http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005-2007 by the authors Fri, 5 Sep 2003 06:25:45 EDT http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/ Phillip WinnSunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding. Administration0@blogcritics.org Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/09/05/062545.php Kevin MarksPeople find the familiar comfortable. They want things to be like they were. So when technology did away with scarcity of recordings by making perfect copying easy, they wanted to change things back, to make these digits behave like physical goods.This is where the dream of DRM comes from - making digital goods scarce, and enforcing payment.Now using machines to enforce laws is bad. They have no capacity for mercy, latitude or leeway.And all DRM is readily circumvented as, eventually, it has to turn into patterns of light and sound for people to see and hear, and at this point cameras and microphones can record it. So for the determined adversary, it will be broken.What this means is that DRM can never thwart the real enemy, it can only annoy the legitimate customers, and they will thus Pay less for the product, or not buy it at all.There is a very odd reward curve here - the paying customers are getting less value than the non-paying circumventers. DRM is all stick and no carrot.It is for this reason that DRM destroys value, and business models based on DRM always fail. The putative counter example at the moment is the iTunes Music store, but as Apple ships a circumvention device with the application, by allowing you to burn the songs to CD, the case is unproven to put it mildly. Remember, the $7M that Apple has grossed from the iTMS is small change to them; they make many times that from selling iPods.If the labels succeed in making iTMS Windows stricter it will sell fewer songs.This week I have been reading Hernando de Soto's The Mystery of Capital in which he explains how US property law changed to recognise what was really happening on the ground, rather than what the large landowners wished for. This set off the accumulation of capital that made the US the wealthiest country in the world. Last week I read The Perfect Store about how Pierre Omidyar created a market for goods online, that was built on mutual trust, and it grew to become eBay, the most profitable of all online businesses.The time is ripe to do the same for online media, and create a marketplace that reflects people's desires and trust. Music8119@blogcritics.org Fri, 5 Sep 2003 06:25:45 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/06/10/225737.php Kevin MarksMiriam Rainsford's article on alternatives to standard publishing contracts for musicians points out the UK problems with the MCPS monopoly:One difficulty which bLiP records encountered in releasing the Madonna Remix Project album was that MCPS (UK Mechanical Copyright Protection Society) licensing is at present incompatible with copyleft licensing. Weston wished to draft his own license which would permit his customers to enjoy sharing mp3s of the album. When he approached the MCPS, their response was that a copyleft license would be "inappropriate."On further enquiry it seems that, as an artist signs an exclusive license to the MCPS for royalty collection, the MCPS are then unwilling to extend this license to include file sharing. This is somewhat understandable when one considers that the MCPS takes an 8.5 percent cut from every album or digital distribution in the United Kingdom. The MCPS are willing for their members to use copyleft licensing as long as they sign a waiver for royalty collection. But what made Weston's job difficult is that, under UK law, it is illegal to press an album without an MCPS license. And an album license will not be granted by the MCPS if the album uses copyleft material. Music6078@blogcritics.org Tue, 10 Jun 2003 22:57:37 EDT http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/21/014812.php Kevin MarksDRM Destroys Value - I've been saying this for a while, but Jupiter's new survey backs it up with figures: According to the study, nearly twice as many online consumers are willing to pay $17.99 for a CD that has unrestricted copy abilities versus a CD at only $9.99 that cannot be copied. That is a somewhat convoluted sentence, but it is pretty clear that DRM would cost the companies more than their profit margin to use (and it wouldn't stop copying in any case). Sci/Tech3978@blogcritics.org Fri, 21 Mar 2003 01:48:12 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/03/11/052304.php Kevin MarksShannon Campbell has gathered up 21 of her live recordings to go with the 7 songs of hers we've had to go on for the last year or so.Along with the raw and wistful 'One Day', she has the hard-hitting 'Untouchable Face', plus some covers of her favourite songs from Tom Waits, Aimee Mann and Fleetwood Mac.Go over there, download them, then paypal her $15 to say thank you, and to encourage her to record more.With music of this quality available direct from the artist, remind me why we need a record industry again? Music3721@blogcritics.org Tue, 11 Mar 2003 05:23:04 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/02/13/013140.php Kevin MarksI have a bit of a problem with this award, as most of music I listened to this year was rediscovered around my house on CDs from years back and ripped, or downloaded from independent musicians online who didn't issue albums. Timelessness is good. Transience is dull.song of the year: Dreaming of Violets - Shannon Campbellsongwriter of the year Shannon Campbellelectronic album Well, its not an album, but the Chillits festival live mixes are great - about 20 hours of music there.best re-issue or compilation [box sets, re-mastered, or