Burn It!
Tiffany pointed out Burn It, a new meme that allows people to share some quality tunes. I can guarantee you that I if I'm your CD-pal, you will get some fine stuff from me.
Tiffany pointed out Burn It, a new meme that allows people to share some quality tunes. I can guarantee you that I if I'm your CD-pal, you will get some fine stuff from me.
Comments:
Not to be the Scrooge, but what are the legalities here? Seems very P2P-ish to me. I'm all for folks diversifying their collections, but...
Posted by Michael on October 12, 2003 — 9:05 PM
Sending 4 identical mix CDs out does not even approach the level of P2P file sharing.
But the whole point is to introduce people to new music that they otherwise would never have heard. It implies that we'll all be searching our collections for stuff you might not hear on the radio- indies, bands that have long since broken up and whose stuff is out of print, college bands, etc. This isn't about burning a copy of the latest 50Cent album and mailing it to a complete stranger.
My Burn It! playlist includes tracks from an indie band whose street team I'm on- I have blanket permission to distribute tracks in hopes of building them a following. Another track is from a band at my college who was really good but broke up when the members started graduating. Still another track is from another indie band my friend manages trying to get enough exposure to break into the industry. See a pattern here?
Posted by Tiff on October 12, 2003 — 9:36 PM
The legalities are a bit dodgy, but I'm not going to let that spoil my fun. When I was growing up, it was mix tapes. We'd make them off the radio and from other tapes, it was just a great thing. This is only taking money away from artists if someone didn't actually own a track to begin with (ie got it from p2p systems, a friend, etc) or if the CDs get ripped and then shared again, either way, it's not a huge huge deal.
Posted by Tom Bridge on October 13, 2003 — 10:21 AM
Well, I suppose everyone has to define it how they see fit and see what happens. Obviously I don't see the RIAA filing lawsuits unless it gets huge.
If everyone sticks to unlicensed music (i.e. garage bands, unrepresented artists, etc.), there's little to worry about. Including Britney Spears on the CD -- or even an artist on an indie label expecting compensation (which obviously some will do) -- is iffy at best. I'd say that would fall under the "unauthorized distribution" category -- unless, of course, the person sending the music destroys their copy.
The only differences I'm seeing are the volume of music being shared and the medium by which it's shared. It's still near-identical copies of the original (unlike the mix tapes of the past.)
I'm not the music police or anything (and I certainly don't agree with most of what record companies stand for), but I thought it was worth pointing out the similarities to P2P. The "there's nothing wrong with this" attitude about P2P is why it turned into a nightmare (and also why many folks are now comfortable with the idea of stealing.)
Posted by Michael on October 13, 2003 — 3:45 PM