> I've got some heartfelt words to share with you concerning Railroad
> Earth's soon-to-be-released CD "Amen Corner." It's important to note
> that what you are about to read are my words and my words only.
>
> "Amen Corner" is an incredible piece of work. I'm lucky enough to
> have heard it, and all of you will definitely want to buy it and
> listen to it repeatedly. And that's what I want to talk to you
> about. BUYING it.
>
> The music industry has changed drastically with the explosion in
> information technology. The industry-wide sales of CDs have dropped
> dramatically since the ability to burn and copy CDs became
> commonplace. I recently read a statistic that blew my mind: 48% of
> teenagers in this country have never bought a CD. This is the
> demographic historically responsible for a huge share of the market.
> Now, they either download music or blissfully practice music piracy.
>
> We've all done it, have we not? Copied and burned copyrighted
> music. I am asking you to stop doing that and not do it anymore.
> Railroad Earth's CD has prompted me to write this, but it's wrong to
> pirate music by any artist.
>
> Musicians work their asses off for years, honing their craft, and we
> all benefit from their awesome talents. It is not an easy life, and
> frankly not financially lucrative (with a few exceptions). So,
> please do the right thing. Think about the times that Railroad
> Earth's music has created for you and in you a state of joy, and
> doing the right thing will be easy.
>
> You folks on the Earthboard will want to buy "Amen Corner," I
> guarantee. You may want to buy two or three copies, so you have one
> for the house, one for the car, perhaps another to give to someone
> you want to turn on to some great music. Then ask them to follow
> this simple lesson in doing the right thing, and maybe we can change
> the trend of a downturn in music sales, at least in this instance.
>
> While I am admittedly not objective, "Amen Corner" is, in my opinion,
> worthy of consideration for award. But, just to be considered for
> such a thing requires strong sales. The core of fans reading this
> will be important in realizing this goal. The first step is to
> buy "Amen Corner." The second step is to not copy the CD and don't
> accept copies. Then encourage everyone you know - or strangers for
> that matter - to buy themselves a copy of this splendid effort by
> Railroad Earth.
>
> You can accept or reject my words. But you know what I am saying is
> right. And doing the right thing will make you feel good. And I
> want you to feel good.
>
> Sincerely and Thanks for Reading This,
> Papa Phil
PS - This is post 420 of shredsomething!!!! wooo!!!!!! wooooooooooooo!!!!!
13 comments:
If the song is good, after I download it for free, I'll probably download a couple others for free. If they are good, I will probably buy the album.
TOO many 'artists' put out crap and then get independant country rich, absorb our attention with idiotic behavior, and never have to push the envelope of creativity.
I work hard for my flow, if I see the same effort in your flow - I'll pay.
i gotta say you sound a bit like lars ulrich here.
clinging to the structure of media dispersion that is status quo would surely lead one to find fault in 'piracy' and 'stealing.' instead of accepting the way the huge bureaucratic record labels are differential to terming the situation (pirate thief) we can look to new options and pioneers who have their eye on a better way. ie- radiohead, saul williams, the flashbulb. one of the things you leave out of your argument is the dismal microscopic share of album sales that the artists are entitled to by their labels. labels want you to think that your 'material' album purchases are funding the musicians but that is simply not the case. And not just with the big corporate labels either. Small labels and studios are following suit because of their apparent losses due to my favorite word: 'sharing'. In addition, some of these labels throw all artists rights out the window and claim publishing rights and royalties for years and years. What I'm saying is the entire system of 'products' of art must be overhauled. radiohead et al know this and there is no doubt that they accomplished far more monetary gain out of their donation only album dispersion. which leads to another point: how much wealth do these muses and visionary healers need to be showered with? Isn't the point of art to bring together, to share, to heal and to transcend. what does a dollar have? As a person trained in audio engineering and possibly entering the world of vibrational sharing, it is hard to overcome the monetary aspects but I can tell you that for me, being a part of the creation and sharing is more than enough, and I think that true musicians would feel the same way.
