Uncategorized

Is Creative Commons Music Future?

Future_4
FUTURE WEEK

Is giving music away – or at least allowing far freer use the best way to save the industry?  Do we have any choice?  Here’s a great overview of Creative Commons and its chief guru Lawrence Lessig.

Share on:

7 Comments

  1. Giving it away is not the answer. Neither is being to precious with content. We live in a world where it’s simply less of a pain in the ass to steal it and hope it flies under the radar. An easy to use licensing mechanism (ala OpenID) that crosses multiple sites is. It could provide the lowest barrier-to-entry mechanism for syndication of music content.
    The problem with that is that the publishing companies still demand a penny rate of about .09 per track for each product that is downloaded.

  2. Giving it away is not the answer. Neither is being to precious with content. We live in a world where it’s simply less of a pain in the ass to steal it and hope it flies under the radar. An easy to use licensing mechanism (ala OpenID) that crosses multiple sites is. It could provide the lowest barrier-to-entry mechanism for syndication of music content.
    The problem with that is that the publishing companies still demand a penny rate of about .09 per track for each product that is downloaded.

  3. Just watched the video you posted, and I have a question…
    I just started to “cyber busk” on my website, http://www.thebusking.com, and I’m wondering if I’m doing anything illegal. I provide my music (almost all covers for now) for free. However, I have a tip jar where someone can donate via a credit card. I’m also generating revenue through a few google ads I placed on the site. I only started it about a week ago, and I’m under the radar with profits, but I’m just wondering if anyone out there knows if what I’m doing is illegal. I’m selling the music, and it’s not entirely certain for which song someone might “tip” for. Could this be a new way for artists to make a profit from the work, without actually “selling” their work?
    You can see what I’m doing here: http://thebusking.com
    Any suggestions from people reading this would be much appreciated.
    -The Bus King

  4. The future of music has a myriad of possible sub-paths that will play out all at the same time. Creative Commons is certainly one of those pathways – although not the ‘future’ per se. People need to pay rent for Christ’s sake!
    Totally agreed about the publishing floor of nine cents. Who knows? Maybe EMI publishing will lead the charge in switching to a percentage rate? Should I ask Guy when I see him later this week 🙂

  5. To Bus King: Any use of someone else’s song without permission is likely a violation and a tip jar is in effect profiting from the work.
    GOD SAVE THE KING – Please let us know what you hear. My private email is bruce-at-skylineonline-dot-com.
    To Others: Great comments. I’m curious how you all think we can monetize music in the future.

  6. Why do musicians need to sell recorded music to pay the rent? The unlimited capacity for exact replicas in the digital realm makes that business model completely outdated. There’s no perception of value to the customer in mp3s they can easily get for free other places. And legality is ultimately not the issue either.
    You want happy customers/patrons? Sell them something they can’t find anywhere else for a price that’s easy for them to pay. Maybe albums used to fit that mold, but they sure don’t anymore. It’s not something to lament (unless you’re a behemoth record label). It’s something that gives musicians a level of freedom they’ve never had before.

  7. There are many ways for an artist to make money from his music while it is available to download for free, under CC license. He can sell CD’s that come with a little booklet and cover art. He can sell posters and t-shirts with his band art. He can get donations from people who want to support him. He can sell DVD’s with footage of live performances. And let’s not forget those live gigs! The idea is, if you really like a particular musician, you want more than to listen to the music. You want the whole experience, and most people are willing to pay for it if it’s really good.

Comments are closed.