As That Anonymous Coward wrote: "What it has become and continues to grow into is a horrible thing." Copyright is no longer about creativity, it has morphed into the concept that content creators are entitled to a perpetual revenue stream enforced by the power of the State.
Actually there is a business model for this. It just hasn't been adapted to creative endeavors very well yet. It's called multilevel marketing. Everyone involved in the chain that results in a sale gets a percentage of that sale.
I read the whole article and the part that I find most interesting is the last paragraph:
"Aside from wealth or arcane knowledge, the only other guarantor of security will be isolation. Some people will pioneer new ways of life that minimize their involvement online. Still others will opt out altogether—to find or create a little corner of the planet where the Internet does not reach. Depending on how things go, that little corner could become a very crowded place. And you’d be surprised at how many of the best-informed people about the Internet have already started preparing for the trip."
I get 62+mpg from my diesel - more than makes up for the difference in pump price.
Well, thanks for reminding me about the value of diesels. As I said, when the VW Rabbit diesel became available in the US (maybe 30 years ago), my husband and I wanted one enough to fly from Denver to Chicago to buy one from a dealer there. And then after that, we bought a string of used Mercedes diesels. But then we switched car brands and I haven't had a diesel since. My current car is 15 years old and I don't plan to ditch it until it doesn't run anymore. To save on fuel costs, I just don't drive more than I have to.
Boulder is environmentally conscious and I see quite a few Priuses here. And we have a Tesla dealership here. But I never see any diesel cars here anymore (there could be some converted cars, but I wouldn't recognize them). There are still quite a few local gas stations that have diesel pumps, but I'm not sure who is using them right now.
As I mentioned, I know of several bands that have toured in biodiesel buses, but I haven't heard much about them lately. It was a story that got more coverage a few years ago.
Anything that reduces fossil fuel consumption is a good thing, whether it is a more efficient vehicle or driving fewer miles.
A trend I have seen, in part because of the cost of touring and in part because of the increasing popularity/acceptance of computer-driven music, is that more one and two-person acts are hitting the clubs and even bigger venues. Singer/songwriters have often toured solo, but now you have others doing so as well. It's a lot cheaper to travel solo with nothing but a digital music machine than it is to tour with a band lugging around a van's worth of equipment.
And it also says what I thought was the case these days, but wasn't sure. In the US, diesel is now more expensive than gasoline, so every time you go to the pump, you see a higher price at the pump for diesel. That wasn't the case when I had my diesel cars.
Okay. This explains why you don't see many anymore in the US.
2012 Diesel Cars in USA: Here’s the Lineup: The good news is that many of the world’s manufacturers make great diesel products. The bad news is that lack of domestic demand and tightening budgets mean that few have been certified for sale in the U.S.
I've personally owned diesel cars (VW and Mercedes), but you don't see as many on the road as you used to. And diesel doesn't seem as cheap relative to gasoline as it used to. I think these days people are more inclined to go with more fuel efficient vehicles than with diesel cars.
I know bands that use biodiesel for their buses/vans, but I am not seeing as much news about them now, perhaps because it's getting more expensive to get that too. The price has gone up enough that people are stealing grease from restaurants.
My own solution is not to drive more than I must. My world is pretty much within a few miles of my condo (but this being Boulder, it's a great world to be in).
I've been reading that more and more young adults aren't buying cars. They don't see owning a car as a necessity. They get by on public transportation, bikes, and car rental/sharing.
If you work hard enough AND are talented and intelligent enough, you WILL be successful AND you WILL make money.
That sounds good, but there are still things beyond one's control that can affect the outcome. For example, if you are a poor woman in some countries, hard work, talent, and intelligence may not be enough.
How about touring on a more local level? An artist needn't go all-out with touring expenses, trotting all over the country
I have a good friend who does that. She's played across the country, but she has three kids now and finds that it's far more economically efficient to stay within Colorado and the neighboring states. So she plays about 100 gigs a year close at home (pre-kids she played about 200 gigs a year and had a gross income in the six figures).
However, I have found that being regional tends to work against your image in the local press. You can be one of the most successful local musicians, but if you aren't touring, the press tends to write you off as "local" and therefore not buzzworthy.
That's changing, though, because we now have an explosion of local talent who can't tour because they have day jobs and/or don't have the money for it. So now you're less likely to be dismissed by the local press if you only play local gigs.
Ah $4 a gallon - the good old cheap fuel of yesterday (viewed from the UK - where prices are currently: over 8 of your dollars for one of your gallons)
I know. Fuel prices here have been too low for too long, not encouraging us to be more frugal. I live in Colorado, which has some of the better fuel prices in the US, but touring from here is hard because once you go beyond about an hour from Denver, you've got to drive hundreds of miles to get to another major town to play. Denver is pretty much a day's drive from the next major stop (e.g., Salt Lake, Omaha) on a tour.
