The parts that struggle to survive likely are. If there is a demand for something, but an industry cannot figure out how to monetize it and that is caused by development in technology; then something is definitely outdated.
But I understand you will never agree with me.
Either way: thanks for the activity and challenging my assertions. It keeps me on my toes and helps me in articulating what I have to say.
First of all, everyone is pointing their finger at Mike, but he's not the one that wrote this particular article.
Secondly, I use the word censorship very carefully and with principle. To me, censorship is blocking the distribution of particular information (or erasing this information altogether) for some specific purpose. Such a purpose might be to save industries which are unable to sustain themselves due to technological developments, it might be to prevent people stirring up hate (which is why Mein Kampf is banned in many countries), but it might also be to silence political opposition or human rights advocates.
So there's my definition of censorship. Maybe it will help you understand the way I try to bring to light certain issues regarding this topic, such as the above article. Personally, I think there is no such thing as 'good censorship', since it blocks the free expression of thought.
I think it is very important that we live in a world in which we can all express our ideas, no matter how extreme. This is better than forcing people with extreme views into isolation, which only radicalises them. It's better that we as a society are aware, than unaware of such thoughts.
Well, and you can guess what my feelings are when it comes to censoring for saving out-dated industries or to prevent whistle-blowing.
I have much more to say about this, so if anyone wants to take a shot... do your thing. Let's have a good discussion :-)
Thx for the addition about deadmau5. Interesting. A blatant rip-off is something else than fan art... even though the guy in question didn't realize he was ripping him off.
To be honest, I don't think most people have any doubt about how to pronounce his nickname. Especially the ones that grew up with leetspeak (13375p34k). ;-)
He occasionally hops on ustream to chat with his fans and he seems like a decent guy ;-) Very humble.
As for the name, it was given to him... apparently he said something about finding a dead mouse in some chat room and then people started calling him "that dead mouse guy". He made it his own through deadmau5, which is just the 'nerdification' of it I guess. Just a random nickname, really. He might have made it when he was a teenager.
You know what happens when you stand up? You get gagged.
This thing has been going on for a lot longer. The mistake they made is doing it via DOJ instead of via the FBI. I recently saw a speech by a guy at a hacker conference, who had had a similar request from the FBI, but was gagged. He would not even have been able to inform anyone in his company that he would be giving out information. He protested it, went to court, etc. but before he could win, the FBI withdrew their request, but the gag remained!
"My name is Nicholas Merrill and I was the plaintiff in a legal case in the US court system where I challenged the FBI's policy of using a feature of the so-called USA PATRIOT act - what are called "National Security Letters" - to bypass the American Constitution's system of checks and balances and in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights - in order to obtain protected personal information and to unmask anonymous Internet users. I spent over 6 years not able to speak to anyone (other than my lawyers) about my case - forced to lie to those closest to me due to an FBI gag order that carried a possible 10 year prison sentence for violating it."
Mike, you really need to see this. As does everyone else. This DOJ subpoena really reminds me of this particular case. It's terrible.
It's simply maintaining control over the population, under the guise of protectionism. They've had big trouble monitoring Skype, which is used by activists for this reason.
Sometimes it's like they care about piracy more than their own industry... and that they want to destroy their own industry, just so they can blame the 'pirates'.
@ Mark Ryder: I'm not telling anyone how to make their music or how to apply their creativity. I focus on what I'm good at, and that's business.
The fact is, content creators have LOST CONTROL of their content. You can accept that and go from there, or you can call people "dumb fucks" for pointing at successful business practices.
And please refrain from making assumptions about me, like having no idea what being an artist is, while you don't even know me. I definitely agree with not compromising your art for what some people want. Art has to come from yourself. In the very first place must be that you're creating something unique and genuine, that separates itself (in some way) from all the other art. I'm not telling anyone how to do that; that's up to the creators themselves and that has always been more important than the business model.
