Secretive, Industry Written ACTA (15 June 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090614/1819325224.shtml> at 19 June 2009

ArsTechnica, ACTA transparency: can shame work where lawsuits fail? (7 May 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/05/acta-can-shame-work-where-lawsuits-fail.ars> at 15 May 2009

Electronic Frontier Foundation, Government Still Blocking Information on Secret IP Enforcement Treaty (6 May 2009) <http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/05/06> at 10 May 2009

PC World, Groups Complain of Continued Secrecy About Trade Pact (7 May 2009) <http://www.pcworld.com/article/164472/groups_complain_of_continued_secrecy_about_trade_pact.html> at 10 May 2009

TorrentFreak, Leaked ACTA Draft: More Power to the RIAA (14 April 2009) <http://torrentfreak.com/leaked-acta-draft-more-power-to-the-riaa-090414/comment-page-4/#comment-548998> at 26 April 2009

TechDirt, Remember How ACTA Wasn't Supposed To Be A 'Major' Change To Copyright Laws? (15 April 2009) <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090414/1750504513.shtml> at 19 April 2009

Intellectual Property Watch, The ACTA Threat To The Future Of WIPO (14 April 2009) <http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/14/the-acta-threat-to-the-future-of-wipo/> at 19 April 2009

ArsTechnica, Obama adminstration pledges "transparency" on ACTA (6 April 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/04/obama-adminstration-pledges-transparency-on-acta.ars> at 11 April 2009

ChannelRegister, US outlines secretive international piracy deal (9 April 2009) <http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/04/09/international_anti_piracy_deal/> at 11 April 2009

PC World, US Trade Office Releases Information on Secret Piracy Pact (8 April 2009) <http://www.pcworld.com/article/162716/us_trade_office_releases_information_on_secret_piracy_pact.html> at 11 April 2009

The Star, Anti-counterfeiting treaty talks heat up (30 March 2009) <http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/article/610257> at 3 April 2009

ArsTechnica, Obama administration won't release secret ACTA docs either (13 March 2009) <http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/03/were-not-releasing-acta-docs-says-us-again.ars> at 23 March 2009

BoingBoing, Partial list of corporate lickspittles who are allowed to know what's in the secret copyright treaty the Obama administration claims is a matter of "national security" (14 March 2009) <http://www.boingboing.net/2009/03/14/partial-list-of-corp.html> at 22 March 2009