The MusicBanter Gazette

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 06-11-2009, 01:12 PM

This Issue:
6/11/09
Recent Issues:
7/14/09

Our Mission

By Sonace

With this first edition it is my sincere hope that the MusicBanter community will enjoy our E-Zine.
This thread we will be doing things both familular and new, but we wouldn't be doing anything without the e-friendships and support of this website.

I've discovered so much because of MusicBanter, and it is my goal to contribute something lasting and entertaining to the community. So without further ado, please enjoy the very first issue of The MusicBanter Gazette.

- Sonace

The Sharing of Music

By Peter Hughes (Pobodys_Nerfect)

For as long as there has been recorded music, there have been people finding ways to duplicate it and give it away for free. The desire of wanting something for free is not a new attribute to the human behaviour. Stealing goes back to the dawn of mankind when one caveman saw something that another caveman had and they wanted it for them self. Has the times progressed we have added certain laws and people to in force those laws, the earliest known “law” being the Ten Commandments in which the 8th states “Thou Shall Not Steal”. One would think that after thousands of years of being told that stealing is wrong, our society would have become one in which it wasn’t a concern, yet people still steal, whether it’s to eat, to become wealthy, or for the simple thrill of doing something they’re not allowed to do, people steal. One group in particular that is perhaps the most rampant on a global scale are music fans. It seems like everybody gets their music for free now-a-days, and why not? It’s as simple as clicking a button in most cases with almost no chance of consequence. First off I want to say that I am a huge advocate of the sharing of music and that in this essay I hope to bring to light the many positives of sharing music, as well as the negatives to keep things balanced.

One of the things that always makes me chuckle is when I read quotes from music executives on the rampant downloading of music for free off the Internet. They act like it is a totally new phenomenon that came out over night as a personal stab at them. What they fail to realize is that since the 1980’s, people have been trading music with one another. With the invention of the Tape Cassette and the introduction of that device as a medium for music to the music industry, fans were finally able to easily and affordably copy music. All it required was a blank tape and cassette duplicator and that Motorhead tape you just bought was now your friends as well, and it just cost the one cassette instead of ten dollars. Not only could you copy a cassette in its entirety but you could create mix tapes as well. Imagine what that must’ve been like for the first time, when you realized that you could put all your favourite songs from different bands onto the same tape, instead of changing it constantly or fast forwarding through songs. Not only could you make Mix Tapes for yourself, but you could give them to friends as well.

It was around this same time that fanzines started putting ads in the back of their zine for people to subscribe to. You would give them a mailing address and would be put on a list, and occasionally you would receive a mix tape or duplicate tape of a full album. This proved to be insanely popular with fans of more underground music, specifically the extreme subgenres of metal. As large music publications (Rolling Stone, NME, etc.) would only cover the more popular groups, the underground musicians relied heavily on word of mouth, fanzines, constant touring, and the sharing of their music as a way of getting their name and music across to people. As technology has improved, the process of finding a band from somewhere other than my country has become almost laughably easy. I just go to Google, type in their name, and within seconds I am bombarded with links to websites where I can purchase their music, listen to it for free, read a biography on the band, or download it for free. In the days before the Internet, you were extremely limited to what you could hear and the knowledge of what was out there. I just recently finished reading a book entitled “Choosing Death: The Improbably History of Death Metal and Grindcore” that chronicled the extreme metal scene from its early beginnings to as recent as 2004 (when the book was published). One of the things it talked about was how for many musicians, they relied heavily on trading mix tapes as a means of seeing what else was out there, if other musicians were doing similar things as them, and as a source of inspiration. I sometimes like to think of the music industry as a whole (that includes indie and mainstream) as a giant funnel with a very narrow neck. So much music goes into the funnel, but you are only aware of the miniscule amount coming out at the other end. I believe that what sharing music does is widening the neck of that funnel and allowing a little bit more music to come out.

As I stated earlier with the explosion of the Internet in the past fifteen years, people have found ways of using it as a medium for trading things. One way was a more advanced version of the trading of mix tapes, but now you could trade CD’s. Not just in audio format either, as with a data format you can hold 700 megabytes of information. With the rise in personal computers in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, people began to take their music from their CD’s and place it on their hard drives, essentially making a digital copy of the information on the CD. That digital copy could then be compressed to smaller sizes, allowing more information to be put onto one CD. Eventually it worked out to where you could put about 11 full albums onto just one CD and mail that out to someone. Another way, which is proving to be extremely popular right now, is the uploading of music to file sharing websites, then sending links for a download. This is the next step in the evolution of music sharing as it is almost instantaneous and does not require shipping through a mailing system that is not digital. It is truly amazing that somebody can ask for an album I have, and then I can take that album and put it onto a website, then pass the link for a download onto the person who wanted it all within the time frame of an hour or less as opposed to the actual task of creating the mix tape or CD or whatever, packaging it, putting it in the mailing system, and hoping I did not mess up their address.