LOL @ flamewar with the Anonymous troll. Ignore him. If he doesn't bother to read, he doesn't deserve to be written to ;-)
@ Anonymous Coward @ 8:56am: Well, I'm still writing my thesis and although I have an artistic side, I don't have the ambition to make a living with that. Disrupting old models is so much more fun ;-)
However, since I'm in a type of business school, this case-study is part of a thesis which serves as a kind of consultancy research report for an actual label/artist. That (small) label is actually making quite a decent living off of music already, even without applying the stuff I'm going to be recommending. In case you meant Shpongle/Twisted, yeah they're also making a living off of music. (obviously, I'm a bit confused who you're referring to with 'they')
@ Yair: I've seen a lot of debates about copyrights and the 'one foot in both worlds'-sydrome is something I see a lot. It's this hesitation to accept the full reality of the internet; they like and acknowledge the good sides, they acknowledge the bad sides, but sometimes think that it's somehow reversible (without severely impacting the good sides). It's like they believe they have to have some opinion about copyrights, but they don't really want to, because it's quite difficult. They're caught in the middle.
So many comments to reply to... Let's go from top to bottom.
@ Darryl: You are making a lot of poor assumptions. My reason for saying it's misdirected is because you're not going to have a good relationship from people you shout at. I thoroughly believe that this good relationship is what's monetizable now (and very effectively so).
Simon didn't actually blame the filesharers/fans; there was 1 leaker, most likely a journalist, and Simon blamed himself for risking a leak by sending pre-releases.
As for "They did not illegally download it because they are his fans, fans do not steal off the person they idealize.
They illegally downloaded it because they could, (illegally) and they are happy to screw the creator of the content."
Go open the forum topic. You are so wrong. People were quite upset with Simon's response and felt very empathetic. Many indicated that they had pre-ordered the album, but really wanted to check it out. Yes, of course there are also pirates who dont care, but they're not part of the ecosystem anyway (an artist's goal should be to drag them into it).
"This guy will not produce another alburm, it was lucky he produced that one.."
You're quite wrong. They've anounced another album. Again with these poor assumptions.
I doubt you actually read the whole post. You just want to read the part that feeds your hate.
@ Anonymous #1: his views on piracy don't matter. Anyway, read the forum topic that's linked. He understands piracy, though he's not a pirate himself.
Why I say his views on piracy don't matter; is because piracy is going to be a reality of the internet and the future, no matter what (and I think piracy is a poor label, but w/e). What matters is what you do with it and I think Simon is going about it quite well.
My personal goal is to explore and develop 'piracy-neutral' strategies for content, so that we can finally move on, already. It's nearly 2011.
@ Anonymous Coward #2 (7:29pm): well, but it's not about the top 100. Smaller artists definitely struggle, as they have always. The goal of this case-study was to show that even smaller niche-artists can find ways of dealing with the digital age, perhaps even better than the top 100 artists (they can adapt to new realities faster).
@ Mr. Oizo: Thanks for that link. Interesting! :)
@ PaulT: re " but as a fan there's nothing worse than "the album you want is finished, but you have to wait 6 months for us to work out how to market it"
I think in this case it was a matter of days, or maybe 2 weeks or so, but I get what you're saying.
@ Anonymous Coward 4:36am: "Now they have to pay management, they have to pay tour expenses, they have to pay their recording costs, distribution, marketing people, press people, and all those other things that use to be someone else's issue to pay."
IF you were lucky enough to get a contract, that is. Anyway, not having to deal with such contracts also gives a lot more freedom and with freedom comes responsibility.
Compare it to a random office worker versus an entrepreneur.
On the post: FranklinCovey Sending A Trademark C&D Over '7 Habits' Appears To Violate A Few Of The '7 Habits'
Re:
On the post: FranklinCovey Sending A Trademark C&D Over '7 Habits' Appears To Violate A Few Of The '7 Habits'
On the post: Tunisian State Secretary Says Censorship Is Fine Because The West Does It Too
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Tunisian State Secretary Says Censorship Is Fine Because The West Does It Too
Re: Re: Re: discussion over the word censorship
But I understand you will never agree with me.
Either way: thanks for the activity and challenging my assertions. It keeps me on my toes and helps me in articulating what I have to say.
