Some more links.
First, and for-sure-foremost, i wish Henry a very happy birthday! I swear, if i could sign up somewhere to eventually have a kid that precocious i’d totally get on the list right now :p
Meanwhile, the ever-educational JillMatrix provides some enlightening links on the topic of Internet Radio and Conglomerate Takeover. Though i generally tend to side with record companies when it comes to what they don’t consider fair use, i do object to the neutering of my home computer and my electronic media. Sadly, these two positions tend to conflict with each other … while i feel that the record companies have the right to object to illegal distribution of their artists’ songs, i don’t feel that rendering a compact disc unplayable by a computer or making software i use to record and upload my own songs illegal is any kind of answer. I enjoy listening to cds on my computer, i make music rather than stealing it, and i probably spent 1000% of the typical American’s yearly expenditure on albums and concerts last year. I’d appreciate it if i receive some respect with the next cd i buy instead of a stupid anti-theft thing stuck to the inside of the cd tray. Thank you.
On a related topic, Rolling Stone‘s new darling the Recording Artists Coalition has a website up to help you understand just what they’re complaining about. Headed by such industry luminaries as the venerable Don Henley and the Grammy-magnet Sheryl Crow, the RAC is looking to win recording artists more rights when it comes to being employees and when it comes to their own songs. One major point of contention is that a typical recording contracts signs an artist not for a number of years, but for a number of albums. This means an artist can wind up stuck with a record company for their entire recording career, whether or not they have the best interests of the artist in mind. Examples include Aimee Mann, whose label left her hanging when it came to her last album Bachelor No.2; after having a smash critical hit with her songs on the Magnolia soundtrack, Mann bought the album back from her company and released it independently. Even on her own she’s still having to battle labels both big and small, as this letter shows. But, back to the RAC, i find it rather amusing that they needed to run four fundraiser concerts and get biweekly coverage in RS while Courtney Love is slowly achieving what they’ve set out to do on her own.
On a slightly less musical note, ClosetBoy had a bad sitcom moment where he felt like Vonda Shepard was going to loom up behind him with her piano and start crooning. I find this amusing because today i was following Izabelle and Amy around while playing guitar and they turned around to remark “I feel like i just walked out of a break-up scene on Dawson’s Creek or something, and you’re the sad breakup music just following me out.” A year ago i would’ve cringed but, aside from the current Dawson’s renaissance, Peter Mulvey (my personal idol) was played on Felicity a year or two ago. So, who am i to scoff at the WB?
On the subject of getting effed over by corporations, the usually user-friendly DreamHost seems to be pulling a con-job on good-ol’ KevRock. Definitely a bit underhanded, in my opinion. And, in other SurvivorBlog Alumni news, why the hell isn’t Josi on my sidebar anymore? I surely don’t have a clue.
Finally, i am officially addicted to Cafe Latte Jelly Belly jelly beans. Can you argue with a jelly bean that actually has caffeine in it? Nope, didn’t think so.