Continued on next page

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 06-11-2009, 02:44 PM

The ease at which we can now get music at for free has really had quite a positive effect on the music industry. For one it works as a way of creating new fans by exposing them to something new at no loss to them but at most an hour of their time in which they’re likely to be doing something else as well. If somebody gets something that really amazes them, more often than not they will attempt to seek a hard copy. Personally I wish I could buy more hard copies of music, but as I am a poor college student, my money is required for other things such as alcohol, cigarettes, and occasionally food. Another way it helps the music industry is it gives back to the fans and creates incentive to buy other things related to the artists such as merchandise or concert tickets, which in fact contribute more money to the band than buying a CD does.

Like all things in life there are the negative sides as well and sharing music is no exception. The biggest drawback is also the most obvious in that it is technically illegal. It’s not illegal to the point that several armed officers are going to break down your door as you’re sleeping and drag you away, although that has been the case for a few individuals, who’s incarceration or fining has made them into a type of martyr. The other big drawback is the possibility of downloading something other than your music, like a virus or worm that could potentially destroy parts of your computer. This is a big risk for users of Person-to-Person programs such as Kazaa or Limewire, however downloader’s of torrents are just as susceptible, however more preventative measures have been taken to eliminate potential threats. Regardless, that is one of the major drawbacks that come with downloading of music; however it is a risk that people are willing to take. Lastly the third major drawback of downloading music is the absence of hard copies means that if something you download does erase your hard drive, you are left with nothing. While if you downloaded everything for free you don’t technically lose anything, the task of rebuilding a library is a very daunting one to say the least.

The Pirate Bay has long advocated the sharing of music, amoung other properties. This year, the owners of the popular torrent site were found guilty of "unlawful transfer to the public of copyrighted performances" in a highly controversal trial.

I view music as a gift to be shared and for the past two years I have personally done my best to share the music that was given to me with people who want to hear something new. The only thing I ever asked of them was to pass it onto somebody else who is interested in hearing what else there is. Since I began my campaign of uploading and downloading albums I have been truly moved by what I’ve heard then by everything I found in the more contemporary ways. I have found more talented and underappreciated musicians who more than anything else, desire their music to be heard. Nothing is more agonizing then creating something only to find out that it was all for not because there’s nobody around to listen. With that said I will continue to download and upload my way across the musical spectrum, discovering the new artists or rediscovering previous artists who for some reason or another I failed to listen to. I will continue to promote artists that I believe others would enjoy and I will find alternative ways to support those artists, be it by blogging, sharing, or seeing them live. There is a new age of music amongst us and I for one cannot be more proud to be a part of it.

Stone Birds' Free Stuff

By Jake Hansen (Stone Birds)

Stone Birds' Free Stuff (mostly mp3's), this week's free stuff is circled around Iron & Wine

Iron & Wine

Shepard's Dog Demos
"Naked As We Came" Music Video
"Boy With a Coin" Music Video
"Belated Promise Ring"
"Lion's Mane"

Check out Stone Birds' Member Journal for more free stuff.

It was all a dream - I used to read Word Up Magazine

A short study by Casey W.

It's been nearly fifteen years since Christopher "Biggie" Wallace rapped those words on his fantastic song, Juicy.

Since his death, hip-hop music has dominated the charts. But ask anyone who was alive in that era and they will tell you that [mainstream] hip-hop has "gone soft." Now what exactly does that mean? Well, just listen to any mainstream rap music from that era. It's full of tales of violence, drugs, hardship, sex and materialism. Now listen to today's chart toppers. What's the difference? With very few exceptions, the main lyrical focus is almost exclusively on sex (with an added touch of materialism).

But so what? It's just as good right? Not according to a great percentage of music fans, most of whom agree that the modern day Top 40 is cluttered with lots of genericy and very few gems. Hip-hop used to seem so real, so in your face and painted pictures of, depending on the person, a very alien word or a very, very real one. Indeed it seems even the surviving hip-hop greats have fallen on the tired cliches of hip-hop glitter.

Who's this clown?

