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| Internet/Blogging | |
Back to Radiohead… There’s a good story about “In Rainbows” in the NYTimes this morning. It includes interviews with the band (including this uncharacteristically exuberant bit about bootlegging from Thom Yorke). “The first time we ever did ‘All I Need,’ boom! It was up on YouTube,†Mr. Yorke said. “I think it’s fantastic. The instant you finish something, you’re really excited about it, you’re really proud of it, you hope someone’s heard it, and then, by God, they have. It’s O.K. because it’s on a phone or a video recorder. It’s a bogus recording, but the spirit of the song is there, and that’s good. At that stage that’s all you need to worry about.†Hmm… I love the enthusiasm here. But do the pieces add up? At the risk of sounding change averse I can’t help but ask… Where’s the money? What’s happening to copyright norms? And who benefits from the shift? Established record companies? No. Not much sympathy there. But how about YouTube? Google? Any of the new content distributors with zero invested in creation? You bet. It’s easy to see why artists love the internet. The ability to self-publish, maintain full control over a creative project and have a direct relationship with one’s readers/viewers/listeners is seductive. But, as money and power accumulate in the the hands of online distributors. As copyright norms shift in a direction that favors their interests over ours… Well, we’ll see. | |
