Here is the letter that Toni Morrison wrote when she endorsed Barack Obama. I like this line "I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud."" that she writes when she talks about the race/gender conflict dynamic so many people are struggling with. I am voting for Barack because it will make me proud. Not proud to be voting for a black man, just as I would not be proud to be voting for a woman. But I'll be proud to be voting for the person who I think offers these United States the best chance to move forward, to start to make this country and world a better place. Someone who can move things forward, not someone who will get bogged down in the gridlock of political patterns of fighting and the blind rage that some people feel towards Clinton. Someone with the vision and the fortitude and enough experience to get us to someplace better. Someone who will inspire millions of Americans and other around the world to join in this cause, who has already inspired people to dream of a better future, and someone who will work for tomorrow's challenges today.
Toni Morrison's letter:
Dear Senator Obama,
This letter represents a first for me--a public endorsement of a Presidential candidate. I feel driven to let you know why I am writing it. One reason is it may help gather other supporters; another is that this is one of those singular moments that nations ignore at their peril. I will not rehearse the multiple crises facing us, but of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.
May I describe to you my thoughts?
I have admired Senator Clinton for years. Her knowledge always seemed to me exhaustive; her negotiation of politics expert. However I am more compelled by the quality of mind (as far as I can measure it) of a candidate. I cared little for her gender as a source of my admiration, and the little I did care was based on the fact that no liberal woman has ever ruled in America. Only conservative or "new-centrist" ones are allowed into that realm. Nor do I care very much for your race[s]. I would not support you if that was all you had to offer or because it might make me "proud."
In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don't see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can't train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace--that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.
When, I wondered, was the last time this country was guided by such a leader? Someone whose moral center was un-embargoed? Someone with courage instead of mere ambition? Someone who truly thinks of his country's citizens as "we," not "they"? Someone who understands what it will take to help America realize the virtues it fancies about itself, what it desperately needs to become in the world?
Our future is ripe, outrageously rich in its possibilities. Yet unleashing the glory of that future will require a difficult labor, and some may be so frightened of its birth they will refuse to abandon their nostalgia for the womb.
There have been a few prescient leaders in our past, but you are the man for this time.
Good luck to you and to us.
Toni Morrison
Monday, February 04, 2008
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Andy Palacio
please hold andy palacio in the light. he is currently fighting for his life. he has been tragically taken ill within the past week. i'll paste the email from his label & manager below.
andy is a musician.
andy is a humanitarian.
andy is a mensch.
andy has made a positive impact on this world.
andy is an inspiration.
andy is a hero.
please pray for him, hold him in the light, carry him with you in your heart, your head, your ears, your mind, your body and your soul.
i have so many words to describe what this man means to me, and who am i? and yet, i have so few words right now. . . just hope.
http://www.myspace.com/andypalacio
http://andypalacio.calabashmusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Palacio
http://www.cumbancha.com/welcome.php?_pg=albums/watina
email from friday (jan 18th):
Dear Friends:
We're deeply saddened to report that Andy Palacio has experienced what was apparently a severe heart attack and is in grave condition. He is currently on life support and the prognosis is not good. We are all hoping for a miracle and that Andy will regain consciousness, but at this point this does not seem likely.
Andy started feeling poorly a few days ago and visited a doctor with complaints of dizziness and blurred vision. On Wednesday he began experiencing seizures and was rushed to a hospital in Belmopan, Belize and then on to another hospital in Belize City. The doctors initially though Andy, who was still conscious and communicative at that time, had experienced a stroke, and were even diagnosing multiple sclerosis at one point. At this point, we were all hopeful Andy would recover.
Yesterday, Andy's condition worsened and he began experiencing more seizures. Andy is a national icon in Belize, and the story of his illness has not only been big news there, the Prime Minister has been putting his full support behind Andy's treatment. When Andy's condition started to decline, he was placed on an air ambulance to Chicago where he was expected to get treatment at one of the premier neurological facilities in the country.
En route to Chicago, the plane stopped in Mobile, Alabama to clear immigration. At that point, Andy was unconscious and it was determined that he was too ill to continue on the flight to Chicago. Andy is currently in a hospital in Mobile, Alabama where he is in a coma. His cousin is by his side and Andy's daughters will be arriving shortly .
