The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I thought this article was swell and thought I'd post it here, after reading JB's posting re: Spotify. I felt all this to be somewhat group-ish-ly related in a big ideological clump whatever your thoughts on the subject/s.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/n ... are_btn_fb

Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

I really enjoyed that article. Very thought provoking.

(turns on "Copper" by Shellac)

Very interesting. I'm glad to say that I don't feel a lot of conflict between my opinion and what he's saying here. As much as I gripe about Spotify-- streaming is the future and damn as a listener do I ever think it's fantastic!

Not just streaming, but aggregated streaming. You really want it all in one place right? How would you feel if you had to go to each artist's website separately to listen?

A few people were complaining about Spotify and other distribution services in the comments on the article. I think I get the same feeling sometimes with these "big company" type of services (which every cool thing eventually becomes, and this is the nature of Cool Things). It reminds me of ASCAP--where the popular are rewarded with the aggregate loot of the all-of-us. It's good to keep tapping at the door and I really liked your letter, JB, because there are alternatives and things could grow and be more equitable. I stream in the car and don't even have music on my iPhone because I don't know what I like from day-to-day so I rely on it. Honestly, I miss Napster (although perhaps that's a horrible thing to say?? i don't know. I loved it though).

I think what I liked best about this article was the general discussion of "bitchiness" surrounding various unfairnesses. What I took from it was an attitude that I could be proactive and make better decisions as an artist. For the right reasons, motivated by a love of the sport rather than a voracious desire to claim stolen faerie spit and lost dreams. I always feel better when an item on a To Do list is simply "suck even less," or "upload better shit to a nicer place and tell people about it" because that's in my control.

Really good article. Albini is the man. Through the years, I've often reflected on the issues he discussed in his discussion back in the 90s, "the problem with music". Thanks for posting this, Dee.