bonuses] I think this was released this year- the only Amazon link I have. Echoes - Pink Floydbest new artist Shannon Campbell album that sucks most vigorously Bruce Springsteen's new one. Listened to it through once, couldn't believe how turgid it was. Music3161@blogcritics.org Thu, 13 Feb 2003 01:31:40 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/10/31/190409.php Kevin MarksAt mediAgora, I go on at some length about 'derivative works' and 'source works' until most non-lawyers' eyes glaze over. Today, I heard a great example of exaclty the kind of thing I'm talking about. Shannon Campbell is a very talented folk singer-songwriter in Pennsylvania, who posts MP3's on her site, including this one - Dreaming of Violets: (Mirrored on my site). Scott Andrew LePera is a musician in the California Bay Area. He downloaded Shannon's song, and recorded his own accompaniment, giving this: Dreaming of Violets (redux): (Mirrored on my site). OK, you say, beautiful music, talented musicians singing together via their blogs,what's that got to do with your media marketplace dreaming?Lets imagine a world with mediAgora. In this world, Shannon would have registered her song, and set a price for it (say 50 cents, including a 10 cent promotion fee). People who liked the free preview could pay for the high quality one and download it, and tell their friends and so on.Scott could find this song, record his extra vocals and backing, and register it with mediAgora too. Say he charged 20 cents for the extra work, with a 5 cent promo fee.I come along and hear the song on his weblog, and I like it , so I pay 70 cents. This gets me both versions of the song. I link to them here, on mediAgora and so on, and suddenly hundreds of people download the songs (note my fantasy thet hundreds of people read my weblog). Shannon gets 50 cents for each, Scot gets his 20 cents, and I get some of the promotion fee, with the rest going to them. I feel good and Shannon has to spend less time waiting on tables(reposted from the mediAgora blog) Music1616@blogcritics.org Thu, 31 Oct 2002 19:04:09 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2002/09/27/013556.php Kevin MarksAbout once every ten years, a Science Fiction novel appears that redefines the art form. One that describes a world different from our own, but recognisably ours - extrapolated from current trends, but richly evocative of its difference, adding words to the language that needed to be coined. Books like The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, The HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy,Snow Crash and now Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.What these books have in common are worlds that draw you in and make you believe in the technological underpinnings, accepting them implicitly and learning their terminology (TANSTAAFL, frood, Metaverse, Whuffie) as you go, while you follow the adventures of characters you come to care about.Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom takes place in a utopian future, where death has lost its sting, as afterwards you can restore your consciousness from a backup, just like an adventure game. Corporations, Governments and money have disappeared, replaced by Ad-hocracies and Whuffie, a distributed reputation system. Julius is enjoying his 3rd adult life, working in Disney World with his girlfriend Lil, 15 percent of his age, maintaining the attractions for the public to appreciate, when his old friend Dan turns up...I can't summarize the plot, or evoke the atmosphere; you'll need to read it yourself to do that - Cory's skill at both is such that I don't just know this future world, I also know my way around Disney World, despite never having visited Florida. Let me just quote a little:On the walk to the Hall, Dan kept ringing my cochlea and I kept sending him straight to voicemail. All the while, I kept up a patter of small-talk with him and Tim. I was determined to make up for my debacle in the Mansion with Tim, win him over. Debra's people were sitting around in the armchairs onstage, the animatronic presidents stacked in neat piles in the wings. Debra was sprawled in Lincoln's armchair, her head cocked lazily, her legs extended before her. The Hall's normal smells of ozone and cleanliness were overridden by sweat and machine-oil, the stink of an ad-hoc pulling an all-nighter. The Hall took fifteen years to research and execute, and a couple of days to tear down. She was au-naturel, still wearing the face she'd been born with, albeit one that had been regenerated dozens of times after her deaths. It was patrician, waxy, long, with a nose that was made for staring down. She was at least as old as I was, though she was only apparent 22. I got the sense that she picked this age because it was one that afforded boundless reserves of energy. She didn't deign to rise as I approached, but she did nod languorously at me. The other ad-hocs had been split into little clusters, hunched over terminals. They all had the raccoon-eyed, sleep-deprived look of fanatics, even Debra, who managed to look lazy and excited simultaneously. Did you have me killed? I wondered, staring at Debra. After all, she'd been killed dozens, if not hundreds of times. It might not be such a big deal for her. As keen bloggers, you'll already know Cory Doctorow as the ringleader of BoingBoing, where he exposes the contents of his outboard brain for your daily amusement and edification.You may have read his appetite-whetting short story 0wnz0red, or seen the extracts from Down and Out In the Magic Kingdom already, but you should pre-order this book now, so you'll have something to look forward to, both the novel and the future it portends. Books939@blogcritics.org Fri, 27 Sep 2002 01:35:56 EDT