It is impossible to describe the pain we feel from this unfathomable tragedy. We will notify you if we hear any significant updates on Andy's condition. In the meantime, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Ivan Duran (Stonetree) and Jacob Edgar (Cumbancha)
andy is a musician.
andy is a humanitarian.
andy is a mensch.
andy has made a positive impact on this world.
andy is an inspiration.
andy is a hero.
please pray for him, hold him in the light, carry him with you in your heart, your head, your ears, your mind, your body and your soul.
i have so many words to describe what this man means to me, and who am i? and yet, i have so few words right now. . . just hope.
http://www.myspace.com/andypalacio
http://andypalacio.calabashmusic.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Palacio
http://www.cumbancha.com/welcome.php?_pg=albums/watina
email from friday (jan 18th):
Dear Friends:
We're deeply saddened to report that Andy Palacio has experienced what was apparently a severe heart attack and is in grave condition. He is currently on life support and the prognosis is not good. We are all hoping for a miracle and that Andy will regain consciousness, but at this point this does not seem likely.
Andy started feeling poorly a few days ago and visited a doctor with complaints of dizziness and blurred vision. On Wednesday he began experiencing seizures and was rushed to a hospital in Belmopan, Belize and then on to another hospital in Belize City. The doctors initially though Andy, who was still conscious and communicative at that time, had experienced a stroke, and were even diagnosing multiple sclerosis at one point. At this point, we were all hopeful Andy would recover.
Yesterday, Andy's condition worsened and he began experiencing more seizures. Andy is a national icon in Belize, and the story of his illness has not only been big news there, the Prime Minister has been putting his full support behind Andy's treatment. When Andy's condition started to decline, he was placed on an air ambulance to Chicago where he was expected to get treatment at one of the premier neurological facilities in the country.
En route to Chicago, the plane stopped in Mobile, Alabama to clear immigration. At that point, Andy was unconscious and it was determined that he was too ill to continue on the flight to Chicago. Andy is currently in a hospital in Mobile, Alabama where he is in a coma. His cousin is by his side and Andy's daughters will be arriving shortly .
It is impossible to describe the pain we feel from this unfathomable tragedy. We will notify you if we hear any significant updates on Andy's condition. In the meantime, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Ivan Duran (Stonetree) and Jacob Edgar (Cumbancha)
Monday, January 07, 2008
DRM is Dead!!
today is the day! drm is dead! it was very exciting to turn on today and read these kind of headlines:
* Napster Goes DRM-Free on Downloads, MP3s Ahead
* Sony BMG Confirms Initial DRM-Free Strike, Retail Play Emerges
Amazing stuff. i think that iTunes is going to be the only place to get DRM'ed tracks (except for some SOL little independent sites) within 6 months. and that (DRM on iTunes) only because the majors are pissed at apple/jobs and won't give them their catalogs fully DRM free.
Imagine how much further along we'd be if this had happened 5 years ago?!?
Instead of this rapid downturn of sales, maybe we'd be that much closer to actually developing a working market for artists.
I know people who still haven't downloaded music, think that it is too complicated, haven't opened up to paypal or putting their credit card info in online, don't use itunes, have been scared off by "DRM" talk (either it is too hard to use, or that someone will be tracking them), or any number of other reasons/excuses. Now that they know that their music will play everywhere they want it to, maybe they'll try buying something somewhere. Imagine if the 844 million tracks bought in 2007 is just from the early adopters! wow. that is some power.
* Napster Goes DRM-Free on Downloads, MP3s Ahead
* Sony BMG Confirms Initial DRM-Free Strike, Retail Play Emerges
Amazing stuff. i think that iTunes is going to be the only place to get DRM'ed tracks (except for some SOL little independent sites) within 6 months. and that (DRM on iTunes) only because the majors are pissed at apple/jobs and won't give them their catalogs fully DRM free.
Imagine how much further along we'd be if this had happened 5 years ago?!?
Instead of this rapid downturn of sales, maybe we'd be that much closer to actually developing a working market for artists.
I know people who still haven't downloaded music, think that it is too complicated, haven't opened up to paypal or putting their credit card info in online, don't use itunes, have been scared off by "DRM" talk (either it is too hard to use, or that someone will be tracking them), or any number of other reasons/excuses. Now that they know that their music will play everywhere they want it to, maybe they'll try buying something somewhere. Imagine if the 844 million tracks bought in 2007 is just from the early adopters! wow. that is some power.
