Gray Tuesday 2005

[Niveous]

Today is Gray Tuesday 2005. Get your protest on

http://www.americanedit.org/home/ae/

(from the website:)
Only 10 days after its release, the mash-up album American Edit, which pays tribute to the acclaimed Green Day album American Idiot through some of the best mash-up productions of 2005, was shut down reportedly after received a cease & desist order from Green Day's label, Warner records, despite the fact that it was released as an internet only release with no commercial gain for the team of mash-up artists involved. In fact, the only possible profit to be made from the release was a plea from the creators of the album (known only by the shared alias Dean Gray) for fans who enjoyed the creation to donate to one of three possible charities that Green Day have been known to support. Furthermore, the mash-up versions were such fantastic productions that they were truly a departure from the standard Green Day performances and would not compete for consumptive dollars.

We hope to mobilize the online Mash-Up community by organizing a simple one-day organized event. Participants would be asked to post the American Edit album online for 24 hours only starting on Tuesday, December 13, at 12:00AM. Doing so is not intended to be a mass organization of music piracy but, rather, one single display of the consumptive power of the mash-up and home remix community in the hopes of encouraging the labels, publishers and artists who are curious about the mash-up community to consider giving the high quality productions of "illegitimate" music a legitimate consideration as a promotional avenue for all music.

We also hope to encourage club DJs and radio DJs to air portions of the American Edit release on "Gray" Tuesday and refer to this site by reporting their planned airplay in advance.

Billie Joe on the "Boulevard of Broken Songs" Mash-Up:
"Actually, I was driving in my car, and I heard a Green Day mashup, with, um, Oasis and Aerosmith. It sounded cool! There's been a little bit of talk about doing a mashup, but I'm not sure who would be the appropriate hip-hop guy yet."

[deshead]

This isn't directed at you, Niv:

(from the website:) ... Doing so is not intended to be a mass organization of music piracy

Except, that's what it'll be.

I'd like to know if Dean Gray violated the license on the CD they bought, or if they just bypassed purchasing their source material altogether. Because either way, they broke the law. And so does everyone who participates in this EFF wank-off.

And their quote of Billie Joe's tacit endorsement of the mashups (which, IMO, are among some of the most insipid, uninspired garbage I've heard all year,) is the worst kind of propaganda. Bille Joe's opinion matters not a whit to the legal issues this protest aims to address. See my earlier post about Aldus Huxley's prescience, except substitute "EFF" for "dictators." They're all doing the same thing: distracting us poor plebs from the real issues.

OK, I'm off to read Boing Boing and further angry up my blood.

[Niveous]

No offense taken, Deshead.

Of course, this is a massive illegal undertaking. Mash-up in most cases usually is. I support this one simply because Dean Gray wasn't making any cash off the album. In fact, it probably helped boost a few Green Day sales. I know I was more curious about some of the songs on American Idiot that I hadn't heard yet. We could go back and forth doing an ethical debate on sampling, remixing and bastard pop but it'll get us nowhere. It'll still leave us at the same point: Sustaining the law vs. creating new art and the endless debate of 'is this a victimless crime?'. Please do not waste time replying to that statement. I know it sounds appealing but let's save each other's afternoons and skip the debate that will go nowhere. I'm more concerned with your other statement...

I know that you disagree with the idea of mash-up as an artform. I just think that perhaps you haven't been privy to anything good. If you've only heard nonsense like Jay-Z & Linkin Park's mash-up then you've missed out. What Mash-ups have you heard? Have you heard Dean Gray? Loo and Placido? Danger Mouse? Freelance Hellraiser? DJ Prince? Ultra 396? Divide and Kreate? Aggro 1? If only Danger Mouse on that list rings a bell, you've missed out on what makes Mash-up good.

[HeuristicsInc]

substitute "EFF" for "dictators." They're all doing the same thing: distracting us poor plebs from the real issues.

what are the issues that EFF should be concentrating on? what issues are in their domain that they are ignoring?
-bill

[deshead]

but let's save each other's afternoons and skip the debate that will go nowhere.

I didn't mean to derail, honest!!

I know that you disagree with the idea of mash-up as an artform.

I'm not sure if I've said that somewhere else, or if it came out between the lines in my post above (though the "insipid, uninspired garbage" comment was pointed directly at American Edit, not mashups as a whole.) I've heard very few that I remotely enjoyed, so I wouldn't call myself a fan of the medium, but I don't dismiss it as an artform.

What Mash-ups have you heard? Have you heard Dean Gray? Loo and Placido? Danger Mouse? Freelance Hellraiser? DJ Prince? Ultra 396? Divide and Kreate? Aggro 1? If only Danger Mouse on that list rings a bell, you've missed out on what makes Mash-up good.

I've heard half of them, but I'll definitely search out the others. Thanks.

what are the issues that EFF should be concentrating on? what issues are in their domain that they are ignoring?

Well, this is a bit of a rant, but so you know where I'm coming from: The EFF glosses over the fact that many of the laws they're working to change have valid and important reasons for existing in the first place. You have a democratically elected government that sanctioned and moved the laws. The laws are supported and lobbied for by the corporations that give the U.S. its huge economic advantage over most of the world. Those two things are the underpinnings of American society: democracy and capitalism.

So, removing all the proxies (the RIAA, the MPAA) from the picture, the EFF is really fighting an ideology. In and of itself, that's totally fine. But what would happen to the EFF if they stated this openly? "Democracy and capitalism are the REAL reason you can't download Kanye to your iPod!!!" Especially in the current American political climate, they'd be rendered impotent, instantly and viciously dismissed as communists. They know this, so they gloss over the core issue, and fight the proxies instead. It's disingenuous.

But the part that really gets me: They're propaganda mongers. They vilify the RIAA and MPAA, generating anger which they use to motivate people. Sure, anger works to get the crowd moving, but the crowd doesn't really know why it's moving. The iPod generation, the ones who heed the rallying cry and laud the EFF's fight against The Man, are the same young hipsters who couldn't be arsed to vote in the last election, and the same people who buy the damn iPods, a bald endorsement of the capitalism they want the EFF to fight. Firing them up against the RIAA and MPAA does nothing to help them realize they're part of the problem...

but let's save each other's afternoons and skip the debate that will go nowhere.

I didn't mean to derail, honest!!

Ah, crap.