[pp.int.general] Protest certain musicians?

[Christian Hufgard]

Hi Bernhard,

> - As a programmer you are able to release something under a free licence
> and then work for a company who uses closed source. As a musician you
> have to decide once (at least in germany, as in most countrys as far as
> i know). If you once decide to use free licences you aren't able to
> participate at the "usual business", for example collecting societies.

It depends. You can register your own composition at the gema and play
live only free music. Or you can release your own compositions free and
play only gema-protected stuff. The only think that is not possible is to
release some tracks free and other gema protected.

A few other countries allow "cherry picking", where you can decide for
certain tracks to release them free and for other who do not.


> - The music business is much older than the software business. And it's
> therefore much more inflexible. There are 4 big major labels who own
> over 80% of the market and who own also distribution channels. And there
> are the indie-labels which fight about the rest of the market. So it's
> nearly impossible to avoid them if you want to earn money from anything
> but giving lessons in guitarplaying or playing on the street.

There are pretty lot of successful musicians and componists who acts as
indipendent artists. They only get less media attention. But there are
definitivly more than the top-50-artists in the charts.


> - Software is needed by nearly every modern business to make the
> business run. Pepole therefore are willing to pay for it. Companies are
> willing to pay for it, even for open source software. They still need
> the work of programmers as a service. But nobody needs music as a
> service except a wedding party.

Or in a club. Or at a fair. Or at a congress. Or in a bar. Or in a
shopping mall. There are many places where music is used to improve the
atmosphere.


> - There is the justifiable hope that open souce software can replace
> closed source software one day by itself. Linux or gimp can replace
> windows or photoshop once they have developed nearly the same features,
> because there are not very much emotional aspects. But how can i replace
> a musical piece which impressed me when i was young?

Do you still listen to the music, you were used to listen as a little boy?
Of course music has a pretty large influence, but it definitivly possible
to learn to love other artists.


> - Software can be developed over a span of time by different people. A
> musical composition may be developed in a similar way, but i suppose
> that this is not the usual way. Usually one composer works on a piece.

Most bands I'm im contact with work as a team. And there have already been
experimental acts, that have never met in real life.


> - In this discussion and in the public opinion in general it's often
> forgotten that the musical interpreter is not always the same person as
> the composer.

That's right.


> - So there are a lot of people with different skills to make a concert a
> nice experience for the visitor: composer, musicians, technicians etc. .
> For example even the drummer of a band has a fundamental different job
> than the singer. The drummer sits in the background and is really
> important for the "groove", for the rythm. But most people look at the
> singer or the guitarplayer. That's why as a singer/songwriter you have
> to be really famous so you can pay  your musicians and technicians, if
> you want to produce good sounding music. But how become famous without
> good musicians and technicians? A concert is a kind of theater. The
> audience may adore the "superstar" (usually the singer) and focus on
> him, but without a good drummer, composer, sound engineers, a good
> organisation etc. it doesn't work. So the "superstar" is less important
> than we think and in most cases he is "made" by industry and marketing.
> If you convince him, that sharing is good and he has to publish under
> free licences, he will not become famous and there will be others who
> want to play his part.

Oh, you can also get famous as a drummer. I know for sure, since I know
one of germanys top drummer since I was a little boy.


> - The Pop culture with Bands like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones left
> the impression, that a band is a unique thing with members tied together
> in a mythical way. That's bullshit.

Ok...

> - There are lots of good musicians who are forced to play on the street
> because they have no chance to record their music in a professional way.
> Shure, with the computer it has become easier and cheaper to record
> music, but still it's nearly impossible to record a drumset at home in a
> professional way.

There are lots of excellent musicians, that love to busk and make our
cities a nicer place to be at. By the way: The drummer I know hat a record
study in his cellar. And as far as I can say, it's pretty professional
what he's doing.

> But
> unfortunately there still are not very much musicians and artists in the
> party.

How many would be "many"? Can you give a percentage please? Of course
there are less artists than programmers, but that might be due to the
fact, that out there are less artists than people working with IT.


> And the computer nerds in the party don't seem to understand
> their concerns, cause they don't realize the complexity of their business.
>
> And because of this reasons the pirate party has not very much success
> in convincing other people. How can i convince a musician, when i want
> to disadvantage him instead of the industry? First we have to understand
> the music business. Then we have to suggest a political solution, which
> does not privilege the music-industry while disadvantaging the
> musicians. Then we can start to convince musicians.

Didn't you write, that you want to abolish copyright? So how do you
protect the creators?

Christian