Friday, January 04, 2008
good news/bad news
Some interesting facts below highlighting both the opportunity for growth and the sad state of music sales today. Very interesting, but also great. The numbers keep on going up and up, which is a wonderful sign.
- Despite a 45% increase in digital sales, overall U.S. music album sales fell 9.5% in 2007, the Associated Press reported, citing data from Nielsen SoundScan.
- Individual digital track sales totaled 844.2 million in 2007, up from 588.2 million in 2006.
- The holiday week was the best ever for the industry, which saw a record 58.4 million units moved during the last week of 2007.
- On the mobile front, Americans purchased more than 220 million ringtones last year.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Another Alexandria Fire?
Listening to the news on the way into work today, hearing that there was a mysterious fire in Cheney's offices, my first thought was that we are having another mysterious fire of Alexandria. . .
I wonder which documents, tapes, computers, etc have been destroyed in the fire. . .
I'm sure the cause will be mysterious, or something that could have been created by a talented agent. And I'm sure that just like that old fire, history has lost some key documents which would help us understand how this empire of the USA started its descent.
Sad news indeed.
I wonder which documents, tapes, computers, etc have been destroyed in the fire. . .
I'm sure the cause will be mysterious, or something that could have been created by a talented agent. And I'm sure that just like that old fire, history has lost some key documents which would help us understand how this empire of the USA started its descent.
Sad news indeed.
Obama!
I'm going to just paste Brooks column today from the NYTimes here, as I think it is a great piece of writing on why Obama is the best choice for President. . . More Senators like Hillary, and a President who is Barack, and we're on our way, prosperity bound.
The Obama-Clinton Issue
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 18, 2007, NYTimes
Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama. She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines. Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered to master the intricacies of legislation or the maze of Senate rules. He talks about independence, but he has never quite bucked liberal orthodoxy or party discipline.
If Clinton were running against Obama for Senate, it would be easy to choose between them.
But they are running for president, and the presidency requires a different set of qualities. Presidents are buffeted by sycophancy, criticism and betrayal. They must improvise amid a thousand fluid crises. They’re isolated and also exposed, puffed up on the outside and hollowed out within. With the presidency, character and self-knowledge matter more than even experience. There are reasons to think that, among Democrats, Obama is better prepared for this madness.
Many of the best presidents in U.S. history had their character forged before they entered politics and carried to it a degree of self-possession and tranquillity that was impervious to the Sturm und Drang of White House life.
Obama is an inner-directed man in a profession filled with insecure outer-directed ones. He was forged by the process of discovering his own identity from the scattered facts of his childhood, a process that is described in finely observed detail in “Dreams From My Father.” Once he completed that process, he has been astonishingly constant.
Like most of the rival campaigns, I’ve been poring over press clippings from Obama’s past, looking for inconsistencies and flip-flops. There are virtually none. The unity speech he gives on the stump today is essentially the same speech that he gave at the Democratic convention in 2004, and it’s the same sort of speech he gave to Illinois legislators and Harvard Law students in the decades before that. He has a core, and was able to maintain his equipoise, for example, even as his campaign stagnated through the summer and fall.
Moreover, he has a worldview that precedes political positions. Some Americans (Republican or Democrat) believe that the country’s future can only be shaped through a remorseless civil war between the children of light and the children of darkness. Though Tom DeLay couldn’t deliver much for Republicans and Nancy Pelosi, so far, hasn’t been able to deliver much for Democrats, these warriors believe that what’s needed is more partisanship, more toughness and eventual conquest for their side.
But Obama does not ratchet up hostilities; he restrains them. He does not lash out at perceived enemies, but is aloof from them. In the course of this struggle to discover who he is, Obama clearly learned from the strain of pessimistic optimism that stretches back from Martin Luther King Jr. to Abraham Lincoln. This is a worldview that detests anger as a motivating force, that distrusts easy dichotomies between the parties of good and evil, believing instead that the crucial dichotomy runs between the good and bad within each individual.
Obama did not respond to his fatherlessness or his racial predicament with anger and rage, but as questions for investigation, conversation and synthesis. He approaches politics the same way. In her outstanding New Yorker profile, Larissa MacFarquhar notes that Obama does not perceive politics as a series of battles but as a series of systemic problems to be addressed. He pursues liberal ends in gradualist, temperamentally conservative ways.
