Old Music Conference Shuts Down, Blames 'Piracy'; New, Better Event Shows Up Instead

from the bottom-up dept

Mon, Sep 14th 2009 11:53pm — Mike Masnick

This is really great. Wolfgang Senges writes in to update us on how a group of passionate people who believe in a more bottom up approach to reinventing the music industry were able to put together a fantastic looking music conference in just weeks, called all2gethernow (disclosure: they asked me to come and present, but I was unable to make it). The story behind the event is that Popkomm, one of the bigger recording industry events, held in Germany each year, was canceled this year, with the guy behind it blaming "piracy" rather than, say, the economy and structural changes in the industry. A bunch of folks in Germany who knew better decided to show Popkomm's organizers how to organize a better event these days, and scrambled, pulling together a fun-looking event to be held at the exact same time as Popkomm had originally been scheduled. I'm sorry I couldn't attend, as it really looks like it should be an excellent event. Either way, it shows not only how events can work, but how the whole industry is shifting. The top-down model is changing, and the bottom up one, where more people are empowered, is taking over.

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Filed Under: all2gethernow, conference, germany, music, popkomm

15 Comments

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Wolfgang Senges, 15 Sep 2009 @ 12:50am

Amanda Palmer
May I add that Amanda Palmer confirmed to come, talk & play in absolutely last minute...

Cheers,
Wolfgang
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Mr. Fogg, 15 Sep 2009 @ 12:58am

erm - all2gethernow has not happened yet - so how do you know it is better then Popkomm was? aybe it will be better (future tense)
Have you ever attended Popkomm? I've never seen anyone from techdirt there...
sincerely
Mr. Fog
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Mike Masnick (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 1:30am

Re:
erm - all2gethernow has not happened yet - so how do you know it is better then Popkomm was? aybe it will be better (future tense)

Yes, admittedly subjective. But better in my opinion. I had no interest in going to Popkomm, but I was very interested in going to all2gethernow.
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..., 15 Sep 2009 @ 2:27am

Re:
One event will happen, the other not.
Is it all that difficult to determine
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techflaws.org (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 3:29am

Gorny sucks!
"all2gethernow has not happened yet - so how do you know it is better then Popkomm was?"

Because it's NOT organized by Dieter Gorny who's a total douche bag claiming pirates ruined it and who's also pressuring german politians for a three strikes law.
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Anonymous Coward, 15 Sep 2009 @ 5:05am

AMEN!
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bwp (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 5:28am

Hold up a sec...
...I hope you're right Mike but let's let the event happen before calling it better. No offense to the organizers but they might not know how to run a show.

Let's also hold off on saying that the bottom-up model is taking over. It still has a way to go before it has taken over but I agree that people should be helping it as much as possible.
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Wolfgang Senges (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 6:24am

Re: Hold up a sec...
Actually, they know how to run a show - newthinking communications are also organizing "re:publica" each year around March/April. Next year it's the fourth one.

But... usually you have a year to go! ;)
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Hephaestus (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 6:31am

Re: Amanda Palmer
You really are a master of self promotion Amanda .... Big Ole GRIN
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Christopher (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 7:13am

Re: Hold up a sec...
They might not, but let's allow a man to have a sunny, optimistic expectation about it. Furthermore, let's also assume the risk of being wrong about "bottom-up" is low, since just about everything cool in the world tends to be better without corporate overlords.

-C
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Josh - To common a name. This is me. (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 8:43am

Re: Hold up a sec...
Ah yes. But lets not forget. One show is going to be held and the other got canceled. By this you can infere, and it seems Mike did, that the one that is taking place is going to be better than the one that is not taking place. Even if it is the shittiest piece of garbage ever it still will be better than the one that did not take place. It just may stink more and never happen again.

Pretty simple logic IMO.
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bwp (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 9:30am

Re: Re: Hold up a sec...
Actually that's pretty weak logic. If one show happens and the other doesn't, then you have no basis for comparison. You can state that a show happened and that's about it.
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Alan Gerow (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 9:51am

Re:
The approaches are different, so if you inherently believe that a bottom-up approach is better, then the all2gethernow event is better. The Popkomm event was put forth by the industry, so if you don't believe the industry has any clue on what it's doing, then anything different could be considered better on that fact alone.

Which pizza is better: Dominoes or the mom & pop pizza place? Now, you may know you don't like or want frozen, conveyor belt pizza ... so the mom & pop pizza place that hand-makes every pizza may be considered better on that fact alone. Popkomm is put forth by the industry and industry insiders, all2gethernow is being put forth by music fans & musicians ... you may not like how the industry is handling the current market shifts, so the bottom-up approach would be considered better by that fact alone.

Also realize that terms like "better" are subjective, and are really dependent on tastes and feelings of each individual person. "Better" is not an absolute term, and can apply to any aspect of what is being compared that is important to the person making the claim of "better". So, it is entirely likely that what would make one event "better" to someone doesn't even involve anything that actually happens at the event, but just the planning or approach to the event.
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Alan Gerow (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 9:52am

Re: Hold up a sec...
But what if it's now how the event happens that makes it better? What if the fact that is happening at all is what makes it better? How do you know the exact criteria that Mike is using to qualify the event as "better" in his mind?
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bwp (profile), 15 Sep 2009 @ 10:54am

Re: Re: Hold up a sec...
Well it's called a basic understanding of the English language and reading comprehension. Better, when reading about two different show, would be defined as comparative and to have a comparison you need at least two things to compare.

I like to read what Mike writes, and I hope that he understands my point even if others don't. If not, it's still a fun dissection of the English language and discussion on whether or not some could be more clear in their writing.
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