Violet Orlandi on labels

I know this blog has been inactive for a while, and it will probably continue to be so. Obviously, part of it is because the world has gone to so much shit that copyright complaints seem laughable by comparison. Another reason is that I have not made music for a long time, and as a result have less personal interest about people exploiting musicians. Especially since most musicians nowadays know better.

Or at least that’s what I thought. I guess I was wrong.

Here is an example. It is meant to be a cautionary tale. Even those artists who are able to navigate the labyrinth of multi-channel networks and content ID scams can still be convinced to sign with abusive labels.

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Myths About Net Neutrality

This is the first post I’ve written in a long while, but it is a critical one.

By the time you read this, it will be the internet-wide Day of Action in order to preserve net neutrality rules. Like most people, I fully believe that net neutrality is absolutely essential to protecting an open Internet. The current net neutrality rules aren’t perfect, but the stance taken by the FCC is disastrous.

The plan is to remove telecom industries from Title II classification, meaning the FCC would have no authority to either issue or enforce net neutrality rules, effectively killing them.

The telecom lobbyists (supported by their lobbying partners in the content industries) have been pumping out misinformation left and right. Their propaganda is then repeated by the think tanks they fund, with the usual gang of useful idiots in tow. It’s a lame attempt to give the false impression that their viewpoints are supported by the general public.

So, on this day, I can think of no better topic than this.

My response to the Library of Congress survey

By now, most of you will have heard that the new Librarian of Congress,  Carla Hayden, removed Maria Pallante from the post of the Register of Copyrights.

There have been a lot of stupid conspiracy theories running around about it (including the one originating from Chris Castle that Google was somehow behind it, despite the fact that Carla Hayden has no relation to Google at all). Of course, these turned out to be utter bullshit. Pallante was removed because she repeatedly and publicly advocated that the Copyright Office be removed from the auspices of the Library of Congress.

Whatever the case, the Library of Congress has been doing something previously unheard of, and actually asked the public to weigh in on how to decide who should take her place. They have set up a survey here:

Librarian of Congress Seeks Input on Register of Copyrights

The survey period ends on January 31st, so if it’s not already too late when you read this, I strongly encourage everyone to submit comments today.

Here is what I submitted.

The Oakland Fire

As some of you may have heard, there was a fire in an artist space in Oakland, California.The fire happened during a performance at the space of live electronic music. Golden Donna, Cherushii, Nackt, Russell Butler, Obsidian Blade, Piano Rain, and RADAR were on the bill.

The fire was severe. As of this writing, thirty bodies have been found, and most of the building has yet to be searched. All of the artists there have lost their homes and possessions. It is a terrible situation.

CNN is tracking the story here:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/04/us/california-oakland-fire/

If there’s even a possiblity that you were anywhere near the fire, please mark yourself safe on this Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/safetycheck/oakland-california-fire-dec03-2016/

(Incidentally, this is the first time I heard about Facebook safety check pages, which is a wonderful idea.)

Gray Area Foundation for the Arts has set up a relief fund through YouCaring:
https://www.youcaring.com/firevictimsofoaklandfiredec232016-706684

(EDIT: There is a Facebook group that is set up for this tragedy, but apparently it has been taken over by spam nonsense.

I did not know any of the performers personally, but we had lots of friends in common, and this space is exactly the kind of space I would perform at.

My sympathies go out to everyone involved, the people who lost their lives and the artists who are now homeless.

I’m also hoping that this doesn’t become yet another excuse to shut down these types of collective spaces, which have been under attack (especially here in Boston) for years. Artists need these types of spaces; hopefully this will push cities nationwide to make allowances for them, so that they can exist legally and safely, instead of being more aggressive in shutting them down.

It’s the DOJ ruling on consent decrees, and I feel fine

There has been a lot of ink spilled over the recent DOJ ruling regarding the ASCAP and BMI consent decrees. I’d like to go into it in depth.

If you want to dive right in, you could do worse than to read the many, many comment submissions on the DOJ’s website. In fact, I sent one in myself (PDF).

But as an introduction, I’d like to describe the consent decrees themselves, and briefly go into why they exist.