I also am a firm believer in live music and the fact that all musicians should be on the road sharing their material with the collective consciousness. I spend $30 a ticket to see railroad earth when they are around. Hell I bought a $35 shirt last time they were around.
Also, downloading music (sharing) has made me aware of countless artists that I would have never known. Communities like what.cd encourage supporting artists that you believe in and also garner the most important aspect of marketing and spreading things: word of mouth. I tell people about artists that i admire and vice versa. Without my 'piracy' I and many others would be unaware of countless artists and albums that make it in my rotation. Not to mention I would be completely broke if I supported a record label by purchasing every $20 album I laid my inquisitive eyes on.
I wrap up. I RRE is gonna get an award for Amen Corner it is going to be because of word of mouth. It is going to be because I GIVE the album to someone whos never heard them. It is going to be because they want to share themselves and the wonder they are able to channel. Who owns the channel? What is original? Where is the creativity coming from? Who should profit more than my ears and soul?
What is data? Who owns this information? What about movies, books, articles, photos? I think this issue is just one more example of the failure of our system. Making all data (information) available to all for free should be the goal. What about downloading McKenna talks? Should his brother get royalties for every word that was spoken? Larger issue than face value.
Sorry ranty, I know. I just really don't agree.
Much Love
totally agree with U. and doze
keep in mind this is from a promoter of the band, with interests of his own.
record companies just act like bank financers. they give money to record an album they think they can sell. bands often end up in debt, and then are forever controlled by the industrty. debt = control.
i love RRE, but bands usually make their money on touring rather than album sales. they get a larger proportion of the money on the road usually too.
just this weekend i went to 2 shows of which i got the CDs for free. i spent like 80 bucks for Boombox and Cornmeal. if i hadn't been given their CDs by friends i would have been siting at home saving up for that new bruce springstein box set....
the last two "albums" i paid any money for were saul williams and radiohead. i had the option of getting them free, but since i knew the money was going to the artist and i respected their intention, i paid 10 bucks each.
paying for CDs in the traditional way is dying, and all the record companies and many bands are holding on really tight to the past. change is the only thing to expect, people need to adapt to the way things are progressing instead of bitching about the ways of the past.
freedom
how can we commodify art without totally jeopardizing its entire purpose?
who is papa phil?
cant wait for the new springstein :)
totes
Papa Phil is Railroad Earth's manager, the big santa claus lookin cat always chillin back stage at their shows...
This popped up the other day on the Railroad message board and I just thought it was interesting because I had never heard anything like it in my experience within this particular genre/sect of music.
I agree with many of his points and I see your guys's as well. While I have not always practiced it, I have thought to myself at times that buying albums is something noteworthy. Sometimes I feel like a bit of a culture vulture in my pursuit for free music which was meant for purchase.
While everything can be viewed as information in a certain world view, we still live in a world bound by certain things, and I mostly posted this for fans of Railroad Earth who understand, or feel something, about the immense integrity of that band...I don't think they have any problem with the transfer of soundboards...Through working with their street team, I have been given free access to multiple shows...And in no way do I think they resemble Lars Ulrich
I think they're main point is perhaps that they feel as if they are as accomplished as any group can become, and for their popularity in the world of statistics (which many people in this world/country still subscribe to) to be hindered by what is sometimes unnecessary or unintentional piracy
This is an older band too, they are an older kind of musician
I thought it was interesting that they decided to speak out
On another note, serious critics of music also know the loss of information that occurs upon compression and transfer...similarly I find it a little irresponsible to mention certain means of attaining music without charge if it is truly something worth preserving
also when I share the music of railroad earth it is something from the collection of soundboards I have attained or maybe a mix of stuff
the albums that are for sale and stores and customers are not only offered perfect quality recordings of the songs which will sound impeccable in good system, the get the artwork, liner notes, etc, etc...
