Where’s The Music?
Sometimes, like when George Carlin died, I feel a need to share an MP3 or two on Plurk. Most of the stuff that I listen to (my 892 favorite tracks) are from before video, so very often they are not on any of the video services. Although I have not tried, I assume that it is possible to paste a URL to an MP3 file into a Plurk. I could put them on my server and do that easily. But I am stopped by knowing that although I own the tracks, it is not legal for me to distribute them. That sucks.
Before I go on with my mini-rant at the legal and copyright systems, I do want to share some music from a fellow Plurker, and he has given me permission! SquireHogg is a massively interesting fellow from Chicago, and he makes a LOT of music. Here’s a link to one Plurk-related track and here’s a second one. SquireHogg has a LOT of talent!
But aside from His Squireness, the existing morass of copyright laws limits what I can legally share with you here and on Plurk, at least from my own collection. Of course, that keeps you safe from Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road by Louden Wainright III and The Power Tool Song by Don Bowman, not to mention Moose Turd Pie by the recently departed Utah Phillips. Still, these laws obviously need some reworking.
And I have a question. Why is it legal to share the YouTube video of a song, but not legal to share an MP3 of that same song? There must be a reason, and I confess that I don’t know what it is. I’ll bet there’s a Plurker who knows the answer, and I would be most gratified if they would share it with me.
I’m KDFrawg on Plurk, and I promise I’ll never sing in your vicinity. I’m that bad. 
July 7th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Technically, it’s not legal for most of the YouTube plurks. some publishers/labels/Studios (for the movie shares) have much more aggressive attorneys than others. For instance, Fox has INCREDIBLY aggressive attorneys that will make YouTube and even fansites take down clips or even soundbites. There are a generous and, in my opinion, smart few who understand the power of social networking and allow or even *encourage* sharing. I think we shall soon see some important developments here.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I think a lot of people would debate whether it is okay for youtube to show the video. They are fairly frequently involved in copyright lawsuits with some pretty big music/movie/tv producers.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
Thanks for the quick answers! So I didn’t know why it was all right because it’s not all right. That actually makes sense to me. Thanks TheBadMonkey and Mike!
July 7th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I want to add that there are MANY independent artists that are successfully using YouTube and other Social Networking sites to promote their work. Many of us artist representatives are also REALLY enjoying the distribution channels.
Also, I’m “guilty” of plurking many, many videos. One of the reasons I do this is in reaction to the Viacom vs Google case where google is being forced to submit YouTube viewing records. Since Viacom is being awarded a HUGE marketing tool, I want to make sure they know that there are still people with taste in the world…
July 7th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
boo on copyright weirdness. It hurts the artist more than helps most of the time.
July 7th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
It reminds me of Prince made Youtube take down the video of him singing his version of Creep by Radiohead in a concert and Radiohead later heard of this and said that the song essentially is theirs so Prince had no rights to do that. Makes you wonder… who’s right?
July 7th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
@yoonamaniac
well, anyone who listens to Saturday Night Monkey knows how I feel about Radiohead.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
@calinazaret
I don’t even know what Saturday Night Monkey is.
July 7th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Thanks for including my wacky music in your post today. In a recent interview with Jonathan Brandmeier on WLUP 97.9 FM Chicago, Weird Al Yankovic indicated that it is completely legal to write and publicly air a Parody of an original song. I hope he’s right, otherwise I’m in deep something! And Johnny B would never air these songs if they were illegal. I’m one of many people who send Parody songs to his show. And no one has been sued. This is Illinois-it would have happened by now!
Thanks again KDFrawg!
July 8th, 2008 at 8:11 am
if my music ever gets famous, i am going to let people download it for free. did you know in medieval times, the people who provided musical entertainment were called bards and they had to travel from town to town and virtually BEG for food and a place to sleep? now i’m not saying musicians shouldn’t get paid. but HOW in God’s name do they make more money for making music than policemen and firefighters get for saving lives??
that’s my mini rant. :] i’ve said many times that if i ever became well-known for my music, i wouldn’t get FAMOUS because i’d refuse to make the money so many artists make - no record company is going to be willing to sign me on. :p
July 8th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Whoa, thanks for all the killer comments and the answer to my question. A special thanks to SquireHogg for sharing his music with us! I am glad that I am not alone in my negative feelings toward the current, archaic laws that surround intellectual property. And to add to what chas said, I do not understand why anyone in the entertainment business makes more money than teachers, firefighters, and garbage collectors, and in that overpaid group I include film and television “stars”, musicians, and every professional athlete that currently walks the Earth.
KDFrawg (the Plurkiverse dewd)
July 27th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
[...] Back Plurker Jul.27, 2008 in Plurkitudes Author: kdfrawg A Plurkiverse column a month or so ago (forever in Plurk time) bemoaned a certain lack of direct support for music on [...]