By: Jon z

Jon z — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 20:43:33 +0000

I think your hacking is totally white hat, you are just taking apart a construct with the same curiosity that likely put it together in the first place (and then suggesting patches for it). With addons for Firefox like the (hideous but functional) DownloadHelper out there, the stuff you’ve done isn’t even the easiest way to steal their shit.

By: Mike

Mike — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 13:31:02 +0000

I can’t really speak with any great experience about any individual music sharing platforms, but each new delivery method developed hacks another chip out of the music industry monolith. This is especially the case if they pay lip service to the law in public, but let the users run out the back door with all the files.
I think the whole concept of record companies are going to evaporate in the future, as individuals get so much more efficient at producing, evaluating, and distributing music than a large bureaucracy could ever be.
This will be great for musicians. When music is delivered through a friendly message rather than a sterile plastic case people will be much more inclined to think about the human element involved in producing what they are listening to.
Bands should then be able to lay out a virtual guitar case on their sites, and each person who is touched by their music will have the opportunity to drop in a buck or two. And the more a band works to further humanize their image, allowing their fans to learn more about where they are coming from and why they are making the music, the more money they will get in recognition.
It might be harder to be a professional musician when you are getting paid in tips on the Internets, but it will be much easier to be a part-time musician. It is like iStockPhoto putting professional photographers out of business, but great photos still manage to get made and sold by thousands of people.
And if you look at human history, this is just a return to the standard setup when everyone was a musician to a certain extent. Just instead of singing around a campfire or a piano, we will be playing music into our computers.
Sorry, I have probably been reading the Cluetrain Manifesto too much.

By: a-train

a-train — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:22:51 +0000

Right on, man.
People seem to think that music and musicians didn’t exist and make a living before major labels and the “music industry” came into existence. They did. And and they will continue to when the major label system is long gone.
(btw … you are a gifted writer. seriously amazing.)

Comments on: surprisingly, I don’t consider myself a jerk

By: Jon z

By: Mike

By: a-train