Many bands were hit with the increased cost of touring when fuel prices hit $4 a gallon. But prices came down again, so that became less of a problem.
Now that gas is going back up to $4 a gallon, and this time shows no likelihood of coming back down below $3, I expect that touring costs will again be a challenge for most musicians.
This doesn't address the live show issue, but it does show that there's a niche for companies that monitor plays so revenue can be properly distributed.
I have a friend who is a member of BMI, so BMI Live is of interest to me. It seems pretty straight forward. You play your gig, you send in your setlist, and you get paid based on how many people in the audience and how many original songs you played.
Someone commented about how much his band got for such a gig:
"As the publishing admin for a band that played Austin Music Hall last NYE to a sold out crowd (4400 paid), I can attest that BMI Live paid out about $1.50 per original song they played."
So I ran the math for that. It would work out to about $.00034 per audience member per song.
That's not a lot of money, but at least the process seems transparent, which is a good thing. So based how many shows you play a year, how many people are in the audience, and how many songs you normally play, you should be able to estimate what your live show royalty payment might be at the end of the year and decide whether or not it's worth it to you to send BMI your setlist for each show you play.
I have no problem with people calling out Daisey for not being truthful. But what disturbs me is when the media is lax about fact checking so much else of what passes for "news."
There are politicians making stuff up all the time, and while some bloggers do try to point out BS when they hear it/read it, the journalists interviewing these politicians or writing articles about them often don't challenge the politicians on the spot or don't clarify in the articles what is false information.
So I am upset with the double standard in reporting. It's okay when some people lie but not when others lie.
According to the ASCAP website, for 50 years ASCAP Plus has given songwriters, such as yourself, a way to participate in the income generated by the performances of their works in unsurveyed situations.
How many members get to participate in this program? Does everyone who "qualifies" get to be part of it, or are there quotas limiting the number of participants?
Nothing to write home about, and certainly not a big money maker anymore, but they do track and pay those small royalties to small time songwriters.
Yes, I think that is a big issue. If you are a songwriter and you know you are getting radio play yet see no acknowledgment from your PRO, then you get suspicious. I have heard that SESAC is better at tracking radio play for DIY artists, but I have no personal knowledge of this, so I don't know for sure if it is true.
Further, live performances are not the only thing that the societies pay out for. Licensing fees are also collected from terrestrial and internet radio, TV stations, hotels, nightclubs etc. Operational costs are deducted from the total pool collected, which is then distributed to all songwriters whose songs have been performed in the quarter being paid on.
The reason the live performance issue comes up is that singer/songwriters have run into coffee shops that used to offer open mic and acoustic nights and then decided to stop those to avoid paying the blanket licenses to the PROs. Now it may seem like a small fee to the PROs, but if the venue is barely getting by and has to pay fees to three different PROs, they often decide not to bother.
I am glad exceptions have been made for house concerts and I would like to see a similar arrangement for small venues that don't make most (if any) money from live music. To encourage a music industry, having these small places for indie artists (particularly those just starting out) is a good thing.
On the post: What Quilting's Legal Battles Can Teach Us About Copyright
Re: Entitlementment Society
Actually there is a business model for this. It just hasn't been adapted to creative endeavors very well yet. It's called multilevel marketing. Everyone involved in the chain that results in a sale gets a percentage of that sale.
On the post: Is The Battle Over The Internet About Control vs. Chaos? Or Delusions vs. Reality?
What interests me most
"Aside from wealth or arcane knowledge, the only other guarantor of security will be isolation. Some people will pioneer new ways of life that minimize their involvement online. Still others will opt out altogether—to find or create a little corner of the planet where the Internet does not reach. Depending on how things go, that little corner could become a very crowded place. And you’d be surprised at how many of the best-informed people about the Internet have already started preparing for the trip."
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well, thanks for reminding me about the value of diesels. As I said, when the VW Rabbit diesel became available in the US (maybe 30 years ago), my husband and I wanted one enough to fly from Denver to Chicago to buy one from a dealer there. And then after that, we bought a string of used Mercedes diesels. But then we switched car brands and I haven't had a diesel since. My current car is 15 years old and I don't plan to ditch it until it doesn't run anymore. To save on fuel costs, I just don't drive more than I have to.
Boulder is environmentally conscious and I see quite a few Priuses here. And we have a Tesla dealership here. But I never see any diesel cars here anymore (there could be some converted cars, but I wouldn't recognize them). There are still quite a few local gas stations that have diesel pumps, but I'm not sure who is using them right now.
As I mentioned, I know of several bands that have toured in biodiesel buses, but I haven't heard much about them lately. It was a story that got more coverage a few years ago.
Anything that reduces fossil fuel consumption is a good thing, whether it is a more efficient vehicle or driving fewer miles.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
2012 Diesel Cars in USA: Here’s the Lineup: The good news is that many of the world’s manufacturers make great diesel products. The bad news is that lack of domestic demand and tightening budgets mean that few have been certified for sale in the U.S.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
2011 vehicles with the best fuel-efficiency ratings
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re: Re: Re:
I know bands that use biodiesel for their buses/vans, but I am not seeing as much news about them now, perhaps because it's getting more expensive to get that too. The price has gone up enough that people are stealing grease from restaurants.