On the post: Tunisian State Secretary Says Censorship Is Fine Because The West Does It Too
Re: Re: Re:
The fight of 'pirates' and WikiLeaks is the same fight. It's the struggle of the world to adapt to the information age.
Would you agree with this?
On the post: Tunisian State Secretary Says Censorship Is Fine Because The West Does It Too
Re: discussion over the word censorship
Secondly, I use the word censorship very carefully and with principle. To me, censorship is blocking the distribution of particular information (or erasing this information altogether) for some specific purpose. Such a purpose might be to save industries which are unable to sustain themselves due to technological developments, it might be to prevent people stirring up hate (which is why Mein Kampf is banned in many countries), but it might also be to silence political opposition or human rights advocates.
So there's my definition of censorship. Maybe it will help you understand the way I try to bring to light certain issues regarding this topic, such as the above article. Personally, I think there is no such thing as 'good censorship', since it blocks the free expression of thought.
I think it is very important that we live in a world in which we can all express our ideas, no matter how extreme. This is better than forcing people with extreme views into isolation, which only radicalises them. It's better that we as a society are aware, than unaware of such thoughts.
Well, and you can guess what my feelings are when it comes to censoring for saving out-dated industries or to prevent whistle-blowing.
I have much more to say about this, so if anyone wants to take a shot... do your thing. Let's have a good discussion :-)
On the post: Case Study: How To Have Fun Connecting With Fans Like A Superstar DJ
Re:
On the post: Karl's Favorite Techdirt Posts Of The Week
But good point nonetheless.
On the post: Letting Famous People Interact Online? Patented! Twitter Sued
Sounds a bit like Quora ;-)
On the post: Case Study: How To Have Fun Connecting With Fans Like A Superstar DJ
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Case Study: How To Have Fun Connecting With Fans Like A Superstar DJ
Re:
As for the name, it was given to him... apparently he said something about finding a dead mouse in some chat room and then people started calling him "that dead mouse guy". He made it his own through deadmau5, which is just the 'nerdification' of it I guess. Just a random nickname, really. He might have made it when he was a teenager.
On the post: Big Record Label 'Innovation': Actually Release Songs For Sale The Same Time They Hit The Radio
On the post: TSA Warns That If You Wear Scanner Resistant Clothing, They'll Have To Grope You
What a waste of resources.
On the post: Kudos To Twitter For Not Just Rolling Over When The US Gov't Asked For Info
This thing has been going on for a lot longer. The mistake they made is doing it via DOJ instead of via the FBI. I recently saw a speech by a guy at a hacker conference, who had had a similar request from the FBI, but was gagged. He would not even have been able to inform anyone in his company that he would be giving out information. He protested it, went to court, etc. but before he could win, the FBI withdrew their request, but the gag remained!
Here is the case: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6xsv4azzpc
"My name is Nicholas Merrill and I was the plaintiff in a legal case in the US court system where I challenged the FBI's policy of using a feature of the so-called USA PATRIOT act - what are called "National Security Letters" - to bypass the American Constitution's system of checks and balances and in violation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights - in order to obtain protected personal information and to unmask anonymous Internet users. I spent over 6 years not able to speak to anyone (other than my lawyers) about my case - forced to lie to those closest to me due to an FBI gag order that carried a possible 10 year prison sentence for violating it."
Mike, you really need to see this. As does everyone else. This DOJ subpoena really reminds me of this particular case. It's terrible.
On the post: China May Ban Skype In Misguided Protectionist Effort
It's simply maintaining control over the population, under the guise of protectionism. They've had big trouble monitoring Skype, which is used by activists for this reason.
On the post: Permission Culture And The Automated Diminishment Of Fair Use
On the post: Canadian Music Collection Society Demanding Payment For 30 Second Song Previews
On the post: Case Study: How Shpongle Went From Yelling At Fans To Embracing Fans
The fact is, content creators have LOST CONTROL of their content. You can accept that and go from there, or you can call people "dumb fucks" for pointing at successful business practices.
