[cc-community] Is it the Music or the Musician?
Kevin Phillips (home)
tacet at qmpublishing.com
Sun Jan 20 19:21:25 EST 2008
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shakti S" <mail at shakti.id.au>
To: <cc-community at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 13, 2008 11:34 PM
Subject: Re: [cc-community] Is it the Music or the Musician?
> Hi Kevin,
> Thank you for your comments, at least someone took the effort to
> comment, unfortunately rather than a discussion you were trying to
> create an argument.
Hi Shakti, sorry about the delay in response. I wasn't trying to create
an argument. I actually agree with the sentiment of some of your
observations.
> This I feel can be useful sometimes, however in
> the light of the present situation of the potential of world outcomes
> it is talking about trivia while Rome burns. I was trying to make
> some quite profound points in an effort to shift a very destructive
> paradigm, back to a more human and cooperative one.
Well then you're hopefully in the right place, most of us who contribute to
CC in our own way do so out of love, for peer interaction or simply the
ideal of contributing something to a bigger pot, for others to enjoy freely.
So most of us do it for no fiscal reward, not because we're wealthy or all
have great jobs, we just have other reasons and motives. One of the issues
I had with your previous email is that you seemed to go against this
slightly. The notion of the modern paradigm of recorded music somehow
displacing musicians and rendering them poor or worthless just doesn't make
sense. Lots of musicians are using CC and other licenses to work around the
established regime and are quite content with their level of success in
doing so, because they're not always measuring success in dollars.
> Did you know that competition moves against our actual evolutionary
> process as the human race. The fact that the whites of our eyes are
> visible suggests cooperation rather than a predatory nature. The
> predators have pupils that cover their whole eye making it difficult
> to anticipate what they are about to do. Being able to anticipate
> someone else's actions is more useful with cooperation. Competition
> is predatory.
That's an interesting point of view, to be honest I don't think many
contributors to CC are very competitive otherwise they'd have issues with
the level of control they have of their output, just like commercial
artists. CC artists often want their creations to be freely manipulated
for the enjoyment and/or benefit of others ad infinitum.
> There is a point where conflict is useful, and that is to bring
> others out of a sleep, but when everyone is hyperactive, then they
> will only destroy each other. But even in that usefulness, there are
> also alternatives that do not require conflict.
I have no sword.... lets discuss :)
> So getting back to my point, which relates to the mutual usefulness
> of human beings in their attempt to live a life of fulfillment and
> comfort. The way we are doing it at the moment fails because while
> 20% can discuss trivia, the other 80% do not have that luxury, but
> strive just to exist. The pop star that flies around the world
> displaces hundreds of competent musicians that are quit capable of
> fulfilling that need in those places.
Your ideas of fulfillment and comfort are interesting. Are you suggesting
that 80% of musicians who don't live in "luxury" are happy to contribute to
society and fill a need, but they'd only do so via employment? I realise
your comment is more of a generalisation, but maybe there's
actually a very interesting series of points of discussion here.
CC and employment aren't such obvious bedfellows. CC is
designed to provide a method of legally-free sharing and distribution.
So the old recording company paradigm of selling recordings is off
to a spluttery start.
CC is brilliant for folks looking for new, undiscovered music. Not
surprisingly then, CC is brilliant for a composer/artist/producer
wanting exposure, it's also brilliant for the composer/artist/producer
who doesn't mind not being paid for their output recordings.
As there's often no direct income from recordings, it's difficult to see how
the musician/player who wants to work sessions (just turn up and play
something in a studio) might get paid to do so. It's hardly surprising
that a large percentage of contributors are amateurs, evangelists,
hobbyists, professionals in other fields, or academics.
This reminds me of all the old "blogging will be the death of CNN"
discussions way back, and I'd be interested to hear what others think
with this in mind. Shakti, as a musician posting to a Creative Commons
list you obviously feel CC does or could provide something enriching
for you, right?
I suppose for professional musicians performing CC works it's just like
any other (c) performance, the venue would pay the fee to the musician
and rights society if necessary.
> While the paradigm now is to replace human effort with technology,
> have a look at what it is achieving. Then analyze the outcomes in
> terms of needs and satisfiers, followed by asking the question: is it
> functioning? While 30,000 children die of starvation every day, and
> 2.5 billion people do not have potable water, I think you should
> review your opinion on "opportunity".
I think it's a bit heavy to lay the blame at the door of technological
opportunity. I think you'd do better to look at respective governments
and their strategy (or not) to deal with abject poverty.
As Creative Commons is a catalyst to near zero-cost distribution, I'd
have thought it would provide more opportunity for the people of
developing nations, not less. Projects like OLPC would never have
happened without the forward thinking and generosity of the
technologically rich....and long may it continue.
> There is a definite problem
> here and I am trying to address it by the shift of the human
> obsession with the possession of objects to the celebration of what
> people do.
Many CC artists agree with that, it's one of the motivating factors
driving them to contribute to something bigger than themselves.
IOW if we each agree to be a little less possessive and give things
away, we'll potentially enrich more lives.
> In terms of needs and satisfiers the technological attempt to
> simplify the complication of learning and then playing of music
> fails, because it is equally complicated, it just displaces the
> fulfillment of the mastery of a virtuoso, and the experience in the
> moment of the uncompressed analog live performance. But worse than
> that it takes away actions of meaning and replaces them with mindless
> tasks, for the musician who uses technology to play music takes
> themselves out of that creative loop, they are only a small
> percentage of the output. Compare improvising over a figured base
> (which happens in real time) to audio editing (which happens in step
> time).
This is where we're almost certainly never going to agree. Or this is
going to be a very very very long email ;)
So, I'll reply with an obeservation. I have a great friend who's retired,
he conducts an orchestra, composes and arranges music. He played
a brass instrument and was a very keen pianist when he was younger.
I remember first meeting him and noticing he hates any kind of
modern music, anything post 1930 is a grey area, and everything
from 1960 onwards you can forget it. He refuses to use the words
"popular" and "music" in the same sentence. Yet a nicer guy you'd
be hard pressed to find.
Your "improvised" is better than "recorded" totally reminded me
of some of his rants about modern music. I take it you're not a
fan of The Chemical Brothers, Moby or Hot Chip?
Music like food is all about taste. I tip my hat to jazz musicians
who can free form for hours, but maybe I'd rather not be there
for the entire duration.
> Does anyone else wonder what is more important: the Music or the
> Musician?
I personally think all elements of delivery are important, be it the
performance of a virtuoso pianist or the sheer ingenuity of a kid
having fun with GarageBand in her bedroom.
Best wishes,
Kevin
>
> Shakti
>
> www.shakti.id.au
>
>
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