In what may be the most aptly named copyright case in recent history, “Blurred Lines” (properly Williams v. Gaye) is generally viewed as a mistake that many composers and songwriters fear will have a chilling effect on the craft of music-making. The headline complaint is that the outcome thus far asserts copyright protection for musical style, and, if true, this ...
Yesterday, David Lowery’s The Trichordist published an article by singer/songwriter Blake Morgan—one which the Huffington Post apparently refused to run. In the piece, Morgan describes meeting with Spotify executives to whom he tried to explain that their product isn’t Spotify itself but is in fact music. “And by the way,” Morgan said, “stop calling your subscribers ‘users.’ They’re not ‘users,’ ...
My generation was raised on Schoolhouse Rock!. As such, we were not only told that America is a Melting Pot but were reminded of this on a regular basis in a song from that animated series, the melody of which is now ringing in the heads of any fellow Gen-Xers reading this post. Of course, the more mature truth is ...
I have said a few times on this blog that contemporary politics in the United States is increasingly reminiscent of the turbulent 19th century. We only have 2.4 centuries of existence as a nation, and it took half of that time just to begin to fulfill the promise of equality—principally by advancing of the rights of labor relative to the ...
When Napster appeared in 1999, it was a bit of a perfect storm situation for fans to rationalize music piracy. Granted, people would have used the file-sharing app no matter what, but the music industry had indeed become demonstrably bloated; and one chronic complaint among consumers was that we were required to buy a $15 CD just to get two ...