But why is this? It's appears as though there is a new generation of hip-hop musicians. They never grew up on the streets, some of them hardly even know struggle. They live in the age Auto-Tune and ease of use, and their songs more often appeal more to hormonal teenage girls than they do to the struggling African-American neighborhoods from where the music was born.

But as somebody who has always believed that you should be allowed to make music no matter who you are, I believe that the non-violent approach to this music may actually be a good thing. But can't we rap about something other than sex? Take, for example, Eminem. I am not even the biggest fan of his and yet I have to respect the man, who blends parody and disturbing tales into one smoothly flowing package. What we need in the mainstream are more hip-hop artists who treat their music as an art form, not a platform to brag or an easy way to cash in.

What do you think? Leave us your feedback and we may feature your opinion in the next issue.

Continued on next page

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 06-11-2009, 04:03 PM

Humor

Comics

Gangstas, written by T.J.W

Funny Youtube Posts
SlapChop Remix
Originally posted by Janszoon in The Spam Thread.

Have a funny comic, video or quote? PM to P.O Box Sonace 8675309 Hollywood Blvd.

Thank you for reading.

We hope you have enjoyed the first, and hopefully not last, edition of The MusicBanter Gazette. I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed and everyone who has supported the idea, and we all look forward to hearing your feedback.

- The MB Gazette

Have something to say? You can contribute to the zine anytime, and chances are, we'll publish it.

FaSho · 06-11-2009, 05:10 PM

I don't know who Casey W. is but motherf*cker was that good.

LoathsomePete · 06-12-2009, 11:35 AM

Good work to everyone that participated.

Stone Birds · 06-12-2009, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pobodys_Nerfect

Good work to everyone that participated.

pobody i believe your article went perfect with my part of the gazette.

can't wait for the next one (i already entered mine i'm just that fast)

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 06-12-2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FaSho

I don't know who Casey W. is but motherf*cker was that good.

He's my older brother

Fruitonica · 06-13-2009, 07:07 AM

Good work guys, especially the file sharing essay which was a great read. Although I think you glossed over the negative aspects a little too easily. A big one that you ignored was how it affected record stores - especially independent ones.

Oh, and

Quote:

the earliest known “law” being the Ten Commandments in which the 8th states “Thou Shall Not Steal”

Is this just super dry humour?

~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ · 06-22-2009, 08:58 PM

There will be a delay in the publishing of the next issue. Writing will resume next month, thanks for your patience.

LoathsomePete · 06-22-2009, 10:27 PM

This works for me, I've been mad crazy with my math class right now, I'm on my last week and odds of me finding an empty spot for my next one are slim to none so that'll open up more time for writing.

