The New Standard Bearers

What is the one thing in life that is certain? I mean besides death and taxes. : )

Change. Yep, the one thing that most people fear more than death or taxes, but what if I told you that change was the catalyst for growth?

It's becoming more and more apparent that there's going to be a major meltdown in the music biz, and it's not going to be pretty. The major labels are pursuing a "Growth By Division" strategy and, as much as it pains me to say it, there are quite a few indie labels jumping on that band wagon. The kicker is that they're all sitting around pointing the finger of blame at each other and waxing nostalgic about the good old days of sold out stadiums and multi platinum sales figures.

Now is the time for change.

Now it the time for growth.

Now is the time to take control of your own destiny and create your own music industry.

In the article that I have linked at the bottom here, it goes on about how technology is progressing faster than the PROs can handle. They're not sure how licences should be applied, and by the time things get ironed out the next technology is sitting on their desk and begging that same question, and all the while you have about 20 hands out waiting for their share.

Is that how we want to operate?

I guess that while they all sit around and talk about it, it's going to be up to us to fix it.

Innovators and Risk Takers, now is our chance! While everyone else is locked up in fear, fear of change, let's make the most of it and use it as an opportunity to set the new standards for the future.

http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/03/musics-copyright-battle-made-worse-by-the-fear-of-change.ars

Later,

You got Served! Hopefully.

Let me ask you this. Should it really have to get to this point? The latest on the Joe Satriani v. Coldplay copyright infringement case is that apparently Coldplay has been slinking around trying to avoid being served papers, but good ol'Joe isn't going to let it slide.

He's made it very clear that he's hired an "Army" of process servers to work the Grammy's, with the intent of finally getting those papers in the hands of his adversaries.

You have to admit that it would be awfully sweet if they waited till Chris Martin and the boys were on the podium to accept "Song of the Year" and then rushed the stage in mass. Harsh you say? Not hardly.

I have to say that, as Indie musicians, I feel that our intellectual property is our single greatest product that we offer. It is the foundation of our business plan. It is the flagship of our merch table. It is what makes us who we are, and to have someone else steal your hard work and parade it around the world as their own, and more sickeningly, be nominated for a Grammy for it is just the height of disrespect and elitism.

Coldplay, I'm sure, is just following the advice and direction of their label, EMI, but what does that say about the practices of Major Labels if they are openly advocating the theft of other peoples music. Is it really any wonder that EMI is losing money?

Anyway, I hope that the whole thing erupts into such a big deal that everyone in America sits up and takes notice. We can't make it OK for people to walk all over the Copyright Laws, they're one of the few guarantees we have.

http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/coldplay%20to%20get%20served%20at%20the%20grammys_1093915

Later,

Perfect Example Of How The Majors Just Don't Get It.

So, even more on the whole Coldplay plagiarism deal. Apparently, EMI has had some of the comparison videos pulled from YouTube because of copyright infringement. Uh, hello, it's your artist that did the infringing!

That, of course, doesn't stop the arguments from running rampant through the comment sections of videos that have found their way back up. Coldplay fans versus Satriani fans, ripping each other apart as if they're mortal enemies. Stupid really.

The fact of the matter is that the songs are similar enough that you can actually overlay the recording and it's like they're part of the same song.

It's going to be interesting to see how this pans out. What is at stake is the value of Intellectual Property. If EMI pulls this out and wins this law suit then it basically says that Major Label artists can steal any of our music and get away with it, and the legal precedent will have been set.

I saw an ad earlier saying that Coldplay was re-releasing the album with new mixes and new tracks. Twice the insult eh? It will be a sad day when Joe Satriani has to watch Coldplay win a Grammy for a song he wrote.

A couple of posts back I said that there have been times that I've realized that some of my stuff was similar to other artists material. I, of course, wouldn't release something like that intentionally, but if I missed something and wound up involved in a situation like this, I wouldn't hesitate to make it right with the other person. At the very least, Coldplay should give him co-writing credits on future pressings, and cut him in on the publishing so that he can make some money off of the deal.

It's these kinds of dealings that make me glad I'm an Indie.

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/121608coldplay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLE5t1cl7sw

Have a good one!