why give someone their brand new album? I just don't understand
albums are special aren't they? i've always sort of thought so...i think the purchasing of a song or two and deciding if you like it is stupid as well...if you don't trust your intuition about a band, perhaps don't buy it...if you have no interest in the discovery of something that will perhaps stick with you your entire life at the expense of a small risk, perhaps don't bother
sneak into festivals/concerts, leave when you feel like it, and spend your money on booze or cigarettes or food of companies which really don't deserve anything except for an award for deceiving mass amounts of people
pay an entity like At&T who has potentially violated your civil liberties by recommendation of your corrupt government for internet access and use it to attain free music
i just learned recently as well that the serial number of a cd burner is encoded into a burned cd
if railroad earth wants to encourage its listeners to purchase their cd and probably never say anything about it, who are we to tell them no?
is it inconceivable that they are simply trying to build infrastructure for greater festivals, travels, peak experiences for their fans on their own terms?
and BY THE WAY....I think that analyzing things critically and on a case by case basis is important on all levels these days...to assume this is a bureacratic/standard record label is too easy...scifidelity is a much different entity in my opinion
yoyoyo
i was in no way trying to belittle RRE or the greater SCI Fi family. I'm sure that the label practices of the aforementioned are of a greater integrity than, say Capitol Records, but my point is that there is still a bottom line to be met. Without this bottom line we wouldn't be having the discussion about stealing vs. sharing. I know that we are far from a utopian sense of being but at the same time I must reiterate my feeling that it is the free and open dissemination of information that holds the promise of oneness.
I am not interested in marginalizing the importance of supporting those things that you believe in in pre-utopia World. My argument is that by simply being a fan of someone/something you are doing a great deal to further their goals and their reach upon the world. By wearing their shirts, by dancing endlessly at their concerts, and by ceaselessly spreading the word, you are disseminating their message which is far more important than filling their pocket book.
I am also wondering what your opinion of this situation would be if the ideas represented didn't come from the manager of your favorite band. RRE aside, can we not agree that there are supportive alternatives to purchasing packaged products containing infinitely expansive art on the inside? Can we not agree that you can have deep reverence and respect for an artist's integrity without supporting the entity that represents them?
Also, I am confused about your comparison of lossy encoding to mentioning communities devoted to the sharing of binary information. MP3 @ 128 kbps throws away 90% of all data. An official CD release is authored in Red Book Linear Pulse Code Modulation. This is only one format of digital binary information transfer. Lossless methods, such as FLAC or MLP, are able to compress the information in a way that, upon decode, all the information is regained and the source integrity is essentially the same as LPCM. How is the compression of info similar to making a point about peer to peer sharing?
"i think the purchasing of a song or two and deciding if you like it is stupid as well...if you don't trust your intuition about a band, perhaps don't buy it...if you have no interest in the discovery of something that will perhaps stick with you your entire life at the expense of a small risk, perhaps don't bother
sneak into festivals/concerts, leave when you feel like it, and spend your money on booze or cigarettes or food of companies which really don't deserve anything except for an award for deceiving mass amounts of people
pay an entity like At&T who has potentially violated your civil liberties by recommendation of your corrupt government for internet access and use it to attain free music"
talking down to people does nothing but alienate them from your view. if your gonna bring up attitudes like these than you might as well direct them at your argument as well. What about all the packaging and plastic and petrochemicals that are used in order to sell a product? Are those worth overlooking. Is the environment less important than RRE's new album. Fuck man, im probably gonna support the band by buying their album but it doesn't the situation doesn't have to be so dogmatic and oppressive or black and white. SHARE. SUPPORT WHO YOU LIKE.
Im glad that we can have these discussions, I just wish that there was less maliciousness.
yeah totally jason and my apologies...i was thinking last night how communicating through the net isn't something i have quite totally figured out a good method for...a lot of times i'm in passing moments, and for instance last night, i was swamped with shit i wasn't happy doing and decided to go for a break...cracked on some sugar and caffeine and unhappy with schoolwork, i went at it and resorted to some tactics i am indeed trying to stray from
all your points, totally valid and i wish to apologize again for any malicious tone...i don't know if it is actually there, but the fact that the words hang still makes it seem intractable...i think in a live discussion so much could be easily worked through and disregarded, which i will try and note for future posts :)
totally fun to talk.
i read takas comment last night and decided not to respond cause it was late. then i laid in bed thinking about it all night.
