Beneath the roil of arguments about illegal downloading of digital media, there is an unmistakable social, dare I say ethical, implication to the idea that the next generation is growing up believing that it is normal to enjoy entertainment media without paying for it. Perhaps the most counter-intuitive phenomenon is the fact that college students currently paying a premium to ...
I guess it comes down to the obvious answer that “sex sells,” but with the recent arrest of two Vietnamese songwriters, I can’t help but notice the overwhelming silence on social media in stark contrast to the outpouring of support for Pussy Riot. Okay, I get it. Mini-dresses on leggy, Russian girls wearing brightly colored balaclavas are hard to beat ...
Musician David Lowery, founder of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven, has become one of the most vocal defendants of artists’ rights in the digital age. A co-founder of The Trichordist, Lowery and his colleagues write some very detailed, professional assessments of the state of the music industry since digital file sharing, streaming, and purchasing have become a reality. Presently under ...
Changing the culture one fan at a time Matthew Ebel would seem to be the living definition of the DIY digital artist. With 10 albums full of satirical and thought-provoking songs, he writes, composes, and performs based out of his New Hampshire studio, where he also records a weekly live stream program attended by fans from around the U.S. and ...
To those who comment unceasingly that copyright and anti-piracy efforts are exclusively about big labels and big studios, meet the owners of ESL. This is an indie label that has a blanket 50/50 deal with all of its artists. Eric Hilton comes from the technology sector, so they’re anything but Web luddites. They are literally telling young, talented musicians they ...