Obama also has powers of observation that may mitigate his own inexperience and the isolating pressures of the White House. In his famous essay, “Political Judgment,” Isaiah Berlin writes that wise leaders don’t think abstractly. They use powers of close observation to integrate the vast shifting amalgam of data that constitute their own particular situation — their own and no other.
Obama demonstrated those powers in “Dreams From My Father” and still reveals glimpses of the ability to step outside his own ego and look at reality in uninhibited and honest ways. He still retains the capacity, also rare in presidents, of being able to sympathize with and grasp the motivations of his rivals. Even in his political memoir, “The Audacity of Hope,” he astutely observes that candidates are driven less by the desire for victory than by the raw fear of loss and humiliation.
What Bill Clinton said on “The Charlie Rose Show” is right: picking Obama is a roll of the dice. Sometimes he seems more concerned with process than results. But for Democrats, there’s a roll of the dice either way. The presidency is a bacterium. It finds the open wounds in the people who hold it. It infects them, and the resulting scandals infect the presidency and the country. The person with the fewest wounds usually does best in the White House, and is best for the country.
The Obama-Clinton Issue
By DAVID BROOKS
Published: December 18, 2007, NYTimes
Hillary Clinton has been a much better senator than Barack Obama. She has been a serious, substantive lawmaker who has worked effectively across party lines. Obama has some accomplishments under his belt, but many of his colleagues believe that he has not bothered to master the intricacies of legislation or the maze of Senate rules. He talks about independence, but he has never quite bucked liberal orthodoxy or party discipline.
If Clinton were running against Obama for Senate, it would be easy to choose between them.
But they are running for president, and the presidency requires a different set of qualities. Presidents are buffeted by sycophancy, criticism and betrayal. They must improvise amid a thousand fluid crises. They’re isolated and also exposed, puffed up on the outside and hollowed out within. With the presidency, character and self-knowledge matter more than even experience. There are reasons to think that, among Democrats, Obama is better prepared for this madness.
Many of the best presidents in U.S. history had their character forged before they entered politics and carried to it a degree of self-possession and tranquillity that was impervious to the Sturm und Drang of White House life.
Obama is an inner-directed man in a profession filled with insecure outer-directed ones. He was forged by the process of discovering his own identity from the scattered facts of his childhood, a process that is described in finely observed detail in “Dreams From My Father.” Once he completed that process, he has been astonishingly constant.
Like most of the rival campaigns, I’ve been poring over press clippings from Obama’s past, looking for inconsistencies and flip-flops. There are virtually none. The unity speech he gives on the stump today is essentially the same speech that he gave at the Democratic convention in 2004, and it’s the same sort of speech he gave to Illinois legislators and Harvard Law students in the decades before that. He has a core, and was able to maintain his equipoise, for example, even as his campaign stagnated through the summer and fall.
Moreover, he has a worldview that precedes political positions. Some Americans (Republican or Democrat) believe that the country’s future can only be shaped through a remorseless civil war between the children of light and the children of darkness. Though Tom DeLay couldn’t deliver much for Republicans and Nancy Pelosi, so far, hasn’t been able to deliver much for Democrats, these warriors believe that what’s needed is more partisanship, more toughness and eventual conquest for their side.
But Obama does not ratchet up hostilities; he restrains them. He does not lash out at perceived enemies, but is aloof from them. In the course of this struggle to discover who he is, Obama clearly learned from the strain of pessimistic optimism that stretches back from Martin Luther King Jr. to Abraham Lincoln. This is a worldview that detests anger as a motivating force, that distrusts easy dichotomies between the parties of good and evil, believing instead that the crucial dichotomy runs between the good and bad within each individual.
Obama did not respond to his fatherlessness or his racial predicament with anger and rage, but as questions for investigation, conversation and synthesis. He approaches politics the same way. In her outstanding New Yorker profile, Larissa MacFarquhar notes that Obama does not perceive politics as a series of battles but as a series of systemic problems to be addressed. He pursues liberal ends in gradualist, temperamentally conservative ways.
Obama also has powers of observation that may mitigate his own inexperience and the isolating pressures of the White House. In his famous essay, “Political Judgment,” Isaiah Berlin writes that wise leaders don’t think abstractly. They use powers of close observation to integrate the vast shifting amalgam of data that constitute their own particular situation — their own and no other.
