[LAU] ASCAP Assails Free-Culture, Digital-Rights Groups

[Joep L. Blom]

Patrick Shirkey wrote:

> I'll go even further than that. In many cases these days music is 
> designed to act as a form of prozac and distraction from the real issues 
> that we are constantly being subjected to in our daily lives. In the 
> past music was a way for people to express ideas and get across often 
> subversive messages from different lands and peoples to a mass audience. 
> These days popular music and any music that aims to be popular struggles 
> to educate people about the bigger picture if not actively avoids the 
> most important topics. At best a cursory glance is assigned that is 
> swiftly dealt with by flashy graphics and naked bodies flaunting their 
> warez. The industrial media and entertainment complex is abused to 
> deliver trite, sexually provocative and erotically stimulating drivel. 
> The constant merciless barrage of crap that we are subjected to by the 
> modern music industry is just another way of keeping us in check by the 
> few heriditary elite who own the empires and print the cash that funds 
> the industry. They should be paying us to listen to the majority of the 
> crap we are served not the other way around.
> 
> I personally can't wait for it the industry to collapse under the weight 
> of it's own greed.
> 

There was a Roman emperor - Calligula - who spoke the historic words:" 
Give the people bread and games (and let us ,the elite, do what we 
want." So nothing has changed.
The pulp and garbage which is pushed as "music" makes the listeners into 
11-year old imbeciles whose only goal is to slave for their money, give 
it to the establishment and get - apparently enslaving - rubbish back.

I'm a performing jazz musician now and was an IT consultant before (I am 
retired). What I earned then in half a day a never get in a set of gigs 
in a week. The hours spent in rehearsing, arranging, etc. are of course 
never paid. But, as many say: "it's your own choice" and that is right. 
I can not exist one day without playing the piano and when people want 
to pay to listen to me, that's OK . I play for myself and thankfully 
don't need it for my daily bread and butter.
However, the company who will pay thousands of Euro's (I'm from the 
Netherlands) for me as IT-consultant to change some small and often 
insignificant business aspect in his organisation will not pay more than 
€ 300,- for a 3 hour gig with a quartet (including travel etc. and 
including tax).

All talk in this thread about copyright and laws etc. is only 
interesting for those who publish their work (either as CD or as 
downloadable tracks) but I never have these problems as we only play 
originals or standards in our own arrangements and if anybody want to 
play it, they're wellcome and I'll even give them the arrangements if 
they want.
We play sometimes for the local radio. They transmit it and anybody can 
record it and burn in to a CD. Is that an infringement on my rights? No, 
as I have given that to the station.

In my opinion in Jazz and classical music, this problem is negligible, 
at least in my network (mostly performing classical and jazz musicians).
I have however no idea how this is in music I never listen to. But I 
assume that I'm of a much older generation.
Joep