[contextly_auto_sidebar id="vpKpOFraYmovKc1hoqt7x37XjxxamfNB"] WHAT would Teddy Roosevelt do? I know I'm not the only arts observer who wonders where the anti-trust boys -- the Department of Justice, for instance -- are when a tech company takes over an enormous share of a culture industry. Amazon owns about two thirds of the market for digital books, for example, and the DoJ ruled in favor of … [Read more...]
Can We Fix Music Streaming?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="gqUq5BWr0TyCF2J8po7C3NUJDqWArzLu"] MOST of the complaints about music streaming so far have been about the way the new system leaves musicians out in the cold. But a new story looks at the way they frustrate listeners. as well. Ted Gioia -- jazz pianist, music historian, and avid listener of a wide range of music -- recently signed up for the Beats streaming service, … [Read more...]
Music in the Age of Streaming
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Fa2HMMUonP7cJZz5wWMQHx91Wm261nWI"] THE battle between artists and indie labels on one side and gigantic tech corporations on the other has taken on a sharp pitch. A New York Times story serves as a good summation of the terms of the fight, and gets at how it hits indie record labels in particular. Executives and advocates for the indies say they are vulnerable to … [Read more...]
What if Music Streaming Collapses?
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0C90MFj4yUbo92uYGLlqaqHIa9YPI4AC"] MOST critical coverage of Spotify, Pandora and the like has concentrated on the frustration of musicians. But a tough, provocative new piece asks, What if these streaming companies simply fail to make profits, and disappear? Here is Michael St. James -- extending the recent David Carr story -- on RebelMouse: Not one of the music … [Read more...]
Songwriters Struggle in the Digital Age
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xeTmAux4K4TAnAkSYsPJtKcQYgjbcieM"] TWO more musicians have expressed their frustrations with the post-label era of music distribution, which many technologists tell us is the best of all possible worlds. The first is the estimable eclecticist Van Dyke Parks, who writes in the Daily Beast about "How Songwriters Are Getting Screwed in the Digital Age." (I know Van … [Read more...]