Maddox, Google, and Hollywood

I recently read an article on “The Best Page In The Universe,” the venerable website started by Maddox, a.k.a. George Ouzounian. I only check it sporadically, so I missed this when it was first posted.

The article is called It’s time Hollywood kissed Google’s ass. It is worth reading in its entirety, but here are what I think are the good parts:

For all the constant bitching we hear from production companies and studios about piracy, no other company is doing as much to protect copyrights as Google. Companies like Viacom constantly mine the Internet for viral videos they can use for cheap content, while simultaneously filing billion dollar lawsuits. When people post their [Viacom’s] content on YouTube, they file takedown requests and shut down YouTube channels. But when they do it for millions of dollars, it’s okay[…]

Without a site like YouTube: the video market would be fragmented and thousands of smaller sites would take its place. Or worse, a competitor in a nation that doesn’t give a shit about US copyright laws. YouTube is Hollywood’s biggest ally. It’s time for Hollywood to loosen the reins because content creators everywhere are starting to get pissed off with these excessive and superfluous takedown requests.

If you want to see a video where he expounds on this idea, with lots of metal music in the background, watch: YouTube is the reason Hollywood still exists.

Be forewarned: in case you didn’t already know, Maddox is famous (or notorious) for his salty language and over-the-top persona.

Rute Correia’s take on John Degen

So, apparently I am not the only one who realizes that John Degen is full of crap.

Rute Correia has written a reaction to Degan’s 5 Seriously Dumb Myths About Copyright the Media Should Stop Repeating, in which he attacks copyright”myths” that are anything but.

Correia’s article is called 5 Seriously Important Facts about Copyright the Media Should Keep on Repeating. It is worth reading.

And, for comparison, you can also re-read my article, John Degen Loses Argument Against Straw Man.

My comments about the DMCA

So, today I just sent some comments to the U.S. Copyright Office regarding issues with the DMCA, and how to fix them. I used the form at takedownabuse.org in order to do it.

Yes, I know the deadline passed over a week ago. (It’s been a busy month.) I fully expect the comment to be ignored. But supposedly the takedownabuse.org folks are turning late submissions into a petition, so who knows, maybe it will make a small difference.

So, without further ado, here is the comment.

A “FAQ” About Sharky Laguana and Silent September

Sharky Laguana is still advocating against Spotify’s royalty model. His latest post on Medium is called Streaming Music is Ripping You Off. As you can guess from the title, it’s not an exercise in subtlety. According to Laguana, streaming music services like Spotify are saying “Your choices don’t count, and you don’t matter,” and that “You Are Worthless.”

Just as I stated in Sharky Laguana and “Fair” Spotify Royalties, I believe (along with others like David Touve) that Laguana’s numbers don’t add up. He also consistently uses loaded terminology (“click” vs. “listen”), false dichotomies (“10,000 fans who stream a song once, or one fan who streams it 10,001 times”), and other rhetorical mistakes. It is not an article that is making an argument; it is an article that is meant to be inflammatory.

In it, he attempts to generate outrage for a campaign called “Silent September.” This is the plan: “This September, when you aren’t listening to music, put your favorite indie artists on repeat, and turn the sound down low.” The intent is to “make the problem so visible that the major labels feel it would be better to switch to a different system where this kind of manipulation isn’t possible.”

He also wrote a FAQ for that campaign. And, since I already wrote an article controverting his numbers, I thought it would be more fun to do a “FAQ” of my own.

Enjoy!

The Trichordist’s War On Rethink Music

On July 14th of this year, Rethink Music released a report called “Fair Music: Transparency And Payment Flows In The Music Industry.” The report is available to anyone who provides a name and email address, and can be downloaded here:
http://www.rethink-music.com/download-page

Rethink Music is an initiative of the Berklee College of Music, specifically their Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship. Their goal is to explore options in the music business; they’re hardly anti-copyright crusaders, and their focus is on working artists.

Yet, the Trichordist has spent multiple blog posts attacking them. In the end, their attitude seems to be this: “You don’t attack digital music services enough, so we’ll attack you.” And in the process, Trichordist made many claims that were misleading, and sometimes downright bizarre.