Obama demonstrated those powers in “Dreams From My Father” and still reveals glimpses of the ability to step outside his own ego and look at reality in uninhibited and honest ways. He still retains the capacity, also rare in presidents, of being able to sympathize with and grasp the motivations of his rivals. Even in his political memoir, “The Audacity of Hope,” he astutely observes that candidates are driven less by the desire for victory than by the raw fear of loss and humiliation.
What Bill Clinton said on “The Charlie Rose Show” is right: picking Obama is a roll of the dice. Sometimes he seems more concerned with process than results. But for Democrats, there’s a roll of the dice either way. The presidency is a bacterium. It finds the open wounds in the people who hold it. It infects them, and the resulting scandals infect the presidency and the country. The person with the fewest wounds usually does best in the White House, and is best for the country.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Kwani Experience Video
Watch more free videos
This is from a group in South Africa who I am working with, and I love this video. Fun combination of great music, talented animation work, and good videography. The embed doesn't seem to work, but if you just click on the link in the title or in the "watch more free videos" you should be able to see it no problem.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Quotable
I seem to be the quote man for my friend Dmitri. At APAP in January, I gave my bit about "obscurity being a great threat than piracy" to the artist that the "world music" community works with.
Now at this years WOMEX, I talked about the development of niches, and the communities to support them. Apparently, he was listening.
"Just back from WOMEX, where two of my favorite quotes were "Music blogs are what college radio used to be" (Yale Evalev, Luaka Bop) and "Give it two years for the niches online to really develop" (Erich Ludwig, online music consultant)."
Follow the link in the title for the full report.
For more (I'm going to scoop myself here), I just sent in my WOMEX report to Dmitri, and I'll post it here as well.
> 1st Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
[Hmmm. I'm not sure I love the work "discovery" (hints of colonialism,
imperialism and all the rest). However, this WOMEX was a great
opportunity to see a bunch of artists live that I have been hearing
about, or listening to for a long time. Mamani Keita & Nicolas Repac,
Seun Kuti, Balkan Beat Box, 3canal, etc. OK, off the soapbox, onto the
questions at hand. . .]
1. Mayra Andrade - http://www.mayra-andrade.com/pt/accueil.php
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
What's not to like? Beautiful voice, nice variety in her set. Plus
Cape Verdean Creole is so expressive, even though I don't understand a
word, I think I understand perfectly . . .
>
>
> 2nd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
Bajofondo Tangoclub - http://www.bajofondotangoclub.com/bftc.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
Great stage show, lots of remixes (recorded, not live). However, they
have an awful flash website.
>
>
> 3rd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
La Shica - http://www.lashica.net/home.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
This one is my wife's favorite. She loved the dancing, the whole stage
schtick, and the way flamenco was brought into a new element.
>
> New idea: T-shirts
> Who did you hear it from:
StrikeConcert.com reminded me of it when they gave me the MarceloD2 Futbol Jersey
> How will you use it:
Not sure, but maybe next year I'll have a box of T-Shirts to pass out, since no one at WOMEX seems to have gotten to the massive schwag giveaway levels seen at SXSW and other conferences state-side, and the first one in wins. Can you say "Free Advertising"?
>
> Describe WOMEX 2007 in 1-3 words:
>
> New company you discovered: Mine (seriously, my business cards got to me shortly before I left)
> Why you were glad to find out about them: That there is a huge need for me (and many many other) to get busy helping people understand and actually capitalize on the digital tools, technologies and opportunities available to them.
>
> New service you discovered that you want to use:
Well, I didn't discover them _at_ WOMEX, but in service of one of my clients, I am starting to understand the full power of iLike.com
> What is cool about them:
You can control (and share control of) your roster of artists/clients on a variety of social networks. In non-tech speak, what I mean is that I can make one change for an artist (add a song, update a link, add a picture, etc), and have it appear on Facebook, GarageBand, and more. This service is the future of a variety of open-source applications that will allow all of us to play with those niches I talked about, once they fully develop.
>
> One thing you will do differently as a result of WOMEX 2007:
Bring my own food snacks to the day time stuff. Must avoid a repeat of
tequila shots on an empty stomach.
>
> One thing you are especially proud of from WOMEX 2007:
Having a good time, getting some work done, and still making time for
my newly married wife! I think she'd be open to coming back (thanks
Sevilla)!!
>
> How would you like to be credited for this article?