My own solution is not to drive more than I must. My world is pretty much within a few miles of my condo (but this being Boulder, it's a great world to be in).
I've been reading that more and more young adults aren't buying cars. They don't see owning a car as a necessity. They get by on public transportation, bikes, and car rental/sharing.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re:
That sounds good, but there are still things beyond one's control that can affect the outcome. For example, if you are a poor woman in some countries, hard work, talent, and intelligence may not be enough.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re:
I have a good friend who does that. She's played across the country, but she has three kids now and finds that it's far more economically efficient to stay within Colorado and the neighboring states. So she plays about 100 gigs a year close at home (pre-kids she played about 200 gigs a year and had a gross income in the six figures).
However, I have found that being regional tends to work against your image in the local press. You can be one of the most successful local musicians, but if you aren't touring, the press tends to write you off as "local" and therefore not buzzworthy.
That's changing, though, because we now have an explosion of local talent who can't tour because they have day jobs and/or don't have the money for it. So now you're less likely to be dismissed by the local press if you only play local gigs.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Re:
I know. Fuel prices here have been too low for too long, not encouraging us to be more frugal. I live in Colorado, which has some of the better fuel prices in the US, but touring from here is hard because once you go beyond about an hour from Denver, you've got to drive hundreds of miles to get to another major town to play. Denver is pretty much a day's drive from the next major stop (e.g., Salt Lake, Omaha) on a tour.
On the post: Case Study On How An Indie-Rock Composer Musician Makes Money
Fuel costs rising again
Now that gas is going back up to $4 a gallon, and this time shows no likelihood of coming back down below $3, I expect that touring costs will again be a challenge for most musicians.
On the post: How ASCAP Takes Money From Successful Indie Artists And Gives It To Giant Rock Stars
The technology is coming
Musical ‘Big Data’ Problem Could Be Depriving Artists of Significant Revenue | Evolver.fm
On the post: Content Creators: Control Is An Illusion And That's A Good Thing
Re: Re: A good time to discuss the post-scarcity society
Markets without Capitalism - P2P Foundation
On the post: Content Creators: Control Is An Illusion And That's A Good Thing
Re: A good time to discuss the post-scarcity society
Unemployment Is The Cure
On the post: How ASCAP Takes Money From Successful Indie Artists And Gives It To Giant Rock Stars
Re: Re: ASCAP Plus Awards
Could BMI Live Help Local Musicians Get Paid? | Ear Bud
Someone commented about how much his band got for such a gig:
"As the publishing admin for a band that played Austin Music Hall last NYE to a sold out crowd (4400 paid), I can attest that BMI Live paid out about $1.50 per original song they played."
So I ran the math for that. It would work out to about $.00034 per audience member per song.
That's not a lot of money, but at least the process seems transparent, which is a good thing. So based how many shows you play a year, how many people are in the audience, and how many songs you normally play, you should be able to estimate what your live show royalty payment might be at the end of the year and decide whether or not it's worth it to you to send BMI your setlist for each show you play.
On the post: Storytelling, Truth And Consequences
Politicians get away with falsehoods all the time
There are politicians making stuff up all the time, and while some bloggers do try to point out BS when they hear it/read it, the journalists interviewing these politicians or writing articles about them often don't challenge the politicians on the spot or don't clarify in the articles what is false information.
So I am upset with the double standard in reporting. It's okay when some people lie but not when others lie.
On the post: How ASCAP Takes Money From Successful Indie Artists And Gives It To Giant Rock Stars
Re: It IS Your Money
How many members get to participate in this program? Does everyone who "qualifies" get to be part of it, or are there quotas limiting the number of participants?
On the post: How ASCAP Takes Money From Successful Indie Artists And Gives It To Giant Rock Stars
Re:
Yes, I think that is a big issue. If you are a songwriter and you know you are getting radio play yet see no acknowledgment from your PRO, then you get suspicious. I have heard that SESAC is better at tracking radio play for DIY artists, but I have no personal knowledge of this, so I don't know for sure if it is true.
On the post: How ASCAP Takes Money From Successful Indie Artists And Gives It To Giant Rock Stars
Re:
The reason the live performance issue comes up is that singer/songwriters have run into coffee shops that used to offer open mic and acoustic nights and then decided to stop those to avoid paying the blanket licenses to the PROs. Now it may seem like a small fee to the PROs, but if the venue is barely getting by and has to pay fees to three different PROs, they often decide not to bother.
I am glad exceptions have been made for house concerts and I would like to see a similar arrangement for small venues that don't make most (if any) money from live music. To encourage a music industry, having these small places for indie artists (particularly those just starting out) is a good thing.
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