And please refrain from making assumptions about me, like having no idea what being an artist is, while you don't even know me. I definitely agree with not compromising your art for what some people want. Art has to come from yourself. In the very first place must be that you're creating something unique and genuine, that separates itself (in some way) from all the other art. I'm not telling anyone how to do that; that's up to the creators themselves and that has always been more important than the business model.
On the post: Case Study: How Shpongle Went From Yelling At Fans To Embracing Fans
@ Anonymous Coward @ 8:56am: Well, I'm still writing my thesis and although I have an artistic side, I don't have the ambition to make a living with that. Disrupting old models is so much more fun ;-)
However, since I'm in a type of business school, this case-study is part of a thesis which serves as a kind of consultancy research report for an actual label/artist. That (small) label is actually making quite a decent living off of music already, even without applying the stuff I'm going to be recommending. In case you meant Shpongle/Twisted, yeah they're also making a living off of music. (obviously, I'm a bit confused who you're referring to with 'they')
@ Yair: I've seen a lot of debates about copyrights and the 'one foot in both worlds'-sydrome is something I see a lot. It's this hesitation to accept the full reality of the internet; they like and acknowledge the good sides, they acknowledge the bad sides, but sometimes think that it's somehow reversible (without severely impacting the good sides). It's like they believe they have to have some opinion about copyrights, but they don't really want to, because it's quite difficult. They're caught in the middle.
On the post: Case Study: How Shpongle Went From Yelling At Fans To Embracing Fans
A comment from the author :-)
So many comments to reply to... Let's go from top to bottom.
@ Darryl: You are making a lot of poor assumptions. My reason for saying it's misdirected is because you're not going to have a good relationship from people you shout at. I thoroughly believe that this good relationship is what's monetizable now (and very effectively so).
Simon didn't actually blame the filesharers/fans; there was 1 leaker, most likely a journalist, and Simon blamed himself for risking a leak by sending pre-releases.
As for "They did not illegally download it because they are his fans, fans do not steal off the person they idealize.
They illegally downloaded it because they could, (illegally) and they are happy to screw the creator of the content."
Go open the forum topic. You are so wrong. People were quite upset with Simon's response and felt very empathetic. Many indicated that they had pre-ordered the album, but really wanted to check it out. Yes, of course there are also pirates who dont care, but they're not part of the ecosystem anyway (an artist's goal should be to drag them into it).
"This guy will not produce another alburm, it was lucky he produced that one.."
You're quite wrong. They've anounced another album. Again with these poor assumptions.
I doubt you actually read the whole post. You just want to read the part that feeds your hate.
@ Anonymous #1: his views on piracy don't matter. Anyway, read the forum topic that's linked. He understands piracy, though he's not a pirate himself.
Why I say his views on piracy don't matter; is because piracy is going to be a reality of the internet and the future, no matter what (and I think piracy is a poor label, but w/e). What matters is what you do with it and I think Simon is going about it quite well.
My personal goal is to explore and develop 'piracy-neutral' strategies for content, so that we can finally move on, already. It's nearly 2011.
@ Anonymous Coward #2 (7:29pm): well, but it's not about the top 100. Smaller artists definitely struggle, as they have always. The goal of this case-study was to show that even smaller niche-artists can find ways of dealing with the digital age, perhaps even better than the top 100 artists (they can adapt to new realities faster).
@ Mr. Oizo: Thanks for that link. Interesting! :)
@ PaulT: re " but as a fan there's nothing worse than "the album you want is finished, but you have to wait 6 months for us to work out how to market it"
I think in this case it was a matter of days, or maybe 2 weeks or so, but I get what you're saying.
@ Anonymous Coward 4:36am: "Now they have to pay management, they have to pay tour expenses, they have to pay their recording costs, distribution, marketing people, press people, and all those other things that use to be someone else's issue to pay."
IF you were lucky enough to get a contract, that is. Anyway, not having to deal with such contracts also gives a lot more freedom and with freedom comes responsibility.
Compare it to a random office worker versus an entrepreneur.
@ all above + others: Thanks for commenting! :-)
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