06-11-2009, 01:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,538	The MusicBanter Gazette This Issue: 6/11/09 Recent Issues: 7/14/09 Our Mission By Sonace With this first edition it is my sincere hope that the MusicBanter community will enjoy our E-Zine. This thread we will be doing things both familular and new, but we wouldn't be doing anything without the e-friendships and support of this website. I've discovered so much because of MusicBanter, and it is my goal to contribute something lasting and entertaining to the community. So without further ado, please enjoy the very first issue of The MusicBanter Gazette. - Sonace The Sharing of Music By Peter Hughes (Pobodys_Nerfect) For as long as there has been recorded music, there have been people finding ways to duplicate it and give it away for free. The desire of wanting something for free is not a new attribute to the human behaviour. Stealing goes back to the dawn of mankind when one caveman saw something that another caveman had and they wanted it for them self. Has the times progressed we have added certain laws and people to in force those laws, the earliest known “law” being the Ten Commandments in which the 8th states “Thou Shall Not Steal”. One would think that after thousands of years of being told that stealing is wrong, our society would have become one in which it wasn’t a concern, yet people still steal, whether it’s to eat, to become wealthy, or for the simple thrill of doing something they’re not allowed to do, people steal. One group in particular that is perhaps the most rampant on a global scale are music fans. It seems like everybody gets their music for free now-a-days, and why not? It’s as simple as clicking a button in most cases with almost no chance of consequence. First off I want to say that I am a huge advocate of the sharing of music and that in this essay I hope to bring to light the many positives of sharing music, as well as the negatives to keep things balanced. One of the things that always makes me chuckle is when I read quotes from music executives on the rampant downloading of music for free off the Internet. They act like it is a totally new phenomenon that came out over night as a personal stab at them. What they fail to realize is that since the 1980’s, people have been trading music with one another. With the invention of the Tape Cassette and the introduction of that device as a medium for music to the music industry, fans were finally able to easily and affordably copy music. All it required was a blank tape and cassette duplicator and that Motorhead tape you just bought was now your friends as well, and it just cost the one cassette instead of ten dollars. Not only could you copy a cassette in its entirety but you could create mix tapes as well. Imagine what that must’ve been like for the first time, when you realized that you could put all your favourite songs from different bands onto the same tape, instead of changing it constantly or fast forwarding through songs. Not only could you make Mix Tapes for yourself, but you could give them to friends as well. It was around this same time that fanzines started putting ads in the back of their zine for people to subscribe to. You would give them a mailing address and would be put on a list, and occasionally you would receive a mix tape or duplicate tape of a full album. This proved to be insanely popular with fans of more underground music, specifically the extreme subgenres of metal. As large music publications (Rolling Stone, NME, etc.) would only cover the more popular groups, the underground musicians relied heavily on word of mouth, fanzines, constant touring, and the sharing of their music as a way of getting their name and music across to people. As technology has improved, the process of finding a band from somewhere other than my country has become almost laughably easy. I just go to Google, type in their name, and within seconds I am bombarded with links to websites where I can purchase their music, listen to it for free, read a biography on the band, or download it for free. In the days before the Internet, you were extremely limited to what you could hear and the knowledge of what was out there. I just recently finished reading a book entitled “Choosing Death: The Improbably History of Death Metal and Grindcore” that chronicled the extreme metal scene from its early beginnings to as recent as 2004 (when the book was published). One of the things it talked about was how for many musicians, they relied heavily on trading mix tapes as a means of seeing what else was out there, if other musicians were doing similar things as them, and as a source of inspiration. I sometimes like to think of the music industry as a whole (that includes indie and mainstream) as a giant funnel with a very narrow neck. So much music goes into the funnel, but you are only aware of the miniscule amount coming out at the other end. I believe that what sharing music does is widening the neck of that funnel and allowing a little bit more music to come out. As I stated earlier with the explosion of the Internet in the past fifteen years, people have found ways of using it as a medium for trading things. One way was a more advanced version of the trading of mix tapes, but now you could trade CD’s. Not just in audio format either, as with a data format you can hold 700 megabytes of information. With the rise in personal computers in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s, people began to take their music from their CD’s and place it on their hard drives, essentially making a digital copy of the information on the CD. That digital copy could then be compressed to smaller sizes, allowing more information to be put onto one CD. Eventually it worked out to where you could put about 11 full albums onto just one CD and mail that out to someone. Another way, which is proving to be extremely popular right now, is the uploading of music to file sharing websites, then sending links for a download. This is the next step in the evolution of music sharing as it is almost instantaneous and does not require shipping through a mailing system that is not digital. It is truly amazing that somebody can ask for an album I have, and then I can take that album and put it onto a website, then pass the link for a download onto the person who wanted it all within the time frame of an hour or less as opposed to the actual task of creating the mix tape or CD or whatever, packaging it, putting it in the mailing system, and hoping I did not mess up their address. Continued on next page Last edited by someonecompletelyrandom; 07-15-2009 at 01:14 PM.