the thing is that threre seem to be two debates going simultiouly. the broad debate about music sharing, and the narrow supporting a band that you like, RRE. all of our posts and the origional papa comment switch between these two spectrums.
we can draw these lines anaywhere and take this discussion anywhere. i too was thinking about the carbon needed to buy three CDs for all your friends.
or the fact that its hypicritical that a small label demad there CDs not be pirated. it is plain to me that smaller bands and labels have made huge leaps thanks to myspace and music sharing. they have been able to reach millions without spending a dime on MTV advertising. major labels are the ones who are being hurt, after huge campaigns and product/band placement costing millions, no one buys their CD cause people heard the leaked version and dont buy the hype any longer.
we should totally support any thing that we like, especislly if we 'feel' called to do so.
this debate is vast, and not personal. information copyright laws are a serious issue right now as we move toward faster communication and new modes of thought...
big ups, lets play together
fo sho
cuss and discuss
much love
playing=fun
my kombucha is brown and gross
tastes good tho
I would say I have to agree with a little bit of everyone...I fully support purchasing Rail Road Earth's material, however I question whether supporting the current corporate controlled distribution of music and I wonder whether leaving music's fate in their hands is actually for the benefit of everyone.. I think the less money they get the more they listen to consumers and the ones who do that well in my opinion are the ones that should succeed in this "winner take all" economic system we have...now we control what is deemed "success" and because success is monitored in financial terms by corporations ( far different meaning than most people listen to music for) they are forced to support whatever is succesful...this dychotomy needs time to sort out and I think that it should be controlled by networks of individuals...I think it is wrong to steal or pirated content but I think it is a middle ground that is always going to be in debate as it is a cat and mouse game between profiteers and those they profit from...I think we are all on the same side and by that I mean everyone..someone may be employed by Sony but secretly download BMG music, in this sense the same person is fuelling fueling both sides equally as true would be someone who used to be a "pirater" and now they see the logic behind supporting who they like...I see this card all the time in politics and all it does is drive more wedges inbetween people if you label someone a drug "addict" or a "pothead" or a "pirater" it assumes that the overt characteristic of their existence is that label..I do however think its a check and balance system that is necessary, without corporate america we may not have some of the innovations such as itunes, but at the same time if we didnt have people like Owsley who said fuck the status quo and built the wall of sound...whats interesting is he did not say "fuck the status quo" he decided to raise it and that is the thing that is missing for me...no one is raising the bar music producers complain they have lost profits instead of innovating on behalf of the consumer and earning these profits...profits are never deserved and the ones who think they deserve them now dont have any...the monopoly on information is decreasing by the day and I think this is both a good thing and inevitable, however when that information is of some value to you we must be careful not to bite the hand that feeds us, especially when it is world altering music
it is this power dance back and forth that keeps us going and the middle ground in my opinion can only be reached once there is a compromise on both sides...consumers have actually supported the buying of music but only after it was just as easy to download music legally as illegally
itunes sells around 15% of music without owning or producing content..this is a phenominon thats like selling 20% of oil witout having the risk of drilling or the pump to sell it
it was only out of pure greed of large studios that Apple could even offer such a product as technically Sony should be able to offer it cheaper
it is this perpetual cycle of greed that leads to consumer alienation that makes the two extremes so wide
remember the record companies at first were suing families for everything they were worth with no original caps on damages and then to be more moderate they capped it at 10,000 per song...economically this is insane thats saying that a song that takes maximum one million to produce (w/ music video) and then it is illegally downloaded a million times they are at a claimed "loss" of 10 billion dollars...in my opinion new revenue channels need to be created decomposing the value chain and giving the value to the value creators sponsored by the fans, the only reason there is perceived "value" in the first place...this "dance" and "middle ground" in my opinion should be a pact by the artists and the fans with absolute efficiency and both sides should keep playing the game...more infrastructure will come in the form of devices by corporate people, who are the only ones with the capital to invent it but consumers should keep this check and pressuring the industry to lower the cost and take out unecessary beauricratic middlemen
after all you only make your first album once
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