> Name: Erich Ludwig
> Company: Erich Ludwig Creative Consultancy
> Position: Instigator
>
Now at this years WOMEX, I talked about the development of niches, and the communities to support them. Apparently, he was listening.
"Just back from WOMEX, where two of my favorite quotes were "Music blogs are what college radio used to be" (Yale Evalev, Luaka Bop) and "Give it two years for the niches online to really develop" (Erich Ludwig, online music consultant)."
Follow the link in the title for the full report.
For more (I'm going to scoop myself here), I just sent in my WOMEX report to Dmitri, and I'll post it here as well.
> 1st Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
[Hmmm. I'm not sure I love the work "discovery" (hints of colonialism,
imperialism and all the rest). However, this WOMEX was a great
opportunity to see a bunch of artists live that I have been hearing
about, or listening to for a long time. Mamani Keita & Nicolas Repac,
Seun Kuti, Balkan Beat Box, 3canal, etc. OK, off the soapbox, onto the
questions at hand. . .]
1. Mayra Andrade - http://www.mayra-andrade.com/pt/accueil.php
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
What's not to like? Beautiful voice, nice variety in her set. Plus
Cape Verdean Creole is so expressive, even though I don't understand a
word, I think I understand perfectly . . .
>
>
> 2nd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
Bajofondo Tangoclub - http://www.bajofondotangoclub.com/bftc.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
Great stage show, lots of remixes (recorded, not live). However, they
have an awful flash website.
>
>
> 3rd Favorite WOMEX artist discovery:
La Shica - http://www.lashica.net/home.html
> 5-10 words about why you liked this artist:
This one is my wife's favorite. She loved the dancing, the whole stage
schtick, and the way flamenco was brought into a new element.
>
> New idea: T-shirts
> Who did you hear it from:
StrikeConcert.com reminded me of it when they gave me the MarceloD2 Futbol Jersey
> How will you use it:
Not sure, but maybe next year I'll have a box of T-Shirts to pass out, since no one at WOMEX seems to have gotten to the massive schwag giveaway levels seen at SXSW and other conferences state-side, and the first one in wins. Can you say "Free Advertising"?
>
> Describe WOMEX 2007 in 1-3 words:
>
> New company you discovered: Mine (seriously, my business cards got to me shortly before I left)
> Why you were glad to find out about them: That there is a huge need for me (and many many other) to get busy helping people understand and actually capitalize on the digital tools, technologies and opportunities available to them.
>
> New service you discovered that you want to use:
Well, I didn't discover them _at_ WOMEX, but in service of one of my clients, I am starting to understand the full power of iLike.com
> What is cool about them:
You can control (and share control of) your roster of artists/clients on a variety of social networks. In non-tech speak, what I mean is that I can make one change for an artist (add a song, update a link, add a picture, etc), and have it appear on Facebook, GarageBand, and more. This service is the future of a variety of open-source applications that will allow all of us to play with those niches I talked about, once they fully develop.
>
> One thing you will do differently as a result of WOMEX 2007:
Bring my own food snacks to the day time stuff. Must avoid a repeat of
tequila shots on an empty stomach.
>
> One thing you are especially proud of from WOMEX 2007:
Having a good time, getting some work done, and still making time for
my newly married wife! I think she'd be open to coming back (thanks
Sevilla)!!
>
> How would you like to be credited for this article?
> Name: Erich Ludwig
> Company: Erich Ludwig Creative Consultancy
> Position: Instigator
>
Friday, November 02, 2007
the tax man cometh - Canadians to pay tax on downloaded tunes
this is going to be interesting . . . i think many of us have been dreading the tax man's intrusion into the mp3 business, and kind of hoping that he wouldn't show up. however, here he is, and we'll see what folks in canada do, both on the business and consumer side. I just hope that the SOCAN in Canada is better than the ASCAP/BMI/RIAA cartel down on the south of that border.
The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), which collects money on behalf of musicians and redistributes those funds to songwriters and bands, had called for the levies.
OTTAWA -- The Copyright Board of Canada has approved new taxes on digital MP3 music files - at least for files that are downloaded legally.
. . .Meant to compensate artists for the reproduction of their songs, the charges follow similar levies that add 21 cents to the price of every blank CD sold in Canada. And they are retroactive to 1996, when Canada's music industry first began pushing for tariffs on transmitted music files.
. . .The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), which collects money on behalf of musicians and redistributes those funds to songwriters and bands, had called for the levies.
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