06-11-2009, 02:44 PM	#2 (permalink)
~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,538	The ease at which we can now get music at for free has really had quite a positive effect on the music industry. For one it works as a way of creating new fans by exposing them to something new at no loss to them but at most an hour of their time in which they’re likely to be doing something else as well. If somebody gets something that really amazes them, more often than not they will attempt to seek a hard copy. Personally I wish I could buy more hard copies of music, but as I am a poor college student, my money is required for other things such as alcohol, cigarettes, and occasionally food. Another way it helps the music industry is it gives back to the fans and creates incentive to buy other things related to the artists such as merchandise or concert tickets, which in fact contribute more money to the band than buying a CD does. Like all things in life there are the negative sides as well and sharing music is no exception. The biggest drawback is also the most obvious in that it is technically illegal. It’s not illegal to the point that several armed officers are going to break down your door as you’re sleeping and drag you away, although that has been the case for a few individuals, who’s incarceration or fining has made them into a type of martyr. The other big drawback is the possibility of downloading something other than your music, like a virus or worm that could potentially destroy parts of your computer. This is a big risk for users of Person-to-Person programs such as Kazaa or Limewire, however downloader’s of torrents are just as susceptible, however more preventative measures have been taken to eliminate potential threats. Regardless, that is one of the major drawbacks that come with downloading of music; however it is a risk that people are willing to take. Lastly the third major drawback of downloading music is the absence of hard copies means that if something you download does erase your hard drive, you are left with nothing. While if you downloaded everything for free you don’t technically lose anything, the task of rebuilding a library is a very daunting one to say the least. The Pirate Bay has long advocated the sharing of music, amoung other properties. This year, the owners of the popular torrent site were found guilty of "unlawful transfer to the public of copyrighted performances" in a highly controversal trial. I view music as a gift to be shared and for the past two years I have personally done my best to share the music that was given to me with people who want to hear something new. The only thing I ever asked of them was to pass it onto somebody else who is interested in hearing what else there is. Since I began my campaign of uploading and downloading albums I have been truly moved by what I’ve heard then by everything I found in the more contemporary ways. I have found more talented and underappreciated musicians who more than anything else, desire their music to be heard. Nothing is more agonizing then creating something only to find out that it was all for not because there’s nobody around to listen. With that said I will continue to download and upload my way across the musical spectrum, discovering the new artists or rediscovering previous artists who for some reason or another I failed to listen to. I will continue to promote artists that I believe others would enjoy and I will find alternative ways to support those artists, be it by blogging, sharing, or seeing them live. There is a new age of music amongst us and I for one cannot be more proud to be a part of it. Stone Birds' Free Stuff By Jake Hansen (Stone Birds) Stone Birds' Free Stuff (mostly mp3's), this week's free stuff is circled around Iron & Wine Iron & Wine Shepard's Dog Demos "Naked As We Came" Music Video "Boy With a Coin" Music Video "Belated Promise Ring" "Lion's Mane" Check out Stone Birds' Member Journal for more free stuff. It was all a dream - I used to read Word Up Magazine A short study by Casey W. It's been nearly fifteen years since Christopher "Biggie" Wallace rapped those words on his fantastic song, Juicy. Since his death, hip-hop music has dominated the charts. But ask anyone who was alive in that era and they will tell you that [mainstream] hip-hop has "gone soft." Now what exactly does that mean? Well, just listen to any mainstream rap music from that era. It's full of tales of violence, drugs, hardship, sex and materialism. Now listen to today's chart toppers. What's the difference? With very few exceptions, the main lyrical focus is almost exclusively on sex (with an added touch of materialism). But so what? It's just as good right? Not according to a great percentage of music fans, most of whom agree that the modern day Top 40 is cluttered with lots of genericy and very few gems. Hip-hop used to seem so real, so in your face and painted pictures of, depending on the person, a very alien word or a very, very real one. Indeed it seems even the surviving hip-hop greats have fallen on the tired cliches of hip-hop glitter. Who's this clown? But why is this? It's appears as though there is a new generation of hip-hop musicians. They never grew up on the streets, some of them hardly even know struggle. They live in the age Auto-Tune and ease of use, and their songs more often appeal more to hormonal teenage girls than they do to the struggling African-American neighborhoods from where the music was born. But as somebody who has always believed that you should be allowed to make music no matter who you are, I believe that the non-violent approach to this music may actually be a good thing. But can't we rap about something other than sex? Take, for example, Eminem. I am not even the biggest fan of his and yet I have to respect the man, who blends parody and disturbing tales into one smoothly flowing package. What we need in the mainstream are more hip-hop artists who treat their music as an art form, not a platform to brag or an easy way to cash in. What do you think? Leave us your feedback and we may feature your opinion in the next issue. Continued on next page Last edited by someonecompletelyrandom; 06-11-2009 at 04:03 PM.

06-11-2009, 04:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,538	Humor Comics Gangstas, written by T.J.W Funny Youtube Posts SlapChop Remix Originally posted by Janszoon in The Spam Thread. Have a funny comic, video or quote? PM to P.O Box Sonace 8675309 Hollywood Blvd. Thank you for reading. We hope you have enjoyed the first, and hopefully not last, edition of The MusicBanter Gazette. I'd like to thank everyone who has contributed and everyone who has supported the idea, and we all look forward to hearing your feedback. - The MB Gazette Have something to say? You can contribute to the zine anytime, and chances are, we'll publish it. Last edited by someonecompletelyrandom; 06-12-2009 at 02:25 PM.

06-12-2009, 11:35 AM	#5 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	Good work to everyone that participated. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

06-22-2009, 10:27 PM	#10 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	This works for me, I've been mad crazy with my math class right now, I'm on my last week and odds of me finding an empty spot for my next one are slim to none so that'll open up more time for writing. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

06-22-2009, 08:58 PM	#9 (permalink)
~~someonecompletelyrandom~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Nov 2008 Posts: 4,538	There will be a delay in the publishing of the next issue. Writing will resume next month, thanks for your patience.